Bakers Chapel UMC

Bakers Chapel UMC Bakers Chapel United Methodist Church
Worship service at 9:30am on Sunday

06/01/2026

Thought of the Day

Today's Thought of the Day will be the only one this week. I will be attending our Annual Conference this week. Have a blessed week.

Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! From now own families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against – or two in favor and three against. – Luke 12:51-52 (NLT)

Did Jesus just say what I think he said? Isn’t Jesus the Prince of Peace? Didn’t he heal people and teach about love and unity? Isn’t it the devil who wants to divide us?

Yet here Jesus is talking about how he came to divide people. Did Jesus (or God the Father) ever say, “I think I’ll put people on this earth and divide them into groups of good and bad, or saved and unsaved?” No. But division is a consequence of free will. And Jesus came so that we could choose between Him and ourselves. This choice will have the natural effect of division. Jesus uses the example of a family who would split because two would accept him as Lord and three wouldn’t (or vice versa).

An even more concrete way we can understand the division that Jesus causes is to look at Christians in places like China or the Middle East who are persecuted and who lose their lives just for claiming Jesus’ name. Jesus didn’t come because he wanted division. He came with the understanding that choosing Him would bring about division as a natural consequence, given how controversial he is. His ways are different from the world’s ways. People will always be adamantly opposed to him because they prefer their ways to his.

The fact is that if you take Jesus at his word and do the things he teaches us to do all the time, you will be a different person from others. And there will be a division among many. Still, we must choose. We choose Jesus. Or we choose ourselves.

In the love of Christ,
greg

05/27/2026

Thought of the Day

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” – Matthew 22:34-40 (NRSV)

The bulk of our lives are, I believe, driven by one or two basic emotions. They differ from person to person and might even change over the course of a person’s life. But there is something at any given point in our lives that determines how we think, feel, and act. This, of course, is a theory of mine, but just think about it.

Some people are fear-driven. They make their decisions based on fear or worry about what will or will not happen. Some are driven by greed or lust. They want more and more and do what they think is best to get everything that they want out of life. Some are driven by jealousy, anger, or rage. These people always seem to be mad at the world. At the extreme end of this, rage, some are led to do very callous things. Some are driven by sorrow, grief, or depression. I’ve seen where losing a loved one can take such a toll on a person’s life that they slide into a depression, which becomes their own little prison.

There are more emotions, I’m sure, that guide us at different points in our lives. The one that Jesus came to teach us to use is more than an emotion. It’s love. Love can be an emotion, but it extends far beyond that. It shows itself through caring actions that benefit others, even when they don’t benefit us.

Jesus tells us in this passage that love is the most important thing that can guide our lives. First of all is love of God. Putting Him first in our lives not only pleases Him but also makes our lives and the lives of those around us better. The love of neighbor, or anyone else we meet, comes directly out of this love of God. When we live our lives driven by love, the world becomes a much better place, and we make our Heavenly Father (as well as our Lord and Savior) proud.

May your day be driven by nothing if not by love.

In the love of Christ,
greg

05/26/2026

Thought of the Day

One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it."
Mark 10:13-15 (NLT)

Jesus was telling us that we must learn to be more like children in some areas. He doesn't want us to learn to be childish, which is selfish behavior. He wants us to learn to be more childlike. I take this to mean that to enter the Kingdom of God, we must regain some of that lost innocence that we once had as children.

Children can teach us unconditional love and unwavering trust. Have you ever noticed two kids who, one day, leave each other mad, claiming to "hate" each other, only to be playing again the next day? I remember that being me. I remember that having a friend to play ball with the next day was much more important than holding on to whatever had made me mad the day before.

You can also see complete trust in a small child's face who asks his/her daddy to throw them up in the air...higher...higher...higher. They may have much more faith in the ability of the daddy to catch them than even the daddy himself. This is because deep inside of them, they trust that nothing bad can happen to them when they're in their daddy's arms.

When Jesus tells his disciples (and us) that "the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children", he means that it belongs to those who can recapture, or learn the kind of innocent love and faith that sometimes it seems only a child can have.

