Building Project
First Baptist Church of Mariposa is poised on the verge of enlarging our boarders and expanding our ministry in new and exciting ways!
Over the 50 year history of First Baptist Church of Mariposa, God has provided in wondrous and sometimes, spectacular ways. Most of all, through this ministry hundreds of men, women and children have heard the Gospel Message, several individuals and families have been called to the missions field and churches have been established.
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After evaluating our facility, it was all too painfully obvious that we have outgrown our church property. Expansion at this location is not possible, parking has become impossible, multiple service times are crowded (praise God!). It is terrific having our Church body grow in so many directions, but we have been experiencing “growing pains”. New people are turned off by the lack of proper facilities for the church and it has diminished the effectiveness of our ministry.
With the above in mind, we look forward to the possibilities and new opportunities God has brought forth! The expansion and growth will require expanding and growing our faith in Jesus Christ.
Vision
The people of First Baptist Church of Mariposa had a vision placed in their hearts. That vision was the expansion and growth of First Baptist Church of Mariposa to encompass a new facility that will be capable of filling the needs of future generations of Christians and lost souls not only in our hometown of Mariposa, but throughout the world. The short list includes a new 500+ seat sanctuary, continued support of our Christian School, expanding the Missionary outreach, and a future Bible College based here in the beautiful foothills of Yosemite, CA.
The vision was put to the Building Design and Planning Committee to work with architects and designers to put the vision on paper. Ultimately working building plans were created. The plans are aggressive and by all means attainable through God's miracles and provisions.
Presently
These are exciting times are here at First Baptist Church of Mariposa!
When there is apparently nothing happening that people can see, such as workers frantically bouncing around a building site, many tend to forget that on a project of this magnitude there are many months, sometimes years of preparation that must be completed before the first shovel full is turned. In that preparation time, plans are drawn, redrawn, thrown out and new plans put into place. Luke 14:28 says "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?"
The idiom "the devil is in the detail" couldn't be truer in this case. Problems and setbacks are something to praise God for, not worry or complain about. Pastor Ray Shull on hearing about the struggles, frustrations and setbacks that have been plaguing the building project could not have put it better:
I am so excited to hear about the problems that have come up regarding the building program!
The true church of God is in a war with the forces of hell itself. I have noticed in my life that anything that was done for the Lord took a lot of prayer, sacrifice, tears, some doubt, much heartache and quite a bit of time to see it reach fulfillment. So, what is happening now is worth getting very excited about! So praise God for the bumps in the road to success. God is in them. Therefore it is worth the fight and the struggle.
Here are some biblical examples of great men who faced hardships and doubts on the way to seeing their mission completed:
- Noah was told to build a boat by the Lord. That shouldn't be too hard, God was in it, and God told him to do it, God created the world in 6 days so a boat should be no problem, right? 120 years later Noah entered into the boat. The world was saved because one man endured the hardships that fell across his path.
- Moses is finally ready to lead his people out of Egypt. He has been in God's school of hard knocks for 8o years. He is prepared, so taking the children of Israel to the Promised Land should be no problem now. Moses is ready, He is God's man, he is trained, and he is capable. The journey from Egypt to Israel, "The promised land" is only 11 days. I can see Moses thinking now. 11 days, maybe a few more, and I will be home free. 40 years later they march into the Promised Land without Moses, but with Joshua. Seems like a bum deal. God's ways are not man's ways.
- Abraham was told by the Lord that his seed would be as the stars of the heavens in number, yet he had only one child when he was about 100 years old. He never lived to see it come to pass, but it did.
- David was ordained to be the King of Israel as a teenager, but almost 20 years pass before it actually comes true.
- Jesus said that he will build his church, and he has been doing it for the last 2,000 years. Now that is a building project.
Here is what I have learned in a nutshell:
THE SEEDS OF SUCCESS ARE SELDOM HARVESTED IN THEIR NATURAL SEASON.
"To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life" Romans 2:7
God Bless
Ray