Cedar Grove Church

God be praised!

Bro. Heath’s text came from James 2:1-14 titled “Just One:”

Verse 1: My brethren do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, with partiality.

We should not be partial one to another, treat one person better than another, such as in this scripture where a finely dressed man and a poorly dressed man both come into the church. The finely dressed man is treated with respect and favor, and asked to sit in the front row, while the poorly dressed man is told to sit in the back.

We are not to look on a person’s outward appearance or stature and judge them by this. We cannot pick and choose whom we think can and cannot be saved or judged worthy of Christ’s redemption, just as we are not to pick and choose what of God’s word should be obeyed.

Verse 10: For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble on one point, he is guilty of all.

What would you consider a great sin: murder, adultery or stealing? We tend to want to prioritize our sins and judge others accordingly. We should get the plank out of our own eye before we try to tell someone else about the splinter in their eye. God’s word is not a buffet that allows us to pick and choose that by which we live our lives; we have to use the whole word, the true gospel, to obey. How many sins does it take to be a sinner? One. How many sins does it take to lose our salvation? One. The rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16 let one sin, his love for money and possessions, rob him of his salvation—one!

Sin is death. Death reigned over all, from Adam to Moses; then God gave his people The Law.

One sin equals death and eternal damnation if we do not accept Christ as our Savior. It only took one savior, whose blood, shed on the cross, covered all our sins. Do you know and have that Savior today? He is the precious Lamb of God, whose blood can cleanse each of us from all our sin? Praise God that Jesus does not discriminate—no matter the age, young or old, rich or poor and no matter the race, he wants to save us all. The one thing we have to do is accept the one true Christ as our Savior, and our name will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. This is our hope of eternal life with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Today is the day of salvation. Hallelujah, Hosanna to the King.

God bless and have a great week!

Announcements:

July 15-19: VBS/Youth Revival

Aug 18: Homecoming. Guest will be Bro. Randy Perry. Revival to follow, Aug. 19-21.

Prayer meeting on Friday nights at 7 p.m.

Everyone is invited to all events.

Prayer concerns: Bro. Jeff Carroll, Peggy Pearce, Janet Wyatt, James Gillespie, Billy Joe and Diane Sanders, Renee Cleckley, spoken and unspoken requests.

Mars Hill Baptist Church

The Good Lord sent us plenty of rain this week! Some people complain about it, some people don’t, but the best thing I heard about the rain is this: It came from heaven above. The Lord sent it for a reason, and it’s not for us to question. The rain may have kept you home, off the roads and safely away from an accident that could have harmed you or your family. So, I’ll not complain about the rain; instead I will say, “Thank you, Lord.”

Bro. William Short’s message was taken from 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Paul, the writer of Corinthians, claimed to know nothing except the gospel and he preached only the gospel, which is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He preached what he had personally received and could attest to first hand. He continually told people to hold fast to what they believed and to what saved them, and to never waiver from this basic truth. What are you holding on to? What are you saved from? Why are you saved? It’s not enough to believe “on” God, you must believe “in” God.

We are saved, first of all, from sin. Sin will kill you and send you to a devil›s hell, separated for all eternity from Jesus. The Bible tells us the wage of sin is death. It’s a fact that one out of one person will die. God sent his only son, Jesus, to die for our sins. He loves us so much and does not desire that anyone go to hell. Everyone is born into sin; all are sinners. If you are saved, you are a saved sinner, with your sins washed away by the blood of Jesus. It’s my fault that Jesus hung on the cross and bled and died. He died for all, then and now.

We are also saved from ourselves. We are our own worst enemy. Satan is roaming the earth today, seeking souls to destroy with his lies, taking us away from the path God would have us follow. We are also saved from Satan. Satan can›t stand up to the name of Jesus; he will flee from Jesus every time you invoke Jesus’ holy name.

We are saved to serve God, to be a soldier of the cross, take up his cross and follow him. Is this church full of servants for God? Are we asking God what we can do for him? A new church year is coming up soon. Pray now and ask God how you can help in the church. Be a teacher, choir member, pianist, janitor, grass cutter or help with the babies, etc. Are we telling others about what he has done, and is doing, for us?

Christians should be the happiest people on earth, but so many times we look like the saddest, most down trodden people in the world. Hold fast to that which you know is true. Don›t waiver from your convictions. Stand firm in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are also saved to do God›s will and follow his commandments. What would the Lord have you do? Read his word, meditate on it and find your answers.

Finally, we are saved to spread the gospel, just as Paul did in his time. If you know nothing but the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that will be enough to cover the world! Tell the good news; tell someone that hell is not the place they want to go. Let the light of the joy of the salvation of the Lord shine in you and through you for the world to see. If they see a joyful person, they will want to know your secret. If they see someone who is always looking down on another or always frowning, would you want what that person has? Not me. No, I would go to the joyful, energetic person and beg to find out the secret. Get excited about going to church, learning about Jesus and finding out what he has in store for you. If you can›t get excited at church, and you leave in worse shape than when you came, you might better check up on the status of your heart.

Today may be the last chance you have of meeting Jesus while on earth. Don›t wait; ask him into your heart today, and live a life of joy, with the knowledge that heaven is your eternal home!

Please pray for our church, our pastor and his family, the lost, the sick, the hurting, our troops, our country and our children. God is good, all the time! Amen.