Mark Your Calendar
- Sunday – Creative Arts Camp Quick-Update Meeting after morning service
- Apr 1 – WMF at 7pm
- Apr 5 – Church Workday 8:30am-noon
- Apr 19 – Spring Fling Outreach 11am-2pm
- May 3 – EBC & Lake Norman Orchestra Concert 6pm-7pm
- May 5 – Pregnancy Resource Center Banquet
- Jun 9-13 – Creative Arts Camp
- October 17-18 – Marriage Retreat
Church Workday
Join us on April 5th for a day of fellowship and preparation as we beautify our campus for the Spring Fling and Easter. After breakfast together, we’ll spend the morning tackling key tasks such as spraying weeds, planting flowers, trimming bushes and branches, spreading pine straw, and cleaning the gym kitchen. There’s a job for every skill level, and we welcome everyone—men, women, and children—to lend a helping hand. Your efforts will help us create a welcoming space for the visitors we’ll greet this season.
Key Activities:
- Landscaping (weeds, bushes, flowers, and tree branches)
- Organizing and cleaning the gym kitchen
- Installing floodlight bulbs
We hope to see you there as we come together in community to make a difference!
Spring Fling
We’re excited to kick off preparations for our Spring Fling, a wonderful opportunity to connect with our community and share the love of Christ.
📅 When: Saturday, April 19th | Time: 11 AM – 2 PM
🎉 What’s Happening? Plenty of food, fun inflatables, exciting games, and of course, candy!
This is more than an event; it’s a chance to reach out, create joyful memories, and invite families to experience God’s love. To make it all happen, we need your help! Whether it’s donating candy, running a game station, or handing out hotdogs, your time and dedication will show others the warmth and compassion that Christ calls us to share.
Mark your calendars and plan to join us as we come together to serve, celebrate, and extend an invitation to our Easter service.
Together, we can make this Spring Fling a day filled with faith, fellowship, and love!
Lake Norman Orchestra & EBC Concert
Can you believe it? The Lake Norman Orchestra will be performing a concert on our campus—and they’ve graciously invited our talented music team to join them on stage! This is more than just a concert; it’s an opportunity to come together as a community.
Bring your friends, family, and neighbors to share in this special evening of beautiful music and fellowship. Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 3rd! The gym doors will open at 5:30 PM, with the concert beginning at 6 PM. Afterward, join us for a dessert reception to connect and reflect on the wonderful performances.
Stay tuned—flyers will be available soon for you to share and help spread the word. We can’t wait to see you there!
Pregnancy Resource Center Banquet
Each year, Eastside Baptist Church has the honor of supporting the Pregnancy Resource Center Banquet—a special evening dedicated to love and hope. This year’s banquet will take place on Monday, May 5th, and we are looking for volunteers to make this night truly memorable.
If you feel called to serve or want to learn more about how you can help, please reach out to Amy Horton. Together, we can make a difference in our community.
Nursery Schedule
3/23 – Cara & Ruby Stevens
3/30 – Amy Horton & Gloria Minson
From the Desk of Pastor Tom
The very first thing we talked about from Jonah 1:1 is how we are so privileged that God would communicate with us. The fact God speaks to broken humanity is a wonderful picture of grace, and our wealth of revelation in the Word of God is staggering and enlivening. However, let us consider some contrasting responses to God’s Words, and in reality, responses to God Himself.
The Sailors
The response of the sailors in chapter 1 is easy to identify. These men see the power and purpose of God on grand display through Jonah’s words and the stormy miracle that surrounded them. Their response was belief and fear. Look back again at Jonah 1:10; it says the men were “exceedingly afraid.” They had great fear when they considered this all-powerful God. Look also at Jonah 1:16, It shows us an escalating fear pouring from these sailors that moved them to worship and serve Yahweh. The incredible awesomeness of God moved them to tremble before Him, and God mercifully spared these trembling sailors.
Nineveh
These people heard the message of judgment and power. They knew of the Hebrews, they heard more of Yahweh, and their immediate response was belief and fear. Read Jonah 3:5 and 9 again. A wanderer from little Israel brought a message of judgment and they believed. These enemies of Israel believed and repented at the words of Yahweh. How do God’s people respond?
Jonah
Where do we see Jonah fear God? In chapter 2? I would suggest he was not completely there yet. Go ahead and read the rest of chapter 4 and see how Jonah responds to God. What do you think? Does Jonah fear God? Mainly, we see rejection or complacency. God was working on Jonah, and there is gradual growth throughout the book, but it seems like Jonah was hardened to the grandeur of God’s Word. Hearing from God had become common and ignorable to him. Now, let’s fast forward a few years (approximately 800 or so), where we get another glimpse into Israel’s response to the Word of God.
Jews in Luke
John 1:14 declares the Word became “flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Jesus Christ not only spoke the words of God, but He was also God’s communication in the flesh. How did the people of Israel respond? Look at Luke 11:29-32 and John 1:10-11. In summary, how would you describe the Jews’ response to the Word of God? Jesus had a strong message for His people in these verses. He reminded them that Nineveh believed, but the Israelites had received SO MUCH MORE, yet they struggled. Their response would be better characterized by forgetfulness and rebellion. What does this have to do with us today?
All People
Three concluding thoughts: fear God, respect God’s Word, watch for (and fight) complacency. First, fear God. He is greater and more awesome than any other. Even the realization that He speaks and desires relationship should rightly overwhelm us. Also, remember that in comparison to God, the opinions of others have insignificant value. How do you honestly view God? What are the internal beliefs about God that control how you live?
Second, respect God’s Word. He has chosen to communicate truth and grace to us; relish this. God sovereignly uses the events of life to bring us back to His Word. Embrace that, for it is His chosen way of making Himself known. God’s written Word and His Son Jesus Christ must not be ignored or dismissed.
Finally, look out for and fight complacency. Anything familiar tends to drift towards normal. God’s speech should never be considered normal; it is awe-inspiring. Remember WHO is speaking: the eternal, all-powerful, sovereign, creator God of all people and all things. His purpose is to bring you into His family and transform you into the image of His Son Jesus Christ. His purpose is to make His preeminent glory known (Colossians 1:15-18). Remember who YOU are: the weak and created being God has chosen to enter into a relationship with. Humanity is sinful, yet God in His grace provides a way to receive mercy. What is there in any of that to be complacent about? Apathetic? Every truth of God’s Word should elicit a passionate response of fearful worship or vehement rejection. The book of Jonah encourages us to see the beauty of fearful worship.