Somewhere along the line, we were betrayed, the world brought about harsh realities, we were taught immoral or unethical ideals, or maybe we got bitter or untrusting for some other reason. It's time to let go of the problems of this world when it comes to our Father in Heaven and reach out to him like a child reaches out to a parent he/she trusts with his/her life. For God won't let go. He'll never leave. He'll always be right there. It's because He loves you so much. And Amen for that!

In the love of Christ,
greg

05/21/2026

Thought of the Day

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. - 1 Corinthians 15:58 (NLT)

"Nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless".

Do you ever feel like you've failed in ministry or trying to do something for God, or that God wanted you to do? I know I have felt that way in the past. Now I know that if God is calling me to do something and I try...giving it my best effort...I will always succeed.

God called the prophets of old to give the people a message of repentance. Jonah's audience heard the message and turned to God. Many others did not.

When Jeremiah, Isaiah, and others were preaching what the Lord told them to preach, the Israelites didn't listen as well. Do you think that these prophets ever woke up and didn't want to get out of bed because they felt like they were failing God?

I know that there have been times in my own life when I've felt like part of my ministry failed, only to later come to an understanding of how a few, or even one person, was affected by God through it. And even if one seed is planted, is it not a success?

Does God call us to failure? Heavens no. He calls us to do the things that we can do if we're willing to try and work through His power. So never think of yourself as a failure if you're trying your best to listen to God and do His will, even if the results are not what you expect or hope for.

In the love of Christ,
greg

05/20/2026

Thought of the Day

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. - Romans 6:6-7 (NLT)

Paul says that we died with Christ. When we turn our lives over to him, giving him control and accepting his sacrifice as our way of becoming right with God, we are said to have died with him. Our old selves die, and we become new beings.

This new being is actually freed from two things. Here, Paul tells us that we’re freed from the power of sin. But we’re also freed from the penalty of sin. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we are no longer bound by the curse that has been put on this world because of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The punishment for sin is death, but if we accept the sacrifice of Jesus’ life, that penalty has been paid.

Secondly, we are freed from the power that sin has over our lives when we die with Christ. Our old selves were dominated by sin’s power over us. It was this sinful nature that controlled us (and still does those who’ve not repented and turned to Christ).

No longer are we controlled by our sinful nature, that part of us that’s rebellious, prideful, and self-serving. We now have a choice to allow the old self-rule, living our lives for ourselves, by our own guidelines that we determine are best for us, or to submit to a better way for ourselves and all those around us. We have a choice between us and God. It’s really that simple.

Though the choice is that simple, I don’t want to pretend that there is no struggle. Paul, himself, will go on in the next chapter to discuss how it can be hard to give up our sinful nature. He admits that he does what he doesn’t want to do at times. Our sinful nature has a pull on us, but it is not as powerful as the Spirit of God in us. So even though we will fall to it at times, we are not lost to it. The Holy Spirit protects us and calls us back when we stray. He truly is the better way in this life.

In the love of Christ,
greg

05/18/2026

Thought of the Day


And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28 (NIV)

Notice that Paul doesn't say that in some things...or in good things...or in righteous acts...or when we're good...or when things are going well...or when we go to church...God works for the good of those who love him. Instead, this Scripture tells us that in "ALL" things God works for the good of those who love him. God is always working for our good, even when we seem to be messing things up.

I've witnessed people return to the Church because they experienced God's Holy Spirit in a loving way through others during a time of trial. I've witnessed people who went through divorce (something truly bad) only to be helped by the God that they loved to find a new and even better life.

My point is that God doesn't create the disasters in our lives. Either we do...or they just happen. But God is always there. For those who love Him, God will weave His love and goodness into their lives in some form or fashion. Oftentimes, we're blinded by the disaster, though, and do not see the good that can come out of it. Hopefully, though, later on, we can look back and see where God was at work.

In the love of Christ,
greg

05/14/2026

Thought of the Day

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

God has had amazing plans for you. He knew you before you were born and called to you before you even understood what was going on. His plan to be in a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus is the same for all of us. His plans for how we will live out this relationship and how we will be blessed, as well as be a blessing to others, differ for each of us. But there is no doubt that He does have plans for us.

It's up to us to choose His plans for our lives over our own. His plans are plans to prosper; plans filled with hope and a future. Our own plans are not always bad plans. But when they don't allow for the plan God has for us, they will ultimately lead to disaster.

In the love of Christ,
greg

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Hernando, MS
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