Richmond Road Baptist Church, Hamilton OH

What a warm welcome the lovely Robin and I (and our daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren) enjoyed this morning at Richmond Road Baptist Church, just around the corner from our house.

We have many friends who have known and loved this church over the years, but we had attended only a memorial service there, a few years ago.

We were there for our friend Pastor Dewey Hughes's first Sunday as the new pastor of the church. We were welcomed personally by at least a half dozen people who recognized us as newcomers (I don't think it was hard at all). The choir sang and led singing on a couple hymns (above).

Two special musical numbers were sung by the composer, whose name I didn't catch (above). 

And Pastor Dewey delivered an outstanding message on "Rebuilding" from Nehemiah. Though we've been friends for more than a dozen years, I'd never heard him speak before, and I'm glad to say it was a great blessing. He "rightly divided the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15), presented strong applicational points, and struck a perfect balance throughout. 

Best of all, the response he had planned to his message invited practical and meaningful participation, and the congregation's reaction was moving and enthusiastic. We left refreshed and optimistic, and committed to praying for this church (which I've been doing already for a while now, as this post on another blog explains). 

Richmond Road Baptist Church is located at 2170 Hamilton-Richmond Rd., in Hamilton, Ohio.