FBC Daily

FOCUS Ministry

Hi, everyone. My name is Jim Orr. I’ve been active at Faith Bible Church for over 13 years now. After retiring from a career as a teacher in the public schools, it was my desire to begin a ministry to the seniors at Faith Bible Church. We call that ministry FOCUS, which is more than just a word; it’s an acronym. It stands for Fellowship, Outreach, Christlikeness, Usefulness, and Seniors (almost forgot that one!). Paul told the Philippians that Christians live in a corrupt and perverse generation and that we “shine like lights in the world. So I want tell our seniors that we still have some shining to do! Yesterday, I read these words in Psalm 92: “The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, They will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and very green”

It is my desire to see the Seniors continue as faithful ministers of Christ Jesus as helping people come to Christ (outreach), become more like Christ (Christlikeness), but also continue to be useful in the lives of other believers, both young and old. We have different activities as a part of our ministry, but the main one has been a Community Group that meets on Friday mornings, which we’ve been doing for nearly eight years now. We also have an outreach to Renaissance Village a Retirement Facility in Murrieta with a Bible study 2-3 Sundays a month.

Bible Memory

Something I haven’t seen discussed in other FBC Daily videos is apps that can be used for our spiritual growth. I have used several different apps for that purpose, but my favorite one is called The Bible Memory App. Let me show you what it looks like.

You can set up your own verses, practice them, recite them, group them, and review them. They actually keep track of your progress and give you reminders for review (a key to success in Bible memorization, by the way!). They have a free version available, but it has some limits to it. I suggest starting with the free version and soon you will get an offer to purchase their PRO version, which will cost $8.00. Not a subscription, but a permanent one-time purchase. With the PRO version you can actually create groups with people (a CG perhaps).

I have spread out my daily devotions to at least three parts of my day. Usually the third part is dedicated to either memorizing a new verse or verses, review past verses, and also meditating on one or more of the verses for purposes of making myself accountable to how that verse relates to my daily life.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

As an example of the value I find in my Bible Memory work, let me share from one of these verses. Paul writes, For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. The last part of that passage is what challenges me: He died for all, so that they who live (that’s me), might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Giving further thought/meditation, as well as some study of those words, I saw that Christ died for me so that I would stop living for my own advantage, and start living for His advantage.

Now, there’s something I can pray as I begin my day. Lord, help me to find ways to live for you today. There is something I can ask myself throughout my day. How is this going to help me life for Christ’s advantage? And there is a question I can use to evaluate myself at the end of the day. Did I live for myself or for Christ today?