Weekly Update 9-30-16
Fall is here, the weather is beautiful as the temperatures
begin to cool, and God is in complete control. I find such great comfort in
that reality. There is freedom in the truth, and the truth is God is in
control. He’s in control of my circumstances and He’s in control of your
circumstances. In His grace and mercy He allows and even brings “life” to our
doorstep to mold us and shape us, to help us become who He created us to be.
When “life” happens, remember that God is at work. Romans 8:28 is a powerful
and liberating verse. It says, “And we know (!) that for those who love
God all things work together for good, for those who are called
according to His purpose” (ESV). I underlined those words in that verse for
a reason. 1) I need to be reminded of the truth. 2) You need to be reminded of
the truth. Good or bad, through laughter and tears, God is working out His
purpose and His plan for you and me every day, no matter what. He is a good,
good Father, and we should trust Him. He is trustworthy and faithful.
I remember one day when I was a young boy that my father put
me up on the roof of our house to get something, probably a toy that I had
thrown up there. He didn’t use a ladder, he just lifted me up on the roof. I
got the toy or whatever it was he sent me up there to get and I remember
throwing it down to the ground. Then I asked him how I was going to get down.
He said to me, “Jump! I will catch you.” I said, “No way. I’m scared.” You can
imagine how the conversation went back and forth for a couple minutes. I
remember looking into my father’s eyes. He had never let me down before. I
swallowed really hard, got as low as I could on the roof, and then I flung my
self into the air and into the arms of my dad. He did exactly what he said he
would do. He caught me. I remember that I immediately said, “Can I do that
again?” Two or three more times my dad pushed me up onto the roof and I turned
around and jumped, but now there was no hesitation or reservation in my mind. I
knew my dad was going to catch me rather than let me fall, all I had to do was
jump. Jumping became fun after that first jump.
Next Sunday during the 11 am worship service we will be
baptizing 17 cadets from the Tarheel Challenge Academy. This will be the last
service these cadets attend at our church. Their time in the residency phase of
the TCA has come to an end. We will be having another covered dish meal on
October 9 following the 11 am service. Because we have so many to baptize I
will not be preaching during the second service; it will be our regular song
service and then I will baptize. We do have others that will be baptized, so if
you are awaiting baptism and would like to participate next Sunday, please call
the office ASAP to let us know. I would encourage you to attend both services
next Sunday. I will be preaching from Psalm 23:4 in the first service, and I
don’t want you to miss any of the messages from this great passage. I encourage
you to be praying for the cadets because these last few weeks will be harder on
them than they think. Many of them are not excited about going back home
permanently because of the situation they have to deal with. They need our
prayer support. Lift them up to our Heavenly Father because He cares about
them.
We have lots of things going on during the month of October.
Double check your bulletin for information about these events because you don’t
want to miss out.
-October 8 is the car show at Richfield. (Contact Dale King
if you can help out.)
-October 13 is the Decision America prayer time led by
Franklin Graham in Raleigh.
-October 14 is TCA cadet graduation at the Agri-Civic Center
at 10 am.
-October 14 is the benefit for Amie Sides at Highland
Baptist Church.
-October 19 is the David Jeremiah event in Greensboro with
music by Kari Jobe.
-October 20-21 is the fall leaves viewing trip to the
mountains.
-October 29 is the fall festival and fish fry.
I pray you have a blessed weekend. I pray I will see you in
church on Sunday as we gather together as brothers and sisters in Christ to
worship our Savior and Lord, King Jesus. May God richly bless you and your
family.
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike
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