Good Words from God’s Word
 
I am praising God today about the coming events and ministries our church will be doing in the next few weeks.
 
Tonight our church will gather in its 5th Sunday Fellowship Meal and Conference. We will enjoy a great meal prepared by the people of Grace and then rejoice to hear reports about all that God has done over the last quarter. God has now grown our church to 137 members with an average attendance of 104.
 
Sunday School attendance has reached 60 per week which amounts to 58% of our regular worship attendance.
 
In addition, God gave us 25 people who professed faith in Jesus as savior during the past year, of which 21 were baptized. In all, 2016 was another forward step for Grace as we continue to rejoice in the blessings of God.
 
I am thrilled about the response of our men to the opportunity next Friday and Saturday of participating in the Johnny Hunt Men’s Conference entitled “BATTLE READY.” Already, 17 of our men and students have signed up to participate. We will be sharing with the men of Northlake Baptist Church at their church beginning Friday evening at 6:00 and finishing Saturday at noon. Men of both churches will be eating dinner and breakfast together. We will hear godly men share how God is working in their lives giving them victory in the spiritual battles they encounter. There will be great fellowship and life changing experiences as men of faith worship together.
 
The Student Ministry of Grace will be a part of Winter Jam in Atlanta at 6:00 pm Saturday evening, January 4. Young people from all over the southeast will hear Crowder, Britt Nicole, Tenth Avenue North, Sadie Robertson, NewSong and many others sharing their music and message. This will again be a great worship experience for our students who participate with thousands of others from churches of all sizes and denominational persuasions. They will all be there to life up the name of Jesus.
 
Then we will enjoy our Super Bowl Sunday, Men’s Chili Cook-off next Sunday night. I am calling for next Sunday to be Falcon Mania Sunday. Wear your Falcon colors. Bring your Falcon memorabilia. We will be Falcon Friendly all day long next Sunday in anticipation of our Atlanta Falcons becoming World Champions by defeating the New England Patriots. By the way, New England has been champions 4 times before. It is time for the Falcon Nation to RISE UP as World Champions for the first time ever. We’ll do what we can to boost them over the top next Sunday.
 
Is it possible for a church to be too busy? Yes, I believe it is, if all that it does is for the purpose of being busy. I have said many times, “I want Grace to be the hardest working church around.” I admit, that is an inappropriate desire if the purpose of all the hard work is self-centered. Business and hard work will be judged by what it accomplishes as opposed to the time and energy it spends doing the work. It takes hard work to win people to Jesus. Providing opportunities of ministry, events that foster Christian discipleship, retreats that lead people to a deeper walk with the Lord, suppers that bring in the unchurched, concerts that lead young people to worship, everything must lead to bringing the unchurched into the church. We are building the kingdom of God, not just staying busy.
 
Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). We here at Grace are busy building God’s amazing kingdom for His glory. That’s worth everything it takes to stay busy.      

Good Words from God’s Word
 
Ken Pethel, Wednesday night before prayer service, gave me a sticky note with good news written on it. God’s good news was that last Sunday 53 people placed their pledge cards on the altar in commitment to give themselves and their offerings for the One Mile for God’s Glory Campaign. All these pledges amounted to $86,078.40. Praise God from whom all blessing flow! In addition to the pledges, $10,577.00 has already been received and deposited in the bank to finance the renovation and construction costs necessary to prepare the new property and space for the relocation of our church.
 
Some may think that falling short of our $150,000 goal means that we have failed in what God has called us to do. I don’t think that way. More pledges are yet to be given. The numbers will continue to grow. I will not underestimate the power of God or the will of His people. We serve a God of miracles. We have seen miracle after miracle enough to be convinced that He is able to do more than we can imagine. The amount that God supplies will be sufficient to meet the needs we have. Let’s trust God and praise Him for what He has supplied.
 
The Bible says, “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted him” (Mark 11:24). 
 
One of my favorite prayer verses says, “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:19).
 
There is more power in prayer than there is in money. What if we increase the level of our praying with $86,000 in our hands rather than a lesser effort in prayer with $150,000 in hand? Which would be more productive? I know the answer. God will answer our prayers as we with united energy tell Him what’s on our hearts about the church He wants us to be.
 
While crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner, F.B. Meyer was asked to address the first class passengers. At the captain’s request he spoke on “Answered Prayer.”
 
An agnostic who was present at the service was asked by his friends, “What did you think of Dr. Meyer’s sermon?”
 
He answered, “I didn’t believe a word of it.”
 
That afternoon Meyer went to speak to the fourth class passengers. Many of the listeners at his morning address went along, including the agnostic, who claimed he just wanted to hear “what the babbler had to say.” 
 
Before starting for the service, the agnostic put two oranges in his pocket. On his way he passed an elderly woman sitting in her deck chair fast asleep. Her hands were open. In the spirit of fun, the agnostic put the two oranges in her outstretched palms. After the meeting, he saw the old lady happily eating one of the pieces of fruit. “You seem to be enjoying that orange,” he remarked with a smile.
 
