Welcome
Special Online Service Content
Our Sunday morning services are now being held at our church building, but will also be streamed live here as video.
Additionally, an audio-only recording will be available after the service on the sermons page.
February 28, 2021 — current/upcoming Sunday
February 21, 2021 — previous Sunday
It is our hope that those among our church family at higher risk will continue to worship with us remotely, until it
becomes safe to resume normal interactions again.
Service Times
- Adult Bible Fellowships - 9:30 AM
- Kids' Sunday School - 9:30 AM
- Sunday morning - 10:30 AM
- Sunday evening - 6:00 PM
- Wednesday evening - 6:30 PM
Highlights
- The Parable of the Ten Servants: Luke 19:11-27
This week's passage is a lesson in stewardship. God has entrusted us with many things. How we live our life & use those things is evidence of our faithfulness to God. In God's economy, faithfulness is rewarded. In the case of the ten servants, faithfulness is rewarded with a greater stewardship & opportunity to serve the master. Conversely, God will not increase your stewardship if you are unfaithful. So how we live our lives matters.
Our ABF/Sunday School classes are meeting at 9:30 am. Children's church is also meeting again during the sermon time. Please use your best judgment on whether or not you or your family should attend. We will continue to live-stream the worship service at blairridge.org as well. - Truth Trackers-Wednesdays @ 6:30 P.M.
Kids ages 4-5th grade are invited to join us for Truth Trackers! Truth Trackers meets on Wednesdays from 6:30-8:00 P.M! Kids will learn Biblical truths, as well as memorize Scripture & there will be game time. We'd love to have you join us!
Donations are still needed for the Truth Trackers store. Any questions, please contact Ashley Day. - Scripture Memorization Challenge
For November & December 2020 and all of 2021 we will be memorizing one Psalm per month.
Our memorization project for February is Psalm 11 (ESV). I hope you will join us in committing God's Word to memory.
Bible Memorization Apps
There are a couple Bible memorization apps that can help you memorize Scripture. They will block out words for you, blur words, you can type in words and so forth to help you memorize! It is a great tool and easy to use on your phone. The two best apps are:
Verse Locker
Remember Me.
These can be found in the app store on your phone. Let Ashley Day know if you need help with these apps! - February Scripture Memorization
Psalm 11:1-7 (ESV)
1 In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, "Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"
4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
5 The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face. - Church Cleaning
Thank you to everyone who has volunteered their time to help keep our church building clean & looking nice! It is much appreciated!
We still need a couple of more volunteers for the next rotation.
A sign-up sheet is available on the Information Counter. Please consider serving in this area.
Below is the cleaning rotation. Reminders will also be printed in the bulletin. Remember, please clean the church at least twice during your month.
February: Weigert, J. - Easter Treasure Hunt Outreach-Saturday, April 3rd
Join us at 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, April 3rd for our 1st Annual Easter Treasure Hunt! The hunt will be in the backyard of the church. We will be providing a FREE meal for kids and parents who attend.
This is meant to be an outreach so everyone is invited! Bring your grandkids, neighbors, friends' kids, etc!
This outreach is for ages 2-11 years old.
Would you be willing?
In order to pull off a successful Easter hunt we need lots of CANDY! Would your family be willing to donate some of the following:
-3 bags of candy per family
-Themed prize basket (for the golden egg winners!)
Example: Family movie night basket, Ice cream sundae basket, Games basket, Spring Fun basket, gift cards, etc.
-People to help serve the free meal, set up, tear down, and crowd control.
-People to hand out flyers on door knobs to surrounding neighborhoods.
Please sign up on the sign up sheets in the foyer for what you are able to help with!
There will be a box in the foyer for you to put your donations. Please have your donations no later than Sunday, March 28th.
Any questions please contact Ashley Day. - BRBC Prayer List
Each week we put together a prayer list that is typed up and put in
the bulletin. We hope this will be helpful in knowing how to pray specifically for the needs of those in our church.
If you would like to be added to the prayer list please let Ashley Day(ashleylday11@gmail.com) or Renee Palermo (reneenpalermo@gmail.com) know!
Please include how we can specifically pray for you.
BRBC Prayer List
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chron. 7:14
Prayer Requests:- Linda Banghart: Linda's mother, Virginia Cowley passed away on January 20. Please pray for peace & comfort for the family during this difficult time.
- Krista Gates: Pray for a healthy pregnancy as they are expecting a baby in August. Pray for strength as she is dealing with morning sickness & peace as they are planning on delivering this baby at the UIHC, where they delivered their stillborn baby in 2017.
- Barb Thumma: Pray for Barb's cousin, Anna. She was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer in February & will undergo chemo & radiation soon. Pray for God's healing & best plan for her life. She has been home from the mission field since July. Has spent the past 5 years as a missionary in Northern Africa.
- Rodger Burnett: Pray for God's guidance & strength as he has recently been diagnosed with a physical heart failure condition. Praise that he is enjoying his assisted living home in Amana! He is excited to have visitors when the Covid ban lifts!
