Warsaw Christian Church
This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind … I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul wants us to do two things. Forget the past and reach forward to Jesus Christ. All too often, we allow the past to bind us. We remember our sins and failures and allow them to hold us back. We think about what might have been versus what is, and that can lead to paralyzing depression. We need to forget the past. What has happened cannot be changed, so why dwell on it? Jesus offers us forgiveness for all our past sins. Once we have accepted His forgiveness, we need to let go of the past and focus on Jesus.
While we cannot change the past, we can change the future. As we walk into the future hand in hand with Jesus, the possibilities are endless. Paul was a terrible person in his early life. He hated Jesus and persecuted Christians. Once converted, he put that behind him and began to walk with Jesus. He changed history from that day forward. He wasted no time lamenting his past. His missionary journeys and writings changed our world forever. That’s what happens when we walk with Jesus.
Our Christian witness will not be on a par with Paul, but Jesus can do amazing things in us and through us as we press forward to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Lincoln First Baptist Church
Heaven gained another angel on Saturday the 24th. Dorothy Anthony who has been a long time resident of Lincoln Community Care Center and of Lincoln went home to be with Jesus. She was a member of our church for a long time. Prayers for her family.
Please keep in prayer all of those who are in need. Some with health problems, cancer and recovering from surgeries and illness. God will take care of His own. Worship was well attended today. Glad to see people returning for another week to hear God’s word.
Pastor Jesse’s sermon was taken from Joshua 5: 13. Joshua was the greatest war hero. He was 40 years in charge. He had been in charge for a long time and it would be hard to step back from that. In these verses God came to take over at the battle of Jericho. Sometimes we need to let God take over. If God isn’t involved maybe we aren’t doing God’s will. God don’t need us but we need Him.
Jesus is the only one in control. Joshua was submissive to God. We are all God’s servants. Do you include God in your daily walk? Don’t be afraid to give things to God. Know who and what you are. Know your limits and get out of the way. The man of God told Joshua to take off his sandals so the man of God would be in control. Need a commander in your life it’s God. Our leader is already here. God’s everything and we’re nothing.
UNTIL NEXT WEEK GO WITH GOD AND GOD BLESS.
From the Pastor's Desk
Where is our Ezekiel?
Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know their abominations.
-Ezekiel 16:2
Ezekiel was commissioned to preach against sin. Not a message of hope, or motivation, or encouragement, or prosperity preaching, or comfort but of judgment to come in naming the sins of the day.
These are very dark days in Israel's history. The people were taken away in exile because of their turning away from God.
Their sins? Idolatry, fornication, child sacrifices, murder, greed, lust, blasphemous,witchcraft and so on and so on. Sound familiar? It should.
The question of the day is where is our Ezekiel? Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell and Charles Stanley are dead and gone.
Joel Osteen thinks he is Norman Vincent Peal. Mike Huckaby decided to go into politics and later become a TV show host. John Hagee is stuck in prophecy. John MacArthur is busy calling out false prophets. Kenny Copeland is casting out Covid and flying around in his three jets. Andy Stanley has disregarded the Bible for science. I like David Jeremiah, but he thinks David was a great man. Apparently, he winks at David's adultery, his murder of Uriah the Hitite and stealing his wife Bathsheba and numbering the people causing 75,000 men to die.
No, we need a man to call out sin.
I am not saying these men and others do not serve a purpose, but where is our Ezekiel?
The majority of preachers preach not to offend anyone. They dress like the world, live like the world and sing like the world.
Would we listen? Would we listen if a big time preacher, the mega church guys, actually said adultery, sex outside of marriage, greed, hate, lust, abortion, lying, deceit and homosexuality are wrong? Probably not. No, probably not.
I am Johnie J. Logue, Pastor of Grace Baptist Church at 31046 Hwy MM in Warsaw. Call me at (660) 281-4775.
Hopewell Baptist Church
In Matthew 15:1-20 Jesus is confronted by Pharisees asking why the disciples don’t wash their hands before they eat. The Pharisees are upset because they are obsessed with ritual purity. They believed if we could be ritually pure, we could be right with God. The Pharisees thought clean hands and clean skin can make you right with God. Jesus is mad, and He’s angry that the Pharisees have elevated the teachings of the elders. Jesus responds with something directly affecting the elders. The Pharisees dedicated their wealth to the temple so they couldn’t help other people. It was a racket and it’s bad. They valued human rules more than the word of God.
The disciples tell Jesus they upset the Pharisees when He called them out. Jesus tells them if they’re following the Pharisees, they must expect the consequences. Jesus says, stop following people who don’t know where they’re going. Preachers and teachers are not above reproach. Then the disciples ask Jesus to explain the parable and Jesus gets angrier, asking aren’t they smarter than this. Jesus tells them it’s the things that come from the heart that defile a person. Eating with unclean hands cannot defile you. The heart of the issue is what’s deep inside. You can do all the right things and it won’t make a lick of difference if your heart is not in the right place. It’s the content of your heart that’s important. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. It’s about our hearts and not our behavior. Thinking if we do good enough, we will be saved is hooey. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. We will always have faults and failures and our God will always be sufficient. Human traditions don’t save us. We inflate human traditions to be equal to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The grace of Jesus saves us. Our obsession should be with the gospel of Jesus Christ. What would we be willing to do to share the gospel with other people? We need to get focused on Jesus. Where are our hearts?
Join us Sunday mornings for Sunday School at 10 a.m. with Worship at 11 a.m., and Sunday and Wednesday Bible Study at 6 p.m. Watch live at 11 a.m. each Sunday on Hopewell Baptist Church Facebook page.
Unity Of The Lakes
This Sunday 3/3/24 Rev Sandra Duncan will be at Unity of the Lakes to continue the lessons from Keep A True Lent by Charles Fillmore. This Sunday The topic is "Conservation" and the scripture reference is Isaiah 55:1-13. Please join us as we learn a deeper meaning to Lent allowing us to have a greater Easter experience. Rev. Sandra is a gifted speaker and you can be assured you will leave having had a spiritual experience. Service is 11 am, dress is casual and all are welcome. Join us for service and stay for refreshments and fellowship. We are located 8 miles south of Warsaw on highway 65. Our physical address is 34948 Hwy 65 South. Follow us on Facebook, we have some exciting things coming up!
