Starting July 18, we will begin a new sermon series based on real questions people have about faith. Responding to real questions, Pastor Dallas will do a sermon series on engaging with real faith questions. There aren’t always easy answers, but there is always an opportunity to grow and find God in the midst of life’s questions.
To do a series on real questions, we need your questions! This is an opportunity to ask anything. Seriously, ask whatever faith questions you have. Assume there are no bad questions. Use our online form to submit a question for consideration in our upcoming series.
https://www.fbcofjackson.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Question-Mark-Draft-Graphic-01.png10801920FBCofJacksonhttps://www.fbcofjackson.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FBCJXN-Navy-320px.pngFBCofJackson2021-06-03 07:00:002021-06-01 12:15:56Seeking Questions for Upcoming Sermon Series
FBC JXN values creating a safe place for worship and exploring faith together. Over the last year we have adapted our in-person activities according to the recommendations of scientists and local authorities. We’re encouraged by the continued scientific results about the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines for reducing the spread of the virus and limiting the severity of symptoms for those who still get sick. We celebrate the doctors, scientists, and various professionals who have helped us move into a new season.
In conjunction with local and national recommendations, masks are now optional inside our church building for those who are vaccinated. With the improving health outlook, we hope you’ll consider joining us in person for worship if you have not done so already. Your presence brings encouragement and energy to those around you; we look forward to seeing you with us again.
We are grateful for your cooperation over the last year and continue to ask that you be considerate to those around you in our building who feel differing levels of comfort around continued mask wearing post-vaccination. We will continue to monitor state and national recommendations to ensure that our community is able to continue to worship safely.
Fellowship Hour Returns
We are glad to announce that our Fellowship Coffee Hour is returning this Sunday, May 23. There will be drink options available in the Fellowship Hall after the worship service. You’re invited to stay after worship for a chance to connect with others.
With the reopening of the Fellowship Coffee Hour, we are looking for help with preparing the drinks for the Fellowship Hall. If you’d like to help make our Fellowship Coffee Hour a time that facilitates community, please reach out to the church office by phone or email.
Pobst Hall
The chapel has been transformed into Pobst Hall and the major renovations are now complete. There are still a few finishing touches ahead, but the room is available for multipurpose use whenever we need it. The room now has comfortable movable seating, air conditioning, audio and visual infrastructure, new lighting, and more. We look forward to beginning to use the room for mission purposes throughout the week.
Nursery
We are looking for nursery workers who can support our children during worship. Nursery workers help our next generation learn to love church. If you or someone you know would like to work in the nursery, please reach out to the church office by phone or email.
Most people associate Lent with people fasting and “giving up” something like meat, chocolate, social media, etc. But what is Lent? How did it get started?
You’re going to have a hard time finding Lent in your Bible. It’s not there. When the last New Testament books and letters were written, Lent had not yet been developed. The season of Lent emerged as a faithful response to God in a time where Christianity flourished for the wrong reasons.
The widespread emergence of Lent occurred in the 300s CE as Christianity struggled with the effects of its growing power and influence in the Roman Empire. Starting in 312 CE, Christianity began receiving special treatment in Rome through Emperor Constantine. By 380 CE, Emperor Theodosius declared Christianity the state religion.
With its new place of imperial favor, Christianity was no longer just a path of fidelity in the face of potential persecution, it had become a path towards privilege, power, and money. Politicians and wealthy businessmen now had political reasons for converting to Christianity. Christianity’s numbers grew as it became harder to distinguish people’s motivations for being Christian.
The Roman Empire became filled with nice Christians, but less holy ones. Many Christians responded by fleeing to the wilderness to live as monks and nuns. Monks like Saint Anthony of Egypt, who left the city life behind for a life of prayer and poverty, became flooded with Christian travelers journeying to learn about a different path of holiness.
In this time, the season of Lent emerged as a 40-day season of fasting, penitence, reflection, and preparation before the celebrations of Easter Sunday. The joys of Easter Sunday are easy and popular, but who was willing to wrestle with the difficulties and temptations that prepare for Good Friday?
