man's dilemma. He is guilty before God’s law and doomed to pay an eternal debt. His crime is infinite; his only hope rests in a God who can fairly show mercy. But God’s law cannot weaken; it must stand. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Yet God’s love must be expressed; it must stand. This is the divine dilemma. Man owes a debt which he cannot pay; God must pay a debt which He does not owe. Therefore, only a God-Man could bear the infinite curse, pay the unlimited price, satisfy the law of God fairly and release the love of God freely. Com munion proclaims that Jesus Christ satisfied every requirement. In His own flesh and blood He bore the full penalty of divine wrath. When God raised Jesus from the dead, He pronounced His “Amen” to Jesus’ “ It is finished.” Communion proclaims the Father’s satisfaction with the Son’s substitu tion. Communion is, thirdly, a proclamation that man can now be declared righteous by faith because God is satisfied with Christ’s substitution. Theologically, we call this justification by faith. The main object o f the death of Jesus is that God may remain right eous and yet be able to pardon the believing sinner (Romans 3:26). By faith any sinner can be robed in the righteousness of Christ and declared per fect in the sight of God. This is what the Lord’s Supper must always mean: there is no minimizing of the penalty nor weakening of the law, but always payment in full. Oh, the mercy of God to us all! I f He had made no way of escape; had He never given His Son to die for our sins; should He never have sent His Spirit to exert an irresistible grace upon our hard hearts; had He let guilt and justice take their nor mal course: not one word could be uttered against the procedure by heaven or earth or hell. The All- Holy is also the All-Merciful. He has dictated the terms o f our pardon: Christ was substituted; God is satisfied; man can now be declared righteous and justly received into heaven by faith. A man who had misspent his life lay critically ill. Turning to his pastor, he asked, “Do you think that a deathbed repentance does away with a whole life of sin?” “No,” the pastor answered, “But Calvary does!” Calvary does away with sin, every sin: the sins of childhood, the sins o f youth and those of our old age. How do we know? Because the Bible teaches and communion proclaims that “ the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” As an evangelical Baptist congregation, the Lord’s Supper is very meaningful to us. It is a time of confession, cleansing, fellowship and re joicing. We remember His first coming; we antici pate His second coming. We take the bread in one hand and the cup in another, preaching a silent sermon of eternal redemption.
PASTORS O F MAGNOLIA BAPTIST CHURCH Left to right: Rev. Earl Broee, Minister of Youth, Rev. Kenneth L. Fischer, Pastor and Rev. Loren Fischer, Assis tant Pastor. A ugust 5, 1956 m a r k e d the first worship service o f the Magnolia Baptist Church. Thirty-three people assembled in a small, rented building on Webster Street in Anaheim, California. This nu cleus consisted o f dedicated, talented, and earnest laypeople who were eager to penetrate a rapidly- developing area of West Anaheim with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their sponsoring church was the Bethel Baptist Church of Anaheim, led by Dr. Berthold Jacksteit. The organizing Pastor, Rev. Kenneth L. Fisch er, continues ministering to the congregation that has now grown to somewhat over 1,000 regular worshippers. For nearly seven years he has been assisted by his brother, Rev. Loren Fischer. Mr. Fred Jantz served as Director of Youth activities on a part-time basis before entering the denomi national seminary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Since then Rev. Earl Broce serves as the full-time Minister of Youth. All four men are graduate of Biola College. God has blessed His Word and has prospered this work. There has always been a spirit o f prayer, fellowship and service among the people. They have hungry appetites for biblical, evangelistic, enthusiastic preaching; they radiate a friendly at mosphere; and they work diligently and prayer fully toward excellence in children, youth, music and mission programs. During the past eleven years three different building projects have been completed, under the supervision of Mr. Ed Bohnet; two and one half acres o f additional land with houses have been purchased; two families are serving on the mis sion field; three have entered the pastoral ministry; three serve as professors in Christian schools; three attend seminary and many anticipate full time vocational Christian service while presently training in various Christian Colleges both in the United States and Great Britain. By God’s grace this congregation, affiliated with the small but evangelical North American Baptist General Conference, aims to establish a firm base from which worshipful and trained believers can carry out the Great Commission of our blessed Lord.
MARCH, 1968
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