Message from our Pastor

Hello. With President Trump stating that church is essential,

we will be having church starting Sunday, 5/17/2020 at 9:45.

We would love for you to join us, but we ask the following:

Please practice social distancing.

Please stay at home if you are sick or have recently been sick.

Feel free to wear a mask.

Please keep children at home if they don’t understand, or won’t social distance.

Feel free to stay home if you like, as we will still be live streaming.

We will not be having Sunday School at this time.

Blessings,

Pastor Kelly Ryan

Unity Baptist Church

Our Pastor has been teaching on Sunday Mornings at 9:45 on the Unity Baptist Church of Wayland’s Facebook Page. The messages can also be seen on Unity Baptist Church’s You Tube channel.

Some SURE Things in Everyone’s Life

Many people in our world say, “Nothing is really a sure thing in our lives.” Most things are relative, some say, “You can’t be sure of anything anymore.” There is no objective truth that is written down that seems to work for anyone. No rules for everyone, no almighty God to believe in, so is seems that everyone is a truth “Himself.” Nothing is sure but taxes, wars and especially (a virus) death.

Here are five things given to us by Jesus.

1) Yes – everyone dies – Genesis 2:17 states the same thing. This truth is really very obvious. This is a very sure thing that everyone dies.

2) Know if your life goes against the God of the Bible. He made some rules that make people’s lives better and if not followed, you will need to answer to Him – Numbers 32:23.

3) The foundation of God stands sure, 2 Timothy 2:19. The Lord knows those who are truly believers. The foundation of a “sure lifestyle of blessings” is living for the Lord and following the way that is explained plainly in the Word of God.

4) Our hope is both sure and steadfast, Hebrews 6:19. Christians do not live with Doris Day and her song "Que Sera, Sera whatever will be will be” taking a chance everything will be okay. Christians have a proven anchor both sure and steadfast. Jesus Christ, our anchor, laid down the foundation of all truth.

5) “Lo” Jesus says, “I will always be with you.” So, in trials, trouble, taxes, sickness, viruses and even death, we live with certainty of God’s help in the world we live in today. We need to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and then be reading His Word, the Bible to have any hope.

Pastor Jerry Hopkins

Unity Baptist Church 

IN WHAT IS YOUR SECURITY?

A message from member Jeff Schmidt:

IN WHAT IS YOUR SECURITY?

As I write this, the entire planet finds itself in the throes of a worldwide pandemic, plague, contagion.

As a result, everything has come to an abrupt halt, many businesses are shut down, unemployment is climbing, and most countries of the world are under some form of quarantine or travel ban. For once, God has the world’s attention. It is as if God has said to every human being: You trust in health, I can shut down your immunity. You trust in wealth, I can shut down your economy. You trust in self-sufficiency, I can shut down your jobs. You trust in human wisdom, I can shut down your schools. You trust in freedom, so I will shut down your right to gather. You trust in home ownership, so I will shut down real estate. You trust in celebrities, so I will shut down your concerts. You trust in partying, so I will shut down your drinking establishments. You trust in fine dining, so I will shut down your restaurants. You trust in recreation, so I will shut down the parks. You trust in empty worship, I will shut down your churches. You trust in independence, so I will shut down your travel. You trust in luxury cars, so I will shut down the auto industry. You trust in commerce, so I will shut down international trade. You trust in government, so I will confound your leaders, and shut down life as you know it, until you trust in me, see what is actually important and acknowledge who is really in charge.  Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.” In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-burdened, and I will give you rest.

To the Praise and Glory of God

Ephesians 1:3-14

To the Praise and Glory of God

       Easter, in my opinion – Contrary to Andy Williams – Is the most wonderful time of the year because God the Father sent His Son to restore my broken relationship with Him. It reminds me that my hope and faith are not in vain for I have been redeemed by the risen Savior, Jesus Christ. The one who appeared to over 500 people at one time after His resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:6, and most of them were still alive at the time of the writing of that specific passage. The God who created the world, both visible and invisible. The Savior who is before all things and who holds all things together, Colossians 1:15-17. It is this time of year that we celebrate the anniversary of Jesus Christ’s resurrection for He is Risen Indeed!! 

