Windsor Spring Baptist Church

Transcription

1 For in Scripture it says: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trust in him will never be put to shame. 1Peter 2:6 a monthly publication of Windsor Spring Baptist Church Reaching Others Our Goal August 2010 Volume: 33 Issues: 8

2 From the Pastor I have preached on God s grace, and we sing about God s grace. God s grace is free, utterly free. All my life, I have heard grace defined as God s unmerited favor, which is true. But God s unmerited favor is a vague definition of something that is so important to my life as a Christian. What is God s grace anyway? Author and theologian Dallas Willard defines grace as God acting in our life to accomplish what we cannot do on our own. Another way of putting it is: God gives me what I need, not what I deserve. So God acts on my behalf and for my good, okay that s great. But if that s all that grace is, then how do I connect with it? It feels like God s grace is away from me like something God is up to off in the distance, beyond my reach, beyond my comprehension, and beyond my regular human experiences. The question is, How do I live in grace and build it into my life in a practical way? I think one reason we struggle to define grace is that it s so radically foreign to the way we would do things if we were God. After all, if we were God, we would sometimes give people what they deserve, not what they need, right? So, from our standpoint God s grace seems unwise, even wasteful at times. What we are missing is that there are two sides to God s grace. First of all, it is His absolute acceptance of who you are, just as you are, based solely on your faith in Jesus. So, there s nothing you need to prove, and nothing else you need to do to make yourself right enough or good enough or acceptable enough to God. And grace also means that it is the power to become the person God intended you to be. Grace is God s power working in us and through us to accomplish what we could never do on our own. And here s the good news, it is accomplished in us by simply believing that what God has proclaimed concerning you is actually true. As a wise man once said, Show me a man who tries to become righteous by doing righteous things, and I will show you a slave of religion. But show me a man who does righteous things because God has proclaimed him righteous, and I will show you a son of God. Grace is the power to love sacrificially, the power to walk in intimate communion with God, the power to accomplish God s purpose in the world, the power to overcome sin. And you tap into that power through faith, through your confident belief that all of these things are not only possible for you, but they are yours by right as a son or daughter of God. To live in God s grace is to live in freedom. It isn t enough to simply believe that God sees you as acceptable or that God believes you can become all that He designed you to be. You must see yourself that way as well. You must see yourself as acceptable, worthy and loved by God. Understand this, when God proclaims that you are acceptable and that you have potential to accomplish great things, He s not just saying that for His own benefit, no. He is pronouncing what is true. In fact, His very pronouncement actually makes it true because His words have power. So my brother and sister in Christ, stop living in defeat, and claim your victory in Christ because of His grace in you. See you Sunday, Bible in hand, Pastor Paul I am so grateful to be home from Belize and yet so thankful to have had the opportunity to join the Lord in His work in this beautiful country. I want to thank the church as a whole you did so much to get us there by providing the funds. The team is very aware that without you the whole trip would have been impossible. You also need to know that because of your giving, a church building had two Sunday School rooms added and a roof, it was painted inside and out plus two signs were put up, approximately 75 children attended VBS, four separate churches were led in Sunday School and worship services and we even led an evangelistic service in a park. I believe that s a great return on your investment. All Glory to God for His wonderful blessings! The trip seems like a blur because from the moment we landed we were so busy. I can say in comparison to other mission trips I have been on, not a minute was wasted. I was able to see our team members stretched beyond their wildest imaginations and that was only because of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. I watched students going up to strangers and talking to them about Jesus, I watch others who said all they were able to offer were hands for construction never touch a tool because God had other plans for them. Home visits became the excitement of the day and to get to play with children and teach them about Jesus described a successful day. We were reacquainted with outhouses, cold showers, scorpions and rats in your bed, tarantulas at the church and ministering in the hottest of weather to the point of constant sweating You prayed for rain so you might be cooled by the shower. With all that said I can honestly say we would do it all again. Giving up the comforts of home changed each of us in unique ways. We thought we were there to bless the people of Corozol but instead they blessed us. We know what it means to be content with what you have and willing to share it no matter how little it might be all because the people of Belize, although poor by America s standard, are truly rich in the things that matter. They gave testimony after testimony of God s provision and goodness making each of us feel ashamed for the complaints we have about being without in the States. I must tell you after our first day there I lay in my bed thinking, Lord I can t do this. Yet all things are possible with God and of course I did make it. I also want to thank the ministry team who gave up their beds, showers, air conditioning, and families for the week to serve the Lord. You were absolutely amazing. You didn t miss a single opportunity to show the Love of Christ and because you were so intentional in your efforts lives were changed. Thank you for showing me how great our God is and how beautiful your hearts are. I hope each of you will join us this Sunday August 1 st in the PM service as we give the church a more detailed report of all that took place in Belize. It is going to be a wonderful testimony of God s grace and goodness in the lives of His people. I hope to see you there, Teresa

