Bethsalem Baptist Church

We had a great day worshipping our Lord together. Bro. Cleve directed us in singing many beautiful songs. The Celebration Choir’s special was “Amazing Love.”

Bro. Justin’s sermon “The Path to the Cross, Jesus Makes the Difference” was taken from Exodus 12:1-13 and Hebrews 13:1-25.

On Wednesday nights, we offer supper, a Bible study titled “Experiencing God,” The Outlet for students, Wholly Holy and activities for children.

Pray for Zane Lockhart, James Wood, Debbie Jones, Patsy Burnett, Marie Ratliff, Chris Greenleaf, Jennifer Whatley, Justin and Peter Daugherty, Chuck Green, David Broozer, Alden Moore, Jonathan Limbrick, Caleb Hilyer, Randy Thompson, Wayne Cobb, Cecillia Crabbe, Chad Mix, Lowell Strock, Charles Bryant, Jacob Browder, “Ma Ma” Mims, Tyler Abbott, Kelli and Tim Milford, Stephanie Hinton, Paul Price, Donnie Parker’s family in the loss of their mother, Allen Rice, Linnie Hathcock, our country and its leadership, our homebound, those facing cancer, those in assisted living facilities and nursing homes, and those who need salvation.

Happy birthday to Lorrie Hubbard, Braxton Jones, Carol Kelley, Regan Crawford, Gary Wayne Ledbetter, Lewis Andrews, Sharon Williams, Jessica Carlee, Tim Milford and Shannon Wright.

An Easter egg hunt will be held at 10:30 a.m. on April 4. See Jason Hill for more information.

Come worship and celebrate with us the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.

Have a blessed week. Tell someone who Jesus is. He is our Savior.

Submitted by Elvie Patterson

Bethsalem Baptist Church

We began service with the hymn “Grace Greater than Our Sin,” and a devotion from Romans 3:21-24 titled “Justified Freely by Grace.”

These verses are on the topic of salvation. One of the hindrances in the church was that some of the Jews were trying to hold on to the Law. This is dealing with salvation by grace through faith, not works.

All have sinned. God looks at all sin the same. We can never do enough good to get to heaven. There is only one way to be saved and that is through the blood of Jesus Christ that he shed on the cross. Being justified (not guilty) means that all sins have been wiped off our record; therefore, we are free from our sin because of what Jesus did for us on the cross of Calvary. We need to get this truth out so every lost person will know that Jesus is the only way to heaven.

We had a prayer and then we sang “On the Old Rugged Cross,” “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” “I Gave My Life for Thee” and “He Lives.”

Bro. Aubry welcomed our visitors, and then brought the message from 1 Corinthians 2:9. There are three categories of people mentioned in 1 Corinthians 2 and 3. They are the spiritual, the natural and the carnal.

This is a difficult passage of scripture, but these verses should make us want to have a closer walk with God. If things ae not as they should be with us and God, it is our fault, not God’s. The words in verse 9 are talking about our future glory, but it should be our walk with God while we are here, before death.

In verse 10, God revealed unto the saved the scripture through the Holy Spirit, but we must open our hearts to learn the harder things in God’s Word. God alone understands the plan of salvation. It is very simple to understand, but the mysteries of God will only be revealed once we are saved.

We do not need to wait until we get to heaven to understand the deeper things of God. Once we are saved, we have the Spirit of God within us enabling us to understand God’s Word

We must have a plan and a purpose for our lives. First, we must get it in our minds, and only God knows what is in our minds. The Spirit represents living in God, and the Spirit knows all the things of God.

The apostles were sent by God to bring the world to Christ. You can count on the Bible to be true. The miracles we find in the Bible are not necessary today because through the Word of God, we can know that Jesus performed miracles. The apostles also through the power of God were able to perform the miracles we have recorded for us in the Bible.

People have found many historical books in the last 200 or so years, but they are not inspired of God. The Bible has everything that God wanted us to know about him, salvation and the things we need to do for him after we are saved. These other books are historical books written by men, but God did not tell them what to write.

A genuine saint of God is one who has been saved. Many try to compare spiritual things with material or worldly things, but you must compare spiritual to spiritual, and material to material. 1 Corinthians 2:13 shows us that God explains things to spiritual man. In verse 14, we see the natural or lost man who cannot know the things of God. The natural man rejects the light, and he is a mere state of nature. He has no influence of the things of God.

The spiritual man should mature enough to understand the deeper things of God’s Word. The Holy Spirit asks the lost person to understand what God has done for him. There is light and liberty when we have Jesus in our hearts. The carnal man is saved, but does not try to understand the things of God.

Children of God must be fed on the things of God in order to grow. They are not acting as children of God. All church splits are caused because of grudges, disputing and acting like people of the world. What can we do about this as God’s children? Study the Word, pray and live a Christ-like life.

If you are lost, confess you are a sinner; ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins, come into your life and make you whole. Jesus will change your life.

We closed the service with a prayer and the hymn “Just As I Am.” We were then dismissed to the fellowship hall for our fifth Sunday meal.

Our prayer list includes our church, Bro. Aubry, Shirley, Grace, Elwyn, Billie, Jackie, Debbie R. and her entire family, Vikii, Helen, Jenny, Colyn, Lisa, Mary K., missionaries, missions, Journey in Calera, R. Allen D., Glenda, Jeannette, J.C., Ralph W., and many more, but most of all, those who are not saved.

Submitted by Jane Vines