Once you are in your land of promise, it takes obedience to stay in it

Greetings from The Springs. Let me tell you this. I may be writing to you for a while. Willie Ann Johnson has something coming up so I will be helping her out for an extended period of time. Hopefully you will not get tired of me.   

Church Cleanup Day is slated for Saturday, Mar. 16 from, 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Now this will be at the old church and all members are asked to come out and help. The old campus is just as important as the new one so let’s do what we need to do.
Wednesday Night Bible study’s focus was on the Book of Ruth. Although it is short in length, this book is powerful. Pastor Terrell described it this way. Ruth was the only gleam of hope during the Dark Ages. That is also why Ruth comes after Judges. It is a love story of faith and hope during the trials of life.

We also examined the life of Melchizedek. Even though there is not an abundance written about him he is important as a “shadow and type” of Christ. He was a priest commemorated with bread and wine and was the king of Salem (which is also Jerusalem). In addition this man was tithed to by Abraham and he had an eternal priesthood that would last forever. Sounds like Jesus.
It is thought that Melchizedek was an angel or incarnation of Christ. The study of this man really lets a person realize that every person and everything in this Bible is there for a reason.
Pastor Terrell’s message for Sunday dealt with salvation of children. He started out by taking us to Romans 10, which begins with Paul praying that all of Israel will be saved.

Now during this period the Jews had so many laws and rules that the people were confused. But Jesus made it simple. He said that if we just belief in Him then the rest will come. “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
The key word in this chapter is believe. This is also true for the youth. If they know who Jesus is and believe in their hearts this is what they need for salvation. They will learn the rest later. Being saved is not about knowledge or even age for that matter. Once you believe God will take care of the rest.

Just think about this. Jesus was teaching in the temple at the age of 12. If we wait until children reach this age the enemy has time to infiltrate their hearts. It the devil can do it early, why not let God grab a hold of them first?
Next Pastor Terrell led us to I Samuel 3 and we looked at the early life of Samuel. His mother Hannah had prayed to God for a child and He honored her request. She in turn dedicated her son Samuel to God and took him to live and study under Eli the priest.
In this passage God spoke God spoke to Samuel at a young age. We know that at first when the Lord called to Samuel he thought that it was Eli calling him. Finally after the third time that Samuel went to Eli thinking that it was the priest calling him Eli realized that Samuel was really hearing the voice of God. Eli then told the young boy, “If He calls you that you must say,’ Speak Lord for Your servant hears’.”
It is never too early to guide our children towards salvation. Our example is right here .So follow pastor Terrell’s teaching and begin to work with the children now. We may have heard in the past that a Child can’t be saved until they have reached the age of 12, but at the Springs we are “Book, chapter, verse.” Read the entirety of I Samuel 3. Do you believe? Glory Be To God?

Men’s Day /Black History Program

Greetings from The Springs. It’s in my heart to praise the Lord. Hopefully it is in yours too,   
The Couples Ministry had an evening out Saturday. We dined at the Bone Island Grill at Lake Oconee and had a lovely time. Fourteen couples were in our party and we had great food and a lively time Springs style. When you go to the restaurant tell the Manager Ashley we said hello.
Wednesday Night’s Bible study was an extension of Pastor Terrell’s message on the previous Sunday. The topic for the night was, “If you stop listening to God then you will stop hearing from God.” In I Samuel 2: 22-26 we looked at how the sons of Eli, the priest, were corrupt and that Eli did nothing to stop them Yet at the same time the young boy Samuel was growing up and starting to have more favor with the people. More importantly he was having more favor with God.
The next scripture we reviewed was I Samuel 3: 1-10, which was the same from Pastor Terrell’s Sunday message. In verse seven we see that Samuel did not know the Lord but the Lord still called to him. God knew the boy. The point is that the Lord draws us to Him when He gets ready. All that we have to do is believe. Keep in mind that the young boy Samuel did not know the Word either but that did not matter. He believed.
Sunday we celebrated Men’s Day /Black History. This year’s chairperson was Deacon Leonard Goss and the co-chair was Mother Doris Shepherd. They did an awesome job. A wealth of information was shared with the church concerning our history of which most of the focus was aimed at the youth.

The R. T. Harmonizers provided the music, which had most of us on our feet. The group is composed of the men of The Springs and the church is hoping to hear more from them in the future.   
Even one of the lead singers of the group was voted Man of the Year. Deacon Orenthal Sanders was give that honor and was voted on by the deacons. This outstanding young man is very active in our church and community and serves as a role model to the youth. His loving wife Sheila and children Jared and Trinity were very proud of him, too.
Pastor Terrell’s message was quite thought provoking although truncated.  The Black History portion of the morning took up most of the morning but we still were blessed to hear from God.

Rev. Terrell discussed the Joshua Generation to better clarify who it represents. His text came from Joshua 6: 1-3 and we see that the group was given a command and were obedient.

We must not forget that this entire book is about victory. In this particular passage God gave the command to Joshua and he carried it out. One note is that Joshua was 80 years old when he took over leadership and led the people for 30 years. The entire time that he led these people they were blessed because of obedience.

Pastor Terrell made a statement, which, you have to understand once you hear it. Once you are in your land of promise it takes obedience to remain in it. His is really true. He went on to say that the attitude that The Springs has toward leadership is why the church has success.
We must have an attitude of obedience. Often this is hard concept for young adults to grasp. However, for this younger peer group, which considers themselves apart of today’s Joshua Generation the key is obedience. Glory Be To God!

Printed in the February 28, 2013