Important BRBC Announcement...

Posted: June 2, 2010

Dear BRBC Family,

It has been an amazing 2010 so far! It's hard to believe that BRBC was planted only an year and a half ago and God has done so much to build His Kingdom as a result. I am truly in awe of Him and His mercy and grace toward us - to think that while we were still dead in our sin and loving it, Christ died and rose and offered us Eternal Life, joy, peace, and rest in Jesus! I am amazed at His love!

"Helping you honor and glorify God in all you think, do, say, and feel" has been our motto from the beginning, and will remain our very focus for years to come as well. As a result of God's faithfulness to empower us to live this out and blessing our earthly efforts to accomplish this, not only in our personal lives, but also our BR community as a whole, BRBC is GROWING! We are growing both spiritually and numerically and have been shoulder to shoulder on sunday mornings for quite some time. 

After much prayer and consideration God has led us to begin holding two services to help BRBC reach the lost, equip believers, and help meet the overall needs of our friends and families in Blue Ridge, and beyond. 

Two services should not only allow us to grow, but will also give us the time we need to explore the best options available to get us all back together in one service as soon as possible. 

Starting the next few weeks you will be receiving more detailed information about how you can serve @ BRBC. This is both an exciting and vital time in the life of BRBC and we will need YOU and your family to be more involved than EVER before. 

What an amazing blessing and responsibility God has given to us. Let's continue to make preaching and teaching God's Word, reaching the lost, equipping the believers, and helping you honor and glorify God in all you think, do, say, and feel - the main thing @ BRBC!

Our new service times that will begin on June 13th are as follows: 

Early Worship Service 9:00 am 

Late Worship Service 11:00 am

Children's church will be offered at both the 9:00 am and 11:00 am services. 

If you have any questions concerning our new schedule, please feel free to e-mail me at pastor@brbctexas.com 

I love you all and praise God to be serving such a wonderful body of believers!

PT

Devotions Aren't Magic...

Posted: May 4, 2010

There are many articles I've read concerning the importance of having a "set aside time" with God through prayer and His Word. This one is short, to the point, Biblical in its points, and extremely encouraging. I want to ask you to read it, apply it, and let the love for the Lord be the overwhelming wave that drives you to spend time with Him each and every day.

Enjoy!

PT

Devotions Aren't Magic

May 4, 2010  |  By: Jon Bloom  |  Category: Commentary

We know that—for the most part. But still, we can be tempted to think that if we just figure out the secret formula—the right mixture of Bible meditation and prayer—we will experience euphoric moments of rapturous communion with the Lord. And if that doesn’t happen, our formula must be wrong.

The danger of this misconception is that it can produce chronic disappointment and discouragement. Cynicism sets in and we give up because devotions don't seem to work for us.

The longing for intimate communion with God is God-given. He will satisfy it fully some day. And the Spirit gives us occasional tastes. But God has other purposes for us in our daily Bible meditation and prayer. Here are a few:

1. Soul Exercise (1 Corinthians 9:24, Romans 15:4): We exercise our bodies to increase strength, endurance, promote general health, and keep unnecessary weight off. Devotions are like exercise for our souls. They force our attention off of self-indulgent distractions and pursuits and on to God’s purposes and promises. If we neglect this exercise we will go to pot.
   
2. Soul Shaping (Romans 12:2): The body will generally take the shape of how we exercise it. Running shapes one way, weight training shapes another way. The same is true for the soul. It will conform to how we exercise (or don’t exercise) it.
   
3. Bible Copiousness (Psalm 119:11, Psalm 119:97, Proverbs 23:12): A thorough, repeated, soaking in the Bible over the course of years increases our body of biblical knowledge, providing fuel for the fire of worship and increasing our ability to draw from all parts of the Bible in applying God’s wisdom to life.
   
4. Fight Training (Ephesians 6:10-17): Marines undergo rigorous training in order to so ingrain their weapons knowledge that when suddenly faced with the chaos of combat they instinctively know what to do. Similarly, devotions make us more skilled warriors.
   
5. Delight Cultivation (Psalm 37:3-4, James 4:8, Psalm 130:5): When a couple falls in love there are hormonal fireworks. But in marriage they must cultivate delight in one another. It is the consistent, persistent, faithful, intentional, affectionate pursuit of one another during better and worse, richer and poorer, sickness and healthy times that cultivates a capacity for delight in each other far deeper and richer than the fireworks phase. Similarly, devotions are one of the ways we cultivate delight in God. Many days it may seem mundane. But we will be surprised at the cumulative power they have to deepen our love for and awareness of Him.