3 Let s Welcome Those Who Desire to Join Our Fellowship*... Roger & Shannon Jarvis 4409 Peach Orchard Rd. Hephzibah, GA *Malachi & *Gertrud Knox * **Sonya Franklin 3386 Thames Place 3510 Snowden Drive Hephzibah, GA Hephzibah, GA *New Member s Class & **Baptism Required for Membership Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 to Mark & Cyndi Adams & Family in the recent passing of his father, Ronald Adams. to Fred Gamblin & Family in the recent passing of his wife, Noriyo. to Joe Moore & Family in the recent passing of his wife, Jill. to Mack & Deborah Drayton in the recent passing of Mack s father. with Sunday, August 8 th at 5:30pm Monday, August 9 th Wednesday, August 11 th Mark your calendars invite a friend and make plans to join us. A Love Offering will be taken each night. It s that time again.what time you may ask? Time to begin working on this year s Christmas Musical called God Coming Down. It will quickly become one of your all time favorites. Now is the perfect time to use your gift of praise to minister to others and to celebrate God s greatest gift. Even if you have never been a part of choir before or maybe you have taken a break for the past few musicals, now is the time to join your voice and heart together to make a joyful sound! Rehearsals are on Sunday afternoons starting August 1 st. Hope to see you there! Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Psalm 85:6 services with begin August 8 th. What is revival? means new life. Only God can give new life but we can prepare the way for it to happen. Prayer will do more to bring a deep and lasting and sweeping revival, a revival that is real and lasting and altogether of the right sort, than all the organizations that were ever devised by man. By R.A. Torrey, Never a Without Mighty Praying, reprinted from During a recent Sunday night service in anticipation of revival, Pastor Paul asked us to pray for the following: 1. for God s people to get right with Him. 2. for a heart (burden) for the lost. 3. for the Holy Spirit to be present in the midst of the services. 4. for an attitude of praise to infuse WSBC. 5. for God to anoint Pastor Grant s message. We don t come to revival to be entertained. We come to have God infuse new life into our weary souls. Let s make this revival deep and lasting and sweeping by joining together in united prayer. Will you join in? No great spiritual awakening has begun anywhere in the world apart from united prayer---christians persistently praying for revival. J. Edwin Orr, reprinted from Prayerfully, Andrea

4 Windsor Spring Baptist Church P.O. Box Windsor Spring Rd. Augusta, GA NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 253 AUGUSTA, GA Back to School! 08/01 Andrea Doak 08/03 Bill Roach 08/03 Brunhilde Lewis 08/05 Tammy Wilkins 08/05 Yong Phoenix 08/06 Nancy Remington 08/07 Brittany Horton 08/08 Dorothy Bruton 08/09 Deborah McGugan 08/10 Woodrow Stringer 08/11 Manuel Mayo 08/12 Lavon Porter 08/13 Johnathan Gray, Sr 08/13 Jasmine Freemen 08/14 Theresa Duncan 08/14 Mark Horton 08/15 Alfred Cunningham 08/15 Teresa Daniels 08/19 Jennifer Robertson 08/20 Timothy Crouch 08/20 Brittany Garner 08/22 Nadine Rowser 08/22 Meagan Rickard 08/22 Ashley Waters 08/23 Arlene Nattinger 08/23 Kristina Riley 08/26 Eric Washington 08/28 Susan Hubbell 08/30 Abraham Alicea 08/31 John Gillespie

5 1 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 11:00am-Baptism 4:15pm-Church Council 5:30pm-Evening Service 2 Deacon s Meeting :30pm :30am Men s Prayer Breakfast & Grounds Workday Regular Activities Cancelled 15 Sanctuary Choir Rehearsal 5:30pm Evening Service 22 AM Services The Lord s Supper Sanctuary Choir Rehearsal 5:30pmEvening Service 29 Sanctuary Choir Rehearsal 5:30pm Evening Service Sunday School Teacher s Trg :00am-God s Helping Hand Ministry :00pm-Scrapbooking