Wrapping Up 2009 (Dec 28, 2009)
We trust that you had a very special Christmas enjoying time with your family and friends. Karen and I are especially grateful that our two oldest girls are home from college, and we have thoroughly enjoyed our time together this holiday season. It is remarkable that another year is almost in the books, and yet we are enthusiastically excited about all that God has on the horizon for us in 2010.
Though attendance was down yesterday with many of our regulars out of town, it was refreshing to see so many visitors from as far away as Indiana and as close to home as Columbus, Georgia. The Lord gave us a good service yesterday, and several raised their hands for salvation. Several, however, did not walk the aisle and the one adult lady who did come forward was not yet ready to make her commitment to Christ. Pray for us as we follow up with these contacts. We are happy to report, however, that four precious kids prayed to receive Christ in the counseling center of bus church.
Down on the base this week, the Freedom House was able to feed 27 soldiers who were left behind a wonderful Christmas dinner. We are happy to report that 2009 allowed us to minister to 6904 soldiers with 1055 praying to receive Christ as personal Savior. What a joy it will be to report these numbers at the annual meeting of the Christian Servicemen's Centers meeting in Lawton, Oklahoma in just a couple of weeks.
All totaled this year, the ministries of Grace Baptist Church were able to see 1296 professions of faith, and sixty people stepped into our baptismal tank to identify publicly with Christ. Amen!
We were able to set yet another attendance record in Sunday School this year. This is the third year in a row we have broken this record. Last year (2008), we averaged 536 in Sunday School. This year that number climbed to 559. And while we averaged 585 in the morning worship last year, that number reached 605 this year - the first time in our history that we have averaged over 600 for morning worship. Praise the Lord!
Our missions budget continued to grow throughout 2009. We closed the year with 160 missionaries, our highest total ever. Praise the Lord!
This year we were also able to receive a clear title to the buildings at our branch church in Lumpkin, Georgia. Praise the Lord for this miracle that was given to us!
Obviously, amidst the miracles there are burdens that come to any ministry. This year we lost several key "pillars of the assembly." Patsy Durham, Edith Register, and Bernard Cheshire all went home to be with the Lord. The day after Christmas, I laid one of our church members, Charles Smith, to rest. And there is yet another funeral today. Pray that God will use these moments to help others learn of the brevity of life and the certainty of eternity.
Your prayers mean much to this ministry. Please keep them up.
Continued Christmas Blessings (Dec 21, 2009)
We are still feeling ripples from our annual Christmas at Grace rallies. Yesterday, three precious people, who were saved during Christmas at Grace, came forward to follow the Lord in believer's baptism. We are delighted to tell their stories.
The first is Latifah Foy. Latifah came to our teen rally last Friday at Hollywood Connection. She fell under conviction through the preaching of Evangelist Adrian Burden and was among the 43 teenagers who prayed to receive Christ that night. Yesterday, it was my privilege to plunge Latifah beneath baptismal waters as she took her stand publicly for Christ. Amen!
Our second baptism yesterday was the public identification of Johnny Wiggins. Johnny was one of the many men who attended our Sunday service from the Valley Rescue Mission. Johnny fell under conviction last week and walked the aisle to receive Christ as Savior. What a privilege to baptize him yesterday! There were many excited people at Grace to see these two precious souls return and take their stand publicly for Christ.
In addition to these two baptisms, we also witnessed last night the baptism of Trevor Lutsch. Trevor accepted Christ at the conclusion of the Sunday morning service last week, and it was a privilege to baptize this young man yesterday.
Though most of the soldiers have left post, we were able to have one Bible study on base Monday night. It was attended by 81 soldiers, fifteen of whom stood to receive Christ as Savior at the invitation. Amen! At a seperate service, another seven men prayed to receive Christ Monday night at the mission. Amen again!
Derick Tyson visited Grace for the first time yesterday. He was moved by the Holy Spirit to come forward and give his heart to Christ. Praise the Lord! Several others raised their hands indicating their need to receive Christ but did not pull the trigger. Pray for us as we follow up with these contacts this week.
