Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Dear Church family,
I want to express my appreciation to everyone who has been praying for me. ...Please keep me in your prayers.
The women's ministry is hosting a wedding shower for Kayla Spognardi on Sunday, June 5, at 2:00 pm in the fellowship hall. Everyone is invited to attend. Their (renewal-of-vows) wedding ceremony is on Saturday, June 25, in Sanford, and we want to show our support.
This Sunday's sermon is from Genesis 18, "Jesus as Jehovah Lord." The Lord appears to Abraham in Genesis 18 to tell him that he will have a son and that He plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. In John 8:56-59, Jesus tells the Jewish leaders that Abraham rejoiced when he met Jesus, so the leaders picked up stones to kill Jesus for blasphemy. Jesus could have met Abraham only if he was Jehovah God.
Lockhart Church is raising money for the Winter Park Crisis Pregnancy Center. Last month we distributed baby bottles that you fill with loose change. We need to get those baby bottles back from you this Sunday, June 5, to return them to the Crisis Pregnancy Center. Return them even if they are empty because they want to be able to use them again. We will let you know how much they collect from Lockhart Church.
Some of you have asked about the current Southern Baptist controversy. It is complicated, but here is a summary.
At the last annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, messengers voted to address sexual abuse allegations within our denomination. So, the SBC launched a four-million-dollar independent study through Guidepost solutions, a third-party firm, to investigate claims and report on their findings at this year's Convention in Anaheim, California. Guidepost Solutions released that report last week. They found that Southern Baptist leaders, armed with a "secret" list of more than 700 abusive church workers, chose to protect the denomination from lawsuits rather than protect the church members. The reporting, however, is skewed because they make it sound like the "secret" list contained the names of 700 predatory pastors who have gone unpunished. Actually, the list includes a record of church workers (teachers, deacons, and pastors) who were exposed, charged, and convicted of sexual felonies. Many of these individuals were not, in fact, Southern Baptists but ministers from other denominations.
Consequently, Michele and I will travel to Anaheim, California, from Wednesday, June 8, to Thursday, June 16, as messengers from Lockhart Church to attend the Pastor's Conference and Southern Baptist Convention. Ted Russell will teach during the two Wednesday nights we are gone, and he will preach on Sunday, June 12. I will give you a full report on our trip on Sunday morning, June 19, so don't skip out while we are away. Show your commitment to the Lord by attending the bible studies and worship service. Also, please pray that I stay well while we are gone.
Blessings to you all!
Pastor Rob
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