Some people consider Lent dour because they dislike the idea of giving up one of their favorite treats, but Lent was developed to intermix the seriousness of simple devotion alongside the joy of Easter. Before it was called Lent, the season was simply called tessarakoste (“fourtieth”), which might remind you of Pentecost (“fiftieth”). If, however, you count the days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday (the day before Easter) it doesn’t add up to forty days. Sundays in the season didn’t count since they were seen as weekly celebrations of Christ’s resurrection and the Christian hope. The juxtaposition of Lenten simplistic devotion with joyful Sundays of Christian hope provides a spiritual depth that prepares the way for Easter celebration.
Christians for hundreds of years have longed to follow Jesus more faithfully and not settle for popular, cultural Christianity. This Lenten season, our sermon series, “In God’s Name,” examines the ways we describe God and God’s actions in the world. By Good Friday, Jesus will be charged with blasphemy for announcing and living out God’s liberation for the world. As we faithfully follow God, we should not be surprised that others, particularly other Christians, might consider our devotion to be blasphemy too. Early Christians committed to a Holy God and you can too.
Each day, you’re invited to pray, to sing, to read scripture, and to reflect. Throughout the guide, you’ll see imagery that invites you to contemplate how you see God. What artwork, what music, what scripture might invite you to see God afresh? We invite you to explore with us. Our prayer is that this guide might be a launching pad for your Lenten journey. As you encounter a Bible verse, a song, a prayer, and go to explore it more, may you find God there. If you go to our website, fbcjxn.org/devotions, each day there will be a new post that includes the scripture of the day, prayers, and links to videos that include the song of the day.
As you learn more about who God is, you learn more about who God calls you to be. If you hear Christ calling you towards more, we hope you’ll join us in this Lenten season. Let us journey together in Lent towards Easter.
Download our 2021 Lent Prayer Guide online. You can also interact with each daily prayer on our devotions webpage.
We welcome and affirm the statement from the American Baptist Churches of Michigan that was posted to Facebook on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 in response to the violence taking place at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C.
“As American Baptist Churches of Michigan we declare that the mob activity that is taking place in Washington D.C. is not in keeping with the example set forth in Jesus Christ. While the elasticity of the bonds that hold us together as American Baptists provide ample space for people whose political views are a stark contrast to one another; we must acknowledge that those bonds will not stretch enough to make room for the evil violence being perpetrated.
In order to functionally remain under the Lordship of Jesus Christ at this juncture requires us to repudiate any attempt to obtain or maintain power through any means that disregard the teachings of Jesus Christ, particularly the Sermon on the Mount. This repudiation extends throughout any and all political affiliations where the example of Jesus Christ would be maligned through actions that fail to consider His example.
This day let us all be reminded that our battle is not against flesh and blood, as the Apostle Paul states in His letter to the Ephesians. The Enemy has come to foment division that is birthed out of the sinful hearts of humankind. Those who profess Jesus Christ as Savior are not exempt from the tactics of the Evil One in this way.
ABC-MI is inviting all of its members to turn to prayer in this moment and ask that Almighty God would both cleanse our hearts of any and every form of idolatry and temporary kingdom building, while simultaneously dispatching His followers to accurately reflect the One whose Name we bear. In this moment we are called to, may the reconciling work that every ambassador of Jesus Christ is charged with be the prevailing passion of our hearts.”
https://www.fbcofjackson.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/A-Statement-from-the-American-Baptist-Churches-of-Michigan.png7201280FBCofJacksonhttps://www.fbcofjackson.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FBCJXN-Navy-320px.pngFBCofJackson2021-01-07 09:00:002021-01-07 16:13:20ABC of MI Statement on the Mob Violence in Washington D.C.
The light of Christmas is not meant to be hidden inside church buildings. Enjoy our video of Silent Night, celebrating the light emerging in our city, Jackson. The video first appeared as the finale of our 2020 Christmas Eve service.
https://www.fbcofjackson.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Silent-Night-Thumbnail.jpg10801920FBCofJacksonhttps://www.fbcofjackson.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FBCJXN-Navy-320px.pngFBCofJackson2020-12-24 19:45:002020-12-24 16:16:05Silent Night
