Newsletter | May 31, 2023

Mark Your Calendar


Volunteers Needed

Backpack Buddies of Turner County needs volunteers!! We meet on Fridays at Noon to pack food in backpacks that will be sent home with children each weekend to ensure they have food to eat. Even if you cannot come every Friday, anything helps!

Contact Kathleen Fountain for more information at 229-567-3848

Giving as of May 30, 2023

Budget for 2023 . . . . . . . .  $348,707.00
Tithes Needed to Date . . . . $147,530.02
Received to Date . . . . . . . . $104,522.93
Needed for weekly budget . . .  $6,705.91
Tithes Received this week . . . . $1,764.00

MID-WEEK DEVOTION

We will not have a Mid-week devotion this week. However, we always have past devotions and sermons on our website. Click the link below to view past messages.

From Our Pastor

How can we be blessed by God?  I’m sure that each of us wants to have God’s blessing upon our life.  I know that each of us wants the blessing of Heaven for eternity.  But how can we receive God’s blessing?

Genesis 12-13 gives a powerful picture of the path to God’s blessing.  In these chapters we find the different types of people. Two of these types did not experience God’s blessing.  One type of person was wonderfully blessed by God.  These chapters show us the path to God’s blessing and give us a test as to whether we are on that path.

The first type of person is represented by the Canaanites and the Egyptians.  These people had rejected the true God. In different ways they rebelled against Him.  Both were under God’s condemnation and would be judged by Him in the coming years.  God would use Moses to cripple Egypt, and it was His desire to use Joshua to exterminate the Canaanites.  Both groups were under the wrath of a holy God.

We may look at the Egyptians and the Canaanites and think we have nothing in common with them.  However, every one of us is born as this type of person.  We are born as rebellious sinners.  We live out that rebellion and are under the wrath of God.  Only by trusting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior are we moved out of this category.  Church, religion, “do-goodism” cannot move us out of this category.  Only when we are made into a new person by being born again do we stop being an Egyptian and Canaanite.

The second type of person is Lot.  He was a believer (2 Peter 2:7) so he was eternally saved.  However, He did not experience God’s blessing in his life.  In fact, every part of his life was a painful loss.  He lost his wife (Genesis 19:30-38).  It appears that Lot lost all the wealth he once possessed.  The last we see of Lot he is living in a cave with his daughters whose lives have been forever tainted.

What happened to Lot?  Why would this happen to a believer?  Genesis 13:10 shows us that Lot liked Egypt.  He wanted to live as much like it as possible.  Verses 12-13 tell us that Lot chose to live in the Canaanite cities.  He wound up living in Sodom. 

Lot illustrates a believer who loves and preserves this world’s system.  He wants its “advantages”, “acceptance”, and respect.  He pursues its trends, fads, and trinkets.  The sad day comes when all those pursuits go up in smoke (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).  

Richard Owen Roberts stated in “Behold Your God” that after 60 years in the ministry he was convinced that many people who call themselves Christians really aren’t.  I fear that many of those who are Christians are like Lot.  Yes, they are saved.  But they will lose everything. How should we live?  Genesis 12-13 shows us we need to live like Abraham.  He was separated by God’s grace, walked by faith, and lived separated from this world’s values. 

Sunday, June 4

Deacon of the Week:  Carl Hobbs

Deacon Greeters
Front Door:  Carl Hobbs
Organ Greeter:  Tom LaRocca
Piano Greeter:  Dwane Lewis

Sound:  Chris McCard
Video:  Saskia Perry

Nursery Workers
Charnelle Reinhardt & June Whiddon

Sunday, June 11

Deacon of the Week:  Dan Raines

Deacon Greeters
Front Door:  Dan Raines
Organ Greeter:  Daniel West
Piano Greeter:  Allen Whitehead

Sound:  Carl Hobbs
Video:  Sue Mastrario

Nursery Workers
Sue Mastrario & Jane Smith