Peter is saying you need to understand and remember this is not your home. If you’re a follower of Jesus, you’re a stranger to this world. You are not like them.
You’re a heavenly creature, serving a heavenly God passing through this temporary world into an eternal dwelling place where one day you will be with God.
If this world is not your home–you will be different from this world.
Last Week at Grace
This past week we had a God-sized Sunday at Grace!
We are super-excited for all of the first-time guests (and returning guest) that God has been sending our way! We are so grateful for all of those who are making it “official” and joining our church family. We had 195 in worship this past Sunday! Pray for opportunities to invite your friends and family so they can be a part of what God is doing right here at Grace! Who are you inviting this week?
Please make welcome the latest “official” members of our Grace Baptist Family:
This Week at Grace
This Sunday we will be continuing our sermon series, “Not Like Them” from 1 Peter. We have been looking at God’s calling upon our lives as God’s people. Please begin now praying for our worship services as well as our Sunday School classes. (One of the most effective ways to get someone to start Sunday School is if YOU invite them!) Ask God to move in a mighty way, right here at Grace…prepare your heart and have great expectations!
This Saturday, Jerry and Sharon Miles will be moving…and they need our help! They have everything packed up but need help getting it loaded. If you could help them it would be greatly appreciated. They will start at 8:30 a.m. You can find their address in the church directory. (I don’t want to put their address here) If you don’t have their address and would like to help, email the church. Please pray for them as they make this transition and that God would greatly bless them. We will miss them dearly.
Coming Up
Mark your calendars now!!
This is going to be an awesome night for our children and our community as we reach out by providing a safe place for families to come and have a great time of fellowship. There will be carnival rides, jumpers, games, food, and candy, candy, candy!
But we need your help!
First-pray! Pray that God will use this for His glory as we reach out to our community!
Second-Bring candy! We need candy donations…we will have more families and children this year than ever before…please help us by providing candy. You can bring your candy to church and live it in the storage room to the left of the sanctuary next to the nursery.
Third-Help! We are going to need everyone to pitch in and help make this event a huge success! There will be a sign-up sheet in the foyer.
Next Wed. Night is our fellowship meal from 5-6:30. I was blessed to be able to pay for 11 meals at our last fellowship meal! Now I want to challenge you to do the same thing…invite someone to join you next week…and pay for their meal! Wednesdays are special at Grace and it’s a shame for anyone to miss it!
I can’t wait to see what God has planned for us in the days ahead! Our mission statement: Reaching West Tennessee, America, and the World for Jesus Christ! It starts here and now! Pray-witness-invite!
Now is the time to share Jesus!
Pastor Marcus D. Kelley
For the problems in America today, don’t blame the leaders in the white house or state house or court house primarily. Blame the leadership of the church-house…that’s why we are in the shape we are in…we do not have prophets of God preaching the Word of God.
Let me share with you what I think America’s hope is in this message.
From the very, very beginning, the church began as a movement and it began as a movement around a very simple idea, that unfortunately a lot of churches don’t even talk about anymore.
The church was launched around an event in history. The resurrection of Jesus.
We need to make sure that we think correctly about church…and if needed, maybe redefine in our hearts and even at an emotional level what the church is all about.
Acts 1:8 (NKJV) — 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Though Jesus came according to prophecy, many, many people totally missed His coming. The way that He came into this world was so unusual, so unexpected, that they didn’t recognize Him even when He fulfilled all prophecies and performed all of the miracles.
Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew teaches us that, looking at the cast of characters that God used to bring the Messiah into the world, with all of their flaws and dysfunctions…
Jesus came to include you, no matter who you are, in His family.
These names are included in the line that leads to Christ so that you can know that your name can be included in the line that leads from Christ.
One of the best avenues of providing hands on assistance in times of disaster is through our Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief. However, to serve with the Disaster Relief Teams you must be certified and have up to date certification.
Due to the anticipated length of service that will be needed in Texas, possibly Louisiana, and maybe in our own state, we need volunteers to be trained and currently credentialed.
There is training at Bellevue Baptist Church, 2000 Appling Road, Cordova on Friday night, September 8 with registration starting at 5 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.
They need those attending to fill out the forms below, before the training, if possible.
They need checks made payable in the amount of $36 for the credentialing fee made payable to: TBMB or Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. If paying with cash, please bring the correct change. They hope to have a credit card machine available.
http://tndisasterrelief.org/event/introduction-to-disaster-relief-cordova-west-tn/
http://tndisasterrelief.org/event/specialized-classes-cordova-west-tn/
You can also down load the forms you need, fill them out on your computer, print them and bring them with you to the training. That link is http://tndisasterrelief.org/registration-forms/. This will save you a lot of time when you get there.
(There are other trainings across the state over the next couple of months.
