We are back to in person worship. The service will be also available online on YouTube at this link:
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC0j7m5zFpHrl07OvCo-N9lQ
Preaching for March
Please pray for Pastor Nick as he brings God’s Word to us:
5 March
Preacher // Nick Gagnon
12 March
Preacher // Nick Gagnon
Communion
19 March
Preacher // Nick Gagnon
26 March
Preacher // Branko Bjelajac
Potluck
BIBLE STUDY
TUESDAY @ 6.45PM
Join us for in-person Bible study on Tuesday evening. Dinner is at 18:00 (please let Nick or Pete know if you will attend) and Bible Study will start at 18:45. A Zoom option is available.
Women Connect
04 JUNE @ 10AM
Our last meeting before summer qill take place on Saturday, 4 June at 10am
For more information contact Nikki at niksseiler@gmail.com.
Finances
The church is financed by the tithes and offerings of members & those who attend – members receive monthly reports of income and expenses. (See below for the church’s banking details)
News & Prayer Requests
PRAY FOR OUR MISSIONARIES:
- Lenka and Jason Knoetze in South Africa, continuing their ministry with Operation Mobilization.
- Eva & Martin Horton working with Wycliff in England.
- Zuzka Magdošková and Jarka Pauchuchova, working with Child Evangelism Fellowship in Slovakia.
If you have any prayer needs, please speak to one of the Council members to make it known.
From the Pastors Desk
Community
What is the purpose of Christian community? We all probably have some pretty strong opinions on this question, but there is a more pressing question we should be asking here. What is the Biblical purpose of Christian community? This is a very different question. No longer do our opinions and preferences drive our answer, but instead we are being asked to consider what God’s Word tells us about the Church. There are many places we could go to discuss the Biblical purpose of the church, but I want to focus on two brief passages.
In Ephesians 5:22-33, Paul gives an explanation for how husbands should love their wives, but in this explanation we learn something very specific about the Church. Paul explains the Church as being the bride of Christ. In verse 25, Paul tells us that Jesus “loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” In verses 26 & 27, Paul explains why Jesus did this: “so that He (Jesus) might sanctify her (the church), having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” We often forget that the purpose of the Church is to make us holy. Christ has saved us and sent us to live in Christian community, but this is not meant to just be a place that we sit and wait for heaven. This is meant to be a place of transformation as we look more and more like Jesus with each passing day.
Of course we all want to find friendship in the church. We also want to have people that we can spend time with, but why do we gather together each week for worship? We gather that we may be made holy just as Christ is holy. This is not how we receive salvation, but instead this is the natural by-product of the salvation we have already received from Jesus.
So how do we work toward this purpose of holiness within the Church? We do what the early church did. In Acts 2:42, we get a glimpse into the life of the early Church when the passage says, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” The things we do as a church are not pointless, but instead we do these things with a very clear purpose: the holiness of the bride of Christ. My prayer is that we learn to truly cherish the apostles’ teaching (recorded in the Bible), that we find true fellowship within our church, and that we be a people of prayer. These are not just things we do, but these are the very means by which the Spirit of God is working to make us holy as we await the return of our glorious Savior, King Jesus.
I pray that our church would be known for this: A people that are being transformed into the very image of Christ. May we learn to live in community as the Bible defines it, and may our transformed lives be used by God to transform the lives of the lost.
In Christ,
Nick, Amanda, and Julia Gagnon
Church Finances
The church is financed by the tithes and offerings of members & those who attend.
Account Name: Medzinárodný baptistický zbor Bratislava
IBAN: SK65 3100 0000 0040 4026 2118
BIC: KOMASK2X
Bank Name: Prima banka Slovensko, a. s.