1. FIRST SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCH of NORTH HOLLYWOOD (1-818-761-4800) NON-PROFIT ORG.
“The First Family” (www.fsbcnh.org) U.S. POSTAGE PAID
10853 Victory Boulevard PERMIT #660
North Hollywood, CA 91606-3826 VAN NUYS, CA
Address Service Requested
THE BAPTIST VISITOR
Paul D. Whetstone (Interim Senior Pastor) July 25, 2017 Charles Cutney (Minister of Encouragement)
***God has been so good to…***
**…The First Family!!**
AND WE WILL “OFFICIALLY” CELEBRATE THAT FACT ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 6…
Here are a few things about
our Churches’ History
that will help to make
August 6 a very special Day of Celebration:
First of all,
our Church had its very first Worship Service on
the first Sunday in August, 1944—in Daddy
Shepherd’s garage in Burbank. Who knew that
this tiny Church would still be in existence
today!
Second,
God has brought the “First Family” (that’s a
friendly, informal way of referring to “The First
Southern Baptist of North Hollywood”) through
some tough times in its 73 years of existence!
Misunderstandings, financial difficulties,
disagreements, etc.
Third,
BUT HE HAS BROUGHT US THROUGH
THEM—AND HE WILL CONTINUE TO
GIVE US THE STRENGTH AND VISION WE
NEED TO GET US THROUGH ANY TOUGH
TIMES WE MAY HAVE TO DEAL WITH
TODAY!
Fourth,
the Lord has given our Church some
wonderful—completely paid for—facilities to use
for His Glory. They include our Worship Center,
our two-story Educational Building, a Parking
Lot that has more than thirty spaces, and two
fine houses next door to the Church. We are
constantly looking for ways to use these facilities
in ways that will honor the Lord.
Fifth,
we will have (A) two special services on August 6
at 8:30AM and 11:00AM—using the same
scripture as a basis for the messages, (B) a
POTLUCK in the Blue Room at 5PM in the Blue
Room, and (C) an ALL-MUSIC EVENING
beginning at 6:30PM!
Business Meeting July 26th!
We need your help! We’re considering having a child
day care center use our educational building on
weekdays as a means to supplement our income. Giving
levels have dropped below our weekly budget
requirement of $2,603.46, so we’re hoping that rentals
from the day care will help. Please attend as we
consider our options.
OUR RECORD SPEAKS: July 16, July 23, 2017
8:30AM Worship Attendance 22 / 23
9:45AM Bible Study / Sunday School Attendance 20 / 17
11:00AM Worship Attendance 16 / 22
6:30PM Worship Attendance 22 / 16
Offering **1,131.25 / $1,497.10
(** 2016 Budget Offering Goal**$2,603.46)
Benevolence $00.00 / $20.00
Children's Ministry $00.00 / $20.00
First Family Friends Who Will Celebrate a Birthday or a
Wedding Anniversary During the Month of August
01 – Tabitha Roll
11 – Barbara Sandy
13 – Eleazar & Joy II Tortal
18 – Sarah Reyes
21 – Tyler Rosado
22 – Amanda Briley
22 – Iris O’Dell
23 – Lee & Bettie O’Dell
2. “My People”
Article #5 of “What is ‘Revival,’
and how does it happen?”
Just to refresh our memories, let’s print 2
Chronicles 7:12-14 once again—this time, from the
Amplified Bible: “And the Lord appeared to Solomon by
night and said to him: I have heard your prayer and have
chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I
shut up heaven so no rain falls, or if I command locusts to
devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people,
If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble
themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My
face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from
heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”
There are all kinds of solutions to the world’s
problems floating around today. “All we need is a change
in government!” is one of them. We also hear that “more
troops” will settle things down once and for all. Some even
think that Rodney King’s question (“Can’t we all get
along?”) holds the promise of a worldwide Utopia!
“There we go again, Pastor Chuck: why CAN’T
we ‘all get along’? And isn’t having a good government an
important thing? And I, for one, really appreciate the
military folks’ protection—don’t you??”
