First Baptist Church of Vineland, NJ

Welcoming, Witnessing & Winning for the Kingdom of God

From the Pastor's Pen

What the world longs for is a church that is doing what the church ought to do!  Reach out into the community in which the Lord has placed it!

I heard that the honey bee cannot live in isolation.  You always keep bees (plural), you never keep a single bee.  If you isolate a bee, you can give it the most favorable temperature, you can give it plenty of food and water, but the bee will die within two or three days.  There is something about the community of bees that keeps individual bees alive.  You can keep bees, but you cannot keep a bee.

In a sense that is also true of the church.  One of the chief sources of our strength is our unity.  If we are not as vital in our witness as we might be, it is probably because our bonds of love are not as strong as they might be.  The church needs to have a sense of fellowship.

There is a legend that at the entrance of Heaven, two questions will be asked of everyone who comes seeking admittance: (1) "Did you come alone?" And if the answer is "Yes," as it typically is, the next question is (2) "How could you?"  May we make a commitment to the fellowship, a commitment to prayer, and a commitment to outreach.

Welcoming, witnessing and winning for the Kingdom of God!

May the Good Lord bless and keep each one.

Hope to see you in church next Sunday.

Pastor Bob