Afton Community Church

Afton Community Church Afton Community Church is your iconic small town Midwest church. Great people! Traditional Hymns, Biblical Preaching.

Sunday services start at 9:00 AM Children's Sunday School starts at the same time. Fellowship time immediately follows the service.

09/07/2026

The Coming of the King: The Message of the Gospel of Matthew: Forgive How Many Times? Matthew 18:21-35.”

Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Should I forgive as many as seven times?”

Jesus said, “Not just seven times, but rather as many as seventy-seven times.

Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle accounts, they brought to him a servant who owed him ten thousand bags of gold. (Or ten thousand talanta, an amount equal to the wages for sixty million days).
Because the servant didn’t have enough to pay it back, the master ordered that he should be sold, along with his wife and children and everything he had, and that the proceeds should be used as payment.

But the servant fell down, kneeled before him, and said, “Please, be patient with me, and I’ll pay you back.” The master had compassion on that servant, released him, and forgave the loan.

“When that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred coins. (Or one hundred denaria, an amount equal to the wages for one hundred days).
He grabbed him around the throat and said, ‘Pay me back what you owe me.’

“Then his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he threw him into prison until he paid back his debt.

“When his fellow servants saw what happened, they were deeply offended. They came and told their master all that happened. His master called the first servant and said, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you appealed to me. Shouldn’t you also have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ His master was furious and handed him over to the guard responsible for punishing prisoners, until he had paid the whole debt.

“My heavenly Father will also do the same to you if you don’t forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Forgiveness. What a concept. It is not easy to forgive if someone does something to harm you. But when we are the ones that did the wrong thing that is exactly what we want, forgiveness.

It is sort of ironic that Peter is the one who asks the question about forgiveness. Of course, Peter was the spokesperson for the group. But the irony comes when Peter is the one who did harm to Jesus by denying Him three times.

Think about this for a minute. Peter thought he was being magnanimous by putting out seven as the amount of times to forgive someone. Why seven? Seven was considered the number of perfection, or, more appropriately, the number of completeness. Can you imagine Peter having a list of all the people who had ever done him wrong and keeping a tallying sheet so that when seven times came up he didn't have to forgive that person anymore.

But Jesus throws a monkey wrench into Peter's belief about forgiveness. Jesus said seventy -seven times. Some translations read seventy times seven with equals 490 times. Who would keep track of that many times to forgive someone? And that is Jesus’ point here. Do not keep a record of how many wrongs someone has done to you.

There’s a story that goes along with this teaching. We will look at that story in the next couple of days. Just remember, don’t keep track of the amount of times you forgive someone.

Lord, help me to forgive others without holding a grudge or resentment towards them. Help me to forgive them how You have forgiven me. Amen.

Until next time,

TO THE GLORY OF GOD!

Pastor Ray

09/06/2026

The Coming of the King: The Message of the Gospel of Matthew: “Wherever Two or Three are Gathered.” Matthew 18:18-20.

“I assure you that whatever you fasten on earth will be fastened in heaven. And whatever you loosen on earth will be loosened in heaven. Again I assure you that if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, then my Father who is in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m there with them.”

The key to understanding this passage is the phrase “in My name.” What does it mean to gather in the name of Jesus? I think it means more than going to church or Bible study or youth groups or small groups. If we gather in Jesus’ name it means we are coming together with His purposes in mind, not our own.

And in the context of yesterday’s passage I think it may be correct to say this prayer is specifically about the situation of restoring a family member. Too many times people ask for the weirdest things instead of focusing on what it is God wants. This brings to mind what we call the Lord’s Prayer when Jesus says “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Prayer isn;t prayer if it does not focus on God’s will and His desire. When we gather we should pray for wisdom, we should pray for those who have sinned against us, and pray that Jeuss would direct us, through His Holy Spirit, what road to take in dealing with this sister or brother. Always, always, the goal is restoration.

Lord, help me when I pray with others that it be focused on You, on Your will and Your purpose. Amen.

Until next time,

TO THE GLORY OF GOD!

Pastor Ray

09/06/2026

An invitation to the Church in Janesville and Milton:

Community Back To School Prayer Gathering
Date: Sunday, September 20th
Time: 5:00-6:30 p.m.
Location: Roth Courthouse Pavilion, (The Marv) 99 South Main Street, Janesville

Join us in praying "On Site with Insight" at every school campus in Janesville and Milton

Schedule:
5:00-5:30 p.m. We will gather at the "Marv" in downtown Janesville for a time of corporate prayer, instruction, and commissioning of prayer teams.
5:30-6:30 p.m. Prayer teams will travel to each of the 34 school campuses in Janesville and Milton to pray "On Site with Insight."