Last night, the sanctuary choir of Grace Baptist Church presented their annual Christmas cantata. This thirty-five minute presentation was filled with God-glorifying music. A special thanks to Pastor Powell and our gifted musicians who worked so hard to make it a special night.
In addition to the cantata, Mark Liedtke, our Spanish Pastor, presented the field of Belize. He and his wife Brenda were recently approved by BIMI, and it is our privilege to be their sending church. We officially added them to the missionary budget last night, making them the 159th missionary of Grace Baptist Church. Praise the Lord!
As you know, God promises to bless financially the local church that is committed to missionary outreach. As we continue to add missionaries, God continues to bring water from the rock. Our Christian school, as is true of many Christian schools, is struggling financially in this turbulent economy. Last week, God intervened and sent us over $12,000 of designated funds for the school from outside sources. Amen!
Prayer has certainly made a difference this week, and we request that you continue to send God some knee-mail on our behalf.
Christmas at Grace Results (Dec 14, 2009)
Christmas at Grace is in the books. What a wonderful weekend the Lord gave us. The things for which we prayed came to fruition. And dozens of people are now in the kingdom of God thanks to the preparation of our wonderful staff, the hard work of our wonderful people, and the sweet movement of God's Holy Spirit. Let me pause to thank God and update you on the great weekend that just concluded.
It began on Friday evening with our annual teen rally. We rented out Hollywood Connection, a local entertainment center here in Columbus in order that we might provide the teens in our city with unlimited roller skating, putt-putt golf, and arcade games. Evangelist Bryan Samms, who was scheduled to be with us, had to cancel because his grandmother died, and he had to preach the funeral. We immediately thought of Evangelist Adrian Burden who fortunately had the day open. He traveled over from the eastern shore of North Carolina to be with us, and God certainly had His hand on this fine evangelist. 564 people were registered for this rally, and by the time the night was over 43 of these young people had prayed to receive Christ as personal Savior! Amen! Evangelist Burden said it was the highest number of salvation decisions he was able to have in any one single meeting. Praise the Lord! God used this man in a mighty way in our midst.
The rain that started on Friday night came with a vengeance on Saturday. Our valiant bus workers boarded their buses nonetheless and brought in another 207 children for our elementary school rally. Attendance was somewhat affected by the precipitation, but Uncle Charlie was undaunted. This great man of God brought his "A" game. At the conclusion of his message, 13 children went to the counseling center and were led to the Lord by our trained altar workers. Amen!
The rain continued into Sunday, and I was not quite sure what the day would hold. I jokingly told someone that we must be in the millennium - this is the thousand year rain! The Daybreak Quartet never sounded better Sunday morning. Their wonderful music help set the table for the preaching of God's Word. Over 60 residents from the Valley Rescue Mission were in attendance and numerous visitors were in the crowd as well. The auditorium was filled, and I was ready to preach! The Lord blessed and nine people walked the aisle to receive Christ as personal Savior. Amen!
One of those who prayed to receive Christ was Maria Ramirez. Maria is the mother of Roscio Perez, one of our church members who had a new baby this week. Maria was in town to see her new grandchild, and fell under conviction as the sermon was delivered. What a privilege to plunge her beneath baptismal waters yesterday as she publicly identified with Christ. She came to witness the physical birth of her grandchild on Friday, and we were able to witness her spiritual birth on Sunday. Praise the Lord!
The Lord sent the rain away just before the morning service concluded, and we were able to feed our Sunday morning crowd with a wonderful ham dinner in an efficient manner. What a joy to see how all the hands of Grace pitched in and reached out. I am so blessed to be a part of this wonderful church!
And then there is the military ministry! Bob Ingram, on what should have been a down week, was able to minister to over 200 soldiers with 15 of them standing to receive Christ as personal Savior. Amen again! This year our military outreach has ministered to 6775 soldiers with 1036 of them professing faith in Christ. Can you believe the way God has used the Freedom House to reach our servicemen? What a great privilege to watch this marvelous ministry in action week after week!
