Women of Focus

23/09/2026

El Talmíd Programa 10AM
Juan 1:19-28 (19) Pastor Eddie Ildefonso 23-09-26
Iglesia Bautista Foreman Memorial, New Ellenton, SC USA

Iglesia Bautista Foreman Memorial, New Ellenton, SC USA Damos la b...

23/09/2026

23/09/2026

Corporate Prayer Declares Dependence Upon God Together (1)
THEY GATHERED WITH GOD’S PEOPLE
Acts 4:23 NKJV
“And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.”
CORPORATE PRAYER
Heavenly Father,
We thank You that You have not called us to follow Christ alone. You have placed us within the fellowship of Your people, joined together by one Lord, one faith, one Spirit, and one glorious gospel. When Peter and John were released, they went to their own companions. They returned to the people of God. In the face of threats, opposition, and uncertainty, they did not isolate themselves. They gathered with the church.

Lord, give us that same desire. Teach us to treasure the fellowship of Your people. Keep us from treating the gathering of the church as optional, secondary, or merely convenient. Give us hearts that long to worship together, pray together, hear Your Word together, encourage one another, bear one another’s burdens, and stand together for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
When one of us suffers, teach us to gather around them.
When one of us is discouraged, help us strengthen them.
When one of us is afraid, help us pray with them.
When one of us rejoices, teach us to rejoice together.
When opposition comes, keep us united.
When trials come, keep us praying.
When the world pressures us to compromise, keep us standing together upon Your Word.

Father, forgive us for the times we have allowed busyness, disappointment, personal preferences, or spiritual indifference to separate us from the fellowship of Your people. Deliver us from an isolated Christianity that says, “I can follow Christ by myself.” Make us understand that we need one another. Make us a praying church. Make us a united church. Make us a caring church. Make us a courageous church. Make us a church that gathers faithfully because Christ is precious to us.

May Foreman Memorial Baptist Church be a congregation where hurting people find brothers and sisters who will pray with them, where discouraged believers find encouragement, where wandering believers are lovingly restored, and where the gospel binds us together more strongly than anything that could divide us.
Lord, when pressure comes against Your church, do not allow us to scatter in fear. Draw us closer to You and closer to one another. Give us the spirit of the early believers who knew where they belonged. They went “to their own companions.”
May we be able to say with grateful hearts: These are our brothers and sisters.
This is our church family. These are the people with whom we worship. These are the people with whom we pray. These are the people with whom we will stand for Christ.

Above all, keep our fellowship centered upon Jesus Christ. May He be the reason we gather, the message we proclaim, the Savior we worship, and the Lord we obey.
Bind our hearts together in Christ. Strengthen our fellowship. Deepen our love. Increase our faithfulness. And make us one as we seek to glorify Your name.
In the mighty and precious name of Jesus Christ we pray,
Amen.
Pastor Eddie Ildefonso
Foreman Memorial Baptist Church
803-652-2242

23/09/2026

LOVED BEFORE WE WERE LOVELY
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” — Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
We often imagine God’s acceptance by comparing it to human acceptance. People may love us when we please them, approve of us when we agree with them, and remain close when we meet their expectations. Because human love can be imperfect and conditional, we may begin to think God loves the same way.
But Romans 5:8 tells us something remarkable: God loved us while we were still sinners.

God did not wait for us to become worthy before He demonstrated His love. Christ did not die for people who had finally cleaned themselves up. He died for sinners.
This does not mean God overlooks sin or that our choices do not matter. The cross actually reveals how serious our sin is. But it also reveals something greater: the depth of God’s mercy toward undeserving sinners.

His compassion originates in His character, not in our worthiness. We change. God does not. We fail. His character remains faithful. We stumble. His mercy is not exhausted. The Gospel is not, “Make yourself acceptable, and then come to God.” The Gospel is, “Christ died for sinners; therefore, come to Him in repentance and faith.” Stop measuring God's heart by the inconsistency of human love. Look instead at the cross. There God has demonstrated what kind of God He is.
You do not earn grace. You receive it.
You do not deserve mercy. You desperately need it.
And Christ came precisely for sinners who do.
PRAYER
Father, forgive me when I imagine Your love according to the weakness of human love. Thank You that while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me. Teach me never to treat grace as permission to sin, but as the wonderful reason to love You, trust You, and walk in obedience to You. When I fail, turn my eyes again to Christ and remind me that my hope rests not in my worthiness, but in His finished work.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Pastor Eddie Ildefonso
Foreman Memorial Baptist Church
803-652-2242

