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Today we celebrate 211 years of ministry as a congregation. Forgive me, but I cannot help but point out that 211 years is an awfully long time for a group of people to be together as a church. When you think about all the ways that staying together is made difficult by the circumstances of life, being together for 211 years is quite remarkable.
We are a church that is almost as old as our nation. For over two centuries, we have faced the challenges and celebrated the triumphs that each new year has brought. The fact that we gather today to worship together is a testimony to character of the people called Ball Camp Baptist Church throughout the years.
How does it come to be that a community of faith can endure the challenges brought by over 211 years; and not just endure those challenges, but grow stronger in having faced them?
The first answer that comes to my mind is Jesus. Through the years, our common experience with the life and teachings of Jesus Christ has shaped us into a people that held us together by the life-changing power of His name.
Jesus, the name that
calms my fears,
Blessed be the name of the Lord!
We have been saved by His sacrifice.
Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
We have been transformed by life. His life became for us a hope. More than that, it became for us a way to see ourselves and to understand our part in God’s redemption story.
Tell of the years of His labor,
Tell of the sorrow He bore;
He was despised and afflicted,
Homeless, rejected and poor.
Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.
The hope that He has given to us strengthens us for the living of these days, just as it lifts our gaze from the bent-over drudgery that life can be to the horizon of eternity when there will be “...no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain” (Rev. 21:4)
And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
“Even so,” it is well with my soul.
Whatever else one might say about the history of our church, the story begins, continues and concludes with Jesus. He has created us, saved us, and called us to live our lives in the direction of His Kingdom.
Cure They children’s warring madness,
Bend our pride to Thy control,
Shame our wanton, selfish gladness,
Rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
Lest we miss Thy Kingdom’s goal.
Lest we miss Thy Kingdom’s goal.
In our experience with Christ at Ball Camp Baptist Church, we have found grace and forgiveness, acceptance and understanding, as well as strength and purpose for living. What a blessing and a challenge it is to be a part of a church with a long history and a wonderful story to share.
Joy and peace,
Ed
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