Of course we need “peacemakers”! Jesus even
said, in Matthew 5:9, that they were “blessed.” And we’re
also commanded, in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, to pray fervently
“...for kings and all who are in authority...” And Jesus
commended the faith of a centurion—a military man!—
with these words in Luke 7:9[b] (NASB): “I say to you, not
even in Israel have I found such great faith." All of these
factors are vital components of both peacemaking and
peacekeeping—and we need to thank God for them!
“And your point is...?”
That none of the above is the ultimate solution to
the world’s needs; the burden is on “God’s people”—all of
those who are born-again believers in Jesus Christ as
their Savior and Lord.
“Could you explain that a little further? That
sounds like too much of a load for believers to bear!”
It’s a tough one alright—but go back and read 2
Chronicles 7:14 again; the Amplified Bible begins the verse
with God saying, “If My people, who are called by My
name...” He DIDN’T say, “If the government...” or, “If
certain prominent people...” or even, “If all the priests and
prophets and other leaders in the nation of Israel...”! He
said, “If My people, who are called by My name...”
“OK, OK, I get your point! You don’t have to beat
me over the head with it!”
I apologize if I came on a bit too strong there. So
that you can see how vital we are to God’s work, let me
quote from the Expositor’s Bible Commentary in relation to
2 Chronicles 6:33: “...when the [Temple] structure is said
to "bear" his Name (v. 33), the Hebrew reads literally that
his name "has been called on" it. This means that God has
taken the temple to himself as possession and dominion just
as in [our] election/adoption, Deut 28:10, or as in
marriage, Isa 4:1.”
When we connect this teaching with 1 Corinthians
6:19-20 (NASB)—where it tells us “...your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have
from God, and that you are not your own? For you have
been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your
body.”—we get a glimpse of what God means when He
calls us “...My people, who are called by My name...”
Here are some key examples of the influence that
“God’s people” have in bringing about Revival: (Many
Bible teachers express it this way: “Our prayers RELEASE
the WILL of GOD in the WORLD!”)
1. Look at Christ’s instructions concerning the way we
are to pray in Matthew 6:6, 9-10 (NASB): “...you,
when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you
have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in
secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay
you...Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in
heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.’”
Wouldn’t you say that this commandment is rather
PERSONAL??
2. And please don’t neglect the so-called “Great
Commission” that’s found in Matthew 28:16-20:
“...Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit...’” (Matthew 28:18, 19—NIV) He wasn’t talking
to some political or military or educational, etc. figure
there—He was talking to His disciples...and to US!!
3. Finally, remember Christ’s words concerning the
coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost:
“...behold, I will send forth upon you what My Father
has promised; but remain in the city [Jerusalem] until
you are clothed with power from on high.” Again, He
won’t let us off the hook—it’s US He’s commissioning
and empowering!
This knowledge is both EXCITING and
FRIGHTENING at the same time. It’s a bit like the first
time I saw Cyndie, our first-born child, there in the nursery
at Covina Intercommunity Hospital on August 6, 1956: I
was thrilled and excited because of God’s gift to us, but at
the same time, I was scared to death that we wouldn’t be
the kind of parents that this lovely little girl would need in
the years to come. (I am told that the Chinese symbol for
the word “crisis” means literally, “dangerous
opportunity.”)
“I sure can understand that one, Pastor Chuck.
But are you positive that we have what it takes to be used
by the Lord to help bring about a ‘spiritual awakening’ in
the world today?”
Absolutely! Which is why the rest of this series of
articles will focus on the practical nuts and bolts of
Revival. For instance, in our next article, we’ll be talking
about “humbling ourselves” before God. Between now
and then, be sure to meditate on 2 Chronicles 7:14 and
James 4:6-10. They’re really powerful passages!
July 25, 2017
![“My People”
Article #5 of “What is ‘Revival,’
and how does it happen?”
Just to refresh our memories, let’s print 2
Chronicles 7:12-14 once again—this time, from the
Amplified Bible: “And the Lord appeared to Solomon by
night and said to him: I have heard your prayer and have
chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I
shut up heaven so no rain falls, or if I command locusts to
devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people,
If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble
themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My
face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from
heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”
There are all kinds of solutions to the world’s
problems floating around today. “All we need is a change
in government!” is one of them. We also hear that “more
troops” will settle things down once and for all. Some even
think that Rodney King’s question (“Can’t we all get
along?”) holds the promise of a worldwide Utopia!