       As we are mindful of this Easter celebration, I’d like to turn our attention to another passage, try not to get caught up with the sovereignty of God and the free will of man conundrum, that can be another article. Today, however, we’re looking at a few byproducts of the Salvation that God has bestowed upon us through Jesus Christ and how it should impact us; His children: heirs to a future and eternal dwelling. 

Ephesians 1:3-14 NIV –3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

11 In him we were also chosen,[e] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

       First, God the Father has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Many times when we think of blessings we bring to mind things like good health, financial abundance, good looks, friends and even nice things such as cars, houses, boats, etc. The thing about those blessings is the fact that they’re temporal or temporary. Contrary to those blessings are the Spiritual blessings from God. Those are eternal. 

       The spiritual blessing of holiness is not just an external attribute so mankind can see how good we are. It is something that God the Father has made us on the inside. The one who is the seer of our heart’s motives and intentions – Hebrews 4:12-13. He has also enabled us  to be blameless too. Some synonyms would be without guilt, uncondemned, upright and just. But you may think, "No way are those descriptors of me. I can’t go a year (or even a day) without sinning at least once! How can those definitions be applied to me?" I think the Apostle Paul helps bring home the understanding of how this is accomplished. In Romans 7, Paul reveals his personal battle with sin and his draw toward it. In verse 25, Paul reveals it’s Jesus Christ who delivers him but in Romans 8:1 we see how it is thoroughly  accomplished, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,”  What a fantastic blessing!! It is not up to us to make ourselves innocent before a holy and totally perfect/unblemished God. It is by being found in His Son Jesus Christ. If you're not found in Jesus Christ and the finished work that He accomplished on the cross of Calvary, may I repeat what the Apostle Paul said so many years ago, "Now is the day of Salvation." Would you look to Him as the only one who can save you. The only one who you can have your sins forgiven by.

       Second, back to Ephesians 1, Paul is saying that because of those spiritual blessings, for those very reasons, our holiness and being blameless, we ought to be Praising God continuously. And that was just the start of it. Paul goes on to explain that all of that was accomplished of God’s working in both “His pleasure and good will” through the work of Jesus Christ at His crucifixion and three days later, His resurrection from the dead. What a privilege it is to get up in the morning then go through the day and finally lay down at night with the knowledge that God the Father, before the world was created, chose to make us holy and blameless. How? Because of the reason we can call God Father, we have been adopted as His children though the work of Jesus Christ on that first Easter weekend. He chose to forgive us because Jesus Christ’s blood gave us redemption when we received Him as our Lord, Savior and Redeemer.

       Thirdly, God has saved us for His praise and His glory, Ephesians 1:11-14. We have been saved for God’s glory and praise. In Isaiah 42:8 God emphatically states, "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.” We all should be praising and glorifying God for the great work He has done for us through Jesus Christ. We should be praising and glorifying God because He as marked us with a seal, “the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.” In the past weeks, we have watched how the Corona Virus continues taking thousands and thousands of lives. Our hope is not built upon the temporal blessings such as good health or physical well being but upon the eternal blessings that God has shown us, given us and sealed us with.

       I’d like to close this article with the lyrics of a familiar song.

The Solid Rock 

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

But wholly lean on Jesus' Name

(Chorus) On Christ the solid Rock I stand

All other ground is sinking sand

All other ground is sinking sand

When darkness seems to hide His face

I rest on His unchanging grace

In every high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil

(Chorus)

His oath, His covenant, His blood

Support me in the whelming flood

When all around my soul gives way

He then is all my Hope and Stay

(Chorus)

When He shall come with trumpet sound

Oh may I then in Him be found

Dressed in His righteousness alone

Faultless to stand before the throne

(Chorus)

May we all enjoy God's richest blessings,

Pastor Kelly Ryan

Unity Baptist Church

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

King David, was known by God as a man after His own heart. David knew what trials were. He knew what it was like to be hunted down like an animal because Saul wanted him dead. He knew what it was like to have friends and loved ones betray him. He knew what it was like to feel completely helpless in a situation where a child was going to die. Yet in all those times he could still look back and say the words of Psalm 16:11 because he loved, treasured and relied upon God, the keeper of his life. God would like us to be able to say those words too, or even sing them. He wants us to live them out daily with complete trust in Him.

