Canaan Baptist Family Blog

A Not a Fan Story…

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness…” Matthew 6:33

   His eyes were moist with tears and his voice crackled with emotion. He shared with me about his cross country trip from Chicago to Seattle Washington. He was done with fandom and now committed to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. In his hand was a carefully folded sheet of paper chronicling each of the times he witnessed to someone on his journey. They were now brought before the Lord in earnest intercession. Beneath the list of names were the locations he had left Gospel tracks. The Word of God and the Spirit of God have transformed John Blocker. He is a fan no longer, but a follower of Christ. Are you growing weary of fandom? Jesus is looking for those who will seek first the Kingdom of God.

   During May and June, we’re surveying the book of 1 Peter. Nearly every lead story on the evening news reminds us that Families are on the Firing Line in our culture. Peter’s shown us how we’re called to Be Saints in the World and Mothers Shaping Hearts in the Home. This Sunday, we’ll celebrate Graduate’s Day by seeing how we’re called to be Servants in the Workplace. Bring your Bible and an open heart to God’s Truth.

   We continue to Focus on the Family in the upcoming weeks. Sunday is Graduate’s Day. If you know of someone graduating, at any level, please call the church office so we can honor them Sunday. Memorial Day Weekend, we’ll remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and honor our Senior Adults. Senior Adults remember the youth will be hosting lunch for you on May 27^th!

   I’m looking forward to launching our Wednesday Night Study – Not a Fan. If you’re available, let me encourage you to join us on Wednesday at 6:30 in the Family Chapel for this challenging study. What a joy to be your pastor and friend. I look forward to seeing you Sunday!

Your grateful partner in the Journey,

Bro Morgan

Families on the Front Line
“Having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles (world)…that they may by your good works…glorify God in the day of visitation.”
1 Peter 2:12

During May and June, at Canaan, we focus our sermons and services on equipping families. The Adversary has stepped up his attacks against Christian homes. It is the Church’s responsibility to provide encouragement and instruction for marriages and parenting. We’ll be surveying 1 Peter to discover the Father’s strategy for – Families on the Front Line. Be watching your Journal weekly for each week’s emphasis.
Everyone seemed to enjoy our Family Fun Fest last Sunday. This annual Sharing Life event allows us the opportunity to kick back and fellowship with our church family in a different setting. We want to thank Karen & Wayne Keller, the FFF Team and the scores of volunteers who helped make this such a memorable day. It is a joy to have so many people who are willing to go the extra mile serving others!
Sunday, I gave a brief report on our Leadership Team Trip to Guatemala. We had the privilege of equipping some 40 pastors and leaders Saturday. The Father broke through any cultural or language barriers and they went back to their churches with a strategy to move their members on the Journey. That afternoon, our ladies were able to meet and equip about a dozen women from the churches. Our team left that afternoon with a heart full of joy and an enlarged Family of Faith.
Sunday, we were able to visit in the homes of many of the members of the church in Conrado de la Cruz. The ladies had another time before the services. Then we gathered for an inspirational time of worship with the growing congregation (maybe 50). Several decisions were made for Christ and Pastor Oscar informed us that many were awaiting baptism! To God be the glory! We we’re able to meet with Pastor Oscar and hear his heart about the church and the possibility of our next steps. Continue to pray for our partnership.
We have a Special Mother’s Day Service planned for Sunday. Every mother will receive a gift. Currently, we have four families scheduled for our Parent/Baby Dedication. Graduates day is Sunday, May 20. If you or a loved one is graduating from High School, Trade School or College please let us know!

Remember to contact absentees weekly!
Your grateful partner in the Journey,

Bro Morgan

Focusing on our Families
“He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the Rock…”
Luke 6:48

During the months of May and June at Canaan we build our sermons and services around the family. The Adversary has stepped up his attacks against Christian homes. It is the Church’s responsibility to provide encouragement and instruction for marriages and parenting. We’ll be looking to 1 Peter – Families on the Front Line, during the next two months to glean insight for building strong families. Be watching your Journal weekly to see those emphasis.

