Some Key Principles For The New Year

"To whom much is given much shall be required." Luke 12:48 "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17 "But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." Job 23:10

These are timeless principles and are worth our consideration as the New year unfolds. God bless you all this year!!!!

God's Presence At Berean!

We have enjoyed many wonderful blessings from the Lord in the past three months at Berean! On Wednesday night we have been going through an amazing book by Chuck Bentley The Root of Riches. The blessing that this book has been to our mid-week church family has been tremendous. Anyone who may wish to increase their income in these tough economic times or who is wanting to have another job to supplement their income should definitely read this book. Bentley's book will clarify many important biblical issues for you and will give you a proper perspective on money, wealth, and the pursuit of happiness. Many people do not have a biblical understanding of these important subjects. This book challenges the reader with this provocative question, "What if everything you think about money is wrong?" Read the book and you will find that much of the teaching on money today is warped with the world's wisdom rather than the wisdom that is from the Lord.

Our attendance at our mid-week service has exploded! Our morning Bible study has also been such a blessing to all who have been coming. The spirit in our church has been the best it has been in years. I am so grateful to the Lord for His presence and blessing among us. These have been days of joy and encouragement from the presence of the Lord. Peter, the apostle, talks about such days as these in Acts 3:19, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."

When there is unity and love in the family of God it makes all the difference in the world. We have been enjoying such blessings these past months and Pastor Stewart and myself have been very excited about the things we see happening and developing in our church family.

The recent visit of our friends from Brazil was a breath of fresh air from Heaven! We have been so blessed to have such wonderful friends as these dear brothers as well as our wonderful friends from England and Wales. I cannot praise the Lord enough for all that He has done through the years through His servants who have come among us. Dr. Edgar Andrews, Pastors Vernon Higham and Dewi Higham just to name a few of those choice servants of the Lord whose ministry among us has been so powerful and compelling.

We look forward to having Chuck Bentley coming this year to minister to our flock as well. May all of us as Bereans give our Lord praise for the wonderful things He is doing in our midst. When He is present there are certainly times of refreshing that gently stirs within our hearts.

God bless you all,
Pastor Robert L. Dickie

Guests from Brazil arriving November 13th!!

I am very excited to have several guests visiting with us from Brazil this November. We had two wonderful brothers from Brasilia last June and now two more are coming over in a couple of weeks. Please keep this date open and plan to attend. The connection we have had with the church in Brazil has been very exciting. God is blessing and I give Him praise and adoration for blessing our church and bringing us a fresh vision and purpose to our flock. Praise His name. Yours in Christ, Pastor

George Washington on choosing your friends

“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation, for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad company.” George Washington

The Bible reminds us that bad company corrupts good morals. When people choose to associate with people of questionable ethics, character, and morality it will be a short while until they themselves lose their ability to be objective and discerning of good character and integrity. The pernicious influence of ungodly friedships slowly erodes the foundations of good judgement. Choose your friends wisely. Be a lover of good men. Better to walk alone than be corrupted by those whose values reflect the flesh rather than the Spirit. This is wise counsel for all of our youth who are heading to the university this fall.

The Carnal Christian

"Many who regularly occupy church pews, fill church rolls, and are intellectually acquainted with the facts of the gospel never strike one blow for Christ. They seem to be at peace with his enemies. They have no quarrel with sin and, apart from a few sentimental expressions about Christ, there is no biblical evidence that they have experienced anything of the power of the gospel in their lives. Yet in spite of the evidence against them, they consider themselves to be just what their teachers teach them -- that they are 'Carnal Christians'. And as carnal Christians they believe they will go to heaven, though perhaps not first-class, and with few rewards."

This is a quote by Earnest Reisinger a Reformed Baptist. His comments ring true for far too many today who claim to be the followers of Christ. Those who belong to the Lord will have real and abiding fruit to give evidence of the Spirit's work in their lives.

If a person is content to be a carnal, lukewarm, indifferent Christian he may find in the day of judgement that he is no Christian at all.

I have known professing Christians who were masters of deception and manipulation. They could lie without conscience, deceive without blinking an eye, were able to quote Scripture to suit their purposes, and could put on the robes of an angel.

The Church of Jesus Christ should not be surprised that there are those in her midst that have such powers to mislead. Satan himself can transform himself into an angel of light.

What the church needs today is for wise and godly leaders who have wisdom to see through the phoniness of false prophets and wolves in sheep's clothing.

Dear Berean family beware of the carnal Christian!!!

Dear Berean Family,
I want to encourage all of you to look forward to this summer with a great deal of expectation that if we all walk with God, live in the Spirit, and die to self daily that we will experience a great time of blessing and revival from the Lord. Over the years I have stressed to all of you who have sat under my ministry to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and to put off the flesh. The sign of a spiritual Christian is one who is filled with the Spirit and who lives a life of humility, godliness, kindness, patience, and meekness. I am apalled when I see professing Christians living careless lives, gossiping, complaining, backbiting, and displaying the attitudes that are unbecoming of a child of God. This is not what we have stressed at Berean over the years. I exhort our congregation to seek the Lord in holy worship and humble prayer so that we might enjoy precious times of fellowship and blessing from the Lord. God bless you all as you seek the Lord daily. My prayers are with you all. Yours in Christ, Pastor Dickie

"Pray For Us" Hebrews 13:18

Prayer is a part of the Christian life and the walk of faith. We pray as a natural response to grace in our soul. Just as a child born begins to breathe a person who is born again from on high will instinctively begin to commune and pray to God. It is a fact of our spiritual life. But many Christians have gone through times of doubt, despair, and cynicism. When a father told Ravi Zacharias that he was sinking into despair because he had prayed that his parents would live long enough to see their grandchildren, that his marriage would be successful, that his children would come to know the Lord, and when none of these things came to pass he sunk into despair and wondered if it was worth it at all to pray. He said he was turning away from God. But Ravi Zacharias said, “Turning away from God to what?” What do people turn to if they abandon the Lord? God does not always answer our prayers as we want. And we must not forget that we live in a fallen world that contains much heart ache and pain. Knowing that God is on the throne should be a comfort to us no matter what we face or experience in life.


Evangelist D.L. Moody recalled his visit to Scotland and asking some little school children what it meant to pray. Here is his story: “D. L. Moody making a visit to Scotland in the 1800's and opening one of his talks at a local grade school with the rhetorical question, What is prayer? To his amazement, hundreds of children's hands went up. So he decided to call on a lad near the front, who promptly stood up and said, "Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of his Spirit, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies." This is the answer to question #78 in the Westminster Catechism. To this Moody responded by saying, "Be thankful, son, that you were born in Scotland."

What should you pray for in your pastors, elders, and deacons today?

1. That they might be filled with the Holy Spirit.
2. That they might be kept from the evil one.
3. That they might know God and the power of His indwelling.
4. That they might walk with God.
5. That they might be faithful in His Word.
6. That they might be broken and humble before the Lord.
7. That they might know the will of God for their lives and that they would know that all things work together for good to them that love God and who are called according to His purpose.