Chambers Resignation, Added Missionary Cyndi Grover (Apr 26, 2010)
Karen and I returned to Columbus Monday after a wonderful week in New England celebrating the fiftieth wedding anniversary of my in-laws, John and Frances Aspray. I praise the Lord for the godly heritage my wife received and I benefit from daily. While in New England, I was privileged to speak at the annual Bible conference of Central Baptist Church and New England Baptist College in Southington, Connecticut. I also was privileged to speak at Greater Rhode Island Baptist Temple in Johnston, Rhode Island - my first time to ever speak in the Ocean State.
The Lord blessed yesterday with a good number of decisions at the altar. We celebrated our annual teen Sunday. I preached yesterday on the four critical yield signs of adolescence, and all the teens in Sunday school received a special gift for being in attendance. Our annual teen service was held last evening. Two preacher boys, Quentin Byrd and Tyler Cook, delivered their first messages in church and received a special Bible for doing so. Pastor Chambers preached a marvelous message last night. You can listen to it again by logging on to our website.
We were privileged to add two new missionaries to our budget this week. The New England Baptist College was presented in the Wednesday night service. And Cyndi Grover, a missionary nurse to Zambia, presented her work last night. These two works now bring our total number of missionaries to 171. Praise the Lord!
Our Fort Benning Bible studies this week were attended by nearly 200 soldiers. Six of these servicemen prayed to receive Jesus Christ as personal Savior. Amen!
We are sorry to annouce that Brandon Chambers announced to the congregation his resignation as our assistant pastor. We praise the Lord for Brother Chambers and the way God used him over the last six years in a variety of fronts in this ministry. He will be missed. Pray for our congregation as we seek new leaders for buses and youth. Bryan McDonald has already consented to be interim RU director. Pray for the Chambers as they transition this week to South Carolina.
Don't forget that our annual commencement exercises are just a few weeks away. Ryan Dupee will be our baccalaureate speaker, and Scott Pauley will deliver this year's commencement address. Pray that God will mightily use both of these men.
Thank you for your continued interest and investment in this ministry.
Easter Sunday Blessings, Added Missionaries (Apr 05, 2010)
Easter weekend saw a remarkable spike in attendance. Walk-ins were more than 100 above average, and a good number of visitors were in church from the greater Columbus area. Visitors were also present from Alabama, California, and Pennsylvania. Let me share a few of the highlights from this week with you.
Let's start with Alesha Favors. Alesha lives right around the corner from the church and was a returning visitor for this Easter Sunday. She was under noticeable conviction during the invitation. Several had already stepped out to do business with God, but Alesha was still wrestling. As preachers so often do, I said, "This will be the last verse. If no one comes, we will close the invitation." On the last measure of the last verse, Alesha stepped out and walked the aisle to give her heart to Christ. Amen!
We were also privileged yesterday to see Jesse and Rhonda James join by statement. Jesse and Rhonda live in Pine Mountain, and it is a significant drive for them to come to Grace. But they have tried other churches and were unable to find one that felt like home as Grace did. What a thrill to welcome them into the membership yesterday. It's always good to have Jesse James on the right side!
Bus attendance is continuing to see good numbers. Bus attendance stayed high yesterday even on Easter Sunday (a traditionally low one for us). Five bus kids prayed to receive Christ in the counseling center of bus church. Amen!
What a great week the Lord gave us at Fort Benning! The weekly Bible studies were attended by 218 soldiers with 51 of these standing to receive Christ as personal Savior. In addition, the Freedom House was invited to participate in a special activity on Saturday night. Over 600 soldiers were in attendance, and the Gospel was clearly presented. The chaplain with whom we were working decided to wait until the next morning to draw the net. When he did, over 100 soldiers willingly gave their hearts to Christ. Praise the Lord! The Ingrams were able to distribute over 2700 Bibles on post this weekend. We praise the Lord for generous gifts that have made this possible.
A great service was also reported by Pastor Allison at our sattelite church in Lumpkin. Pastor Brian and his wife Heather were able to lead a Catholic lady to Christ this past week. She followed the Lord in baptism yesterday at our sattelite church Easter service. Amen! Pastor Allison also reported that a cat and a squirrel entered the building during the service. Even though I tried to persuade him to do so, Pastor Allison did not include these "creatures" in the attendance totals!
Missions is still on the front burner! On Wednesday night, Stephen Wynn presented the field of Brazil. He did a great job, and it was our privilege to add him to our missionary family. Last night, Doug Claypool, veteran missionary in Sao Tome and Principe, presented his work, and we were privileged to add him to our missions family as well. We now stand at our highest total of missonaries ever - 169!
Please pray for us as we follow up on the many Easter visitors that were in attendance yesterday! A good number of Columbus State University students were present, and we are especially burdened for these.
This week is spring break for our school, and the kitchen is being remodeled while the students are enjoying some deserved time off. The youth group will be going to Six Flags on Friday. Karen and I will fly next week to Rhode Island to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of my in-laws. While there, I will be preaching for Jim Townsley's Bible Conference at Central Baptist in Southington, Connecticut and for Pastor Tom Chricton at Greater Rhode Island Baptist Temple. Pray that God will give us good meetings.
Your prayers and support mean much to this ministry. Thank you for your vital interest in us. Do stay in touch.
