Washed By The Water

Nathan Stam
Children/Commun. Pastor

Even when the rains fall
Even when the flood starts rising
Even when the storm comes
I am washed by the water

These lyrics come from a song called “Washed by the Water” by Needtobreathe. They are a great band out of South Carolina and their album “The Heat” is definitely worth checking out! It’s one of my favorites from this past year.

Haven’t we all experienced the rain falling in our lives? Sometimes it can be a sprinkle, or come in intermittent bursts. And sometimes it can be a flat-out deluge. Sometimes the water can rise up so fast that it sweeps us away before we even know what’s happened. Before we know it we’ve been carried so far away from where we were and pounded against the rocks so many times that it’s hard to know the right direction to move, much less how it is we are supposed to get back.

Storms are hard. Real hard. But you know what? As followers of Christ we’ve already gotten wet.

The writer of Hebrews says that since, as believers, we’ve already been washed by the water, we can draw near to God. And we’re encouraged to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess (despite the winds that buffet us and the troubles that assail). Why?

Because he who promised is faithful.

He is faithful to carry our sorrows, our hurts and our tears. He is faithful to resurrect our dead and stony hearts. He is faithful to keep us until the end. And he’ll never let us go—even when the water starts rising.

And we are not of those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and obtain life. Apex Baptist Church, hold unswervingly to God. Don’t fear the storm. Be encouraged. He who promised is faithful.

Parenting Is Not For Cowards

Peter Dubbelman
Family Life/Administration Pastor

Insuring that our words as parents don't fall to the ground means so much when developing children. This is especially important in a child’s younger years. Therefore, in order to raise our kids with wisdom, in our hearts parents must mean what they say but not always say what they mean.

Naturally, a compatible lifestyle for parents will also go a long way; however, that’s not my point today. It's extremely important that parents let their yes be yes and their no be no. When we draw the line, it must be courageously maintained, like a middle linebacker on his own ONE YARD LINE. If our children learn at a young age that our words don't mean anything, why should they listen to us or anyone else in their teenage years?

Whether our children are old or young the key to keeping our stand is to take a position only in important matters—areas that will impact their lives. Whether your child has long hair or not will not be that impacting, but who they hangout with will! Whether your child plays soccer or baseball is not that important, but it is essential that they learn to respect authority, especially yours.

The First "Go Week" Coming Soon!

"Gather, Grow, Go" is the mission statement of Apex Baptist Church. We believe that as a result of our 'Gathering and Growing' we should be 'Going' with the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the town of Apex. As the church, it is our duty and privilege to be Christ's messengers. People in our community should be impacted with the Gospel of Christ because our Church is in existence. It is the role of the church to proclaim the Glory of Christ to everyone, in words and actions.

We believe that sharing the love of Christ with our community, in word and deed, should be an intricate part of our Church's DNA. That is why we are committing the 4th week of every month to actively and creatively sharing the love of Christ with the town of Apex. We will not be having our regular Wednesday night activities on the 4th week of every month so that we may give our full focus to spreading the love of Christ.

Each month we will be providing the congregation with two main service opportunities along with other creative ideas for life groups and families to do during the 4th week. These are the two main service opportunities for September:

1) Feeding the Firemen - On Wednesday, September 24, we will be feeding the firemen of Apex at the Fire Station on Salem St at 5:30pm. Everyone can get involved in cooking the meal because we will be doing it 'pot luck' style. You can sign up to cook a main dish (meat), a side dish, or a desert. All the food will need to be dropped off at the front of the church at 5pm. Then we will take the food down to the Fire Station. You can also sign up to help with the set-up at the station, serving the food and drink to the firemen, and the breakdown process as well. We will also be giving a free ticket to see the movie Firepoof that is coming out on Friday, September 26th, to any fireman that wants to go see it. This is a great opportunity for us to thank the firemen for their service to us and show them the love of Christ in a practical way!


2) Apex Nursing Home Ministry - We will be going to all three of the nursing homes in Apex during the 4th week of September. We will go and sing hymns with the residents, read them stories, paint fingernails, do skits, and visit the residents that are visited the least. Each one of these nursing home visits will be on separate nights and you can sign up for them individually.

We will be going to Spring Arbor Rest Home on Monday, September 22nd at 7pm.

We will be going to Rex Wellness Center on Tuesday, September 23rd at 6pm.

