Good Words from God’s Word
 
Vacation Bible School begins tonight at 6:00 pm. I CAN’T WAIT! The theme for VBS this year is “Submerged” offering our children studies from God’s word about “Finding Truth Below the Surface.” Bible studies each night will explore these topics:

• Jesus Knows Who I Really Am,  Luke 19:1-10.
• Jesus Knows My Worth, John 4:1-42.
• Jesus Knows I Need a Savior, John 3:1-21; 19:38-42.
• Jesus Knows My Purpose, John 9.
• Jesus Love and Accepts Me, Mark 10:13-16.

You can see by these topics that our children will learn this week how Jesus goes below the surface in our live to know us, love us and save us because He sees who we really are. You really can’t fool God. He knows you better than you know yourself.

I love the scripture memory verse our children will be learning to quote: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). There are other verses our children will be challenged to learn:
 

• “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
• “I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).
• “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
• “For it is God who is working in you, both to will and to do His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
• “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

 
It is a great privilege to teach God’s word to children and watch them work to memorize it. It is a great blessing to hear children recite their memory verses and rejoice with them when they do it successfully. I simply love it when children receipt or read the word of God out loud. I pray that they will love speaking God word as much as I love to hear them do it.
 
I want to publically thank Carol Childers and all of our people who have worked so hard to make this year’s VBS an incredible, unforgettable experience for our children. Thank you teachers, youth worship leaders, decorators, refreshment providers, craft engineers, recreation activists, transportation drivers, phone callers, prayer warriors, and last but not least, staging haulers. Truly, it takes a whole church to do Vacation Bible School. I know God is going to amazing us all as we lead our children to SUBMERGE themselves in the truth of God’s word this coming week.

Good Words from God’s Word
 
Today we return to John’s vision in Revelation of the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. The emphasis of this great passage focuses our attention on the joy and jubilation of heaven’s gathering. We need to know that the joy of our reunion with Christ and all those who have preceded us there is worth every effort we make to live for Jesus here. Scripture speaks of this great promise in terms of an “invitation.” This word in the New Testament means “CALLED,” or “SUMMONED.”
 
Jesus taught the multitudes through the use of parables. One of His parables was about a rich man who prepared a great Marriage Feast and invited (SUMMONED) many guests to attend. These guests received their invitation and began to make excuses and refused to participate. Rather than fret over the ones who did not choose to participate, the rich man went to the streets and to the byways inviting anyone who would accept the invitation to come. The result was that the “…wedding hall was filled with dinner guests” (Matthew 22:10). This parable of Jesus finishes with a very profound truth, “For many are called (invited), but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). The truth this parable conveys is how very special the invitation to respond to Jesus is. Christ’s invitation is open to all, but only received by those who respond in faith and belief in Jesus.
 
This is why we call people every Sunday morning to respond to the gospel of Christ. We call it “The Invitation Time.” We do not call it an “altar call.” We do not call it “a time of commitment,” or “surrender.” These moments at the end of our worship involve the altar, commitment and surrender, but there is more. It is an invitation that comes directly from Jesus. It is an invitation to respond to Him. It is a calling by which He summons us to come in obedience and faith to follow Him. The invitation  of Jesus follows us all the way to heaven.
 
In a different church once, I had a person come forward to the altar during the invitation and say, “Preacher, what translation of the Bible did you use this morning?” When I told him, he said, “I don’t agree with that translation.” The invitation time is not about what you think about the sermon, or if you agree with the translation of the Bible used. Invitations are not asking whether or not you liked the service or enjoyed the music selected. These invitation moments are specifically provided for people to respond to what Jesus has done for them or said to them. The invitation is the Lord’s time and provides you with an opportunity to say “Yes,” to Him.
 
When we get to heaven and celebrate the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, we will be together with all those people who have been invited and have said “Yes,” to Jesus. Think about what joy it will be to join with all those “Yesses,” in that happy reunion. Only “Yes” people will be there. I CAN’T WAIT!!