Our Annual Family Fun Fest is Sunday, May 6th. We have a special day planned for the whole family. This annual Sharing Life event allows us to kick back and fellowship with our church family. We’ll have special services planned for Sunday morning. We’ll then adjourn outside, weather permitting, and enjoy a meal provided by the church. We have a BRIEF Variety Show planned (Staff Infection is back by popular demand!), Inflatables for the children, a Corn Hole Tournament and Chili Cook-Off. You’ll want to bring your lawn chairs and portable tents (we have tents for the senior adults) and enjoy this special day of fellowship. Be sure to contact everyone on your S.S. roll and invite those unchurched friends and family.

Let me use this opportunity to thank everyone for their support and prayers for our Leadership Trip to Guatemala. We can’t wait to share what the Lord of the Harvest did through His Church on the mission field in Guatemala equipping nearly 100 leaders for the work in their churches. We’ll also look forward to reporting about the work in Conrado de la Cruz.

Your grateful partner in the Journey,

Bro Morgan

A Family of Fully Devoted Followers
“He who humbles himself will be exalted…”
Luke 18:14
I know it sounds redundant but…The Father smiled upon us again Sunday! God is doing so many wonderful things in His Church, we must pause and give Him glory. Praise His Name! Eight (8) precious souls stirred the baptismal waters Sunday morning and then the Spirit added two (2) more by profession of faith and one by statement! We currently have four (4) more awaiting baptism. Then to cap off an incredible day in S.S. and worship most of the 500+ in worship stood committing themselves to be fully devoted Followers of Jesus. This coming Sunday Bro Charles will close our month long discussion of Jesus riveting question in Luke’s Gospel – Am I a Fan or Follower of Jesus.
Invite a friend and be in your place Sunday.
Our Annual Family Fun Fest is Sunday, May 6th. We have a special day planned for the whole family. This annual Sharing Life event allows us to kick back and fellowship with our church family. We’ll have special services planned for Sunday morning. We’ll then adjourn outside, weather permitting, and enjoy a meal provided by the church. We have a BRIEF variety show planned (Staff Infection is back by popular demand!), inflatables for the children and a corn hole tournament. You’ll want to bring your lawn chairs and portable tents (we have tents for the senior adults) and enjoy this special day of fellowship. Be sure to contact everyone on your S.S. roll and invite those unchurched friends and family.
I’m excited about the upcoming church wide Kingdom Focused Estate Planning Workshop - An Introduction to the Estate Design Process on Wednesday, May 2nd from 6:30-7:30 PM. Our guest speaker will be Mr. Ray Lyne, Founder of the Lifestyle Giving Alliance.
Ray will be sharing insights that he has obtained from 40 years of experience in counseling families of all ages in preparing their estates. While there will be many topics covered there are at least four areas that concern us all…
1. We want our families to be cared for
2. The peaceful execution of our estate directives
3. Our estate to be protected from unnecessary taxes
4. Discerning God’s plan for The Kingdom investment of our estate.
This event is for adults of all ages.
Let me close by saying thank you…A special thank you church family for your many expressions of kindness to us on our 6th anniversary – we love and appreciate each of you! Thank you to Wayne Keller our Building Team and the myriad of volunteers who are doing so much to improve buildings 300 and 400. We’re also grateful to James Tubbs for constructing and installing our new tech table in the balcony.

Pray for us while we’re in Guatemala!
Your grateful partner in the Journey,
Bro Morgan

Kingdom Focused Estate Planning
“Honor the Lord with your possessions…”
Proverbs 3:9