We will be going to Atwater Rest Home on Wednesday, September 24th at 6pm.

If you would like to sign-up for one of these events, or have any questions, please contact Matthew Bradham at 362-6176 x. 236.

If your family or Life Group is looking for other creative ways to share the love of Christ with our community here are a couple of ideas.

1) Your family or your Life Group could throw a block party in someone's neighborhood. The Moonwalk, popcorn machine, and sno-cone machine will be provided for you by the church. This is a creative and easy way for you to share the love of Christ with your neighbors.

2) Your family or your Life Group could help a family in need do some much-needed yard work. I have placed a sign-up sheet in the Western Wake Crisis Ministry for families to sign up for yard work during the 4th week of September. This is a great opportunity to serve and build relationships.

3) Your family or your Life Group could collaborate in providing breakfast or lunch for the teachers of a local school. This would be a great way to say 'thank you' and share the love of Christ in a practical way.

If you have any questions about these three ideas and would like help in putting them together, please contact Matthew Bradham @ 362-6176 x. 236

Passing over the Impassable Rivers

Alex Cosio
Pastor of Hispanic Ministries

All of us in someway have been confronted to an impassable river, it may be a difficult person to deal with, it might seem to be our spouse, or a family member, a son, a daughter or a relative. It may be an addiction or a bad habit. It seems that we have tried all but still are unable to conquer. It might be a job situation or a financial difficulty. What is your impassable river?

The book of Joshua chapters three and four tells the story of Israel before the Jordan River. They left behind the desert where they wondered for 40 years and before them was the Promised Land, a land flowing milk and honey. God is about to perform one of the great miracles for the people of Israel, dry up the Jordan River so that his people could come out of the dessert and conquer Canaan to enjoy the abundance of the promise land.

How can you and I conquer and enjoy a fruitful Christian life? There are three principles found it the next verses of Joshua 3:

Joshua started early the next morning and left Acacia Grove with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan and stayed there before crossing. After three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God carried by the Levitical priests, you must break camp and follow it. But keep a distance of about 1,000 yards between yourselves and the ark. Don't go near it, so that you can see the way to go, for you haven't traveled this way before." Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, because the LORD will do wonders among you tomorrow."

First, spend time early with the Lord (v.1). The Lord Jesus exemplified this habit in his life. Joshua also was an early riser, (Joshua 6:12; 7:16; 8:10). God has given us the ability to present ourselves before Him. Because you and I can, let us take advantage of this privilege and get close to Him.

Second, set our eyes in the Lord (v.3). Peter asked to walk on water, and at the command of the Lord he stepped down the boat but when he looked away from the Lord and focused at the waves, he began to sink. I wonder if we fill that we are sinking in the middle of the river. Let us keep our eyes focus on the Lord and his Word for us.

Third, sanctify ourselves for the Lord (v.5) the reason is that God wants to do wonders. The New International Version translates this word as “purify.” God still does wonders. He takes a sinner, forgives him/her and makes him/her brand new for him. What a great reality, philosophies try to offer change, but God erases our sin by the blood of Jesus and makes people completely new, this is the wonder of God.

If a river is impassable; how can someone pass over it? Remember these three principles: Spend time with the Lord, Set your eyes on Him and purify yourself from un-confessed sin.

A Hand of Hope

Hand of Hope is a Pregnancy Resources Center located in downtown Fuquay Varina. You can check out their website here or here. If you'd like to volunteer or need more info you can contact Tonya. Below is a video from A Hand of Hope put together by Steady Film Productions.

Doers of the Word

Tim Shaw
Adult Education Pastor

"My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" James 2:1-4 (ESV)

James chapter 1 teaches us that mature Christians are not only patient in their testing, but they also practice the truth. James referred to this as being doers of the Word – not hearers only. This theme of practicing your faith is continued now in chapter 2 where James gives some specific illustrations and examples of what it looks like to either fail to practice our faith or to succeed.

A command is given that as believers we are not to show partiality to people. James then gives a simple test to see if they would practice their faith or resort back to evil thinking. Give yourself the same test. Two visitors show up for a church service. One of them is rich, dressed in fine clothes and expensive jewelry. He no doubt has neatly combed hair and I suspect reasonably good looking. The second visitor to come into the service is poor. His clothes are dirty and he is not wearing any jewelry. I imagine he might even have a foul odor about him and he is not clean shaven much less has his hair combed.

