\ Are You a Serious-Minded Christian? Eric Freel

Are you seeking to grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ? If you are, you may be troubled by the shallowness of many churches in the 21st century. Some, of course, care little about the Scripture which is dear to your heart. Perhaps you have listened to a “sermon” or message which never seems to get around to anything the Bible says. Have you noticed that some preachers sound more like politicians than prophets? Or maybe your church doesn’t even have preaching anymore. Many churches seeking to be relevant have squeezed out preaching for repetitious choruses, dramas, even dancing and banner waving; is cheerleading next? And then there is the band – sometimes even a rock band – all in the name of “worship” and “ministry.” Have you ever been in a service where you thought they would never get to the message; maybe they never did. Have you ever thought, if I want to be entertained I can turn on the TV or CD? Have you ever felt uncomfortable with all this? Have you ever been afraid to say anything for fear of being called old-fashioned or behind the times? Or maybe you have already been called that. Would you just like to be in a worship service sometime where prayer, reading of Scripture, hymns with great content, preaching from the Scriptures, and a sense of reverence for the Lord are the norm? We at Redeemer Baptist Church believe there are serious-minded Christians scattered here and there who long for something more substantial in worship. We live in an age where even the word “preach” is despised. We want dialog or discussion not preaching, but though there may be a place for these it is not in the worship service. If you read the book of Acts you will see that the preaching of the word was the means God used to raise up churches, beginning in Judea, Jerusalem, Samaria and all over that part of the world. What brought about the great Protestant Reformation in Europe. What did God use in the 1st and 2nd Great Awakenings in America? Preaching. Peter, Paul, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Edwards, Whitefield, Wesley, Nettleton, Spurgeon – some were also great writers, but primarily they were preachers, and whole nations and continents shook under their preaching, and faith still comes by hearing the word of God in Christ (Romans 10:17). Our desire at Redeemer Baptist Church is that our church and every gospel church would get back to the faithful preaching of God’s word in every service, and that God’s people be fed and built up in faith hope and love, and that those who are not now Christians would hear and believe the gospel of Christ. We invite you to come and worship the Lord with us.

Redeemer Baptist Church │ Pastors Eric Freel, Jake Walls, Joe Hester │ 478-718-8343 │ [email protected]