Good Words from God’s Word

Trustees Sign Documents for Purchase of New Grace Baptist Location
 
IT WAS AWESOME!
 
I give thanks to God and to the people of our church for the incredible privilege of being a part of what God is doing at Grace. The Bible says, “…have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea’, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you” (Mark 11:22-24). Faith, prayer and blessings are the ways God moves His church forward. The purchase of our new location and buildings is the result of our faith in the sufficiency of God, the power of prayer and the amazing blessing of God. I CAN’T WAIT FOR EVERYONE TO STAND ON THE NEW SITE OF OUR CHURCH AND SEE WHAT GOD HAS DONE.
 
Today, I will be preaching from the prophet Amos. Amos was a country preacher who preached hard about the sins of Israel. He preached about God’s judgement and coming destruction if they did not repent and change their ways. To Amos, true faith does not just happen inside the church. It must take place outside through our changed behavior. A true believer is one who seeks God’s will, treats others fairly, and follows God’s commands.
 
Have you heard about the man who prayed, “God, so far today, I’ve done all right. I haven’t gossiped. I haven’t lost my temper. I haven’t been grumpy, nasty, or selfish. I’m really glad of that! But now, I have to get up and get out of bed and from then on, I’m probably going to need a lot of your help.”
 
We do need a lot of help, don’t we? We need the help of God’s word telling us about the “wages of sin.” We need the help of the Holy Spirit, to convict us and teach us how to repent and find forgiveness for our sins. We need the fellowship of God’s people to hold us accountable and pray for us when we fall into sin. Thank God for these Amos-type influences God gives to keep us out of trouble.

Good Words from God’s Word
 
Our Memorial Weekend Beach Blast with the youth was without doubt one of the best spiritual experiences we have had at Grace. Our young people learned the scripture memory verse for this year’s Vacation Bible School, “Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts, see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). Not only did they memorize the VBS scripture, they memorized the six verses that accompany the Roman Road presentation of the gospel for the ABC’s presentation of the gospel.
 
The acrostic (ABC) stands for:
 
     ADMIT     that you are a sinner and repent: Romans 3:23; 6:23.
     BELIEVE  in Jesus:                                     John 3:26; Romans 5:8.
     CONFESS your faith in Jesus as Savior:       Romans 10:9-10; 13.
 
Our young people also learned the music and motions to lead the children in worship each evening during Vacation Bible School. I can’t wait for them to demonstrate their enthusiasm for the Lord in their singing and actions this morning. 
 
One of the retreat highlights were the Bible studies led by Trent Campbell. Trent taught our youth about Zacchaeus, the Woman at the Well, Nicodemus and the man born blind that He healed. Each one of these episodes from the life of Jesus, shows how He looked beyond the obvious circumstances of their lives to redeem each person. These lessons taught our youth that the Lord’s primary purpose during His ministry was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Thank you, Trent and Nicole for your service in leading our youth in their study of God’s word.
 
I am so thankful for the adult leaders God provided during the retreat. Each one took initiative, connected strongly with each young person, and contributed with mature insight and valuable testimonies. I know that God used every adult leader to make a lasting impression upon the young lives under their care. Thank you, Misty Freeman, Robin Jordan, Joey and Lisa Wilson, Josh and Elaine Dixon for everything you contributed to our young people and everything you did to honor the Lord. You all are the best.
 
I must not forget that these young people had a great time. When I say great time, I mean fun with a capital FUN. They laughed together, sweated together, ate together, prayed together, got soaked together in tropical storm Bonnie, worshipped together, ate grasshoppers together, shared their stories together, stood in the ocean together, played ball together and talked about Jesus together every day. I’m not saying that there was not some negativity here and there. You put that many teenagers in the same place for that many days and somebody is certainly going to rub somebody else the wrong way. Let me tell you, our young people love each other. They care about each other and take care of one another. Their behavior was better than exceptional. It was inspiring.I will be a better pastor after spending time with them and with those who gave up their Memorial Day weekend to take care of them. You all blessed my life.