Many people’s credentials are expiring or have expired. Please take advantage of these regional trainings and other local trainings to bring your credential up to date so you are ready to respond – http://tndisasterrelief.org/events/.
Please remember that the cost of credentialing is $36.00 for the three-year renewal, which includes a background check and membership pin.
Just a reminder – If you have previously been trained in Introduction to Disaster Relief, chainsaw safety, mass feeding, and shower/laundry, you may take an online recertification course online at http://tndisasterrelief.org/online-training/
An excellent contact if you have any questions about disaster relief and training is:
Wes Jones
Disaster Relief Specialist | Tennessee Baptist Mission Board
712.253.4408 (Cell) | 615.371.7927 (Office)
6434 John Hagar Road, Mt. Juliet, TN 37122
www.tnbaptist.org email: wjones@tnbaptist.org
God bless you as you pray about serving.
Pastor Marcus D. Kelley
Would you like to take a peek into my personal prayer journal?
Well, maybe not…but, I hope that this look into a format that I use will be beneficial to you and in your walk with the Lord. I don’t have any illusions that this is the only way to pray, the best way or even the way that YOU should be praying. However, you may find that this is a good fit for you.
The format that I use helps me to pray in a systematic way…and keeps me on the task at hand: praying. I have a tendency to allow my mind and thoughts to wander sometimes, and this really helps to keep me focused. Most of this pattern for praying I have gleaned from the wisdom of Dr. Ronnie Floyd and to a lesser extent Dr. Adrian Rogers…and I hope that it will be a blessing to you.
I keep my prayer list on my iPad in the “notes” app. That way it is fairly convenient for me to edit–add names and take names off as I need to. However, you could type up your own or write you own out. The headings in bold are the individual sections of the prayer time…with a short reminder of things to pray for. Here is the break down:
Daily Prayer
Praising God–I start out thanking God for His many blessings and for who He is…and then I transition to:
Confessing Sin–I ask the Holy Spirit to search my heart for any unconfessed of sin in my life…and I acknowledge His finished work for my forgiveness when I come to Him and ask for it. And then:
Praying for spiritual covering for my family and me–often I will pray the “whole armor of God” found in Ephesians 6:10-18 (sometimes other passages) over each member of my immediate family. Naming them individually and praying for them specifically. And then:
Praying for the filling and anointing of the Holy Spirit–I pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit…I ask God to especially anoint me for preaching, teaching, leadership, decision-making, vision, my relationships, and gladness. And then I ask God for:
Empowerment to walk in the authority of the Great Commission–I ask God to help me fulfill it, as a pastor and in leading my church, globally, through going, sending, and impacting and influencing others, financially and otherwise, to reach the world for Jesus. And then I transition to:
Asking God to send a mighty spiritual revival in my church and in America–I plead with Go to pour His Spirit upon us in an amazing, powerful way that is undeniable. And then:
Ask for God’s leadership upon the leaders of our country—
I call out the names of:
I pray that God will raise up a generation of godly leaders. And then:
Special Prayer Requests–Here I ask God to provide physical and spiritual healing and restoration upon those who need it…and for those who recently lost loved ones:
Focus Day Requests–On certain days of the week, I end my prayer time praying for specific things on certain days.
And there you have it. My personal prayer routine. I do not follow this every single day through the year. Sometimes I will change things up as I feel led…but, this is the outline that I come back to the majority of the time. In addition to this, I also use the church prayer list, often praying for a certain section on different days.
I hope this is beneficial to you…please feel free to let me know what you have done in your own prayer time!
Pastor Marcus D. Kelley
Two weeks ago, we introduced the idea that many people today are having more difficult time making decisions than they did in the past.
The first reason we talked about is that just there are so many more options today. It used to be, we had a few options. This generation has unlimited options.
A second reason, this is fascinating to me, is that this is the first generation that’s dealt with what people call the illusion of perfection. It’s a common problem.
You know how it is:
And you compare their perfect meal with your Pinterest fail and you think, I’m just absolutely horrible. And because of this, we are often paralyzed in our decision making because we don’t want to make the WRONG decision, so we make NO decision…which many times can lead to terrible results.
Check out this message as we look at some Biblical advice on how to make godly, wise decisions.
As a pastor…one of the most common questions that I get asked is, “What do you think God wants me to do? What is God’s will for my life?” Most of us understand that who we are today, is basically, a direct result of the decisions that we made in the past. And who we will become in the future are the result of the decisions that we make today.
Most of us understand that who we are today, is basically, a direct result of the decisions that we made in the past. And who we will become in the future are the result of the decisions that we make today.
So, how can we know that we are making the right decisions…and what does God have to say about all of this? Check out this message and all of the series to follow as we look at God’s Word for wisdom.
The Preaching Ministry of Pastor Marcus D. Kelley 