“Yes, sir,” she replied, “My Father is very good to me.”
 
“Your father? Surely your father can’t be still alive!”
 
“Praise God,” she replied, “He is very much alive.”
 
“What do you mean?” pressed the agnostic.
 
She explained, “I’ll tell you, sir. I have been seasick for days. I was asking God somehow to send me an orange. I suppose I fell asleep while I was praying. When I awoke, I found He had not only sent me one orange but two!”
 
The agnostic was speechless.
 
I’d rather be a two orange church through prayer than a sea sick church with a bunch of money.

Good Words from God’s Word
 
Today as we worship, we have over 20 of our young people, their parents and student leaders on retreat in the mountains of east Tennessee. Their weekend has been spent studying God’s Word, sharing together in worship, and having great fun hiking, hanging out, and doing good things together. A retreat like this gives them an opportunity to be the church while they are away from their church. To say the least, it is a growing experience because in a few years, they will be doing the work of this church with their own families just as we adults are doing this morning.
 
Our church family on this milestone day, GLORY TO GOD SUNDAY, will be doing something that will impact not only our young people in a few years, but will make a great difference in their children’s lives a generation from now. We are setting the course this morning. The future of our church will be shaped by a simple PLEDGE we make for the Glory of God. A PLEDGE might appear to be a small thing, but when it is made in the name of Jesus, God does the amazing which lasts forever.
 
Do you remember when Jesus took two fish and five barley loaves and fed a great multitude of people? Jesus was testing his disciples when he instructed them to go into town to buy bread for the meal.
 
Philip said to Jesus, “We don’t have enough money” (John 6:7).
 
Andrew spoke up and said, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” (John 6:9).
 
In our hands and in our ways of doing things, small things seem insignificant. But, in God’s hands even a child with a small offering makes an impact that touches thousands and lasts forever. Who could have imagined through what is recorded in scripture what this child’s lunch offering could accomplish?
 
The same thing is possible with your PLEDGE today. That which you place on the altar of God today does not have to be a great amount in earthly terms, but when small things are given by faith in God, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE! 
 
Craig Dawson has an unusual habit. While he jogs every day, he keeps his eyes on the ground. This is not for safety, or balance. He does this because he is looking for spare change. Ripley’s Believe It or Not reports that over the years, he has found $8,100 in lost coins. Great things come from small and consistent commitments. Don’t be surprised if the PLEDGE you make today turns out to be one of the greatest blessings the people of this church can remember, let alone, something that will transform your own walk with Jesus for as long as you live.

Good Words from God’s Word
 
I will be preaching this morning from Psalm 24, which begins with a song of faith in what God has done, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers” (Psalm 24:1-2).
 
God is worthy of worship because of what He has done in creating the universe and everything in it. As we begin a new year in worship and service to God, the same faith that inspired the Psalmist’s declaration drives us to exalt the Lord in everything we do. Faith compels us to worship. 
 
Let’s talk about what God has done. At the beginning of 2016, we felt God challenging us to reach 25 new believers with the good news of Jesus. The results are in. We actually recorded 25 professions of faith with 21 of these born again believers following the Lord in baptism.
 
God gave us exactly what we asked for, “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).
 
Faith precedes asking and worship follows God’s blessing. God always does what He says He will do. We must learn to trust Him and worship Him when He does what we have asked Him to do. We have fresh evidence that God is faithful.
 
I must tell you that I am already asking Him to give us 35 souls in 2017. I pray that He has a larger number in His mind than what I have prayed about.
 
Here’s something brand new. We have been working to challenge our members and friends to pledge their participation is the ONE MILE FOR GOD’S GLORY Capital Campaign. We are asking God to provide $150,000 in donations and gifts for the renovations and construction costs necessary to prepare the new location. As of this week, we have already received in cash donations $9,264, which when doubled by the matching pledge for our benefactor, Mr. James Walters, the total on hand becomes $18,538. We are well on our way toward the $150,000 goal because God has answered our prayers.
 
The Bible defines faith as “…the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).
 
Basically, faith leads to praying, praying leads to God’s provision, and God’s provision results in worship and praise. Our church has seen God supply miracle after miracle after miracle because we have faith enough to trust Him and ask for His provision.
 
We’re not done yet. We know that within a 15 minute drive of our front doors there are 51,951 people who are unclaimed and lost to the kingdom of God. When we consider the 25 lost people who where saved through the ministry of Grace this past year, we have only lessened that enormous pool of unbelief by .05%.
 
The truth is, we have a long way to go in telling lost people about Jesus. Additionally, there are 69,975 people who are not attending any church on a regular basis. Imagine 121,926 people within 15 minutes of our church who need Jesus and His church family. We need to pray about that number. How many of those outside God’s grace and His church should we reach? Is our faith big enough to make a difference?
 
When you enter the worship center this morning, sing these words, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein…” (Psalm 24:1). 
 
Faith is where this new year should start. We must have faith that God wants everyone to know Jesus. We must believe that God is working to bring the lost and unchurched into His glorious kingdom to worship and serve Him here at Grace.