Lowman Baptist Church

05/03/2026

Church service begins at 10:30 am.
Is Jesus your friend? Do you know Him?
Joseph Scriven did. He wrote “What a Friend We Have In Jesus”. Read below to find out why.
Have a wonderful week ahead!

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In 1855 Irishman Joseph M. Scriven penned the words to his most famous hymn. A hymn that makes one think about our friendships and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We should be very grateful we have a friend such as Christ. Proverbs 18:24, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Scriven wrote this hymn with great personal pain. Rather than focusing on his personal sorrows he decided to give it to the Lord in prayer. One can only image how Scriven’s burden was lifted by his Lord during prayer.

We often do not realise what a true friend we have in the Lord. A friend that said, Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Jesus also said, Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. The Lord calls those who believe in Him friends in verse 15 and John chapter 15, No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

The future was full of hope for the young Joseph Scriven. He was engaged to his fiancé and soon to take her hand in marriage. On the night before the marriage Scriven’s soon to be wife travelled along the river to meet him. In a moment of madness her horse was startled and throw her head first in the rushing waters beneath. Knocked unconscious and unresponsive she drowned just a few minutes before Scriven arrived. Scriven described his sorrow as the bottom of my world seemed to disappear.

An emotional shattered Scriven turn to God for comfort and guidance from that day forward. In 1845 Scriven arrived in Canada. One can only imagine he left Ireland as the pain of that day was too much for him. Scriven never stopped thinking about the day that never happened.

Scriven settled in Port Hope, Ontario. In Canada Scriven devoted most of his time in helping people in need following Christ’s example in the Sermon on the Mount. Each day he walked the streets helping anyone he could see in need of help. It is reported that he never once turned down a request for help. For nearly 40 years Scriven reflected the love and light of Christ in his daily life.

In the spring of 1854 Scriven was to marry. He met his bride to be when teaching the children of a British sea captain, she was his niece. Only weeks before the wedding despair struck Scriven again. His fiance suddenly fell ill of pneumonia and dead at the age of just 23 years.

Once again Scriven was heartbroken by losing a woman he loved dearly. Scriven turn to God once again. God was his only true friend, the only one who could now strengthen him. The following year he wrote a poem to his mother back home in Ireland. The poem highlighted his extraordinary friendship with Jesus. He wrote about how he had hope and purpose for the future in the mist of overwhelming sorrow. The words of this poem we now know as the timeless classic hymn, What a friend we have in Jesus.

In simple but beautiful language Scriven wrote the very core meaning of a true friend. A friend that we can all have if we trust in Christ alone. A friend that you have never had before. A friend the Lord Jesus Christ is one worth having. What a great sense of peace and joy Scriven must have felt when he wrote this poem. He must have known that no matter what pain we have, Jesus will make our burdens lighter. No matter our sorrow, God is in control. Yes, even in the mist of chaos and panic God is in control.

For the rest of his life Scriven demonstrated the love of God in Canada. Even today more than 100 years after his death his example of faith impacts us in this timeless hymn. Scriven said that he and the Lord had written the hymn together. Do you have a friend like Jesus? One who will never leave you nor forsake you? One who will die for you? One who will take away all your burdens? There is no other friend like Jesus. What a friend we have in Him.

(Credit:PuritanBoard)

04/26/2026

Church service begins at 10:30 am.
Is your life built on Jesus?
Is your hope in Jesus?
Have a blessed day!

My Hope is in Jesus

James Smith, 1856

It was a cold dreary day in December, when I first called to see Susan Abrahams; she was lying in a little back room, in which there was no fire-place; the wind rattled round the house, and the snow was falling fast. Everything, to the natural eye was very cheerless, and the poor girl was exceedingly weak. She had been suffering for some time, and was now sinking fast. Her countenance looked calm and quiet. When my eye first rested upon her, and I felt sympathy.

"My poor girl," said I, "you appear very ill."

"Yes," she replied, "I am ill, Sir."

"Well, while your body is suffering, what is the state of your soul?"

"Ah! Sir," she said, "I have had a severe conflict. Satan has sorely tried me. I feared lest my faith should fail, for I felt many doubts rising up in my mind, and at times I experienced great darkness — but now all is peace."

"From what does your peace spring?" I asked.

She looked at me, as if she felt intensely, and said, "My hope is in Jesus. He came to save sinners. He lived and died to save sinners. He intercedes in Heaven to save sinners. I am a sinner, Sir, a great sinner. But I have fled to Jesus; I daily fly to Jesus; and when my eye is fixed simply on Jesus — peace flows into my soul. My hope is in Jesus!"

"But have you not lived a moral life? Do you not pray, repent, and exercise faith in Christ — and do not these things give you peace?"

"O no, no," she added, with emotion, "my works are all imperfect; they are all sinful; they need pardon; and except they are washed in the blood of Jesus, they cannot be accepted of God. Not my works — but the work of Jesus. Not what I do — but what Jesus has done. Not my sufferings — but the one sacrifice of Jesus, is the ground of my peace. My hope is in Jesus."

"But is it Christ alone that is the ground of your hope, and the source of your comfort?"

