Pastor Matt Weekly Newsletter
First Baptist Church, Stillwater – Newsletter for the week of Nov. 16, 2025
“The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.” -Genesis 16:7
Do you remember getting lost as a kid? Maybe at a big department store, amusement park, airport, or other unfamiliar place, do you remember the fear and feeling of loneliness? What about the good moment when your parent found you? The relief and happiness and sense of security that came with being found.
On Sunday, we learned about Hagar, slave woman to Abram and Sarai. After Abram and Sarai still were not able to conceive, Sarai allows Abram to use Hagar to provide a son – an heir to the promise of God that was not theirs to give. It’s a startling abuse of power and what’s worse is the relationship between Sarai and Hagar deteriorates to such an extent that Hagar runs away. She’s out in the desert, pregnant, vulnerable, and alone.
But something happens: “The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert;” (Gen. 16:7, excerpt). God seeks and finds Hagar. She isn’t alone. She has a God who sees her. Hagar: a slave woman, unwanted, and unloved by those who were supposed to care for her, rejected and despised, is found by God.
God is the God who sees and hears us in our sorrows. We don’t have to be impressive or in good standing for God to see us. He sees us because He loves us. The well-to-do like Abram, the rejected foreigner like Hagar – God is a god who sees and hears. What does this tell us? This seems obvious: of course God loves us! He’s God! But what we have to understand is that in ancient cultures, their ideas of “god” would not care or regard the slave woman’s plight. In those cultures, only the king was made in God’s image, and everyone else was ordered into caste or class with diminishing value. But our God looks after the poorest of the poor and the most unlikely.
The ethical consideration should shape our missions work: we must seek and find those most vulnerable in our society. The despised and unwanted are to be welcomed at the Lord’s table. May it be so with us.
May the Lord bless us and keep us,
Matt
Matt
Announcements and other thoughts
New Groups – On 11/23 we will hold launches for two groups on Sunday Mornings at 9:30: a youth group led by Will and Nancy Word; and a Career-aged group led by Matt and Debra Davis.
New Prayer Team – There will be a brief information meeting Sunday (11/23) after church regarding the formation of a new church-wide Sunday morning prayer team. For more information, please contact Pastor Matt.
Stillwater High School Angel Tree – we have opportunity to bless some families in need this Christmas. We have 10 families that have been assigned to our church.
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