Weekly Encouragement

Good Wednesday Everyone,

Weekly blessings to all.  This Lord’s Day our Bethel Baptist children served us an “extended” Valentines Day Luncheon.  To our Bethel Baptist Children: You all did an excellent job, and we all thank you very much.  The luncheon was made possible by Mrs. Tamara Holcomb and all her crew as she prepared the children.  Mrs. Kim Vickery and many others prepared our meal served by our children.  There were so many others who helped in setting up and decorating our fellowship hall.  Thank you to all who attended and made this a special day.  Children – Many at church placed their special Bible verses in your Valentine Bags.  Read them and find your special Bible verse.  You may have many as you grow up, and this is a great thing.  God’s word will always help you and teach you everything you need for life. 

This Lord’s Day also brought to us the news of one of our saints going home.  When we arrived Sunday morning most learned of the earthly overnight passing of Mr. James “Ren” Heartsill.  The postings and stories now being shared across our community tell us how greatly Ren will be missed.  Be assured, Ren is waiting for us with his Saviour by his side.  For as much as we will miss Ren on earth, we know a glorious reunion awaits us one day in heaven.

In leu of our Wednesday Night Fellowship, please honor Ren, Mrs. Leta, and their family at the scheduled visitation at the Dunklin and Daniel funeral home in Greenville between 5:00pm and 7:00pm this evening.  Let the Heartsill family know your love for them and continue to pray for the Heartsill family in their earthy loss of Ren. 

Our sermon series in Job continues.  The conclusion of Job’s story, a story of suffering and loss, is about to end abruptly.  Job’s suffering will not end because it got better, or he learned to live with it.  Job’s suffering will end because God ended it.  When the negative and unwanted events enter our life: Once God speaks – it’s over.  But we must not forget what we experienced.  We must remember the hurt, the pain, and the turmoil we lived through.  Our difficulties bring us near to God, and when we are close to God, we realize He is more, much more, than we imagined.  God is better than great.  God is more than enough.  God is Almighty!! 

We know God restored Job’s life because God is The Almighty.  For The Almighty, nothing is out of control, nothing is a surprise, and nothing is unexpected.  We must learn from what happened to us in the last hour, over the previous days, and through the past months and years.  We must teach our learned lessons to others as we tell them this incredible truth, “The Almighty is with you.” 

Heartsill Family – The Almighty is with you, and He will always be with you.    

The Almighty never left Job.  God is doing something far beyond testing and teaching Job.  God is perfecting Job.  God is doing the same with each of us.  Satan is destroying the old Job; God is building the new Job.  What Job lost were the things keeping him from truly knowing God: Knowing the ways of God, the truth of God, and the love of God.  God does not bless us because we are good.  God blesses us because He is good.  When Job believes this, God rebuilds Job.  Job’s story of physical loss and restoration is every person’s story of spiritual loss and newness of life. 

Beloved, God did not send Jesus Christ once we were good and ready!!  God sent us Jesus Christ when we were in darkness, lost, pushing God away, inventing ways to believe, and living completely wrong.  Jesus came when we were suffering.  God came to earth and showed us exactly who He is.  Your old spiritual life, your sin, must be destroyed.  This is your repentance.  And you must believe God for your new spiritual life.  This is your faith.  God spoke to you, and you believed.  Then God restored you perfectly.  You are not perfect yet, but God is rebuilding you into the image of Jesus Christ.  You are a new creation, the old has passed away, your new life has come.  This can only happen in Christ Jesus and no other.  You have the answer to peoples spiritual suffering, and they want their suffering to stop, “They just don’t know it yet!”  Tell people your story of how you were dead and now live.  They may not understand at first, but God will begin building something in their life.  God is speaking to them through you!!  Come this Sunday.  Invite someone this Sunday.  Come and hear what God has to say.

In Christ Jesus,

Pastor Michael