I am pleased to have you visit the Canaan Baptist Church web site where you can learn a little about who we are and what we are about. Hopefully, your interest will be intensified enough to visit us or seek more information Canaan Baptist Church has been serving the Washington, D.C. religious community since 1947. It is dedicated to the edification of glorifying our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Canaan has made many contributions in the moral humane, and religious growth of the community through the struggles of faithful members, both past and present. Today's Canaan Baptist Church is a vibrant church family that has gotten its second wind. We are an inclusive church family, meaning that we recognize the importance of EVERYONE that is in our employ. We have an active youth ministry and an energetic senior population. We are a church striving to be more committed to God by MAKING MOVES IN MINISTRY. We encourage our members to develop better spiritual growth habits and we provide enabling infrastructure for that to take place. We are a people that stresses ministry and not maintenance, so that our members can discover their spiritual gifts and utilize them in the church and in the community. Our worship style is in the context of celebration and praise. Canaan is a hopeful, expectant congregation. We mandate a ministry that is reverent yet relevant. We are contemporary without compromising our faith or belief. We are called and committed to meaningful ministry. We invite you to come worship with because we are reaching for a real relationship. We realize that in order to receive my favor, I have to do my part.
MESSAGE OF HOPE - August
A Message of Hope
(Reprint from 2013)
I read recently about an ancient Greek philosopher who “carried a lighted candle…around in the daytime [looking for an honest man]”. He was suggesting that there were none to be found, and although his point is a bit exaggerated, it is well taken! Where are those who are honestly Christian, who sincerely worship Christ in spirit and truth, and have sincerely honest relationships with other Christians? Why does it seem that we are so superficial that we only love others based on the extent to which we can manipulate them? That’s not a healthy relationship – it’s abuse! But God created His people for heartfelt worship, joyful fellowship and loving relationships. A sad reality, however, is that too many in the Body of Christ walk through this journey of life alone and experience unnecessary loneliness.
I recently explained to the Canaan fellowship, that to be alone is not necessarily a bad thing. We call it “me time”. Loneliness, however, is a perpetual state of mind that can lead to physical and mental illnesses. Even in crowds, people can be lonely, but, God did not intend for us to be lonely and proved this when He created Eve to be a complementary companion for Adam (Gen.2:18-25). He commands the Church, you and me, not to “forsake the assembling of ourselves together” (Heb.10:25). The Apostle Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 13 (please read it when you can!) that unless we show unconditional love in our relationships, we are nothing more than a “sounding brass and tinkling cymbal”! Cymbals are not meant to “tinkle”, they are very loud instruments and so our love should be even “louder”.
Hurts are a fact of life. Some hurts are from the world, and some are hurts from worldly people in the Church: these are the cliques who have “exclusion rules”, (no need to elaborate on that). The hurt may even be a “self-inflicted wound”. Yes, some people hurt themselves and then cannot forgive themselves. As a result, hurts can cause people to have difficulty establishing good relationships but we’ve got to work at it. We must strive to ease hurts, show love, kindness and mercy, remembering there are no “disposable relationships” in the Kingdom. We simply cannot dismiss those that God puts in our path.
Here is an analogy of how relationships should work: In the old western movies, as covered wagons travelled west to settle in new lands, when troubles came (usually the “Indian” tribes started a war), the wagons would make a circle, band together and fight off the enemy. That’s what God wants from us. God’s people have a common enemy: satan! Our relationships and fellowship should be so strong that we can band our spirits together in prayer with so much power that the enemy would think twice about attacking us! Here’s some good news, we “always triumph through our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Cor.2:14). Solidify your relationship with Christ and your earthly relationships in Christ. We really do need each other as we ............Seek, Serve and Celebrate the Savior!
Larry Owens, Jr., M.Div., Senior Pastor