Sanctity of Life Sunday and Relief of Haiti (Jan 25, 2010)
Yesterday, we were privileged to celebrate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday by conducting our annual baby dedication service. Ten families of Grace were blessed with new babies in 2009, and it was our joy to parade these children across the platform and pray for their parents as they face the daunting task of raising children for the glory of God in this wicked world. My sermon yesterday morning, from Proverbs 4, focused on the home. There were some solid decisions by parents at the altar asking for God's help to be the right kind of mother or father. You can listen to the sermon again by logging on to our website.
Children are an important part of Grace Baptist Church. This is why we run buses to underprivileged neighborhoods every Sunday. This week another three children prayed to receive Christ as personal Savior in the counseling center of bus church. We praise the Lord for these decisions.
We also praise the Lord for another child, Uriah Barfield, who accepted Christ in Junior Church yesterday. His mom and dad are recent new members of our church. We praise the Lord for Uriah's sensitivity to God's Spirit. He followed the Lord in believer's baptism yesterday and became the newest member of Grace Baptist Church. Amen!
In our zeal to continue to help children, the congregation of Grace Baptist Church voted to underwrite two scholarships for bus kids to attend Grace Christian School each year. Bus kids who feel called to ministry will be our first priority. We are hoping to train missionaries from our own ranks. Amen again!
Yesterday was also characterized by Grace taking special offerings for disaster relief in Haiti. Numerous children and adults have been hurt by the recent earthquake, and we wanted to do our part to hurt this struggling people. The people of Grace opened their wallets in a great fashion. These collected funds will be sent to BIMI who will funnel the funds to veteran missionary Don Dryden who is working closely with national pastors in Port au Prince. In addition, we showed a missionary presentation in the evening service of Don's son and co-worker, Benji, who has been a good friend to this pastor for several years. The church voted to add Benji to our missionary family, making him the 163rd missionary of the Grace Baptist Church family.
Bob Ingram and I were able to attend the annual board meeting of the Christian Servicemen Centers last week. This year's meeting was held in Lawton, Oklahoma just outside of Fort Sill. What a blessing to be able to report that 1055 servicemen stood to receive Christ last year through the Freedom House here in Columbus. As I toured the Artillery Musuem at Fort Sill, I was reminded of the power of proper weapons. What a blessing to pack the Gospel Gun and fire away at the demons of hell. What a privilege to be in the Lord's Army! We have already seen 39 soldiers stand to receive Christ this year, and we are praying that God will give us 1200 before the year is done. Pray that God will give us one new couple to volunteer to sit the center on evenings when Bible studies are being conducted and that our two assistants to Brother Ingram will grow and assume more responsibility as new Bible studies are added to our already growing schedule.
Missions Conference is just a little over two weeks away. Missionaries to Australia, Ecuador, Egypt, Grenada, Norway, and Nebraska will be featured. Dr. Fred Moritz, General Director Emeritus of Baptist World Mission, will be our featured speaker. It should be a great week! Pray that God will grant us our largest Faith Promise commitment ever!
The boys varsity basketball team concludes their home schedule today. Is it wrong to pray for a victory?
Anyway, do pray for the ministries of Grace Baptist Church this week as the Lord lays us upon your heart. Your interest in this ministry means much to us.