First Baptist Church Meadow Texas

09/07/2026

Just a Meadow Minute

I have always thrilled to hear male tenor voices like that of David Phelps. The man has to have an extra lung to sing like that! I’ve always been at best a “barely-a-tone”, and now the lowly base line (pun intended) is where I’m most comfortable. I love this hymn by Haldor Lillenas for two reasons. First, the message of Scripture comes through loud and clear. None of us—not you, not me—can “out sin” God’s grace. And secondly, because this wonderful hymn lets the basses finally cut loose and lead. If you recognize the melody, see if you can read the chorus without getting into it in rhythm!

Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it, where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden, setting my spirit free,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,
All sufficient grace for even me;
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame;
O magnify the precious name of Jesus, Praise His Name!

Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost,
By it I have been pardoned, saved to the uttermost;
Chains have been torn asunder, Giving me liberty,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the most defiled,
By its transforming power making me God’s dear child,
Purchasing peace and heaven for all eternity—
And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

It was in 1917 that as a young pastor, Haldor Lillenas and his wife, were settling into a new ministry at the Nazarene church of Auburn, Illinois. They purchased a small house in nearby Olivet, but had very little resources left to furnish it. Though they were both hymnwriters, they had no money for a piano. Then Haldor found a “wheezy little organ” in the home of a neighbor and paid five dollars for it. Lillenas wrote a number of songs on that instrument, including this one.

This song, with its rolling melody and awesome climbing chorus, became very popular at evangelistic meetings. The young pastor used it often, as did the famous song leader, Charles Alexander. Instead of worship bands and smoke machines and special strobe lighting, maybe this is the very hymn that we need today to lift us all up from any routine or monotony that we might be feeling in our worship. Perhaps this kind of rousing hymn is exactly what the Lord could use to fire up His people to share His love with others. We could all use a heavy dose of recognition for God’s amazing grace.

Ephesians 2:4-7 says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Praise the Lord!

Grace.

Visit us at FBCMEADOW.ORG

09/06/2026

"Beware: Peer Pressure" Romans 12-2 Matthew 10:28; Proverbs 13:20 -Sunday Morning Message 9/6/2026

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08/31/2026

Just a Meadow Minute

“Nothing is truly lost until Mom can’t find it.”

That axiom has been proven true in my life more times than I care to remember. There is something “other-worldly” about the ability the woman of the house has in coming to the rescue when the rest of us can’t find something and either melt down or give up. Women seem to have more patience and diligence and attention to detail when it comes to such a situation. Perhaps that’s why Jesus describes a woman doing the searching in the Parable of the Lost Coin. It just feels natural, doesn’t it, to know a woman would keep looking until she found it.

What the Pharisees and Scribes grumble about in the first few verses of Luke 15 reveals the motivation for Jesus’ teaching three of the most well-known of His parables. “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Yes, He does. And aren’t we thankful!

Take the time to read Luke 15. All three of the word-pictures found there are connected and complimentary. Hillyer H. Straton calls the stories in this chapter, “The Parables of the Four Verbs—Lose, Seek, Find, Rejoice.” In the first one, Christ is described as the Good Shepherd, who with much pain and self-sacrifice, seeks the reckless and wandering lost sheep. In the final one, God is represented by the father seeking his lost and wayward child, receiving him with a kiss. And sandwiched between these two is the Parable of the Lost Coin showing the Holy Spirit’s working through His Church (the saved) to save others. In only three verses, the Lord tells the story about a woman of the house who recognizes she has lost one of her most prized possessions. Patiently, diligently, and attentively, she thoroughly sweeps and searches her home to find the lost piece of money. When she finds it, Jesus says, “she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me for I have found the coin which I had lost.’” There is a powerful message here for all the saints of the church.

Could Jesus really be suggesting the possibility of a soul, precious in God’s sight, being lost even in a Christian home? Even in a Christian Church fellowship? Are there people living in our homes, involved in the activities of our church, who have not yet experienced the New Birth that comes through repentance of sin and surrender to the Lordship of Christ? Could it be the believers in our homes and in our church have run out of patience, diligence, attention—dare we say—and have had a melt down or given up? “Isn’t dealing with that the pastor’s job, the Sunday School Teacher’s responsibility?” The woman in Jesus’ story realized she had lost a coin, and she gained no comfort knowing the other coins in her home were safe. Her focus was on finding the lost one. Is that our focus? Might we as believers, at home and at church, more earnestly, patiently, diligently, attentively seek the salvation of the lost who are nearest to us where we live and worship?

It’s possible that while reading this Meadow Minute, you have realized that you’re one the Holy Spirit is looking for, wooing to Himself through the efforts of faithful believers around you. You’re surrounded by loving, godly family members. You’re faithful in church attendance and enjoy being a part of Bible Study and worship. Those are good things, and yet you still feel something’s missing. Maybe you realize you’re the reckless and wandering one for whom the Good Shepherd has laid down His life. You might see yourself as the wayward prodigal for whom the Father has been patiently waiting. Why not heed the Spirit’s call? Come home. You will find your friends and family rejoicing.

And, like Jesus says at the end of the Parable of the Lost Coin, “In the same way, I tell you there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Grace.

