Jesus called Philadelphia, the church of the open door because He had set a door before them which no man could close.  It was a door for ministry, a door for evangelism.  There was a world, open to the gospel, waiting to be evangelized, which God had placed at their doorstep.

Fate is in a similar situation.  Located just a mile off of interstate 30 on Hiway 66, the old east / west Hiway that connected Dallas to the cities just east of it, they have had two great cities grow up to them.  Years ago, Fate was a small town, with a small Baptist church.  They were rural.  However, the growth of Dallas and its suburbs is turning Fate into a small city. 

Rockwall, just east of Dallas on Lake Ray Hubbard was for many years a bedroom community for the Dallas Area.  It was filled with elegant homes of the executives who worked in Dallas.  Rockwall continued to grow and expand with many fine businesses of its own and has become a large and growing city which is trying to keep up with its own growth. 

Royse City was a small city just located on Hiway 66 about 7 or 8 miles east of Fate.  It has always been a nice town with a great school system and community spirit.  The growth and expansion of Dallas, Mesquite, and Rockwall has turned it into a new bedroom community for the big city and a growing city of its own. 

As Rockwall to the east of Fate, and Royse City to west of Fate have both grown and expanded, they have met at Fate.  In fact some of the children in Fate attend school in Royse City and some of them in Rockwall.  Some of the mail in Fate has a Rockwall address and some has a Royse City address.   Yet, Fate still has an identity, community, and destiny all its own. 

Actually, First Baptist Church of Fate shares a story that is similar to that many churches.  It is a church that has for many years been faithfully supported and attended and served by a small group of believers who are devoted to Jesus Christ.  They love the Lord and believe in the Great Commission and have served the Lord faithfully in their field.  They own their church property.  They own 17 acres.  They faithfully preach the Gospel.  And now, God has given them a new assignment, a city full of urban minded lost people to be reached.  Many churches like this one have had to make the transition from being a rural church to a city church.  It is as if God has prepared them ahead of time and allowed them to quietly grow and become established until the day He was ready for them to embrace the future He had for them all along!

Brother Rodney Williams is the Pastor at Fate.  He has served at a number of churches in Texas and recently retired from his position as Director of Missions at the Hunt Baptist Association.  He has been working with this incredible congregation to help prepare them for the changes that will be necessary to reach this new set of people which Jesus has sent to their doorstep.  It will require new thinking, new techniques, new containers for the old message, in some cases, new technologies, but the same attitude the church as had of opening their doors to their community.  They just need to ask who that community is now, and what is needed to open the doors in a way that the community will recognize it.  Brother Rodney has told me about several of the community outreach events which they have done merely as service events.  Letting young families know they are there to serve.  They are also preparing to participate in the GPS, outreach of the SBC this year before Easter.  This outreach is something which every church can easily and inexpensively do to reach their communities with high quality materials that communicate well.

It was a real joy to preach at Fate because I could see the real, God-given potential, they have.  It was also a joy because I used to Pastor just about 30 miles east of there in Greenville, Texas.  A number of people who used to be a part of our church in Greenville, were able to come out to Fate and see us.  They had to endure another sermon from me, but it was at least good to watch them do it and then catch up a little.  It was the first time in 10 years our family had been able to go back to Texas during Christmas. 

Another real blessing of being at Fate, was that I had the privilege of baptizing Cindy’s mother while I was there.  Brother Rodney and the church was very gracious to allow us to do this.  Cindy’s mom was saved several years ago, but had not yet been baptized and had wanted to come to Arizona and let me baptize her here.  However, that never worked out.  Since Fate is only a few miles from where she lives, it seemed the perfect opportunity to help her take this important step of obedience to Christ. 

I preached on the subject of Building a Spiritual Legacy, based on Caleb’s request to Joshua in Joshua 14.  Caleb was a man of great faith and faithfulness.  He stood for God when others faltered and fell to cowardice.  Caleb left a spiritual legacy for his family, his community, and his country.  We need more like Caleb today.  I will leave a copy of the sermon outline for you to download below in pdf format.  It is no masterpiece, but it helps us all think about the legacy we will leave behind.

Blessings on Brother Rodney Williams and the First Baptist Church of Fate!

Click Here to Download the Sermon:  Building a Spiritual Legacy    (It is in Adobe PDF so you will need Adobe Reader to be able to open it).

First Jesus Church, Eager, AZ

It was my pleasure and privilege to be able to preach at the First Jesus Community Church of Eager, Arizona on November 29, 2009.  This wonderful congregation has done an amazing job of building a beautiful log cabin church building.  If you pass through this town, you really must stop by and see it on the inside as well as the outside.

Eager and Springerville, these twin towns, are located at an elevation above 7,000 feet, like Flagstaff, except on the East side of the state only a few miles from New Mexico.  Located in these beautiful mountains it is a picturesque place to live.

Pastor Larry Rhoads has just recently retired and they have a new Pastor beginning in January.  In the meantime, they had several Pastors and a few laymen to fill the pulpit for them.  Cindy and I drove up from Chandler, to Payson, Showlow, and then to Eager and Springerville.  This requires ascending a peak of over 9,000 feet to get across the mountains to the church.  These mountains were snow capped and beautiful on the drive both coming and going. 

The congregation of this SBC church was extremely friendly and positive.  This is a place where community still matters. 

I was able to preach on the subject of Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, or “How Can We Approach God?”  This is a message that offers a clear distinction on how people approach God and which approach is actually approved by God.  It offers excellent application in terms of salvation, prayer, and attitude.  This makes it an excellent message for both believers and unbelievers.  There is a part of the message that I have borrowed from the great Fred Wolfe which I heard him preach in person about 20 years ago.  I will add a copy of the message outline for download.   It comes from a series I preached on the Parables called “Stories You Love to Hear.”  The title of the message when I first preached it was, “The Fundamentalist That Made God Sick.”  You can download it below.  Feel free to preach it as long as you do not claim it for your own.  It is an excellent evangelistic message for a Revival meeting or evangelistic crusade in your church.

Click Here to Download Sermon Outine:  How To Approach God    (Sermon in Adobe PDF, so you will need Adobe Reader to open it.)

Blessings on the dear members of First Jesus Community Church of Eager, Arizona!