Most of us understand Kingdom Stewardship while we’re alive. Everything we are and have belongs to God and He’s entrusted us to be His managers. Few of us plan our stewardship for after our death. That’s why I’m excited about the upcoming church wide Kingdom Focused Estate Planning Workshop - An Introduction to the Estate Design Process on Wednesday, May 2nd from 6:30-7:30 PM. Our guest speaker will be Mr. Ray Lyne, Founder of the Lifestyle Giving Alliance.
Ray will be sharing insights that he has obtained from 40 years of experience in counseling families of all ages in preparing their estates. While there will be many topics covered there are four areas that concern us all…
1. We want our families to be cared for
2. The peaceful execution of our estate directives
3. Our estate to be protected from unnecessary taxes
4. Discerning God’s plan for The Kingdom investment of our estate.
Our Special Guest Sunday, April 22 in the evening services will be Steve Sellers from the Alabama Baptist Children’s Home. Steve will share with us the work of the ABCH and introduce us to the Kingdom Focused Estate Planning Workshop. I hope you’ll make your plans to attend both meetings.
Sunday, we continue our Not a Fan emphasis by celebrating the ordinance of baptism in both morning services. Currently we have 10 candidates scheduled to be baptized. This promises to be an exciting day. Each Sunday we’ve watched our Sunday School attendance grow in response to our Give Him 5 emphasis (472 in S.S. Sunday!). Let’s keep contacting our absentees!
Sunday, we also have a special remembrance planned to commemorate the anniversary of April 27th. You’ll not want to miss this special remembrance our staff has put together.

Your grateful partner in the Journey,
Bro Morgan

Resurrection Sunday Reflections
“The Son of Man must suffer…and be raised the third day” Luke 9:22

Glory! What a glorious Resurrection Celebration we experienced this past Sunday. It has been awhile since I’ve felt that much anticipation and excitement in our services. Church Family, I want to commend you on gathering Sunday to worship the Risen Christ…He has risen, He has risen indeed! The Father smiled upon us with wonderful attendance in both services (early service, you had the most!). Many, many new faces were in our services that we’ll be following up with through TOUCH. The Holy Spirit blessed us, as well, adding to our church a new family.
Our WINGS (Woman in God’s Service) Ministry has planned an exciting conference for this Saturday, April 14th. You can still purchase your tickets Saturday morning. This year’s theme is – For Such a Time as This. This year’s speaker is Tollie Meggs. Be sure to make your plans to attend and bring a friend.
It’s exciting to see so many of our children involved in Bible Drill this year. Our Associational Drill is here at Canaan this Sunday at 2PM. Come out and support our children, you will be the one who is blessed! The State Drill is at Lakeside B.C. on Sunday, April 22nd at 2PM.
The Annual Men’s Fishing Tournament on Lay Lake is scheduled for Saturday, April 21st.
Currently we have 14 boats signed up. There’s still time to get your boat in the tournament. The cost is $50 per boat and proceeds go to our Mission’s Scholarship Fund. Bro Mike Turley and Bro James Glover have put together a great event with a lot of good prizes. This is a wonderful time for men to Share Life outside the walls of the church.
The Father is using our “Not a Fan” emphasis to stir the hearts of our people. I’m getting a lot of encouraging feed back from members of all ages. It’s a blessing to see the words of Jesus probing our hearts and challenging us to not settle for fandom, but to long to be truly devoted followers of Christ. This Sunday, we’ll look at A Follower’s Priorities – A Life Invested in Jesus. All of our messages can be found on our web page.

Remember to contact absentees weekly…and consider giving Jesus the next 3 Sundays!

Your grateful partner in the Journey,

Bro Morgan

Another Guest at the Table

“Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He (Jesus) went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat…” Luke 7:36

Imagine for a moment you were another guest at Simon’s dinner party. You’re elated to have a seat at the table with the Teacher. You’ve begun to enjoy the meal and hang on every word of Jesus. Then you witness the extravagance of the uninvited party crasher. She worships Christ with spontaneous tears, kisses, washing his feet with her hair and anointing them with precious oil. You’re startled at her exuberant adoration and puzzled by Jesus’ initial silence.  How would you respond? Would you be Indifferent like the other guests, indignant like Simon or disappointed that you did not join her in worship? Followers of Jesus are sensitive for opportunities to express their unbridled gratitude and adoration to Him. He is worthy and waiting for those who are not a fan.

