What does one say about a day like today? One word: Glory! I wanted to take the opportunity to join several in our church who have shared with me, posted notes on Facebook, and given testimony before our church today about the great blessing of God we experienced in our service this morning!
I knew that we would have several visitors with us today because of the Elder and Deacon Ordination service. I felt impressed of the Lord to drop the planned sermon and preach a simple presentation of the soul-saving gospel of Jesus Christ. It was in the fall of 1976 on the island of Guam that I first heard Missionary-Pastor Bruce Wring preach from Luke 23 about the thief on the cross and how his salvation was a model of how everyone who is saved comes to faith in Jesus.
Over the years, I have tweaked it, added to it, and preached it over fifty times! It is still the greatest presentation of the gospel I have ever heard or preached. So, I shared this sermon again this morning. Many have shared how they and their family and friends were touched by the message and one man indicated that he prayed to receive the Lord during the invitation.
The Ordination service was a real blessing as well. By the grace of God, He has given us six men to serve our church as Elders and eight men to serve us as Deacons. We also celebrated the retirement from the Deacon ministry of Bob Fleming and Ralph Hanner. These two men together have served our church as Deacons for over sixty years!
Power of Praise did a great job on “I am just a sinner saved by grace” which is the favorite song of many in our church – including me!
The concert on Saturday night by Ivan Parker was a smash hit with nearly 400 in attendance and some of the most joyous worship I have experienced in a long time. I thought the closing number, “Carried Away” which Ivan did with Power of Praise was one of the most exciting and happy moments I have had in a long time! You can check out photos from the concert at: www.firstbaptistatwood.org.
Several were in attendance for our evening service as I continued our study in the Book of Revelation! We continue to thank God for His blessings and look forward to every opportunity He gives us to worship Him together!
2 comments:
What a blessed day it was!
We are so blessed to have a Pastor who cares so much about his church family. Thank you for all that you have done, all that you do and will continue to do.
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