All totaled, this year's Christmas at Grace was attended by 1,440 people and 80 professions of faith were registered. Obviously, this makes the money, the effort, and the time all worth it. We praise God for another great year of blessings.
On top of all this, God allowed us to take on our 159th missionary on Wednesday night. Touch Keo was brought to Atlanta from Cambodia during the war as a nine-year-old child. Through a variety of circumstances, Touch found the Lord in Atlanta and made his way to California were he was discipled and trained for missionary service. He is now on his way back to Cambodia to present the Gospel of Jesus to his own people. We were privileged to add Touch, his lovely wife Debra, and their three well-behaved kids to our missionary family. What a blessing they were to our congregation!
Also this week, we celebrated the homegoing of Brother Bernard Chesire, who had been a member of our church board for over 55 years. Brother Chesire was saved from a life of alcohol back in mid fifties, and God changed his life completely. There were not many dry eyes as Brother Chesire was laid to rest Wednesday afternoon. But we are glad to report that one precious soul prayed to receive Christ during his memorial service. Praise the Lord!
Don't forget that the Sanctuary Choir of Grace Baptist Church will present their annual Christmas cantata this Sunday night. You won't want to miss it!
And on a personal note, please continue to pray for my dear mother as she recovers from major back surgery. The doctor said that if mom had waited much longer for the surgery, she would have been confined to a wheel chair. I am thankful that my wife Karen was able to travel to Ohio in order to help mom as she comes home from the hospital today.
I believe that your prayers have continued to make a life-changing impact on this ministry and this preacher. Please keep them up.
Christmas Events & Missionary News (Dec 07, 2009)
The Christmas season is off and running at Grace Baptist Church. Indeed, it is the most wonderful time of the year. I began my annual Christmas series yesterday. This year's series, enititled People Who Miss Christmas, began with the sermon Busy People Miss Christmas. You can hear the sermon again by logging on to our website. The Lord blessed with several decisions at the altar and we are pleased to announce that David and Lora Marigin, who were saved at our revival several months ago, followed the Lord in baptism and became the newest members of Grace Baptist Church. Amen!
Our bus church puppeteers were able to present the Gospel in the annual Breakfast with Santa in Phenix City. The mayor was present, and we are thankful that God allows us every year to present the plan of salvation in this city-sponsored event. In addition to this rally, there were two kids saved in the counseling center of bus church yesterday, and we thank the Lord for these decisions.
Though many of the soldiers are leaving base for the holidays, we were still able to minister to 147 servicemen this week with nine of them standing to receive Christ as personal Savior. Praise the Lord! Karen and I were able to attend the army band's annual concert in downtown Columbus yesterday. What a joy to see our own Colonel Bryan Owens (soon to be General Owens) give the welcome to those who attended!
Last night, Timothy Ojo, veteran missionary in Nigeria, presented his work. What a powerful message! Our people enthusiastically voted to add the Ojo's to our missionary family. Amen again!
Today, I travel to BIMI for the screening committee of Mark and Brenda Liedtke, who Lord willing will be accepted with that mission agency this evening. Mark, who is our current Spanish pastor, will be going to the country of Belize to plant churches. Pray that God will help Mark and Brenda as they go through candidate school this week.
On a personal note, pray for my mother who is scheduled for major back surgery on Wednesday. We are trusting God that this will be the answer to the back troubles she has had for the past several years.
Don't forget that the lower elementary children of Grace Christian School will present their annual Christmas program Tuesday night. You won't want to miss it.
And finally, be in much prayer about Christmas at Grace this weekend. We are expecting over 1500 people with hundreds of them in need of the Savior. Pray that our Friday night teen rally, Saturday afternoon children's rally, and Sunday morning service will all be mightily used to bring dozens of people into the family of God!
