Is there more to the Christian life than you are experiencing? The answer is in God’s Word and our desire is that many might find freedom “In Christ.”
“Large Enough to Serve, Small Enough to Care.”
Service Times
Sunday school — 9:45 am
Sunday morning worship — 11:00 am
Sunday evening service — 6:00 pm
Wednesday Prayer and Bible Study — 6:00 pm
Address and Phone
5300 Two Notch Rd
Columbia, SC 29204
803-754-8690
bayviewbaptist@bellsouth.net
Pastor Edgardo Figueroa
What does forgiveness mean? To forgive is to cancel a debt owed. Financially and morally, forgiveness says, “You no longer owe me. I am no longer looking for u to pay me back. I freed you from your indebtedness to me.
Forgiveness is one of the “key” words of the Christian faith. If God had not included forgiveness in His plan for humanity, none of us would enjoy life renewed with Him in heaven. Without forgiveness there would be no hope at all. (Daniel 9:9.) To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him. Our awesome Father in heaven was the creator of forgiveness and so it belongs to Him and He lavishes us with it abundantly every day. God knew from the beginning of time ALL of the sins that would take place. It is a burden of love that only the Father could carry.
(1 John 1:9) says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It really is that simple. This is not just a confession, though. The type of confession described here is a confession of heart-felt shame from what we have done. This remorse goes hand-in-hand with repentance. When you cry out to God for His forgiveness of your sins, you must not forget about your repentant heart. Without it, you will fall right back into the same sin. Repentance means to turn away.
Forgiveness does not just come from God but also from His flock. (Luke 17:3-4) says, Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, “I repent”, you must forgive him. This is not always easy. If repentance is genuine, it must always be forgiven, even if it is the same sin over and over again. Human nature wants to push us in the direction of giving up on someone who is in perpetual sin because we tend to stop believing in someone who is constantly engaged in sin, but the Bible is clear on this issue. God NEVER gives up on His children who come in His name to ask for forgiveness, which is why we cannot give up either.
For true forgiveness to take place, one must completely take pride out. A proud heart will never truly forgive. (Matthew 6:14-15) says, For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. You absolutely cannot expect to be forgiven if you are too proud to forgive someone else.
The ultimate act of forgiveness is when Christ, Himself, was hanging on that cross, bloody and bruised. The absolute humiliation that was put on Him is unimaginable. He had already had His flesh ripped open as He was beaten and then He was mocked with the crown of thorns and a robe. After the soldiers put the robe on Christ, they mocked Him saying, “Hail, King of the Jews.”(Mark 15:18) They also spit on Him and struck Him on the head. He also carried His own cross up to Golgotha as far as He could go. He was completely drained. Then the sounds of hammer and nails piercing His hands and feet traveled for those to hear nearby. The excitement of the crowd as they screamed, “crucify Him,” had to be absolutely gut wrenching to His mother, Mary, as she watched not just her savior, but her own son being tortured and ridiculed. After all of this had taken place, Jesus called out to the Father saying, “Father, forgive them…”(Luke 23:34). If there was ever a moment in history where someone deserved a “free-pass” on forgiveness, it was at the cross. Yet, Christ understood the true meaning of forgiveness. He was the perfect example for all. May we all strive to forgive everyone as Christ continually forgives us.
May God Bless you always.
In Love, Rev. Edgardo
What Is True Love?
With the month of February we always think about “love”. Love has many meanings. Several different Greek words are translated as “love” in the New Testament, and they have more specific meanings than our English word “love.”
Agapao (verb) and agape (noun). This is the “Christian love” of the Bible. It means affection, benevolence, good-will, high esteem and concern for the welfare of the one loved. It is deliberate, purposeful love rather than emotional or impulsive love. Almost all of the New Testament references to love are agapao or agape in the original Greek language. The King James Version of the Bible sometimes translates agape as “charity,” but charity has now taken on the meaning of assistance to the poor rather than benevolent love.
Phileo love-This means to love in an impulsive and emotional way. It is seldom used in the Bible, but there is a play on words in (John 21:15-17) Jesus says to Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” Peter answers, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Philadelphia is a related word meaning the love of brothers or sisters (Romans 12:10). It is often translated “brotherly love.”
God’s Love for Mankind
Love is one of the attributes of God and an essential part of His nature:
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. (1 John 4:16)
Our relationship to God is like the loving relationship between a child and parent. Like a loving parent, God knows and clears deeply for us.
Jesus said our most important responsibility in life is to love God:
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (NIV, Mark 12:28-30)
We demonstrate our love for God by obeying His commandments and Jesus’ commandments (Luke 11:28, John 14:21-24, 2 John 1:6), putting our trust in Him (John 14:1), maintaining a humble attitude (Matthew 18:1-4, Luke 18:9-14), and by prayer (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 18:1-8).
Love Your Neighbor
Our second most important responsibility in life is to love other people. Jesus went on to say, The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. (NIV Mark 12:31).
All People of the World Are Neighbors
In His Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus explained that we should consider all the people of the world to be our “neighbors.” The Jews and Samaritans were peoples of a different race, different nationality, and rival religions. They had despised each other for hundreds of years and did not even speak. But in the parable, a Samaritan man stopped to help an injured Jewish man and spent his time and money to give him the best care he possibly could. In the conclusion of the parable, Jesus says to, “Go and do likewise.”
Enemies Are Neighbors Too
Just as God loves all His people, so should we. Jesus calls us to extend our love even to our enemies! You have heard that the law of Moses says, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. (NLT, Matthew 5:43-48)
“Sinners” Are Neighbors Too
In Jesus’ time, “proper” people looked down on those they considered to be sinners and would not associate with them. But, we are all sinners in our own ways (Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8). Jesus taught by word and example not to look down on, shun, criticize, judge, or condemn other people (Matthew 7:1-5, Matthew 9:10-13, Luke 18:9-14, John 8:3-11). God is the source of all our love. Loving God and loving other people are so interrelated that we cannot have one without the other:
We love because he first loved us. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from the Lord is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (NRSV, 1 John 4:19-21)
Finally Jesus greatly stated the importance of love, saying love of God and love of fellowman are the most important of all the commandments. The apostle Paul said Christian love was the greatest and most essential of all the spiritual gifts. Throughout the New Testament, we are encouraged and commanded to live in peace with all God’s people (Romans 12:17-18) and commit ourselves to genuine love and caring for others (1 John 3:17-18). Those are the ways we can put our faith into practice in everyday life. When you meet a person on the street or where ever you may be, stop speak to them, show your love just by sharing a sweet welcomed word of hope and love.
May God bless you and your family in this month of sharing love to others. Increase your ability to make the effort to show that Christian love to all people.
a place where seeds of faith are planted, tended, and celebrated
Sunday School is one way to teach about the love of the Lord and the salvation He provides. It is our prayer that the love of Jesus is real to each person and they become devoted followers of Christ.
Classes meet Sundays from 9:45 am until 10:45 am each Sunday morning.
We want to share the love of Jesus with you, we look forward to meeting you soon!
Our Sunday School Classes are as follows:
Nursery (Children infant to Kindergarten)
Bright Stars (Children 1st grade-6th grade)
Youth (Children 7th grade-12th grade)
Adults (All Adults welcome)
Fidelis (Senior Adult Women)
Fishers (Senior Adult Men)
Pastor: Reverend Edgardo Figueroa
Secretary: Tracy Hartin
Bayview Baptist Church 