If you are unable to join us on the 20th, please consider praying "on site" whenever it is convenient, at the schools in your neighborhood or wherever your children/grandchildren attend. The enclosed "Prayer Points for Schools" can be used as prompts for your "on site" prayer time. There is a spiritual battle for the hearts and minds of the children in our nation and we, as the Church, are called to engage in earnest, heartfelt prayer on their behalf.

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results” James 5:16 NLT

Prayer Points for Schools

Protection and Blessing
*Pray for God's blessing and protection for the teachers, students, staff, facility, playgrounds, and athletic fields.
*Ask God to station heavenly "gatekeepers" at every point of access to repel perpetrators of evil, violence, or destruction.
*Pray the school will be a safe, and peaceful place for learning.
*Pray for truth, virtue, and godly character to be taught and honored in the school.
*Pray for God's kingdom to come and for His will to be done.

Student relationships and life
*Pray for protection from abuse and bullying.
*Pray for respect, integrity, kindness, and compassion to be modeled on the campus.
*Pray that Christian students will be strengthened to resist peer pressure and the demands of culture.
*Pray for racial reconciliation and healing.
*Pray against the influence and intimidation of gangs.
*Pray that students who are struggling will connect with a caring teacher, counselor, or social worker.

Teachers, Administrators, School Board Members, Parents
*Pray for unity between parents, teachers, and school administrators-that they will work together for the wellbeing of the students.
*Pray that social workers and teachers will have wisdom and discernment in reaching out to students living in abusive, unsafe, or under-resourced families.
*Pray that teachers will be healthy role models for their students.
*Pray for the Fear of the Lord to reign in the hearts of administrators and policy-makers.

Issues, Strongholds
*Pray against su***de, drugs, alcohol, addictions, and unhealthy sexual activity.
*Pray, that students (especially middle school students) will discover and be secure in their identity.
*Pray that the school will be cleansed of dishonorable, defiling, and destructive ideologies, materials, and curriculum.
*Pray for specific strongholds over the school to be broken.

Christian Teachers
*Pray that Christian teachers will be empowered by the Spirit and confident in their calling.
*Pray that Christian teachers will demonstrate the Lord's compassion, kindness, wisdom, and understanding.
*Pray that Christian teachers will shine as lights in the darkness.
Christian Schools
*Pray that Christian schools will honor the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit freedom to move.
*Pray that renewal, revival, and spiritual transformation will take place in the hearts of students.

"Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NKJV)

Larry Ballard
On Behalf of the
Janesville Pastors' Prayer Group

09/05/2026

The Coming of the King: The Message of the Gospel of Matthew: How to Deal with a Sinning Sibling. Matthew 18:15-17.

“If your brother or sister sins against you, go and correct them when you are alone together. If they listen to you, then you’ve won over your brother or sister. But if they won’t listen, take with you one or two others so that “every word may be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses.” (Deuteronomy 19:15) If they still won’t pay attention, report it to the church. If they won’t pay attention even to the church, treat them as you would a Gentile and tax collector.”

Family discipline. This passage is one of the most often misused and misunderstood part of Jesus’ teachings. Today church discipline is done in such a way as to humiliate the person being disciplined, and in public, before the whole church. And in today’s world this often leaks over into the public arena and puts a huge black mark on the church.

First we must remember the goal of discipline. It is to restore a person into the fellowship of believers not drive them away from the church and from Jesus.

Jesus tells His disciples to start with the simplest act of going to the person who has sinned against you. Notice the implications here. Go to that person in private, jus the two of you. If restoration happens then all is good. The relationship has been restored.

If not then Jesus says to take a couple of people with you. Not necessarily people that are on “your side” but people who will remain calm and objective, people who can see both sides of the issue. They can provide godly insights that might help to restore the relationship.

But if that doesn’t work, the person in question, since it seems to have been determined that she or he did actually sin, that is when it goes before the church. Treating someone like a Gentile or a tax collector points to a shunning of the person. This may seem harsh discipline, but the purpose of it is, once again, to restore that person with the offended party and with the church, and ultimately, with God.

Lord, when I have an issue with someone I have perceived that has sinned against me, help me to humbly approach them, not in judgment but in an attempt to restore our relationship. And if someone needs to come to me with a situation like this give me the grace to hear what they say and repent of my sin. Amen.

