I am sitting at my desk this morning writing to my beloved church family an article for this Sunday’s bulletin while 19 little ones are laying cold and lifeless along with two of their teachers because of a brutal and senseless massacre in an elementary school outside of San Antonio, Texas. Two weeks ago, it was in a grocery store up in Buffalo, New York where the carnage took place. Senseless shootings, murders, and suicides happen regularly in our day because there are too many guns in the hands of too many people and all of us have stood idlily by and let it happen.
 
“Forgive me Lord because I am guilty.” This is my prayer this morning. I have become a part of this problem. I don’t own an assault rifle. I don’t have a pistol, or a weapon designed to take another human being’s life, but I have been too silent and too complacent for too long in speaking out against those who make millions of dollars promoting an industry that profits beyond reason by the sales and promotion of these awful tools of human carnage. I can no longer keep quiet.
 
Jesus referred to a place where the fire is never quenched, the worm never dies and there is continual weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mark 9:48). He made that reference just 6 verses after He talked about children who are made to stumble and fall resulting in millstones that are promised for those who do the dirty work.
 
A person who abuses children, who attacks children, who leads children to suffer, and die is a person who is destined for the eternal fire in hell. This assault on our children is not a political problem or a reflection of social disfunction. It is a spiritual problem that all of us share and for which the only answer is to repent. There are people in high places who bear responsibility for the death of these children in Texas. There are people who have profited by the production and sale of weapons that were used to kill these children. Even the high and mighty need to repent. I live in a country in which children are on the front lines of a battlefield every time they go to school or even to the grocery store. Listen to what God says,
 

(Luke 13:3)
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The National Rifle Association meets next week in Houston, Texas. Political leaders, national gun manufacturers, lobbyists, and lifelong members will come together and to talk about protecting the right to bear arms guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment. They will show off the newest weapon models hitting the market this year.

​Those attending will share their affinity for personal freedom and individual rights. Maybe they will have a moment of silence for the parents and loved ones of dead children over in Uvalde, or maybe someone will offer a prayer for those who grieve.

I venture to say there will be no repentance or united change of heart and mind. No one will look up into the face of God and beg for forgiveness and tell God that the binge we have in this country to purchase and possess tools for killing people is wrong.
 

GOD PLEASE, PLEASE FORGIVE US!
 
GOD FORGIVE ME!

(John 13:12-14)

 
Today and tomorrow our church will be paying close attention to the command of Jesus to serve one another. Servanthood marks the character of the church. Every born again believer in Jesus is called to serve others like Jesus served others. He said, “Who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). Jesus is our example in serving others. No one ever served like He did. He laid down His life in service, and without His sacrifice, none of us would be saved. Salvation is a product of His service. We are called to give ourselves as living sacrifices in service for the sake of others, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Romans 12:1).
 

 
Preaching and teaching today and tomorrow, our friend and co-laborer in Christ will help us in our desire to become more like Jesus in our service to God and to each other. Brother Ricky serves Georgia Baptists in volunteer ministries and chaplaincy all across Georgia. I’ve known him for years and I know he has the heart of a servant. I pray you will commit yourself to participate in the studies tonight beginning at 5:00 pm and then again tomorrow evening beginning at 6:30 pm. We will be studying together under Brother Ricky’s leadership an old book entitled, “THE BAPTIST DEACON.” Deacons are called and elected to serve others within the membership of Grace. Surely, deacons must display a servant’s heart and manner. But they are not the only one’s called to serve. All of us are called to serve.
 
I pray that our women and young adults will join in the timely and spiritual opportunity to listen to God’s word and share together how God can use you in service. The younger members of our church family will become our future servant leaders. God is going to plant the seeds of love and commitment with our teenagers and 20 something’s that will grow and bloom as time passes. We are to become a people who are “Saved to Serve not Sit and Soak.”
 

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I look forward to seeing you and sharing with you what God has to say to us today and tomorrow.

