This year’s Vacation Bible School theme is about God’s amazing purpose and work to make His children more and more like Jesus. The memory passage is, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
 
God’s purpose has never changed. He has always planned for those who trust in Jesus to look like Jesus, think like Jesus, and be like Jesus in all our ways. Children do that better than anybody. Children want to be like Jesus. They are not corrupted yet by the ways of the world. They are tender and trusting. Children show us adults what pure uninterrupted Christlikeness looks like. If you want to see what God’s eternal purpose is, just show up this week walk around the church and watch the children.
 
We have over the past couple of years lost a lot of our children. Their families have moved away to other counties. We are now rebuilding our children’s ministry at Grace. This year’s Vacation Bible School will give us a great opportunity to reach out into the community to locate and enlist children that need to be a part of the ministry here. We not only need these children in our church, but they need our church to show them who Jesus Christ is. You can help reach children and their families to bring them closer to Jesus. Invite neighboring children to join us in Vacation Bible School this week. Bring your extended family member’s children each evening at 6:00 pm to join in the exciting activities taking place. Encourage your friends with children to come and participate in all that Jesus will do this week.
 
Most of all, pray. Talk to God about Vacation Bible School at Grace. Ask God to do miracles this week. Pray that God’s word will be clearly taught and that the Holy Spirit will guide our children to faith in Jesus. Seek the Lord in your own life this week. God is ready to do a mighty work of faith in all of us as we become more like Jesus through Vacation Bible School. God is willing to accomplish His purpose in us. Pray this week, that our children as well as all of us grown-ups will let God do His amazing work in us.

We started a new Bible study series this past Wednesday night. It is called “A Survey of First Things.” The first topic for our study was the life of Abraham. While Abraham is not the first father in the Bible, he is certainly the most important when it comes to his life and influence upon his family and the people of God. His name means “Father of a Multitude.” It can be translated as “Exalted Father.” Abraham was both. He was exalted by God, “I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great…” (Genesis 12:2)
 
To be blessed by God means that you share in the character of God. You can say that the blessing of God makes you Godlike. Abraham was a living example of God’s presence and likeness in all that he did.
 
God promised Abraham that through him, “…all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3b). That means that God chose Abraham to show the world who God is. Abraham would display God’s likeness to people of his day, but when you add the word “all” you also include everybody, everywhere, for all time. Thus, Abraham is a chosen father for God whose influence and testimony continues even today. We are blessed because God chose Abraham to be a blessing.
 
     How does God use Abraham today to bless me and everyone all over the world?
 
The answer is repeated three times throughout the Bible:
“…he believed in the Lord; and God reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)
 
Those words are repeated by the apostle Paul in Romans 4:3, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” And then again in James 2:23, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.”
 
There are two ways Abraham’s blessing becomes our blessing. First, we are blessed by Abraham’s testimony of faith. He believed God.
 
R.C. Sproul said, “It’s one thing to believe in God and another thing to believe God.”
 
Abraham believed God by doing what God wanted him to do. His faith was lived out by his actions. Abraham was a father who believed God and showed us how to be a friend of God.
 
Then, Abraham was a blessed father who was righteous before God. God declared him to be “right.” In other words, Abraham was the right kind of father. He was right in God’s eyes.
 
     Was Abraham perfect?
 
No, he messed up occasionally. But every time God spent time with him to renew his faith, Abraham did the right thing. Abraham worshipped God, listened to God, and trusted God.
 
Righteousness is putting God where He belongs in your life. You cannot be right with God and put God in some place other than on the top shelf where He belongs. 
 
We thank God today for our fathers. They are truly blessed men of God who have been a blessing to their families and many others. Fathers renew your faith in God on this Father’s Day. Determine to walk by faith like Abraham did. Ask God to give you what you need to be righteous in His sight. Put God at the center of everything and you will truly be blessed.

​While on vacation last week, I started reading Billy Graham’s book, “The Reason for My Hope.” It is a book about the truth and hope we have in salvation. Billy Graham talks about his hope because he knows Christ Jesus as his personal savior. He talks about the reality of sin in our world and in our lives. Without hope that comes through salvation and the forgiveness our sins, we are lost in our sin and without hope in the world. We have hope because Jesus died to cleanse us from sin through His shed blood on the cross.
 