We launched our Not a Fan and Give Him 5 Emphasis Sunday with a bang. It was exciting to see God’s House fill up in both services with more than 500 in worship and 465 in Sunday School. Praise His Name. Let’s keep up the good work contacting our absentees weekly and reporting those contacts. This Sunday, we’ll continue our series with a message from Luke 9:23, A Followers Purpose – A life that is Intentional for Jesus.

I hope you’ll take advantage of both services celebrating the Easter Season. Good Friday Services will center our worship around the 7 sayings of Jesus from the Cross. We’ll celebrate the Lord’s Supper at the close. You’ll not want to miss what we have planned for Resurrection Sunday! Let me encourage you not to skip S.S. but bring your family and guests with you.

Our WINGS (Woman in God’s Service) ministry has planned an exciting conference for Saturday, April 14^th. Our ladies are selling tickets each Sunday for the conference. This year’s theme is – For Such a Time as This. Make your plans to attend and bring a friend.

The Living Lord’s Supper provided an incredible evening of worship this past Sunday. Our cast did an incredible job and the choir and orchestra were wonderful as always! A special thank you to them and Bro Jeff for his wonderful leadership.

Let me use this opportunity to say thank you to Sandy Oglesby and our Grounds Team for their work beautifying our campus.

Continue to pray for our TOUCH Training Camp and our leaders, mentors and learners. God is working through our teams!

Your grateful partner on the Journey,

Bro Morgan

Praising His Name

“My praise shall be of you in the great assembly…”

Psalm 22:25

Heaven came down and glory filled our soul! There is no other way to describe what God did this past Sunday. The Lord’s House was full and His Spirit fell upon us. It was truly a wonderful day of worship in all three services. The Father added 7 new members to the Family – 5 of our children by profession of faith and 2 by transfer. Four of our children made their decisions Sunday evening! We culminated the day with 4 baptisms in our night service. Who says nothing happens on Sunday nights?!? Yes we are Praising His Name!

Sandwiched in between our morning and evening services was our Annual Missions Meal. Our WMU ladies under Melonie Fox’s leadership did a stellar job planning this year’s event. I’m certain we had our best attendance ever and greatest mission’s scholarship offering $4,200 and counting.  A special thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this year’s event such a success.

Sunday, we’ll launch our Not a Fan Emphasis in worship. Last Sunday we introduced the concept in our services. You’ll notice the billboard on I-459 advertizing our emphasis and inviting commuters in the area to join us. Personal invitations, however, are always the most effective. Each Sunday in April, we’ll examine the Gospels to discover Jesus definition of His Followers. We’ll look at a Christ Followers Passion; Purpose; Priorities and Power. I hope you’ll invite someone to join you each Sunday.

Our Give Him 5 emphasis in Sunday School will compliment the Not a Fan program. I’m excited about the possibility of our members committing to attend each Sunday in April. Certainly there will be some conflicts, but consider the potential of the majority of our folks making a concerted effort to be in worship and Sunday School each Sunday! What an opportunity for God to work supernaturally among His people. Will you join me in praying for a special movement of God’s Spirit?

The most blessed season of the year begins Sunday – it’s Passion Week! Palm Sunday morning I launch the Not a Fan emphasis. Sunday evening we’ll worship through The Living Lord Supper presentation by our Adult Choir. At the end of the week we’ll gather for our Good Friday Service. The week comes to a crescendo with our Easter Celebration on Sunday, a very special service has been planned. Remember personal invitations are always the best!

Please continue to pray for our TOUCH TRAINING CAMP as we prepare for Week # 3.

Your grateful partner in the Journey,

Bro Morgan

The Blessed…Bless the Lord!

“Bless the Lord all you His hosts,

You ministers (Saints) of His,

Who do His pleasure…”

Psalm 103:21

What an awesome time we had Sunday continuing in our series in the Psalms. David reminded us of an important discipline, we should daily remember the benefits of the Lord. Our Heavenly Father has redeemed, restored, ravished and renewed us! The redeemed live blessed lives crowned with God’s Grace and Mercy. The Psalm ends with a challenge to the blessed of the Lord…we should bless Him! How? The answer is simple…His Servants should live to Do His pleasure. It should be our passion to discover and do the will of God daily. Primarily that is accomplished serving Christ through His Church.