Visit us at FBCMEADOW.ORG

08/24/2026

Just a Meadow Minute

I have some great memories of my Grandpa’s apple orchard that was behind the barn on his farm just outside Statesville, North Carolina. That orchard was wonderful to see in the spring when there was promise in the blossoms, but it was the most wonderful in autumn, when the branches of every tree were laden to the ground with fruit. That’s the cycle of things. That’s the expectation.

There is likewise promise in all the blossoms showing themselves in the cotton fields around Meadow. If all goes as planned, those white blossoms will turn to pink, and then the bolls will begin to push themselves out. Then comes the harvest. Right now, the plants look healthy and show all the signs of producing cotton. That’s the cycle of things. That’s the expectation. But imagine the blossoms never becoming bolls? What if there was plenty of rain, plenty of sunshine, no hail or blight, but the “fruit” of the plants just never comes? What then? Wishing this Meadow Minute would be a bit more optimistic?

Jesus said, “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”

While Christians remain on this earth, that is the cycle of things. That is the expectation. The Lord of the Harvest plants the perfect seed of His glorious gospel in His field, the hearts of believers. He nurtures and nourishes and grows His own, expecting us to bear much fruit. He watches over and protects His precious investment while patiently waiting for the fruit of His Spirit to reveal itself in time. How’s the fruit yield coming in your life? Is there an abundance of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control—you know, the fruit of the Spirit—evident in your life?

We bear much fruit for God only when we stay connected to Him. We must live our lives in union with Jesus Christ. Apart from Him, disconnected from Him, we can produce nothing of eternal worth. Each of us must have this singular focus above all other interests and desires and plans and expectations—to keep near to Jesus—so that the Living Christ can produce in us the fruits of His righteousness, glorifying the Father.

My church family knows my mind often works in song lyrics. How about this?

Planted by God in a field without worth,
We are but seeds in His eyes.
So, He nurtures with grace, and His hands work the earth,
That His fruit may be sanctified Come Harvest Time.

Come Harvest Time what Thanksgiving we will show,
When the Plowman brings freedom from the earth here below.
Come Harvest Time, O what joy will be known,
When He gathers the souls of the seeds He has sown. –Come Harvest Time

Child of God, the Lord is watching over you as His very own. Fight the good fight. Finish your course. Keep the faith. Bear much fruit.

Grace.

Visit us at FBCMEADOW.ORG

08/18/2026

Just a Meadow Minute

“Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place?” Job 38:12

This is God’s question to the arrogance of the human ego. As many in our church know, when I’m asked to do something, I have a pat answer. “Why not. I do everything else around here!” Maybe I should quit saying that…nah. I like the looks I get! Anyway, with so many servant’s hearts found here, I doubt anyone takes me seriously.

If we’re not careful though, we can get full of ourselves, can’t we? An easy trap to fall into is the tendency to ask God for His control over every aspect of our situation…except us. We want God to fix things. We don’t want God to fix us. But for Him to take control of our situation, we must relinquish it.

In every struggle or difficult circumstance of this difficult life “under the sun,” God is to be in control. And He is also in control when it comes to eternal life. God brings salvation upon the earth—on His terms, and not ours.

In the story of the Rich Young Ruler found in Matthew 19, Jesus is confronted by a man who genuinely wants to obtain eternal life. Everything points to this man being sincere about having “kept” the commandments in working his way to heaven, and he wants to know what else could possibly be lacking. Jesus tells the young man what needs fixing is self-reliance, relinquishing control of the most important thing in one’s life, in this case, the man’s money. Instead, the Bible says the young man “went away grieved, for he was one who owned much property.” He wanted Jesus to fix things, not to fix him.

Afterward, those standing around questioned Jesus’ statement that someone with everything would have a hard time getting to heaven. Surely such a person is blessed of God with abilities and a fine character. Surely such a person can show God how much he loves Him, and that must count for something, right?

In America, we throw that word “freedom” around quite a bit. Do you see yourself free and in control of your life? Do you see yourself having the freedom and authority to decide how and where you’re going to live? What you’re going to do for a living? How you’ll spend your money? Who you’re going to marry? How you’ll raise your children? Do you feel things are going just fine with you being in charge? Well, are you in control of when you’re going to die? How about whether you will live forever in the presence of the One who created you? I mean if you’re free, if you’re in charge, you get to decide all of that. Right?

“Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place?

When we allow God to take control, when we allow ourselves to be “called according to His purposes,” He works all things to our good and to His best! And when God sets us free, we are “free indeed.” It’s possible in this life that your ego may step in, and you find yourself having to relinquish control to God more than once. We’re faced with impossible situations all through our life. And we’re faced with the impossible task of getting ourselves to heaven, no matter how accomplished we are, or how important we may see ourselves.

Jesus’ disciples become so incredulous in the story as to ask, “Then who can be saved?”

And the Lord’s answer? “With men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.”

Grace.

Visit us at FBCMEADOW.ORG

08/16/2026

Beware: "Gotta Have it My Way!" Luke 9:46-48 - Sunday Morning Message 08/16/2026

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08/11/2026

The FBC Family Fun Day was such a success! We live in a wonderful community. Hoping it’s our best school year ever!

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08/07/2026

“…for the showers we plead!”

08/04/2026

You're invited to come grab some food and take a ride down the water slides! MISD K-5th student school supplies will be handed out! Come finish out the summer with a splash!

08/04/2026

This Saturday for MISD students at FBC Meadow.