Prophecy Sunday Keeps the SS Campaign Going Strong (Sep 27, 2010)
Dr. Jimmy DeYoung returned to Grace Baptist Church yesterday to help us with our special "Prophecy Sunday." As always, Dr. DeYoung put the complex prophetic truths of the Bible in laymen terms so that our people could get a handle on it for themselves. I watched with pleasure as many of our new converts stopped by the book table to load up with materials to study the Bible more. It was a great day! We had visitors in attendance from Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, and Kentucky. We thank the Lord for these wonderful guests.
On Wednesday, Pastor Arrowood and I were able to lead a soldier to Christ who had been brought to church by Eric Marr. This soldier, George Oehl, had been raised in the Lutheran denomination in Germany and equated his infant baptism with salvation. It was refreshing to watch his understanding unfold as we took a simple journey down the Romans Road. We baptized George yesterday and were excited to welcome him and his lovely wife April as the newest members of Grace Baptist Church.
Our military ministry through the Freedom House literally busted at the gills this week. We were able to minister to over 1400 soldiers, and 120 of these stood to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Amen! Pray for the Ingrams this week as they minister at a missionary conference in Tennessee.
The Liedtkes continued on the deputation trail to Belize this week by ministering at the Temple Baptist Church in Flower Mound, Texas, where my good friend Dr. Richard Wallace is the pastor. The Acrees took time from their deputation travels to Ghana this week to welcome their newest child, Joel, into the world. Amen!
It was our privilege this week to add three more missionaries to our support base: Nathan Owens on his way to the island of Antigua, the Fundamental Broadcasting Network, and the general fund of the Christian Service Centers. Our grand total of missionaries is now 181. Our next missionary to present his work will be Jeff Clifford on his way to Namibia.
We are happy to report that the Fundamental Broadcasting Network has agreed to take up our radio broadcast, A Touch of Grace. After several years of negotiations, we are thankful to be a part of their broadcast family. You can contact their website for broadcast times, or you can go to our website www.atouchofgrace.org for free downloads.
Our chapel ministry is up and running. Good numbers came in this week from Lumpkin, Opelika, and Fort Mitchell. We now have a full page on our website highlighting our chapel ministry. Give us a look at www.amazingrace.net.
Jamie Snider reports that ten guys prayed to receive Christ this week in our local jail, and several kids prayed to receive Christ last night in the counseling center of bus church. We praise the Lord for these decisions.
Don't forget that this coming Sunday is homecoming. The Daugherty sisters will be ministering in music all day, and Dr. Tom Crichton from the Greater Rhode Island Baptist Temple will be our featured guest. You won't want to miss it.
We also want to remind you that Sunday, October 10 begins our annual revival campaign. This year's evangelist is Dr. William Jeffcoat. Dr. Jeffcoat, a long time friend of this preacher, will be making his first appearace at Grace, and we are excited about introducing his ministry to our people.
Your continued interest in and support of this ministry means much to us. Please continue to pray about our expansion plans for our Jordan City campus here in the heart of Columbus. May God's richest blessings be yours this week as you labor in the harvest field.
Fall SS Campaign Started (Sep 20, 2010)
Bob Ingram and I returned from the annual Christian Servicemen Centers board meeting on Saturday rejoicing in the good things that God is doing to reach the military in the United States, and especially here at Fort Benning. Last year, the five centers associated with this organization saw 1178 souls profess faith in Jesus Christ. 956 of these were right here through the Freedom House. Praise the Lord! We ministered to another 312 soldiers last week, and Bob witnessed over a hundred soldiers follow the Lord Jesus Christ in baptism yesterday. Amen!
We began our annual fall Sunday School campaign yesterday. The campaign, the Road to Spiritual Growth, began with the Road of Prayer. You can listen to my sermon from Jeremiah 33 by logging on to our website. Next week we celebrate the Road of Prophecy with Dr. Jimmy DeYoung. October 3 is the Road of People with our annual homecoming festivities featuring the Daughtery sisters and Dr. Tom Chrichton. October 10 begins our annual revival campaign with Dr. William Jeffcoat; the emphasis will be on the Road of Power. Great weeks are ahead. Don't miss them.
Our newest multi-site service is up in Fort Mitchell. Our first Sunday there was September 12. Our second Sunday yesterday saw a 31% increase in attendance. Praise the Lord! Good things are also happening at our branch churches in Opelika and Lumpkin. Pray for us as we pray about other possibilities to expand our multi-site ministry.