He talks about the hope we have through the cross. Jesus died in our place. He gave His life to redeem us and restore us, “The Bible says that we are doomed to eternal banishment from the presence of God because sin separates man from God. Remember, sin brings about a penalty, ‘The soul that sins shall die’ (Ezekiel 18:20). But Jesus Christ said, ‘I will die in their place. I’ll take their judgment. I’ll take their death. I’ll go to the cross.’ This is what Christ did for you and for me. Two thousand years ago, God invited a morally corrupt world to the foot of the cross. There He held your sins and mine to the flames until every last vestige of our guilt was consumed.”
 
Like the hymn writer wrote, 

​The cross upon which Jesus died,
Is a shelter in which we can hide;
And its grace so free is sufficient for me,
And deep is its fountain and wide as the sea.
 
There’s room at the cross for you,
There’s room at the cross for you;
Though millions have come, there’s still room for one,
There’s room at the cross for you.
 

There is another great point that Dr. Graham makes in his book about the truth and validity of Jesus. The Bible is true. It is not a book of fables and wishful thinking. Its truth has been verified by multitudes of witnesses of centuries of time. The Bible has not lessened in its importance, but increased in its impact upon history. This book quotes world figures, scholars, public leaders and historians about the truth and reliability of Jesus. Here are just of couple of examples:
 
Vincent Van Gogh: “Christ…is more of an artist than the artists; he works in the living spirit and the living flesh, he makes men instead of statues.”
 
Lord Byron: “If ever man was God or God man, Jesus Christ was both.”
 
H.G. Wells: “It is interesting and significant that a historian, without any theological bias whatever, should find that he cannot portray the progress of humanity honestly without giving a foremost place to the penniless teacher from Nazareth… One like myself, who does not even call himself a Christian, finds the picture centering irresistibly around the life and character of this most significant man… the world began to be a different world from the day that His doctrine was preached.”
 
Billy Graham’s hope is firmly grounded in every word the Bible uses to tell us about Jesus. The Bible is true and Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life (John 4:6). Amen, Brother Billy Graham! My hope is built on nothing less that Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. Jesus is my solid rock of hope too.

 
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)
​

 
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:
​

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.

​ 
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.

This past Holy Week emphasis and Easter Celebration leaves us with exciting reflections. Our church family held services every day during Holy Week with taking only Thursday off to rest and reflect. Look at the attendance report from the week’s activities:
 

• Monday – Wednesday Holy Week Prayer Services – 60 attending/ averaged 20 per night praying together.
• Good Friday Service – 61 attending to focus attention on the Cross
• Children’s Easter Egg Hunt – 64 total with at least 35 children
• Sunrise Service and Breakfast – 71 attending and fellowship around the table
• Celebration Easter Worship – 83 attending in Praise and Thanksgiving
• Total for the week – 339 to the Glory of God

 
This is our first full week of ministry together since the pandemic began over 2 years ago. When COVID struck our services, we were averaging around 130 per Sunday morning service. Since then, families have moved away. Some have relocated to other churches. Our church, like all others during these circumstances, has been impacted by the interruption of protocols like mask wearing, social distancing, virtual worship services, as well as disruption in fellowship and outreach. 
 
Churches are not meant to be limited to online contact. Churches depend on fellowship and close communion to build relationships grounded in faith and trust in Jesus who is our Savior and Lord. For this Easter week to be our first full week of ministry since COVID began, I believe God gave us an outpouring of His grace and joy as we were free to come together again. Over 300 souls sharing the Glory of Easter together is a true picture of God’s presence among us, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all thing in common” (Acts 2:42-44). Easter week was a New Testament, early church fellowship moment. We shared a glimpse of what it must have been like when the early church came together following the ascension of Jesus back into heaven.
 
I also saw God work in a powerful way during our Children’s Ministry outreach and egg hunt at Flowery Branch Park. There were at least 20 out of the 64 attending who were new families with their children. The event was publicized on Facebook and as a result 3 new mothers and children came to share in the activities. Our leaders welcomed them, loved on them, and helped them to feel at home. A birthday group was there and were welcomed to participate. Our members invited their family members with children to come and join in. It was a great in-gathering of people, which reminding me that God is about to rebuild our ministry to children in coming days. I could see Jesus among us loving on children welcoming them into His arms, “Suffer the children to come unto me and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for such is the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:14). When you have children at church, you have the heart of God.
 
In all, God was among us all week long during Holy Week. I praise God for the evidence of His grace and glory among my dear church and its people at Grace.