Two emphasis in April will underscore this truth… Fan or Follower? And Give Him 5!

Yes, the Blessed should be a Blessing to the Lord!

Our Annual Missions Meal is this Sunday, March 25^th. Bro Rick Gandy gave an awesome testimony reminding us that Where God Guides He Provides! We raise nearly half the money for our mission’s scholarships at these meals. It’s also a wonderful time for S.S. Classes to plan to eat together and enjoy the opportunity for fellowship. I hope you’ll make your plans to eat lunch with us and support our WMU ladies and mission projects in this worthy project. Consider this when you sit down to enjoy a wonderful meal and fellowship - that your gift will support over 100 of our missionaries this year!

Our Annual Sportsman Night is Thursday, March 29^th at 7PM. Our JourneyMen have put together an incredible evening – a wonderful fish fry (there will be other food items for those who don’t like fish) prizes galore and great fellowship. Our speaker this year is the founder of Fishers of Men Ministries, Al Odom coming to us from South Carolina. Men, please make your plans to attend and invite your unchurched male family, neighbors and friends. This is a great evangelistic opportunity.

Our Annie Armstrong Week of Prayer for North American Missions has ended. Please continue to pray for our missionaries and our work this summer penetrating the darkness. We’re a third of the way towards our goal of $12,100.

We’ll honor our second Centurion, Ms Lucile Coley this Sunday. What a blessing to have two ladies turning 100 in the same year. May the Father continue to bless and use their lives.

Our Easter Season is less than two weeks away!

Ø Musical – The Living Lord’s Supper, April 1^st

Ø Good Friday Services & Lord’s Supper, April 6^th

Ø Easter Celebration, April 8^th

Please be in prayer for our TOUCH Training Camp as we kick off again Monday!

Your grateful partner in the Journey,

Bro Morgan

Joy Comes in the Morning

“Weeping may endure for a night…

But Joy comes in the morning”

Psalm 30:5

Adversity seldom takes a vacation. Trouble is a natural part of everyone’s journey, even the children of God. The difference for believers is that our God gives us Grace to endure the weeping and the assurance that our mourning will pass. We’re confident that His Joy will arrive in the morning… just when we need it (Him). You see weeping is a guest, but God’s Favor is for a lifetime! God doesn’t simply replace our sorrow with joy that would not help us; He transforms our sorrow into Joy – that’s Grace! So when you weep, and you will, know that joy comes in the morning!

Spring Break is here…but if you’re in town I hope you will be here (at Church)! I know many will be out of town on much deserved vacations but if you’re in town I hope you’ll join us as we continue our series in the Psalms (Being Sustained in the Psalms) on Sunday morning and 1 John (Learning to Love Like God) in the evening.

Our Annie Armstrong Week of Prayer for North American Missions has ended. Please continue to pray for our missionaries and our work this summer penetrating the darkness. We’re a third of the way towards our goal of $12,100. I hope you’ll make a gift and consider signing up for one of our summer mission trips – check out the mission’s board.

Our Annual Missions Meal is Sunday, March 25^th. We raise nearly half the money for our mission’s scholarships at this meal. It’s also a wonderful time for S.S. Classes to plan to eat together and enjoy the opportunity for continued fellowship. I hope you’ll make your plans to eat lunch with us and support our WMU ladies and mission projects in this worthy project.

Calling all men and boys for our Annual Sportsman Night, Thursday, March 29^th at 7PM. Our Journeymen have put together an incredible evening – a wonderful fish fry, prizes galore and for our speaker the founder of Fisher’s for Men, Al Odom. Please make your plans to attend and invite your unchurched family, neighbors and friends. This is a great evangelistic opportunity. Begin praying for the harvest now.

Please be in prayer for our TOUCH Training Camp! Join us in contacting absentees weekly!

Your grateful partner in the Journey,

Bro Morgan