First Baptist Church of Vineland, NJ

Welcoming, Witnessing & Winning for the Kingdom of God

BOB

When Lou asked me to do this, I thought "Well, this is going to be a piece of cake. First I am going to sit way in the back of the church. Then it is going to take 4 ½ minutes to get up here. Then I am going to get up here and I am going to say 'Oh, it's a beautiful day today and I'm certainly glad to be here.' Then I am going to walk back, sit down and my 10 minutes are up." However, it didn't work that way because Lou tells me this morning that we are sitting down front and it takes me about 10 seconds to walk up here and here I am. I don't have anything to say but a bunch of paper with a few words on it and it don't mean much, but I am going to try.

Whenever I am called to do something, I always expect the unexpected to happen and it usually does. Several years ago I was taking up the offering in the church, taking my good old time, and when you are an usher in the church sometimes people will give you a smile or even whisper "Good Morning" to you. On this Sunday morning, it was like it is today - the sun was out bright and everyone was happy, everybody had a smile on their face. As I reached the last row, a young woman, named Martha, motioned to me to come closer. I thought "Well, maybe she's got something for me to tell the preacher." She said "Bob, the zipper on your pants is down!" Now that explains everything. I really wish she hadn't told me. But she did and I was embarrassed for the rest of the week!

Now moving to a new area is a real trip. Having lived in South Jersey all of my life, I have only been to Vineland probably 6 times and that was to eat at my favorite restaurant, The White Sparrow, which is no longer here. I soon found out, however, that there was a Baptist church on Landis Avenue. Now there was only one problem. I didn't know where Landis Avenue was. So I had to get the map out and find it.

The first time we came here I told Joyce "Let's sit in the back of the church near the door and just hope we don't take someone's regular seat. Because you know the same people sit in the same seats every Sunday and the back seats are the first to go." We agreed to sit in the back, just in case we didn't like the minister or didn't like the people we could just zoom out the back door and no one would even know we were here. Well it didn't turn out that way. Do you know why? Because the Lord had prepared for us a place and it was here. I know this is where He wants us to be. I am very, very sure of that.

Today we hear people say "I wish the Lord would return. I can't wait. The world is a terrible mess. There is crime and murder and violence everywhere." You know what? They are exactly right. It is very true. However, it's a 2 sided coin. Let's look on the other side. I find this is written - We ain't never had it so good. As for the Lord's coming again, read the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 13 Verse 32. Jesus is talking to His disciples and this is what He tells them, "No one knows about that day or the hour. Not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Now you know that it's not every Sunday that I get a chance to get up here and talk. So, before I sit down I am going to share with you three reasons (I had a whole bunch of them but I cut it down to three) why I don't want to go to Heaven yet.

First, it's a real joy to come here to worship God with God's people. We have made many, many new friends here. I don't want to leave yet. I have been a church-going Christian for a long, long time. I have listened to many preachers and in my opinion, we have here the best preacher east of the Mississippi River. I can tell you that. The reason I can say that is very simple. I have never been west of the Mississippi! On the other hand, in the other direction, I have been halfway around the world. So you see, I need some more time to jump over the Mississippi River and see what is going on. I will probably come back and tell you that you have the best preacher in the United States!

The second reason why I don't want to go to Heaven yet is just two words: God's creation. God created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is therein. Think about that. Did you ever sit on the front porch? I have a nice front porch on my house and I sit on the front porch and I watch the sun go down. Then the stars come out. Then it gets darker and you see even more stars. As you sit there, I've never done it, but I know if you sit there long enough the stars are going to disappear and pretty soon the sun is going to come up, just as bright as it was yesterday (unless its cloudy) and this has been going on ever since the beginning of time. Right on time and never off course.

Then God created seed bearing plants. Take tomatoes for example. One tiny seed produces one plant with a lot of tomatoes. You know, every tomato is just loaded with seeds, so it just goes on and on and on. Everything the farmer plants produces seeds. There are no tomato factories, no lettuce factories, no peach factories anywhere to be found. To me it's a miracle to see things grow. Flowers in all of their brilliant colors. Year after year. They come from the same seeds that produce the same flowers and the same color, it doesn't variate. This is another of God's miracles. Take it one step further. Go to the mountains. Go to the shore, whether it be the sandy beach down in New Jersey or whether it be the rocky coast up in Maine. All are God's creation. Now that's two reasons.

The last reason, and I saved the best one for last, the best reason why I don't want to go to Heaven is...food. I think we should talk about food, because that's it. Whether it be a home cooked meal or dining out, one of the reasons I am a Baptist (and this is a good reason) is that we enjoy food. Every time we get together, what kind of a meeting we have, it doesn't matter, there is always food on the agenda!

Recorded in the Gospel of John, Chapter 2, a wedding was taking place in Canaan. Jesus and His disciples were invited. The wine was gone. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill them with water." Now, imagine this, there were six jars and each jar held between 20-30 gallons of water and Jesus turned that water into wine. Now that wedding feast must have lasted just a little bit longer because that was the best wine there. And this was only Jesus' first miracle. Recorded in the Gospel of Mark in Chapter 6 is the story of feeding 5,000 with five loaves and 2 fish. In Chapter 8, 4,000 were fed with 7 loaves and just a few fish. In both cases, there was much left over. So one thing you can be sure about Jesus, when He does something it's always in abundance. There is never a shortage with Jesus.

We all have our favorite places to eat with our favorite waiters or waitresses. There are diners, there are restaurants. There are fast food places. There are some slow food places. There are eat-ins and take-outs and drive-ins and drive-outs and there are places that you know you are never going to go back again because you know you just don't like it.

Now, I have some good advice for ya. If you are ever in Woodbury, go to the Colonial Diner and ask for Mindy as your waitress. Her days off are Tuesday and Saturday and her hours are from 7:00 in the morning 'til 3:00 in the afternoon. She is my favorite waitress. One day I said to Mindy, "You are a very good waitress and you treat us special. Why do you do this?" You know what her answer was? "I love you guys." Doesn't God say the same thing in John 3:16? 'Come on guys, I love you. I want you to spend eternity with me. I want this so much that I am sending you my only Son to make it possible.' Now, the question I have for you today is do you really want to spend eternity with God? You can either spend it with God or stay separated from God. That's the choice. The choice is yours.

The good news is if you are like me you can find pleasure and joy and fellowship (and food!) and God's creation, then God's blessings will unfold long before the Judgement Day comes. They will begin the moment that you make Jesus the center of your life.

I am going to close with this. I really don't want to go to Heaven yet, but I can tell you this and you can take this one right down to the bank and deposit it, when the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there!

I would like to close with a little prayer.

Heavenly Father, I pray this morning that if anyone here who has not made a choice where eternity for them will be spent, may they choose today to follow Jesus. For it is in His Name that we pray. Amen.

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