2010 Rolls On, Gearing Up for Missions Conference (Jan 11, 2010)
The Lord gave us a good Sunday yesterday. Temperatures were very chilly by Georgia standards. Wind chill factors were hovering in the teens, but attendance was good. We are thankful this morning for some significant highlights that we would like to share with you.
Yesterday at 9:30 AM, we began a new quarter of the Soul Winners Club. Several new couples, an adult man, and a teenage girl all signed up for this quarter. One of our new membrs, Phil Shuler, was loading his kids into the mini-van after church when a boy from the neighborhood came up and just started watching. After Phil finished loading the kids, he talked to this boy about the Savior, and within a few minutes this young man was praying to receive Christ. Amen! As Phil was finishing up, the boy's father approached, and Phil was able to lead the father to Christ as well. Amen again! Pray for Phil (and us) as the discipleship begins. Pray with us that we will be able to get them baptized soon and on the road to productive Christian living.
At 10:45 AM, the buses began to pull in. Three buses had mechanical problems due to the chilly temperatures, but all routes were handled by the excellent flexibility of our bus workers. We had 111 riders yesterday with six of them praying to receive Christ as personal Savior. Amen!
At 11:00 AM, I continued our January sermon series on "Roads" from the book of Proverbs. This Sunday we talked about Guardrails, and there were a good number of decisions at the altar. Several people joined the church yesterday. We thank the Lord for Jason and Cassandra Belford joining by letter from their church in South Shore, Kentucky. Paul Nichols, also in the military, joined yesterday by statement. Praise the Lord!
One of our most "turned around" RU families, the Allens, brought relatives to church yesterday. Pray for us as we follow up with these local visitors.
At 6:00 PM, we were privileged to feature Paul Hostetler, missionary with BIMI to the field of Madagascar. Paul did an excellent job of presenting misisons and his particular field. We were excited about adding him to our missionary family - the 161st missionary of Grace Baptist Church. Amen! This is the first time in our 63-year history we have ever had a missionary to this field, and we are excited about having fruit in this ripe part of the world.
Do pray for the leadership team of Grace as it travels to Northeast Georgia this week for its annual retreat. We will be laying the ground work for 2010's agenda.
Baby dedication is coming soon - January 24. We are excited about this annual celebration of life. More babies than ever were born in 2009, and we are excited about honoring them and their parents.
And then our world missionary conference is less than one month away. Missionaries to Australia, Ecuador, Egypt, Grenada, Nebraska, and Norway will be with us. Begin praying now about your financial commitment.
Thank you for your continued interest in this ministry.