I don’t know about you, but the news can be so frustrating to me and quite often, it can be just downright depressing. With all the misrepresentation that occurs along with the hyper-sensationalism and embellishment that goes on, it quite often creates fear, frenzy and dismay among the masses. We need to be good thinkers so we can decipher the threads of truth in it. We do need to stay abreast of the current issues of the day but once we get the down low, go ahead and turn it off because what I have been noticing is it has caused many of God’s children to take their sight off of Him and put in on the “light and momentary troubles of this world.” Especially in the days we currently find ourselves in. I remember Chuck Swindoll telling about needing to go to a counselor because he was battling borderline depression. The conclusion of his story was the counselor told him to stop watching the news.

So how does God expect us to live during these times? How do we rise above the bombardments of the seemingly doomful messages in the news that we hear? 1) Spend time with God in His Word and in prayer. Why? As we spend time with Him, He makes known to us the paths of life. For the unregenerate person, their path to life is God saving them. For the person who has already accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, He reaffirms those paths of life to us, reminding us that this world is not our home and in that, we understand 2) the “Joy” that comes with it. As we spend time with God, we see how much He cares for us and that He is with us no matter the current conditions of the world. For that reason alone, we should have joy. This isn’t a fleeting Joy or even a minuscule amount of joy. No, it comes in the “Fullness of Joy.” Joy that diminishes the hardships and unknowns that we find ourselves in because we KNOW God is with us and IN us! Lastly, 3) “At God’s right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” These pleasures are always available to the child of God in Christ Jesus. The reason why many of us don’t live a life among the abundant pleasures of God is our focus has been blurred by the problems of the day and the “Unknown Future.” May I encourage and challenge you to dwell in the presence of God so He can cause the fruit of Joy to resonate in you and then to live these days with God’s abundant pleasure upon you.

Love, Prayers and God’s Blessing upon you all,

Pastor Kelly

Trusting God

In our prayer meeting group last night we were going over Joshua 1, where Joshua is getting ready to take the Israelites into the land of Canaan, the Promised Land. Moses has just died and God buried him on top of Mt. Nebo. Now Joshua has been promoted by God to be the Israeli leader. What do you think Joshua was thinking? He had to remember the walled cities in that land along with the GIANTS!! He probably thought of the time – Numbers 30 - he and Caleb were saying to Moses and the people 40 years earlier, “Let’s go in and take possession of it for it truly is a land flowing with Milk and Honey! Trust God! He will go before us and give us victory!” Then, maybe he remembers the other 10 spies who gave such a report of gloom and despair that the children of God removed their focus from Him and thought only of themselves. Now, Joshua has to deal with the voices of the past while living in the present. I just love this because here we see the goodness of God. He comes to Joshua and tells him the following…

Joshua 1:5b-9 As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

            God, speaking to Joshua! Letting him know that He will be with him wherever he goes, whatever battle he finds himself in and whatever he does. God will never leave him or forsake him, as long as he’s careful to obey Him (God’s law / the Bible), as long as he reads God’s Word and as long as he meditates on God’s Word. Joshua is one of the few people who stayed true to God all along the way as recorded in scripture. Joshua completely trusted God, followed God and lived for God. At the end of his life on this earth he made that great statement with the “Law of God on his lips,” “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” 

            Today we find ourselves with a choice, a decision and a life commitment with a great opportunity to have “the Law of God on our Lips” and heart, in the way we respond to the Coronavirus that we see or hear spreading around us. What’s true? What’s hype and hysteria? Will we take God at His Word? Completely trusting Him like Joshua did? Will we recognize that God will not forsake us even in the midst of the current situations we see before us?

 What’s different between “the God with Joshua” and “the God with us” is not that God is somehow different. No. It is because He indwells His Children. He has placed Himself in us taking up residence in our bodies. Now, God the Holy Spirit who is in us intercedes on our behalf. What a relief to know that God, who is in us and goes before us, desires us, like Joshua to be “Strong and Courageous.” The battles will come (to what levels we must not fret), but when we are regularly reading God’s Word, studying God’s Word, meditating on God’s Word so we can obey God’s Word, having the Law of God on our lips in reading and speaking being strong and courageous, we can say like Joshua “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” For that reason, we can all live in joy and peace in spite of what is going on, trusting God, the one who has told us, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

I love you all,

Pastor Kelly Ryan

Unity Baptist Church