“There we go again, Pastor Chuck: why CAN’T
we ‘all get along’? And isn’t having a good government an
important thing? And I, for one, really appreciate the
military folks’ protection—don’t you??”
Of course we need “peacemakers”! Jesus even
said, in Matthew 5:9, that they were “blessed.” And we’re
also commanded, in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, to pray fervently
“...for kings and all who are in authority...” And Jesus
commended the faith of a centurion—a military man!—
with these words in Luke 7:9[b] (NASB): “I say to you, not
even in Israel have I found such great faith." All of these
factors are vital components of both peacemaking and
peacekeeping—and we need to thank God for them!
“And your point is...?”
That none of the above is the ultimate solution to
the world’s needs; the burden is on “God’s people”—all of
those who are born-again believers in Jesus Christ as
their Savior and Lord.
“Could you explain that a little further? That
sounds like too much of a load for believers to bear!”
It’s a tough one alright—but go back and read 2
Chronicles 7:14 again; the Amplified Bible begins the verse
with God saying, “If My people, who are called by My
name...” He DIDN’T say, “If the government...” or, “If
certain prominent people...” or even, “If all the priests and
prophets and other leaders in the nation of Israel...”! He
said, “If My people, who are called by My name...”
“OK, OK, I get your point! You don’t have to beat
me over the head with it!”
I apologize if I came on a bit too strong there. So
that you can see how vital we are to God’s work, let me
quote from the Expositor’s Bible Commentary in relation to
2 Chronicles 6:33: “...when the [Temple] structure is said
to "bear" his Name (v. 33), the Hebrew reads literally that
his name "has been called on" it. This means that God has
taken the temple to himself as possession and dominion just
as in [our] election/adoption, Deut 28:10, or as in
marriage, Isa 4:1.”
When we connect this teaching with 1 Corinthians
6:19-20 (NASB)—where it tells us “...your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have
from God, and that you are not your own? For you have
been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your
body.”—we get a glimpse of what God means when He
calls us “...My people, who are called by My name...”
Here are some key examples of the influence that
“God’s people” have in bringing about Revival: (Many
Bible teachers express it this way: “Our prayers RELEASE
the WILL of GOD in the WORLD!”)
1. Look at Christ’s instructions concerning the way we
are to pray in Matthew 6:6, 9-10 (NASB): “...you,
when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you
have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in
secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay
you...Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in
heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.’”
Wouldn’t you say that this commandment is rather
PERSONAL??
2. And please don’t neglect the so-called “Great
Commission” that’s found in Matthew 28:16-20:
“...Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit...’” (Matthew 28:18, 19—NIV) He wasn’t talking
to some political or military or educational, etc. figure
there—He was talking to His disciples...and to US!!
3. Finally, remember Christ’s words concerning the
coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost:
“...behold, I will send forth upon you what My Father
has promised; but remain in the city [Jerusalem] until
you are clothed with power from on high.” Again, He
won’t let us off the hook—it’s US He’s commissioning
and empowering!
This knowledge is both EXCITING and
FRIGHTENING at the same time. It’s a bit like the first
time I saw Cyndie, our first-born child, there in the nursery
at Covina Intercommunity Hospital on August 6, 1956: I
was thrilled and excited because of God’s gift to us, but at
the same time, I was scared to death that we wouldn’t be
the kind of parents that this lovely little girl would need in
the years to come. (I am told that the Chinese symbol for
the word “crisis” means literally, “dangerous
opportunity.”)
“I sure can understand that one, Pastor Chuck.
But are you positive that we have what it takes to be used
by the Lord to help bring about a ‘spiritual awakening’ in
the world today?”
Absolutely! Which is why the rest of this series of
articles will focus on the practical nuts and bolts of
Revival. For instance, in our next article, we’ll be talking
about “humbling ourselves” before God. Between now
and then, be sure to meditate on 2 Chronicles 7:14 and
James 4:6-10. They’re really powerful passages!
July 25, 2017](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)