The test is how will you treat your two visitors? James points out that if you pay special attention to the rich man, offer him the best seat in the auditorium, and talk with him as if you desire to be his friend; then treat the poor differently, telling him he can either sit on the floor or stand in the back of the auditorium then we have made a grave mistake and demonstrated that we are not practicing true Christianity.

Let me give an illustration from my own experience. The church I attended during my first year of seminary had a homeless ministry that sent church members into the downtown area on Saturday nights to witness to the homeless and invite them to church the next day. On Sunday morning, drivers would go back to the downtown area and bring any of the homeless that wanted to attend church. What I loved about this ministry is that the church body as a whole loved on those homeless people and they saw the love of Christ through the church body. Also, the Life Groups rotated providing lunch for the homeless that came to the service that Sunday. This gave several members the opportunity to not only show them love in the actual church service, but also to sit and talk with them one-on-one. It was heartwarming to see how many in that church grew spiritually as a result of this ministry.

Sadly, we make the same mistakes that James is pointing out. We tend to judge people outwardly rather than inwardly. Socio-economic status, dress, race and other superficial things often carry the weight of our decision to like someone. Did you know that how you treat other people reveals what you believe about God? 1 John 4:20 tells us, "If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." You may say well this does not describe me. Are you sure? Have you ever gone out of your way to make a new friend with someone who thinks, looks, and acts like you? That is easy. When was the last time you went out of your way to make friends with or even to make contact with someone vastly different than you?

Why are we prone to act this way? James identifies the motive is sin or "evil thoughts" that cause us to make judgments of people base solely on outward appearances. How then do we practice our Christianity in our relationships? I know this is easier said than done, but we are to look at people the same way Christ looks at them. We are to love all people either because Christ lives in them, or if they are not a believer, because Christ died for them. The basis of our relationships with other people is the Person of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, God can use a person for His glory that we deem unlikely. Look at Matthew, the tax collector, and Paul, the Christian murderer. He can use the poor person that we tend to reject.

Strike Up The Band

Nathan Stam
Communication/Children's Pastor

This past summer I took Aidan (our three year old) to his first movie at the movie theater. We went to see Wall-E*. I have to confess that one of my favorite things to do is go see a movie and sit down with a Coke and Nachos (Kristi prefers popcorn so we generally alternate what we get). It’s not an addiction per-say, but I do get the itch to see a movie quite often. I attribute this to my family having no TV in our house until I was in high school. It was probably good for my early childhood development, but it’s come back to bite me in my 20s and now, gulp, my 30s. It’s almost like my addiction to Mountain Dew, but not quite that bad.

The whole experience with Aidan was very cool. Just watching his face as he took everything in--all the other kids buzzing around, the BIG screen, buying his first little kid’s combo with a slushi and popcorn, and, of course, the seat that was a little too big and constantly threatened to swallow him up. Every few minutes during the film I’d hear a thwunk and look over to discover Aidan’s seat had once again snapped shut and he needed help escaping its clutches. During the previews he was dancing to one of the songs and he looked over at me with a big grin on his face and said, “I like it, Dad! I really do!” Now, this might seem like a silly or superficial example, but my heart swelled up big to see my son so filled with joy over something so small. It reminded me of a verse from Psalm 149:

“Hallelujah! Sing to God a brand-new song, praise him in the company of all who love him. Let all Israel celebrate their Sovereign Creator, Zion's children exult in their King. Let them praise his name in dance; strike up the band and make great music! And why? Because God delights in his people…”

A Father delighting in the joy of his son is just a whisper of how God delights in his children. He rejoices over us with singing! Life isn’t always going to be fair or pain-free, but this is an amazing truth—the God of the heavens delights in the joy and the praise of his children.

I’m sure I’ll have better examples of this as Aidan grows up, but this is what I’ve got right now and it’s enough. My heart is filled with gratitude to my Heavenly Father who cares for his children.

Now, I wonder what’s playing at Beaver Creek this weekend?

*Wall-E, by the way, was very very good. It didn’t have a lot of witty banter and dialogue, which was great for Aidan. It’s basically about robots cleaning up trash, zooming around in space, saving humanity—you know, all of those day-to-day mundane tasks that we all take for granted. I definitely recommend it.