"Yes, Sir, Christ alone! I renounce every one but Jesus; I discard everything but the perfect work of Jesus, as the foundation of my hope. If I take my eye off Jesus for one moment, fears arise, doubts spring up, my mind becomes agitated, and my prospects beclouded. But when I look again to Jesus, and keep my eye fixed on Him alone — my peace returns, and my fears die."

"But are you not tempted sometimes to think that you are under a delusion, and that you will find yourself deceived at last?"

"Yes, O yes, I have often had these temptations, and when I have given way to them — my distress has been great, and my soul has been surrounded by darkness — darkness that might be felt."

"And how have you obtained relief?"

"Only by turning away from these suggestions, and coming to Jesus afresh, as a poor, lost, ruined sinner, and casting himself entirely upon him. My hope, Sir, is in Jesus!"

"Then, do you expect to receive everything from Christ?"

"Yes, Sir, everything. Jesus is my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I have nothing of my own. O, Sir, they are precious words — 'You are complete in Him.' All my religion stands in looking to Jesus, expecting from Jesus, and trusting my soul alone to Jesus. My hope is in Jesus."

"But what if you should be deceived?"

"The thought of that, Sir, is dreadful — but I do not believe it possible; for when my eye rests simply on Jesus, I seem to have the witness in myself. I feel that I am accepted of God. I cannot doubt but God is at peace with me, having forgiven me all trespasses."

"Are you fond of reading?"

"Yes, I sometimes think I have been too fond of it. But I read little besides my Bible now. I find there is nothing like God's Word. I can depend on that. I read a short portion, pray to the Holy Spirit to explain it and apply it to my soul, then close my eyes, and try to meditate upon it. O, Sir, I sometimes enjoy precious seasons in this way."

"But do you not meet with difficulties in the Bible?"

"Yes, Sir, with many — but I dwell principally on the promises, and you know they are very plain, and, O how sweet!"

She was now exhausted; I therefore commended her to God, and, taking her by the hand to say farewell, she looked in my face with a smile, and once more said, "My hope is in Jesus!"

Reader, how is it with you? Have you a hope — a hope of everlasting life? If so, on what does it rest? If it rests on your prayers, Sunday services, sufferings, or good deeds — then it is a false hope, and will fail you at last. A good hope always rests on Jesus — and on Jesus alone. He is our hope. We expect to go to Heaven — because He left it, came to earth, fulfilled the holy law, took our sins upon Himself, and died in our stead, the just for the unjust. We have no more confidence in our prayers — than in our sins. Our confidence is in Christ alone.

If we plead with God — we plead Jesus.

If we silence the accusations of Satan — it is by the precious blood of Jesus.

If we calm and quiet our consciences — it is by looking away from everything to His great atonement.

If we look forward to death with comfort — it is because Jesus died for us, and so took away the sting of death.

We renounce everything, as the ground of our acceptance with God — but Jesus and his gloriously finished work.

Are we pardoned? It is for the sake of Jesus.

Are we justified? It is in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Are we sanctified? It is also in the name of Jesus, by the Spirit of our God.

Jesus is our Alpha, and He is our Omega — the beginning and the ending, the first and the last. We come to Him for all that we need now, and look to Him for all we shall require during life or in death.

Our hope is in Jesus. Take Him away, and our religion is like a building whose foundation is removed; it falls into ten thousand pieces. Without Christ we are lost, ruined, and eternally undone; with Christ we are saved, exalted, and shall be eternally happy.

Reader, is it so with you? What do you think of Christ? How do you treat the Savior? Do you make him your all — or only use Him to help your own performances, and make up your own deficiencies? Beware, O beware, of building on the sand, or on a false foundation! Jesus alone will do on a sick bed, when sin stares you in the face, and Satan appears to resist you. Jesus alone will do in the swellings of Jordan, when heart and flesh are fast failing. O may my eye rest on Jesus when sickness seizes me, when death smites me, and when the doors of eternity are opened before me! May my living and dying testimony be this, "My hope is in Jesus!"

My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name!

On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand!


Women at the Well Ministries

04/19/2026

Church service begins at 10:30 am.
Do you know Jesus as your personal savior?
If you died today, where would you go? Heaven or hell? If you don’t know, I challenge you to find out. Don’t put it off. We are not promised tomorrow. Come, find out how you can know Jesus as your Savior. Make today the day of your salvation!

04/12/2026

Church service begins at 10:30 am.

04/05/2026

Easter breakfast at 9:30 am
Church service at 10:30 am
Have a blessed Easter!

03/29/2026

Church service begins at 10:30 am.
Let us be mindful of all Jesus went through the days before the crucifixion. That He did it for us.
The depth of love that passes all understanding!

03/22/2026

Church service begins at 10:30 am.
Please keep the people of Hawaii in your prayers. They are evacuating thousands of people because of the dam being in jeopardy.
Pray for our military and for those who have lost family members during war time.
Thank you Lord for a beautiful day! God bless!

03/21/2026

Thank you God for a new season!
Sleep well everyone! God bless!

03/12/2026

03/08/2026

Church service begins at 10:30 am.
Please pray for our country and Israel. For those in combat. May God’s will be done.
Have a great week ahead! God bless!