The Latest from Pastor Steve: A Glimpse of Sunday, March 25 & Building Update

Life as It Shouldn't Have to Be

I returned back from Mexico a week ago, where I go each year to get ready for our summer missions trip. Just this past December, I read about a church that was near the Nogales, Mexico, city dump. The dump is located farther past Sebano (Nogales Baptist Seminary) where we stay each summer. I had never gone to it or passed it, but have always seen and heard the dump trucks rumbling by and the tell-tale circling of birds in the distance that indicate a dump.
The director of the seminary, Ramon Rodriguez, helps us determine which church to work at during the summer. He introduced me to Felipe, the pastor of Mt. Hebron. We went to visit his church with him to see what it was like so that we would have an idea of how our ministry would set up there. I soon realized that his church took us toward the dump. At the dump, we turned off the road and then jostled and bumped our way a couple of miles back and finally arrived at the church. Getting out of the van, I saw the nearest electrical pole some 50 yards away, with no connecting wire. They have no electricity. The city has plans to connect them in April, but I've heard that story before.
As I looked out, the nearest house to the church was about 1/2 mile away. This is going to be an interesting summer! But people come to the church. Felipe said we could expect about 50-70 kids to come to the VBS program we will have for them in July. In time, this church will, no doubt, be right in the center of a bustling neighborhood as Nogales continues to expand as people make their way to this border town, in the hopes of getting a job or jumping into the U.S. So they are positioned for the future, and doing the work of God in an area that most people would simply write off.
As we drove further off the beaten path, I saw many shacks that people live in, common in the poorer regions of Mexico. Many had no electricity and used scavenged pieces of plywood for walls and roofs. Kids with no shoes, shirts with holes. Poverty everywhere. And with it, suffering.
Suffering is a common theme in many parts of Mexico and the world. Suffering happens here, too, but often in a different way. Still, suffering is suffering, in whatever form it comes in. As we continue our series this Sunday on "Cries from the Cross," we will look at Jesus' fifth cry, a cry of suffering. Truly he suffered on the cross, and he did it for me and for you. There are some deeper lessons that I will draw from his cry of thirst that will help us face the question of suffering.

Easter is in Two Weeks

Two weeks from Sunday, Easter arrives. It definitely looks like spring has beaten Easter by a wide margin. While people delight in warmer weather, that delight can quickly fade as reality sticks its ugly head back into our lives. For some people, that reality is a dead-end that lacks joy and hope. This is why Easter is so wonderful! The resurrection of Jesus is not just a dusty, old historical event. It is a living, powerful reality that can invade our life today. No life is too far gone; no situation is too hopeless; no life is stuck when Jesus becomes a part of things. That's the wonderful news of Easter and Jesus raised from the dead.
I hope that you are praying for God to open doors to those you live with, work around and go to school with. Your invitation to them to come to church could be the entrance door for them to this wonderful life that Jesus brings.

The Brick Going Up

This week in our project, the scaffolding has been erected and workers are starting to lay the brick for the outside. The canopy roof is being shingled and a few other parts of the roof are getting their final touches. The roof drains have been connected to our main outside drain so that we should not be plagued with leaks as we have had in the past.
I met with our interior decorator and floor consultant to look at their choices of material for our entry way, our lobby, and the colors for the bathrooms and walls. I'm thankful for people who have this knack of knowing what looks good. If it were left to me, everything would be dull, dull, dull.
Enjoy a few pictures below.