Good morning on this last Saturday of October. Today will be a special day for the widows of the Edgewood Baptist Church. The Bible admonishes us numerous times to take special care of the widows and orphans, e.g., Zech. 7:10; James 1:27. The book of Ruth in the Old Testament is a beautiful example of a daughter-in-law, Ruth, taking special care of her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi. Edgewood periodically has a widow's tea in which we invite all of the widows of the church to attend a luncheon in their honor. The pastoral staff members serve as waiters and hosts. Many Edgewood folks prepare a lovely lunch served with tea. Each widow will have her picture taken with staff members and a special program will be featured. It is always a memorable occasion for each of the ladies and all who participate. Edgewood has 60 widows but some are unable to attend because they are shut-ins or are in nursing homes. We make every effort for all who can to attend. Pastor Ed as Pastor of Pastoral Care does an excellent job of regularly looking after the needs of our widows, but the widow's tea is an occasion for the church and all the staff to show our love and appreciation. In a few minutes it will be time for me and the other pastors to begin escorting the ladies to their tables and don our waiter's aprons to serve them their lunches and tea. It will be both a privilege and a labor of love in honor of some of our finest.
Tomorrow's message is My God Is Real - Part 2. I can't wait to preach this message. I promise you that you will be blessed.
Mel Brown  

Good morning on this Saturday, October 22nd. The geopolitical map of the some of the important Biblical nations of prophecy is rapidly changing. With this week's overthrow and death of Libyan dictator, Moammar Qaddafi, the death of Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud in Saudi Arabia, the dismantling of the longstanding Mubarak regime in Egypt, the political agitation in Yemen and Syria, and the foment in numerous other Middle Eastern countries, the landscape and alliances of power in these countries could become vastly different. Add to this mix yesterday's announcement that all U.S. troops will be leaving Iraq at the end of this year, and you have a blanket of uncertainty throughout the region. The key unanswered question is, what will the emerging governments in these countries be like? We know that in each case they will remain dominated by Muslim religion and politics, but we do not know the strictness, tolerance level, alliances, and attitudes of the new leadership in many of these nations. In many cases it is not yet evident who or what that leadership is going to be. But we do know that in Egypt the new regime is allowing increasing persecution of Christians and desecration of their churches. Iraq will likely see increasing hostility between the Sunni and Shiite Muslims with Christians caught in the middle. It appears that Iraq with its majority Shiite population will be much cozier with Iran. If history is any indication, the new regimes may turn out to be worse than the old. They may be more radical, more militant, and more determined to impose their will and religion on others. Our advice is to keep your Bible in one hand and your newspaper in the other; they many be more closely aligned than at any time in recent memory.
Tomorrow's sermon is entitled, My God Is Real, and will feature God's amazing work and faith-filled answers to prayer. If you are not there, I promise you, you will miss a blessing.
Mel Brown

Good morning on this Saturday, October 15th. Tomorrow is Mission's Emphasis Sunday. Each year we set aside a Sunday to emphasize the commandment of Christ in the Great Commission to take the gospel throughout the whole world. Missions is the strong right arm of the Edgewood Baptist Church. Edgewood supports nearly 100 missionaries both at home and abroad, has helped start new churches throughout the United States, built feeding centers and orphanages in many many countries, helped provide over 1,000,000 meals to hungry people world-wide, supported native pastors who have reached the unreached for Christ, built church buildings in numerous places and helped in various other types of missions projects throughout the years. Additionally, we will take on our 15th missionary intern when the Derek Glynn's arrive in town in early November. Many millions of dollars have been channeled throughout the years by our church in obedience to these words of instruction by our Lord found in the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20). "And you shall love the LORD you God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:30-31). We are proud of our record in putting these commandments into action at Edgewood and look forward to greater things for Christ in the future. Thank you for caring with us about the things that Christ cares about most.
Mel Brown

Good morning on this Saturday, the 8th of October. Recently the Edgewood Baptist Church purchased the nearly three acres of property adjoining our south parking lot. It was an answer to prayer for which we are especially thankful. The property formerly was home to Platt's Nursery, and Wallace's Garden Center. It was then purchased by Genesis Medical Center. Genesis had purchased the property with the intention to build a medical clinic but later decided not to build on the location. Since Edgewood was landlocked and the city had refused to permit any additional buildings on our site, the vacant property was perfect for Edgewood's plans for the future. When Genesis decided to sell the property, Edgewood had the opportunity to buy it and the congregation voted unanimously to to do so. The property not only provides for opportunity for future expansion, but  also provides valuable green space (which he have been lacking because of adding additional parking over the years) which will be utilized by many of our ministries for activities, gatherings, programs, and recreation. We are now in the process of paying for the property and look forward to having it paid off. I have often said that the future of Edgewood is as bright as the promises of God, and the purchase of this property ensures that our future expansion needs will be met. We thank God for His blessings and provisions.
Tomorrow's sermon is entitled, God's Sowing and Reaping Principle.
I hope to see you there.
Mel Brown  

Good morning on this first Saturday of October. Some things are just made to go together. Orange and duck, mint and lamb, lemon and fish are foods which provide a wonderful complement to each other. Each makes the other better and complete. The Old and New Testaments in the Bible are perfect when considered together. There is an old saying which goes, "The New Testament is in the Old contained and the Old Testament is in the New explained." The Old Testament looks forward to the coming of Christ and the New Testament looks back to Christ's coming. The center of both Testaments is Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior, and Messiah. Christ is revealed in each of the 66 books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and is ultimately the theme of each division. It is an exciting adventure to look for Christ in every book and story in Scripture, e.g., Genesis (Creator and Seed of Woman), Exodus (Lamb for Sinner's Slain), Leviticus (High Priest), Numbers (Star of Jacob), Deuteronomy (Prophet Like unto Moses), etc. Likewise check the verses of the Bible looking for Jesus such as in Genesis 1:1: In the beginning (Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End), God (Jesus is God, He who has seen me has seen the Father), created (Jesus is the Creator, by Him all things were made which were made),  the heavens and the earth (Jesus is Lord of Heaven and earth).  My challenge to you today is to try reading Scripture specifically with an eye toward seeing Christ throughout the Bible. You will be both enlightened and blessed because the written word was written to reveal the Living Word, Jesus Christ. Seeing is believing but believing is seeing - see for yourself!
Tomorrow's sermon is entitled, Assignment Crete. Please plan on attending.
Mel Brown