23/09/2026

September 23 CHRISTIAN HISTORY
September 23, 1595: Led by Fray Juan de Silva, the Spanish begin an intensive missionary campaign in the American southeast. In the following two years, 1,500 Native Americans in the area of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina convert to the Catholic faith.
September 23, 1857: Layman-turned-evangelist Jeremiah C. Lanphier holds a lunchtime prayer meeting for businessmen on Fulton Street in New York City. At first, no one shows up, but by the program's third week, the 40 participants requested daily meetings. Other cities begin similar programs, and a revival—sometimes called "The Third Great Awakening"—catches fire across America (see issue 23: Spiritual Awakenings in North America).
Copyright © 2026 Publication/Website name, Christianity Today International. Used by permission.

23/09/2026

La Oración Congregacional Declara Nuestra Dependencia de Dios Juntos (1)
SE REUNIERON CON EL PUEBLO DE DIOS
Hechos 4:23 RVR60
23 “Y puestos en libertad, vinieron a los suyos y contaron todo lo que los principales sacerdotes y los ancianos les habían dicho.”

ORACIÓN CONGREGACIONAL
Padre celestial:
Te damos gracias porque no nos has llamado a seguir a Cristo solos. Nos has colocado dentro de la comunión de Tu pueblo, unidos por un solo Señor, una sola fe, un solo Espíritu y un glorioso evangelio. Cuando Pedro y Juan fueron puestos en libertad, vinieron a los suyos. Regresaron al pueblo de Dios. Ante las amenazas, la oposición y la incertidumbre, no se aislaron. Se reunieron con la iglesia.

Señor, danos ese mismo deseo. Enséñanos a valorar profundamente la comunión de Tu pueblo. Guárdanos de considerar la reunión de la iglesia como algo opcional, secundario o simplemente conveniente. Danos corazones que anhelen adorar juntos, orar juntos, escuchar Tu Palabra juntos, animarnos unos a otros, llevar las cargas los unos de los otros y permanecer unidos por el evangelio de Jesucristo.
Cuando uno de nosotros sufra, enséñanos a rodearlo con amor.
Cuando uno de nosotros esté desanimado, ayúdanos a fortalecerlo.
Cuando uno de nosotros tenga temor, ayúdanos a orar con él.
Cuando uno de nosotros se regocije, enséñanos a regocijarnos juntos.
Cuando venga la oposición, mantennos unidos.
Cuando vengan las pruebas, mantennos orando.
Cuando el mundo nos presione para que comprometamos nuestra fe, mantennos firmes y unidos sobre Tu Palabra.

Padre, perdónanos por las veces que hemos permitido que las ocupaciones, las decepciones, las preferencias personales o la indiferencia espiritual nos separen de la comunión de Tu pueblo. Líbranos de un cristianismo aislado que dice: “Puedo seguir a Cristo por mí mismo.” Haznos comprender que nos necesitamos unos a otros. Haznos una iglesia que ora. Haznos una iglesia unida. Haznos una iglesia que se preocupa por los demás. Haznos una iglesia valiente. Haznos una iglesia que se reúne fielmente porque Cristo es precioso para nosotros.

Que Foreman Memorial Baptist Church sea una congregación donde los que sufren encuentren hermanos y hermanas que oren con ellos; donde los creyentes desanimados encuentren ánimo; donde los creyentes que se han apartado sean restaurados con amor; y donde el evangelio nos una más fuertemente que cualquier cosa que pudiera dividirnos. Señor, cuando venga la presión contra Tu iglesia, no permitas que nos dispersemos por temor. Acércanos más a Ti y más los unos a los otros. Danos el espíritu de aquellos primeros creyentes que sabían a dónde pertenecían. Ellos “vinieron a los suyos.” Que podamos decir con corazones agradecidos: Estos son nuestros hermanos y hermanas. Esta es nuestra familia de la iglesia. Estas son las personas con quienes adoramos. Estas son las personas con quienes oramos. Estas son las personas con quienes permaneceremos firmes por Cristo.

Sobre todo, mantén nuestra comunión centrada en Jesucristo. Que Él sea la razón por la cual nos reunimos, el mensaje que proclamamos, el Salvador que adoramos y el Señor a quien obedecemos. Une nuestros corazones en Cristo. Fortalece nuestra comunión. Profundiza nuestro amor. Aumenta nuestra fidelidad. Y haznos uno mientras buscamos glorificar Tu nombre.
En el poderoso y precioso nombre de Jesucristo oramos,
Amén.
Pastor Eddie Ildefonso
Foreman Memorial Baptist Church
803-652-2242