Posts Tagged with "Pastor Grant Bowles"

This Saturday you have the opportunity to share that awesome news with the people of Sanger. We will meet at the church for breakfast at 8, then go out to our community and share hope. We will also be asking for opportunities to serve and bring benefit through practical acts of service. Join us in telling Sanger about a God who not only loves them, but gave His life so we...

Have you ever imagined living in a society in which you could not access God’s Word? For us, that scenario is impossible to imagine. We can find a copy of the Bible in so many versions and phone apps that not having access to the Scriptures in our language seems impossible. But for individuals in 4,000 language groups in our world, access to the Bible is non-existent. Th...

FBC Sanger experienced a great weekend of ministry and worship. I want to say a few thank yous in my article this week. Chris and the entire worship team led a great worship service. The band was minus a few members this week. I believe hunting season hit them hard! Who knew guitar players like to hunt? Seriously, I really appreciate how Chris took the band members who we...

I am a proud alumnus of the Sanger School system. I am also a proud member of the community of Sanger. This past weekend, I saw reason to be even more proud of our community. Friday evening I made the trek to Anna to watch our football team finish their season. Unfortunately, the season ended as it began. Even without a win, I was proud of our team and our community. ...

Are you drawing people to Jesus? Or leading them away from Him? That is a question we should ask ourselves often throughout the day. Our actions can help people draw closer in their relationship to God or leave them further from Him. ...

As our community continues to grow, the role of FBC Sanger must grow with it....

Memorial Day weekend is usually a chance to get away for a weekend. This year, that day will hopefully mark a very different kind of memory for FBC Sanger. The Music Search Committee presented some basic biographical information on their candidate for our Music Minister position....

Our Experiencing God study will be finishing soon. Have you been encouraged and challenged by this study? God has been impressing on me the need to keep my spiritual eyes open to see where He is working so I can join Him in that work....

Bob Klassen has been encouraging me to attend the Boot Camp Men’s Conference for the last couple of years. I finally set aside the dates on my calendar and attended this year. Describing this conference is difficult. The conference focuses on helping men become the man your family needs....

Memorizing Scripture simply takes effort. Everyone can do it if you will put in the effort. Why should we memorize Scripture? Because it hides God’s Word in our heart so that we might not sin against Him....

Has Experiencing God drawn you closer to Him? Has it challenged you? Has it encouraged you in your relationship with Him? Have you been convicted of an area where you need to serve? I pray that your answer is yes to all of these questions. ...

The book of James reminds us how powerful our words can be. You can choose to use that power for good or evil. Sometimes we won’t know how impactful, positively or negatively, our words are. Strive to use your words to build up and not tear down....

One of my favorite books in the Bible is Ephesians. I love that book, because the first three chapters detail what one might call “pure theology.” Then in the final three chapters, Paul discusses what I call “applied theology.” We need a solid grasp of what we believe without the hindrance of the messiness of life, but that must be followed up with serious thought ...

This past Sunday I tried to not shake any hands at church. Not because I am anti-social but because the stomach bug hit our house the night before. Fortunately, I have managed to somehow avoid the bugs floating around. Take a few minutes and check on those in your circle. It just might be an opportunity to spread God’s love. There is nothing wrong with taking a pot of ch...

Saturday was a great blessing as I joined about 120 fellow FBC Sanger members serving in Dallas. We accomplished a lot of work. But what impressed me most was watching our adults focus as much on building up our students as on finishing the projects. ...

DNow is this weekend. Be praying for the students, leaders and host homes. Denise and I are excited to be hosting 10th grade girls. I enjoy the opportunity to get to know our students better. If you have never participated in DNow, you should give it a try next year. On second thought, give it a try this year. ...

Have you signed up for Experiencing God? You have three levels of commitment from which to choose. If you want some good from the study just show up on Sunday mornings at 10:30 and listen to the sermons. If you want a better experience and more growth, show up on Sunday mornings at 9:00. But if you want the best experience and the most growth, sign up for a Growth Group (o...