- Maxine Heath: Pray for one of her tenants (Crystal). Her daughter has been hospitalized & is in a coma. Neither Crystal or her daughter are believers. Pray for healing & that God would use this to draw them to Himself.
- Andie Black: Pray for her as she has been dealing with some health problems.
- Allen Black:Continue to pray for health & strength as he battles lung cancer.
- William Loeffers: Healing of his eyesight and kidneys as he undergoes dialysis.
- Pray for continual spiritual growth in our church.
- Pray for opportunities for each of us to share the Gospel with those we come in contact with.
- Pray that God would continue to bring people to our church who need the Gospel.
- Pray for our Deacons: Nate Day, Gary McCool, Joseph Palermo, & Randy Witte
- Pray for our Pastor and family.
- Pray for the President & other elected officials that they would have wisdom & listen to godly counsel.
- Book Corner: 31 Days Toward Trusting God by Jerry Bridges
It's easy to trust God when everything is going well. But when adversity strikes--a school shooting, a cancer diagnosis, a financial setback--do you wonder if God cares or if He's even there at all? In this 31-day devotional, author Jerry Bridges tackles the doctrine of God's sovereignty. These daily readings set the biblical foundation for the essential goodness of His character. In a clear and warm manner, Bridges explains how you can and should choose to trust God no matter what happens in life. - Missionary of the Month: Cal & Joyce Voelker
Cal & Joyce Voelker serve as missionaries in Portugal at the Greater Lisbon Christian Academy (GLCA). GLCA is a K-12 school that provides a quality education to children of missionaries as well as international students. Cal serves in administration and teaching. Joyce works as the school's administrative assistant. Cal & Joyce are also involved in a ministry to the deaf community.
Prayer Requests- For the salvation of Shristi, Samman, Shreenju, Riya, and Himal.
- Wisdom as we make decisions for the school and navigate through COVID lockdowns.
- For God's provision of the next administrator for the school.
- For several teachers that the school still needs for next school year.
- Hymn of the Month: The Love of God
Hymn History: The Love of God
Frederick M. Lehman was a California businessman that lost everything through business reverses. He was forced to spend his working hours in manual labor, working in a Pasadena packing house packing oranges and lemons into wooden crates. Not an ideal environment for writing love songs, but this was the environment the Lord chose to use.
Mr. Lehman was a Christian who rejoiced in his salvation. He was so moved by a Sunday evening sermon on the love of God that he could hardly sleep. The next morning, the thrill of the previous evening had not left him. As he drove to the packing house, the makings of a song began to come together in his head, with God's love as the theme.
Throughout the day, as he packed oranges and lemons, the words continued to flow. Perhaps he jotted down words on various pieces of broken crate as he went along. He could hardly wait to get home and commit these words to paper.
Upon arriving home, he hurried to his old upright piano and began arranging the words and composing a melody to fit them. He soon had finished two stanzas and the melody to go along with them, but now what was he to do? In those days, a song had to have at least three stanzas to be considered complete. (A far cry from the songs of our day that only need have three words!) He tried and tried to come up with a third stanza, but to no avail. The words just would not fall into place.
It was then that he remembered a poem someone had given him some time before. Hunting around, he found the poem printed on a card, which he had used as a bookmark. As Mr. Lehman read the words, his heart was thrilled by the adequate picture of God's love they pictured. He then noticed this writing on the bottom of the card:
"These words were found written on a cell wall in a prison some 200 years ago. It is not known why the prisoner was incarcerated; neither is it known if the words were original or if he had heard them somewhere and had decided to put them in a place where he could be reminded of the greatness of God's love - whatever the circumstances, he wrote them on the wall of his prison cell. In due time, he died and the men who had the job of repainting his cell were impressed by the words. Before their paint brushes had obliterated them, one of the men jotted them down and thus they were preserved."
Lehman went to the piano and began to voice the words with the melody he had just written. They were a perfect fit. It was a miracle! The song was published - and remains today - with these words as the last stanza.
In later years, the origin of these words became known to Alfred B. Smith, which reveals an even greater miracle in the writing of this song. The original third stanza was written in Hebrew around the year 1000 by Meir Ben Issac Nehoria, a Jewish Rabbi. God, knowing that Lehman was going to write a song, also realized that Lehman would have trouble writing a third stanza and so He chose this Rabbi, who though not accepting Christ as the Messiah did possess the skills to graphically paint a picture of God's love in words. He would preserve these words and then hundreds of years later He would have them translated by this prisoner into a language that did not as yet exist, namely English.
And to think, He did it in the exact meter to fit Lehman's melody!
Adapted from Al Smith's Treasury of Hymn Histories
(My note: Because of this miraculous story and the vastness of God's love that the words present, the third stanza is my favorite! Just listen to these words…)
Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry,
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Tho stretched from sky to sky.
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints and angel's song.
http://nickel-notes.blogspot.com/2012/02/hymn-history-love-of-god.html?m=1