Mothers express the heart and soul of the kingdom of God. Father’s may be the backbone and the footing on which the kingdom of God stands, but mothers represent its inner strength.
 
Where would the church be without the compassion and love of committed mothers?
How would we ever grow and be nurtured without the determination of mothers to grow their children like the Bible says, “…in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52)?
 
When Jesus loved on children saying, “Suffer the children to come unto me and forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:14), He was talking primarily to the disciples who were trying to keep them away from Jesus. However, it was the mothers who brought them to where Jesus was in the first place. It was my mother who insisted that I be brought to church. My dad wanted the same thing, but it was mom who did the work. She was the one who made sure I was washed, dressed, fed, and ready in time for church.
 
Remember what the angel said to Mary, Jesus’ mother?
 
He said, “Do not be afraid Mary; for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:30-33). While not every mother is charged with the responsibility to give birth to and raise God’s one and only Son, all are blessed with the opportunity to birth and raise children who will one day become sons of God through faith in Jesus. Mary got the ball rolling and today our mothers keep the ball rolling.
 
Where would we be today without godly mothers who insured that we would become the children of God?
 
We honor and revere our Godly mothers today. Not all children in the world are as blessed as we are to be brought up in the faith of a mother who knows Jesus and loves Jesus. If more mothers were like our mothers, the world would be a much better place.
 
What would have happened if more mothers in Russia would have been mothers of faith like our mothers?
What would our own country be like if faith and love for Jesus had been the theme on which more mothers raised their children?
 
Remember that old song:
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God give us Christian Homes,
Homes where the mothers in caring quest;
Strives to show others your way is best,
Homes where the Lord is an honored guest;
God give us Christian Homes.

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We praise God for our mothers today. We pray for our homes that reflect the faith of our mothers. There is much in our culture that fights against the faith of our mothers. They have a hard task. We pray that our mothers will be strong and courageous. We pray that God will be with them and grant them success in building His Kingdom within their own homes.

Signs point to something. The word “Signs” is used 193 times throughout the Bible. The Book of John says, “This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him” (John 2:11). This sign was performed at a wedding feast in Cana when Jesus turned water into wine. It pointed to and gave glory to the miraculous power of our Lord.
 
Jesus used signs to give people faith that they might believe in Him, “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:28-29)
 
So, a sign bears a two-fold purpose:
     First, it points people to Jesus.
     Second, it helps people believe that Jesus is the Son of God so they can be saved.
 
Our church has been talking about a new church sign to put in front of our church that will promote our church name and location, and also display a message that will point people to Jesus. We received a generous donation from a local physician who believes in our church and our purpose to point people to faith in Jesus. Matching his donation, our church raised over $27,000 to purchase and install a sign that will do exactly what the Bible says a “Sign” should do. After much prayer, the generous giving from our members and friends of our church, along with patient cooperation within our fellowship and local government officials, our prayers have been answered. Our new Grace Baptist Church sign is standing and speaking to 22,000 vehicles passing our location every day.
 

 
People sometimes bugged Jesus about signs. They wanted Him to do things to show them what the future might be, or what the kingdom of God would be like. Jesus did not give them signs to please their expectations or ease people’s doubts. He said once, “…an evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three night in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:39-40)
 
Signs are not to be frivolous, or man centered. Signs are to point toward the truth of the gospel. Signs are meant to serve as a witness to Jesus, who rose from the dead and is now exalted at the Right Hand of God. So will our new sign be. It will be a sign that gives continuous testimony that “Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:11)
 
I want to praise God today for Phil Callahan, our Chairman of Deacons along with our Deacon Body for their prayers and support in shepherding this project to the point where we now have this beautiful Gospel Sign in front of our property. I thank God for all those who made contributions to the Making Christ Real on Mundy Mill Campaign. Every member and friend of our church who contributed has a stake in the ongoing ministry of sharing the Gospel every day to multitudes of people. Praise God for patient endurance and abiding faith that when we pray and believe, God will hear and answer our prayers according to His excellent grace.