Until next time,

TO THE GLORY OF GOD!

Pastor Ray

09/04/2026

The Coming of the King: The Message of the Gospel of Matthew: A Lost Sheep Found. Matthew 18:10-14

“Be careful that you don’t look down on one of these little ones. I say to you that their angels in heaven are always looking into the face of my Father who is in heaven. What do you think? If someone had one hundred sheep and one of them wandered off, wouldn’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillsides and go in search for the one that wandered off? If he finds it, I assure you that he is happier about having that one sheep than about the ninety-nine who didn’t wander off. n the same way, my Father who is in heaven doesn’t want to lose one of these little ones.”

The Parable of the Lost Sheep is one of my personal favorites. This is a story of redemption for anyone who wanders away from Jesus the Messiah. Maybe many of us have been there. Yet Jesus comes to find the one who wandered away and rejoices when the lost one is found.

The choice to wander away could come from a variety of reasons. Maybe the lamb was enticed by some luscious looking grass and just couldn’t resist. Maybe he simply got lost along the way. For whatever reason, I would think that the lamb would be pretty scared as night approaches.

A good shepherd, one who loves his sheep, will leave the 99 in a safe place, like a boxed canyon, and go looking for the sheep. He is concerned about the fate of the lost sheep. Then, after searching highland low, he finds the sheep. He rejoices.

I put myself in this story sometimes because I am the lost sheep that was found. I grew up in the church. I was a part of the flock. But there was a time when I wandered off. Yet the Good Shepherd would not let my wandering keep me in a state of lostness. Jesus found me, and if you are one of His, He found you too. And there is rejoicing, not just by Jesus but by the host of heaven and in His flock.

Lord, let me rejoice everyday that You cared enough for me, one of Your sheep, to come and find me. Help me to find other lost sheep along the road to You. Amen.

Until next time,

TO THE GLORY OF GOD!

Pastor Ray

09/03/2026

The Coming of the King: The Message of the Gospel of Matthew: Self-Mutilation? Matthew 18:8-9
“If your hand or your foot causes you to fall into sin, chop it off and throw it away. It’s better to enter into life crippled or lame than to be thrown into the eternal fire with two hands or two feet. If your eye causes you to fall into sin, tear it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter into life with one eye than to be cast into a burning hell with two eyes.”

Jesus would often use hyperbole to get his point across. He would go to emphatic lengths to help His audience to get the point. This passage is one of those times ramped up to get across the point.

The point is: DON’T SIN! The word Gehenna is used here to describe the place where people go if they never confess sin and expunge it from their lives. The Jews used the concept of Gehenna as sort of a refining place to cleanse the dross off of a person’s life (almost sounds like purgatory to me).

Maybe Jesus had this in mind. But His point is someone would be better off making it to eternity without a hand or an eye than to be eternally separated from God.

By the time the Dark Ages arrived in the western world, the place of hell was used as a battering ram to get people to buy indulgences for themselves or their loved ones to save them from the fires of hell. This is one of the doctrines that rankled Martin Luther and it sparked what we know as the Reformation.

Salvation, the dealing of sin, comes from Jesus alone. And that is what this passage is ultimately leading us to, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.
Lord, keep me safe from myself, my sins, my habitual sins that keep rearing their ugly heads. Cleanse me with the fire of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Until next time,

TO THE GLORY OF GOD!

Pastor Ray

09/02/2026

The Coming of the King: The Message of the Gospel of Matthew: Tripping and Falling into Sin. Matthew 18:6-7.

”As for whoever causes these little ones who believe in me to trip and fall into sin, it would be better for them to have a huge stone hung around their necks and be drowned in the bottom of the lake. How terrible it is for the world because of the things that cause people to trip and fall into sin! Such things have to happen, but how terrible it is for the person who causes those things to happen!

Have you ever tripped and fallen flat on your face? I have. It is no fun that is for sure. I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease on April 16, 2025. And I fell 4 or 5 times within the first coupe of months of the diagnosis.

Here Jesus is leading up to a teaching about sin; who brings it about into people's lives and what to do about it. Here the culprit becomes a stumbling block for people who are trying to live for Jesus.

Jesus is talking about things that cause people to sin. Trials, temptations, people with influence causing someone to sin. He could possibly be referring to the yeast of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law here. Their interpretations that are right on the outside but on the inside are a trap.

