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 – April 2014
I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen….
(Rev. 1:18)
He Arose! He Lives! Hallelujah! These are titles of Resurrection Day hymns we sing to celebrate the victory of Christ over death! The Resurrection is the central tenet, or principal belief, of the Christian faith. Without the death and resurrection of the Savior, Christianity is no different from any other
religion of the world – every major religion had a founder or a “prophet” of some sort and they’re all dead and gone. But the first line of the hymn “He Lives”, written by Alfred Ackley (1887-1960) makes this bold confession: “I serve a RISEN SAVIOR, He’s in the world today!” If the Resurrection is the central belief, and the empty tomb is the evidence, then the Cross is the “Centerpiece” of our faith.
Consider this: many people have formal dining rooms, or coffee tables in their homes and they usually put something on them, in the center, for beautification or as a conversation piece. It can be anything from a floral arrangement, to a family Bible, to family photographs. It’s usually something that provokes interest and spurs conversation. In keeping with our vision of “GROW” (God Rewards Our Works), we must understand that it is our responsibility to keep our Centerpiece in a prominent place in our conversations, creating opportunities to tell the world about our Savior who suffered, bled, and died. It doesn’t end there: He rose with all power and authority “in heaven and in earth”! (Matt.28:18)
The death of Jesus was not a peaceful death. He wasn’t given a lethal injection and He didn’t die in His sleep. He was publicly tortured and beaten, spit on, slapped (Matt.26:67; 27:1-50) and whipped until His body was mangled and bloody. Then He was forced to drag His own rugged Cross to the place of His
execution with the help of one other man. Jesus Christ endured public humiliation lifted up on the Cross for all men to see, He cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30), and then surrendered His Spirit into the Hands of His Father (Luke 23:46). But remember, His life wasn’t taken from Him, He laid it down. The Lamb of God became the perfect and final sacrifice, shedding His Blood so that you and I can be free from sin.
Jesus endured public scorn on the Cross, so we must be public witnesses of the Cross – I don’t think that God has “secret agent” Christians! He hung on a Cross in the center of a hill called Calvary; He hung on the center Cross, of three crosses, between two convicted thieves, in public. As He showed His
unfathomable love publicly, in turn He expects those who love Him to acknowledge Him publicly, declaring that the Centerpiece of our salvation, life and faith is the Cross of Calvary. His Word says “let the redeemed of the Lord say so” and it doesn’t say to whisper it! So we boldly, loudly, and joyfully
proclaim that the Cross of Jesus Christ is the “Centerpiece” of our lives and our Savior is alive forever! Have a blessed Resurrection Season and come GROW with us as we… Seek, Serve and Celebrate the Risen Savior!
Larry Owens, Jr.
Senior Pastor
He Arose! He Lives! Hallelujah! These are titles of Resurrection Day hymns we sing to celebrate the victory of Christ over death! The Resurrection is the central tenet, or principal belief, of the Christian faith. Without the death and resurrection of the Savior, Christianity is no different from any other
religion of the world – every major religion had a founder or a “prophet” of some sort and they’re all dead and gone. But the first line of the hymn “He Lives”, written by Alfred Ackley (1887-1960) makes this bold confession: “I serve a RISEN SAVIOR, He’s in the world today!” If the Resurrection is the central belief, and the empty tomb is the evidence, then the Cross is the “Centerpiece” of our faith.
Consider this: many people have formal dining rooms, or coffee tables in their homes and they usually put something on them, in the center, for beautification or as a conversation piece. It can be anything from a floral arrangement, to a family Bible, to family photographs. It’s usually something that provokes interest and spurs conversation. In keeping with our vision of “GROW” (God Rewards Our Works), we must understand that it is our responsibility to keep our Centerpiece in a prominent place in our conversations, creating opportunities to tell the world about our Savior who suffered, bled, and died. It doesn’t end there: He rose with all power and authority “in heaven and in earth”! (Matt.28:18)
The death of Jesus was not a peaceful death. He wasn’t given a lethal injection and He didn’t die in His sleep. He was publicly tortured and beaten, spit on, slapped (Matt.26:67; 27:1-50) and whipped until His body was mangled and bloody. Then He was forced to drag His own rugged Cross to the place of His
execution with the help of one other man. Jesus Christ endured public humiliation lifted up on the Cross for all men to see, He cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30), and then surrendered His Spirit into the Hands of His Father (Luke 23:46). But remember, His life wasn’t taken from Him, He laid it down. The Lamb of God became the perfect and final sacrifice, shedding His Blood so that you and I can be free from sin.
Jesus endured public scorn on the Cross, so we must be public witnesses of the Cross – I don’t think that God has “secret agent” Christians! He hung on a Cross in the center of a hill called Calvary; He hung on the center Cross, of three crosses, between two convicted thieves, in public. As He showed His
unfathomable love publicly, in turn He expects those who love Him to acknowledge Him publicly, declaring that the Centerpiece of our salvation, life and faith is the Cross of Calvary. His Word says “let the redeemed of the Lord say so” and it doesn’t say to whisper it! So we boldly, loudly, and joyfully
proclaim that the Cross of Jesus Christ is the “Centerpiece” of our lives and our Savior is alive forever! Have a blessed Resurrection Season and come GROW with us as we… Seek, Serve and Celebrate the Risen Savior!
Larry Owens, Jr.
Senior Pastor
