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 – July 2014
As I write, I’m considering the more
than 200 young African school girls who have been taken into captivity by a
terrorist group in Nigeria. It was international news headlines for a couple of
weeks and at the time of this writing the government of Nigeria officially
suspended its search for them. This is an unspeakable evil compounded by fear –
and for now, the terrorists win. God! Where are You??? How could you let
innocent girls suffer rape and starvation at the hands of those barbarians?
What about their parents and the mental anguish they must be suffering? The
entire world looks on, powerless to help for fear of risking the girls’ lives.
But here’s what makes this atrocity all the more difficult to grasp: God
knew the day, hour, and exact location that this would happen and did not stop
it!
July is the month that we usually write about the blessings of living in the “Land of the Free, Because of the Brave”. We don’t dismiss nor take this fact lightly, particularly in light of the mass kidnapping. But allow me to stray from the norm and address a different matter this month: suffering. This isn’t a very cheerful topic but it seems so widespread in this time and season of the universal Church, and I’m sure we’re all acquainted with someone who may be suffering. There are those who are suffering physically. Illness has taken hold of their bodies and they’ve become weary of life itself. There are those who are suffering emotionally – contending with grief and loneliness. The impoverished in many Third World countries and right here in America are suffering through a perpetual cycle of hunger, disease, and natural disasters. While all this evidence portrays the truth of other people’s situations, you may still wonder, how does this suffering paradigm fit into the life a born-again, Spirit-filled believer? Aren’t things supposed to be better, the proverbial “bed of roses”, when we come into the Kingdom? Well, coming to Christ and accepting Him as your Savior doesn’t exempt you from suffering. In fact, I Peter 4:1 tells us that “…since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves also with same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin” (NIV). This means that suffering is inevitable at some point in your Christian journey.
Now you ask, Pastor, how is that fair? Why should I have to suffer if I’m working for the Lord? I admit in my spirit I occasionally wrestle with the idea of “undeserved suffering” (remember Job’s story?); and, maybe the Apostle Paul suffered because he had to reap what he sowed (he had believers murdered, then others tried to murder him). This is just speculation, I don’t have the answer – but even if I’m wrong, the Word of God is right! This is what the Master said, “And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (I Peter 5:10). Suffering comes to all men, including those in the household of faith, but God promised to restore and strengthen us in a little while. Be strong in the Lord – God has a purpose for you and for the things you suffer. Your testimony will be a blessing to someone else. Feel free to share it and Come GROW with us as we
Seek, Serve and Celebrate the Savior!
Larry Owens, Jr. M.Div.
Senior Pastor
July is the month that we usually write about the blessings of living in the “Land of the Free, Because of the Brave”. We don’t dismiss nor take this fact lightly, particularly in light of the mass kidnapping. But allow me to stray from the norm and address a different matter this month: suffering. This isn’t a very cheerful topic but it seems so widespread in this time and season of the universal Church, and I’m sure we’re all acquainted with someone who may be suffering. There are those who are suffering physically. Illness has taken hold of their bodies and they’ve become weary of life itself. There are those who are suffering emotionally – contending with grief and loneliness. The impoverished in many Third World countries and right here in America are suffering through a perpetual cycle of hunger, disease, and natural disasters. While all this evidence portrays the truth of other people’s situations, you may still wonder, how does this suffering paradigm fit into the life a born-again, Spirit-filled believer? Aren’t things supposed to be better, the proverbial “bed of roses”, when we come into the Kingdom? Well, coming to Christ and accepting Him as your Savior doesn’t exempt you from suffering. In fact, I Peter 4:1 tells us that “…since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves also with same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin” (NIV). This means that suffering is inevitable at some point in your Christian journey.
Now you ask, Pastor, how is that fair? Why should I have to suffer if I’m working for the Lord? I admit in my spirit I occasionally wrestle with the idea of “undeserved suffering” (remember Job’s story?); and, maybe the Apostle Paul suffered because he had to reap what he sowed (he had believers murdered, then others tried to murder him). This is just speculation, I don’t have the answer – but even if I’m wrong, the Word of God is right! This is what the Master said, “And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (I Peter 5:10). Suffering comes to all men, including those in the household of faith, but God promised to restore and strengthen us in a little while. Be strong in the Lord – God has a purpose for you and for the things you suffer. Your testimony will be a blessing to someone else. Feel free to share it and Come GROW with us as we
Seek, Serve and Celebrate the Savior!
Larry Owens, Jr. M.Div.
Senior Pastor
