Good Words from God’s Word
 
THANK YOU. Can you think of two better words than that? The Psalmist said:
“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” (Psalm 100:4)
 
THANK YOU is such a wonderful thing to say. God wants you to say it before you walk through the doors of the church. Is it really possible to worship God without saying THANK YOU first?
 
John Ortberg said, “I need to worship because without it I lose a sense of wonder and gratitude and plod through life with blinders on.”
 
Every time you say THANK YOU, you take of the blinders of self and put on the binoculars or wonder in the majesty of God. Saying THANK YOU may not really be an act of worship as it is worship itself. Think about it. Every time, no matter what time of day it is or where you might be, saying THANK YOU being your key that opens the portals of heaven to worship God one-on-one.
 
A. W. Tozer said, “…any man or woman on this earth who is bored or turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.”
 
Saying THANK YOU is practice that gets you ready for eternity.
 
I saw a card with this statement on it the other day:
“GOD GAVE YOU 86,400 SECONDS TODAY. HAVE YOU USED ONE TO SAY THANK YOU?”
 
Every one of us takes a breath 12 to 20 times in a minute. That adds up to 17,000 to 30,000 breaths in a day. Our heart beats on average 115,000 times per day. On average, women say about 20,000 words per day, while men say about 7,000, which is about one third as much. How hard would it be to use one breath or one heart beat to say two words out of the 20,000 or 7,000 we speak every day?
 
The fact is, God expects us to say THANK YOU:
“In everything give THANKS: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
 
Saying THANK YOU is pleasing to God:
“…be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the lord; GIVING THANKS always for all things unto Bod the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:18b-20)
 
Saying THANK YOU to God is music to His ears.
 
Rick Warren wrote, “God smiles when we praise and thank Him continually. Few things feel better than receiving heartfelt praise and appreciation from someone else. God loves it, too …an amazing thing happens when we offer praise and thanks giving to God. When we give God enjoyment, our own hearts are filled with joy.”
 
Make God happy at least once every day. When you say THANK YOU, God smiles. Help God smile as much as you can this Thanksgiving season.

Good Words from God’s Word
 
Yesterday, November 11th was Veterans Day. Veterans are individuals who know how to serve. Veterans know the meaning of what Jesus said:
 
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13)
 
Someone has said, “For the veteran, thank you for doing what you are called to do, so we may do what we are free to do.”
 
Veterans serve their country to protect and preserve freedom. We should always remember, “Freedom is not Free.” 
 
Veterans know what it means to live by a code. The veteran’s code is:

 
General Douglas MacArthur defined these words in 1962 during a speech to the cadets at West Point when he accepted the Thayer Award:
 
“Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, and what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to reign faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.
 
The unbelievers will say they are but words, but a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. Every pendent, every demagogue, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and I am sorry to say some others of an entirely different character, will try to downgrade them even to the extent of mockery and ridicule.
 
But these are some of the things they do: They build your character. They mold you for your future roles as custodians of the nation’s defense. They make you strong enough to know when you are weak, and brave enough to face yourself when you are afraid.
 
They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success; not to substitute words for action; not to seek the path of comfort; but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm, but to have compassion for those who fall; to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future, yet never neglect the past; to be serious, yet never take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.”
 
The soldier’s code then is more than just words, it is a way of life. We thank God for our veterans. They show us what true freedom really is and help all of us to strive to be better than we can be by ourselves.
 
One other brief word before I close this article. God performed another MIRACLE at Grace this past Sunday. We have been praying that God would provide the resources we need to pay our 2017 tax obligation for the present location plus our new permanent site down the road. The total tax bill amounts to $14,000. The MIRACLE I’m talking about that happened last week is what God provided through the generous giving of our people:

$13,990.00 in General Tithes and Offerings,
$2,685.00 in the Special Offering for taxes, plus
$371.00 in One Mile Capital Campaign donations.

 
The One Mile balance is now $52,337.00 through Grace Baptist Church, and when added to the matching funds from our benefactor the grand total is $104,674.00 to date.
 
I believe in MIRACLES. I believe in God’s amazing provision. I believe in the generosity of our church family. Keep on Believing! Keep on Praying! Keep on Giving! The Bible says:
 
“…He is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works with us” (Ephesians 3:20)

Good Words from God’s Word
 
The most appropriate word for our church to use during the month of November is THANKS. We have so much to give thanks for at Grace, it is hard to know where to start.
 
I saw a list yesterday of people who have made professions of faith and followed the Lord in baptism to become members within our Grace family. So far, there are 13 names on the list with more promising to make professions of faith soon. We should thank God for every soul that has become a follower of Christ through our church this year.
 