It would be better for someone to throw himself into the sea with a huge stone tied to his head then lead someone astray. That’s pretty harsh, right? Yet that is how serious Jesus takes this whole matter of leading someone into sin. It is bad for the sinner but it is so much worse for the sin leader.

Next time we will look at the major culprit in all things sin. Look in a mirror.

Lord, help me to teach and follow the way t life You have given me. Lord, if I'm causing others to sin please correct me and lead me in your righteous ways. Amen.

Until next time,

TO THE GLORY OF GOD!

Pastor Ray

09/01/2026

The Coming of the King: Who’s the Greatest? The Message of the Gospel of Matthew: Matthew 18:1-5.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Then he called a little child over to sit among the disciples, and said, “I assure you that if you don’t turn your lives around and become like this little child, you will definitely not enter the kingdom of heaven. Those who humble themselves like this little child will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”

One of the common occurrences within the entourage of Jesus was this question, “who is the greatest?” Jesus doesn’t point to Himself which is the obvious answer. Of course, the disciples knew that they could never measure up to the Son of God.
So was it Peter, the Rock? Or maybe John the beloved disciple? Or any one o the others. No. Jesus points out a child. A little child who hadn’t even made his or her mark in the world yet.

So what is it about this child, or any child for that matter, that makes him or her the greatest io the kingdom? I would say there are two attributes Jesus is trying to communicate to His followers. One, trust. A child trusts in parents and follows their lead. Second, along with that trust is an unusual amount of humility which allows the child to trust.

A child hasn’t had the opportunity to think he or she is capable of doing things on their own. They are completely reliant on mom and dad. So, to become like a little child isn’t having to biome childish again but to become childlike. Childlike faith in God and in His Son is what Jesus is getting at here.

This sounds simple. It sounds easy. But is it really? I mean as our bodies mature and our minds expand we start thinking we are pretty smart people capable of many things. We start thinking that we can do things on our own.

I believe it was Karl Barth, a German theologian who was extremely smart, when he asked what his favorite hymn was, replied. “Jesus loves me, this I know.”

Lord, help me to have a childlike faith that trusts in You and one that stays humble in Your sight. Giving all the praise, glory, and honor to You. Amen.

Until next time,

TO THE GLORY OF GOD!

Pastor Ray

08/31/2026

We had a wonderful gathering for our annual Rally Sunday yesterday at Afton Community Church. 45 dear souls gathered for a day of fellowshipkpng with God and each other. It would be great to see YOU here sometime soon.

Pastor Ray

08/31/2026

The Coming of the King: The Message of the Gospel of Matthew: The Temple Tax. Matthew 17:24-27.

”When they came to Capernaum, the people who collected the half-shekel temple tax came to Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

“Yes,” he said.

But when they came into the house, Jesus spoke to Peter first.“What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect taxes, from their children or from strangers?”

“From strangers,” he said.

Jesus said to him, “Then the children don’t have to pay. But just so we don’t offend them, go to the lake, throw out a fishing line and hook, and take the first fish you catch. When you open its mouth, you will find a shekel coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.”

Jesus didn’t have to pay the temple tax (½ a shekel which was about two days wages for the common worker). He didn’t have to because He was the Son of God. Yet He decided to do so. Why?
The text says so that He wouldn’t offend the people asking for the money. I think Jesus was still concerned about having His identity revealed too soon. He doesn’t want to offend the tax collectors. He has done enough offending already with His miracles and teachings.

Jesus wasn’t opposed to the temple and all of the regulations that went along with it. His problem was that these regulations had become a battering ram to keep the Jews in line with the mandates, not of God but of the Sadducees (the priestly class.).
Providing the tax for Himself and Peter the way He did was another sign gto His followers of who He was. It might not be odd for a fish to have a shekel coin in its mouth, but for it to ber the first fish to have one is more than mere coincidence. Jesus said it would happen and it did.

Think about this for a moment. Jesus said it would happen and it did. What happens today that would be an example of Jesus said it would happen and it did? He promised persecution for his followers and it has happened for 2000 years. The Holy Spirit has come upon His church. And, some day, Jesus will return just as He said.

Lord, thank You for this reminder to be non-offensive to authorities that demand a tax or some other form of allegiance. Help me to remember that I can follow their desire as long as it does not interfere with Your desire. Amern

Until next time,

TO THE GLORY OF GOD!

Pastor Ray

Address

5126 S County Road D
Afton, WI
53501

Opening Hours

9am - 11am

Telephone

+16087564921

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