Samaria Baptist Church

Week of Aug. 1

We had a special surprise in church today: Bro. Charles was back with us. Our guest minister today was Shane Wyatt, who brought his message from the book of Lamentations. His title was “Has the Devil Blinded You?” We have the confidence that heaven is awaiting us if we have accepted Christ and invited him into our hearts. There can be no doubt, and we are the only ones who can answer that question truthfully. He will never leave us nor forsake us when we cast all our cares on him.

‘This Is the Promise” said it best, as sung by Shane’s wife, Stacy.

We can, however, be blinded to our old spiritual condition. Satan wants us to fail, and he wants us to live in doubt. If we are in doubt of our salvation, our witness is affected negatively. So knowing where we stand with Jesus is the key. The devil would tell us that Jesus doesn’t love us, and that we can never earn God’s love. He knows his time is short and he will try anything to confuse a Christian. Do we know without a doubt that we will be in heaven when we die? If Christ is alive in our hearts, there is no way the devil can change that.

There is a great difference in believing in God and believing God when he tells us how to become his very own child in a personal way. Some church members are lost. That›s a hard fact to hear, but it›s unfortunately true. Another very strong fact is that if we do not know him in a personal way, we will spend eternity in hell. It is our choice.

Rejecting Jesus is saying yes to eternal damnation and eternity in hell. Drugs, alcohol, pleasures of this world and money can never fill the void in our lives. Only Jesus can fill the emptiness that we have in our lives if we are not born again believers.

We can prepare for death. Christ awaits us who die in him. Death is reality; it is appointed unto men once to die. We do not have to fear death if we are safe in the arms of Jesus Christ. Remember this above all that we have said today: You cannot begin to live until you are prepared to die.

Our prayer requests today are for Ray Hardee, Ray Harris, Mandy Spencer Jamison, Ronnie Lockhart and the Steve Mims family in the death of his wife, Alisha. We also pray for our military men and women.

God bless all who read this. Please join us at Samaria. God is alive and well here. Come and meet him here.

Week of Aug. 8

Our message was brought by Bro. Shane Wyatt. We welcome Bro. Shane and his family to Samaria in the absence of our pastor, Bro. Charles Brooks. Hopefully, Bro. Charles will be able to return to the pulpit soon. We know he is getting anxious to preach.

Brother Shane›s message truly blessed our hearts. His text came primarily from Mark 5:25-29. The sermon, titled “Issues of Life,” pointed to the things we all go through and how we manage to get through them. In everyday life, we face a lot of challenges. Often, they involve health related issues, family matters, financial problems or otherwise. We ponder how we will resolve the problems facing us.

It seems we often respond like the woman in the book of Mark with the issue of blood. We go to every source of help we can possibly think of before giving our issues to God. In the story, Jesus was passing by and the woman decided that if she could only touch the hem of his garment, she would be healed. She fought through the crowd, attempting to just touch the Master›s clothes. As she did so, he felt the needs of this woman. He told this woman that her faith had made her whole. This is the key. We have to lift up our faith to him; he will do the rest.

We find temporary relief in people who listen to our problems. If we want to experience permanent relief and answers to our needs, we should go to Jesus and leave our problems there.  We cannot get in the way if he is to take care of us in our time of need.

Lost people do not understand what Christians are all about. They often criticize the Christian who lives their faith, prays publically or reads the Bible. We must be satisfied with what we have, as Paul said. He had learned to be content in whatever situation he found himself in. We must not put anything ahead of Jesus Christ. If we delight ourselves in him, he will give us the desires of our hearts.

If God provides food and shelter for the birds of the air, surely he will provide for his children. Give it all to him so that you will experience peace in your soul. Do not let Satan steal your joy. His end is very near. Make sure your future is safe in the arms of a loving God.

Our music was “All Is Well” by Diane Fisher, and Stacy Wyatt sang our invitation. Please join us at Samaria. Meet Jesus here.

Our youth will have a lock-in this Friday evening at the church. The time of the lock-in was not set at the time of this writing. God bless you and your family today.