The
Pastor's
Message Board
Note: We hope to be adding more to this soon. Have patience!
Christ in you...the Hope (10/2002)
Is God in it? 
When I preach or do one on one is Spiritual power present? Perhaps this
is the most important aspect of my personal mission as Pastor at UBC. I
think it most depends on my cooperation with the living God. This involves
prayer, preparation and surrender.
I must speak to God about what I am about to do. Then it is time to
listen in my heart for a response. Sometimes I sit on the front pew in the
church on a weekday and talk out loud to Him.
This helps me so much. It humbles me. It makes the congregation and the
church real to me. It is a powerfully moving experience. The surrender
that is necessary to bring myself to do this is incredible. God resists
the proud! He gives grace to the humble.
It’s the same thing when you walk forward at invitation time, kneel and
pray. It’s not a show. It’s brokenness and surrender. God remains seated
as we bow down. This is as it should be and the only way He will be in
anything we attempt. I want it to be that way.
Please understand the worshipful, reverent nature of an altar call.
Recently I responded to the invitation time on Sunday morning and this is
still working in my heart. I’m glad I didn’t miss it. May I suggest that a
few minutes spent in the quietness of our Sanctuary during the week might
be very healing and strengthening. The freedom to ‘come forward’ can be
life-changing.
Turning to preparation. I have come to a place in my life where I read
the Bible very slowly. It just prepares me a whole lot more if I think
about it one verse at a time. It doesn’t matter how much I read but only
that I experience the little I do read.
It is also getting less important to read books about the Bible verses
but to simply spend time on them alone. This is the best way to prepare
for whatever our need may be. Try it. In fact it’s hard for me to believe
what a difference it makes when I’ve-read again and again and again one
short passage. That’s the best preparation. Simple but effective.
Usually the first time I read a passage it doesn’t mean much to me. I
am always amazed at the new insights that come the tenth or fifteenth time
I slowly read through it. I’m not sure why it took me so long to discover
this. I just want to pass the idea on to you because it has helped me so
much.
Now surrender is maybe the biggest challenge for me. I must have an
‘extra gene’ of personal responsibility. Counselors talk about ‘an
overdeveloped conscience.’ Does that communicate?
It grieves the heavenly Father for us to be like that. We are His
‘children’ and the ‘sheep of His pasture.’ If only we could rest in the
acceptance of that identity! Only then does He empower our lives. It is
hard for some of us to learn to surrender. Yet it is required of anyone
who would experience God. We need to encourage one another to do this.
So is God in your life? I mean do you sense His presence in power?
There really is much more available for us than most of us enter into.
Prayer, preparation, surrender. Whatever it takes! Back to these basics.
“What He’s done for others He’ll do for you.”
Pastor Gary Cox
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UBC's Potential &
Opportunity
(9/02)
University Baptist Church has the potential and opportunity
to be a blessing to Fairbanks by providing encouragement and inspiration
through attractive events.
Recently we have enjoyed three major successes in this area.
First the Summer Son Celebration with Frank Pollard saw over
300 on the Riverboat Discovery.
Then
Beverly Minor brought a beautiful concert to us the first Sunday in August.
An unusual event was to see our church filled to overflowing
with chairs in the aisles for the Young Continentals concert on a Wednesday
night. I wasn’t sure how we would do trying to get out a big crowd on a
Wednesday but was pleasantly surprised by the huge crowd.
I have seen more new faces in the church through these
events in the last three months than ever before. In fact many times it
seems there were more guests than home folks. This is a wonderful way for us
to reach out to the city.
My vision is for us to be this type lighthouse in the Tanana
valley. We can do it if we have a mind to and will walk by faith. My hope is
that we will gradually come to agree together that this is part of our role
here together as a church.
About once a quarter I would love to see us promote a major
outreach to our area. I believe God will provide us opportunities as we
become ready to take advantage of them.
We will need to budget in 2003 for our new publicity
committee to promote these things. We will need to plan ahead. We will need
to receive the extra work & challenges all these new people present us with.
It’s all about counting the cost ahead of time so we are
ready to follow through purposefully in the coming new year.
As our church grows stronger our opportunities increase
along with our responsibilities. 2003 can see some exciting and rewarding
events at UBC “for Fairbanks” as we catch the spirit of being a church with
a heart for our city.
Pastor Gary Cox
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Gary's messages appear on page 3 of most issues.