In my first months of serving as pastor of FBC Sanger, the Stewardship Committee was talking about the three loans held by the church. They discussed trying to pay off the smallest loan. I asked the committee if we could just challenge the church to pay off that loan and then roll that payment into the second loan. The committee agreed and you rose to the challenge and ...

There are times when we need to make sure the best we have are front and center. But we must also provide opportunities to develop the talents and gifts of those God raises up. ...

Christmas season is a special time for families to celebrate together the birth of our Savior Jesus in Bethlehem. As you celebrate this year, take some time to consider how Jesus’ birth changed the entire world....

I think we can consider Streets of Bethlehem a success. As stated Sunday morning, I would have been pleased with an attendance of 200 for the weekend. I underestimated the popularity of this event by about 1,100! If you can do the math, you know we had right at 1,300 for the weekend. Throughout the weekend, we made adjustments based on crowd size and reaction....

Make this Thanksgiving about rejoicing and celebrating the good gifts God gives us....

The answer to our violence problem in America is turning to God. We must pray for the victims of this horrific act. We must pray for those who feel compelled to engage in such horrific acts. We must pray for those who feel so hopeless and lost they are willing to turn to violence. ...

Last Sunday I said our Fall Festival has grown every year. Last year we had over 500 people attend and work. This past Sunday evening the total was 750. Yes, that is correct, 750 people here enjoying an evening of games and fun. Over 180 of that total do not have a home church. We have talked over the last three Sundays about how Sanger has changed. We experienced that ch...

Getting people in the building the first time is probably half the challenge for us. Making sure they recognize the value of being part of a church family is the rest of the challenge. Take some time this week to think about why you attend FBC Sanger and how you would describe that reason to someone who doesn’t attend church....

As we talk about reaching our community I want to encourage each of us to consider what part we can play in reaching the people of Sanger. ...

Reaching the people of Sanger is the job God has given to FBC Sanger. We are not in competition with other churches in our community that preach the Gospel. We are in competition with the Enemy who wants to keep people blinded to the Gospel of Jesus Christ....

Find a way to examine the interpersonal conflicts in your life and work to make them right. ...

Those among us who lived in Sanger since birth comprise a smaller percentage than we might think. As a church we must consider how truly welcoming we really are. When we have meals at the church, is your table filled with only people you have known for longer than 5 years? If so, break out of that bubble. Take the time to make new friends....

his weekend, we have the privilege of learning more about One Mission Ministries. Pastor Abraham Barberi will bring our message on Sunday morning. I am excited to hear his message, and ways we can continue to support this great mission endeavor....

An attitude of gratitude can be a powerful force for evangelism. Learn to show your gratitude to God in every facet of life....

This Sunday I will talk about Jesus' love for His mother shown on the cross. In an interesting twist, Jesus places His mother in the care of one of His disciples, not in the care of His brother. We must remember that, at the time, Jesus' brothers were not among His followers. By His actions, Jesus placed the Family of God in importance over the biological family. For those...

God is at work, let’s make sure we join Him in working. Join us on Wednesday evenings as we serve the Mission Field of Sanger. ...

It started Monday evening when a group of over 20 men from FBC Sanger gathered with 400 men at FBC Decatur to hear from God. God used that gathering to pull one of our men to Himself. From there, the youth took over for the weekend with D-Now. God spoke powerfully to our students through many adults who volunteered their time, talents and treasure to invest in eternity thi...

When you and I live with a true focus on preparing not just ourselves, but our friends and family also, for Heaven we will see our world differently....

Take the time to meet and greet!...

When the election is over, we need to begin praying for every candidate elected to office no matter how we might feel about that candidate. Pray for their safety and for God to bless their tenure in office. Pray for peace in our nation. Disagree all you want with election results, but do so with civility and gentleness. Let us, as followers of Jesus, stand with integrity a...