We are seeing more and more people becoming involved in the study of God’s word through Sunday School. Our average attendance in Sunday School has grown into the 80’s as more children have become involved because their parents and grandparents are bringing them every Sunday. I thank God for every Bible study teacher and leader who lead children each week. God has blessed our church by providing dedicated, prepared and eager teachers who are faithful to guide our young ones in the study of His word.
 
We have witnessed God’s mighty hand upon us in raising $51,966.00 through our One Mile for God’s Glory Capital Campaign. Adding the matching contribution from our generous benefactor means that God has provided a total of $103,932.00 thus far this year. I believe that God will enable our church family to complete this year having collected half of our overall campaign goal of $300,000. Give thanks for the generosity of our people. Give thanks for the generosity of our benefactor. God is able to do more than we can even ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). Let’s thank Him for all He has already done.
 
We have designated November 19 this month as GLORY SUNDAY at GRACE. This will be a day of thanksgiving as we pray and ask God to fill our church with 100 attending Sunday School and 180 attending worship. On Glory Sunday we are praying for an offering in the amount of $14,000. This is the amount we need to fulfill our tax obligation on both the location where we now are and the new location where we will be moving in March. Property taxes here in this place amount to $9,287.14. Taxes at the new location total $4,523.18. In all, our church is facing a challenge of $13,810.32. Gratitude for all that God has done and is doing within our church gives us sufficient reason to give offerings over and above the normal giving patterns. Pray that God will show you what He would have you give. Ask God to bless you this month so that you may give exceedingly more than you normally do. I believe God is ready to provide our church family with another extraordinary miracle in meeting this financial need.

​ 
There was a young boy who was asked by his mother to offer the Thanksgiving prayer at the family’s annual Thanksgiving feast. This lad looked at the luscious bird on the table and began to express thanks before even tasting it. He began with his mother who cooked the turkey. Almost in the same breath, he thanked his father who bought it. He thanked the store clerk who sold it. He thanked the store worker who placed it in the store’s cooler. He quickly shifted to the farmer who raised the turkey feeding it, so it could grow so plump. He thanked the man who grew the turkey’s feed. He included the driver who delivered the turkey to the store.
 
Not wanting to leave anyone out, he asked, “Have I forgotten anybody?”
His younger brother exclaimed, “God!”
Without hesitation, the young boy said, “I was about to get to him.”
 
Be thankful this month. Don’t thank everybody for everything without thanking God first. Thank God by worshipping at Grace this month. Be thankful in your study of God’s word and through your giving as the Lord leads you to give. Remember, your offering will be an expression of thanksgiving for the many ways God has blessed you and blessed our church throughout 2017.

Good Words from God’s Word
 
The word this morning for us from God’s word is AWESOME. There a plenty of scriptures which tell us about the AWESOME God we serve. Here is just one:
 
“For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty and the awesome God, who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.” (Deuteronomy 10:17)
 
Other scriptures remind us that when God demonstrates His awesome presence and power in front of us, we are not only amazed by it but humbled by His wonder and splendor:
 
“They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea.  Wherefore glorify the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea.” (Isaiah 24:14-15)
 
The glory of the Lord demands a response. How can anyone remain silent when the glory of God is displayed before your eyes?
 
C. S. Lewis said, “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling ‘darkness’ on the wall of his cell.”
 
I give praise to God this morning because of the glory I witnessed this week in the work our teenagers did during the mission trip to Brunswick and St. Simons. Every moment was filled with awe. The splendor of God was obvious every day. You should have been there to hear them sing praises to God. The awesome presence of God was all over them when they opened their Bibles to study God’s word. God was amazingly real in their joy and laughter. Their testimonies and ministry to the street children who gathered in the block parties was electric. I was amazed by their respect and love for their adult leaders.

 
Our God is AWESOME and He has given us AWESOME young people through whom His power and splendor is obviously revealed.
 
Thank you parents for giving me the joy of working with our teenagers. Thank you, adult leaders who volunteer your time and energy because you know that God is AWESOME and that He is at work in these young lives. Thank you, church family for your support and investment in the lives of our students. God showed up big time during our days at Epworth By the Sea.
 
The Honey Due Donuts shop recently received approval to open a new store inside the new $30 million YMCA in Quincey, Massachusetts. This new store agreed to open and sell nothing that was not approved by the “Y’s” leadership. The menu will include coffee, low-fat muffins, salads, low-calorie sandwiches, yogurt, fruit cups and smoothies. The donut shop sells great food, but they do not sell donuts. Sounds ridiculous!
 
It is ironic when a donut shop, in order to land a contract, sells out what it does best. Believers who are supposed to show God’s glory many times look more like the world than the glory of God to whom they belong. That’s called a sell-out. You can be proud of your students and their leaders today. They sold a lot of GLORY donuts in south Georgia this past weekend.