“He is not here; He has risen, just as He said…” (Matthew 27:6)

When the angel of the Lord said those three words to Mary Magdalene and to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and to the other Mary, everything changed. Jesus had preached the gospel to the multitudes healing their sick and performing signs and wonders among them, but their lives were still encumbered by their normal worries and cares of life. Jesus had walked on water, but He could not keep Peter from doubting and sinking into a sea of fear and trepidation. He fed the five thousand, but the people were soon hungry again. Jesus told the truth to the Jews about His identity and His mission, but they still passed judgement to crucify Him. Pilate found no fault in Him because Jesus was perfect, yet he washed his hands and allowed the Jews to free Barabbas instead. Without those three words, life would be hopeless. We would be left to deal with all the problems and pain of daily living without the Good News that Jesus is alive.

 
He is Risen!

Those three words changed my life on January 6, 1956. When I trusted Jesus as my Savior as an 8-year-old boy, the risen Christ came to live within my heart. He changed everything. Because Jesus is alive, I have a living Savior “…who walks with me and talks with me and tells me I am His own.”  The Bible says, ​“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). Because He is Risen, Jesus is at home in my heart.

 
He is Risen!
​

He lives inside me and all those who call Him Lord and Savior.

 
He is Risen!
​

Because Jesus is alive, He changes dark days into bright days. Remember what He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). This world and all those who do not believe live everyday incumbered by darkness and all the stumbling blocks that litter their path. Unbelievers live with stumped toes and bruised shin bones. Things get very painful when you don’t have Jesus to light up your way.

 
He is Risen!
​

We walk in His light, like the Bible says, “…He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

He helps me carry my burdens and gives me strength to overcome every problem I face. When Jesus walked away from death and the grave, any problem coming my way pales in significance.
 
     How can paying my bills compare with the freedom He achieved when He broke loose from a cold dark tomb?
    How can my burdens be heavy when He carried His own cross and watched an angel roll that 5,000 lb. stone away from the doorway of His burial place?
 
Jesus walked away from death so that every burden and care we have can be overcome in victory. The Bible says, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-56)

I was really worried about preaching on the doctrine of God. After all, my mind is finite and God is infinite.
 
     What can I say or think that God has not already said about Himself?
 
Then it dawned on me that I do not have to say anything that God has not already said. As a matter of fact, I better not say anything that God has not already said. All I have to do is repeat and amplify what God has said through the pages of His word. Man, that takes a load off.
 
Let me tell you something that I have learned about God. God is an encourager.
 
     Did you know that about God?
 
Look at Moses. God first appeared to Moses through a burning bush that was not consumed by the holy fire. Picture that! I think I would be encouraged if I saw something like that. Like Moses, I would be encouraged to look closer, “…he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed” (Exodus 3:3). When Moses looked more closely at this phenomenon, God encouraged Moses again by calling out to him from inside the burning bush, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” (verse 4). Of course, Moses did as the Lord commanded. When he obeyed God, Moses heard something from God that caused him to humble himself and hide his face, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (verse 6). You don’t get any closer to God than that. God personally identified Himself and disclosed his true presence to Moses.
 
It is so encouraging to hear God speak. It is humbling and truly amazing when God causes you to stop what you are doing so you can hear what He has to say. Sometimes God has to break through the clutter of a busy day to interrupt us and get us to listen to Him. God encouraged Moses to stop, look, and listen. When Moses did, God encouraged him beyond his wildest expectations, “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharoah, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10). Notice that Moses was encouraged to look, then he was encouraged to hear, then he was encouraged to go and do. That is how God works. Seeing, leads to hearing, then doing. But God was not finished encouraging Moses.
 
Moses asked God a good question, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh…?” Moses was aware of his limitations. He knew all too well about his quick temper and stammering tongue. Listen to God’s encouragement, “And God said, ‘Certainly I will be with you…” (Exodus 3:11). Moses would not be speaking for God. He would be speaking with God right alongside him. Moses would become God’s mouthpiece. What a great encouragement to have God with you giving you the words to say.
 
That’s what God always does. He encourages. He shows you something that grabs your attention in His word. When you look a little closer, He speaks to you the truth. When you hear Him speak, He humbles you and tells you what to say. Being encouraged by God is better than ice cream. Hearing Him speak from His word and then turning around and telling others what He has said, is the icing on the cake.
 
Let God encourage you through His holy word. He will show you wonders and marvels you cannot imagine on your own. Then He will give you something to say that will be a great encouragement to someone else.