Hello Grace Church Friends and Family,
I hope you are enjoying your week! Cheryl and I enjoyed our time last week with Chandra, Austyn and Cyler in Chattanooga, TN. As you know, they moved closer to Chandra’s family after Adam’s death. We certainly enjoyed our time with them. Chandra was working and the guys were in school, but we enjoyed being with them. The Lord is good!
My messages up through Easter Sunday brought home a clear truth to me. The Lord continuously pressed upon me the need to share the “Good News” of the Gospel. When I became a Christian in 1968, we sang this chorus: Lord lay some soul upon my heart; and love that soul through me; and may I humbly do my part to win that soul for Thee! Those finely tuned words keep coursing their way through my mind and heart. I hope I never forget them! Then again, I was thinking about what Jesus said on two occasions in John’s Gospel, “As My Father has sent Me; even so send I you.” Here’s the application… As the Father sent Jesus; so too, He is sending you and me! Every soul the Lord saves, He sends them out with the Gospel. Take a guess, how many people do you know? This would include your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, etc. Now think about those in that group that do not know Jesus. Choose some of them, and pray for them. Then ask the Lord to give you an opportunity to share your faith with them so that they might be saved. Be consistent in this, and see what the Lord does. I was saved because a friend made sure that I heard the Gospel. The rest is history. Folks, people all around us are living life without Christ and a hope of heaven; hopefully they will not die that way. Let’s pray as we go and trust the Lord with the results.
Also, if you have been saved and would like to be baptized, please contact Jamin, Chuck or me. You can also call the church office [252-355-3500]; we would like to baptize you soon. We want to see people saved and baptized regularly. This is what Jesus told us to do. Matthew 28:19-20 (KJV) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
This Sunday morning, I will begin a new series of messages from the Old Testament book of JONAH. It is going to be an interesting series no doubt! The OT doesn’t say much about the Prophet Jonah. But what it does say, we’ll share with you beginning this Sunday. Everything about Jonah and his book appears to be upside down! As I said, it’s going to be an interesting series of messages. Someone has said, “We all have a little bit of Jonah in us.” We’ll see if that is true. Sunday evening at 5:15PM, Henry Postel will be sharing the NT profile of Lydia from Acts 16. This “Profile” Series has helped us to see both OT and NT characters in a fresh light! Please join us!
God bless you! Know this, you are loved!!!
Mike and Cheryl <><