I meet today with the vice president of a local construction company concerning our future development plans. Pray that this meeting will be profitable.
On Wednesday, missionary Nathan Owens will be presenting his future work on the island of Antigua. We will be voting to add him to our missionary family along with monthly support for the Christian Servicemen Centers home office.
We will be also presenting to our congregation the opportunity to contribute monthly to the Fundamental Broadcasting Network. We are happy to announce that FBN has picked up our radio ministry, A Touch of Grace. You can check their website for air times in your area. Of course, you are always welcome to log on to our radio home page at www.atouchofgrace.org.
Nathan Shuler hosted a bus workers meeting yesterday for all existing and potential bus workers. We praise the Lord for the efforts of these dedicated soldiers who are doing much to reach the underprivileged children of the greater Columbus area.
Thank you for your continued interest in and support of this ministry. Your prayers mean much to us.
Blessings From This Week (Sep 07, 2010)
As I was driving into the office this morning, I could not help but thank the Lord for the wonderful things that He accomplished in this ministry this week. In spite of the fact that it was Labor Day weekend, and a good number of our people were absent, walk-in attendance was up 20 from a week ago. In addition, buses were up about 20 from the previous week. Attendance at our chapels was up. And attendance at our military meetings was up as well. Let's highlight a few significant things.
We begin with walk-in attendance. We are always a little nervous about attendance when a major vacation holiday is upon us. We thus challenged our Sunday School teachers to be aggressive in attempting to reach their goals this week. Good numbers were reported throughout the entire Sunday School, and we were able to witness visitors in the worship services from Maryland, Florida, and right here in Columbus, Georgia. Pray for us as we follow up on these in-town guests.
Pastor Allison reported good numbers from our sattelite churches in Opelika and Lumpkin. The sattelite in Opelika had especially good numbers, and one new family joined this chapel yesterday. Amen! Be in much prayer as our new sattelite church in Fort Mitchell begins this upcoming weekend. Canvassing will take place this Saturday, and Pastor Chamberlin is very enthusiastic about this new church plant on the south side of Fort Benning.
Our military ministry had a great week as well. 279 soldiers attended this week's services. Brother Ingram reports that 31 soldiers stood to receive Christ as personal Savior. Amen! These are the kind of numbers we can't wait to report at the Christian Servicemen's Center board meeting next week.
Buses too were up yesterday. I talked to one of our bus workers after church last night, and he told me how the bus teens were really captivated by the lesson on dating standards. The youth room was full of questions as these kids were confronted with Biblical standards, many of them for the very first time. We praise the Lord for the diligence of our bus workers who week after week attempt to keep our kids out of life-damaging decisions.
Our expansion program is moving ahead full throttle. We were able to purchase both 2925 and 2923 Howard Avenue this week. This gives us two-thirds of the city block adjacent to our current facility. We began negotiations last week for both 2905 Howard Avenue and 2904 14th Avenue. If both of these are secured we will have over 80% of this city block, a great location for our new gym and fellowship hall.
We also began discussion last week with a couple who owns property right next to our existing parking lot. If this couple sells, and it looks like they are aimable to it, we will be able to expand our current parking lot and take most of the Sunday morning congestion off the street. Amen! Paving estimates to accomplish this task should be in this week.
We also are continuing discussions with a construction company about expanding our current sanctuary lobby and improving the restrooms in our current facility. Pray that we will be in the will of God as we move forward.
Don't forget this week that Missionary Scott Borrman will be home from Uruguay reporting on his work. You won't want to miss his sermon on Wednesday night. On the 22nd of this month, Missionary Nathan Owens will be presenting the field of Antigua, and we will voting to add him to the missionary budget.
We are happy to report that after a year of negotiations, the Fundamental Broadcasting Network has agreed to start airing our weekly radio broadcast, A Touch of Grace. This will now give us national recognition. We are hoping this will be a stepping stone for even more markets to pick up the broadcast.
Our fall Sunday School campaign begins on September 19. Jimmy DeYoung will be with us on the 26th for a special prophecy Sunday. October 3 is homecoming, and October 10 begins our annual revival campaign with Evangelist William Jeffocat. A great fall is in store! I trust you will make these days a special matter of prayer.
Thanks again for your continued interest in this ministry. Your prayers and support mean much to us.
