Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church 1217 Dillon Texarkana, Texas 75501 Celebrating 50 years as a Church of Jesus Christ October 29, 1961 – October 29, 2011 January 15, 2012 Newsletter Number 350 Brother Randy Johnson, Pastor Brother Ronnie Henderson, Song Director Pastor E-Mail: sgmbcpastor@baptistsonline.org Web Site: www.baptistsonline.org/sgmbc "Where The Truths Of God’s Word Have Been Taught For More Than Fifty Years”

You Were Asked To Pray For: All of Our Military, Their Family’s & All the Civilian Workers in The Middle East, Zee Mink Fuller and Family, Her son’s Bryan Armstrong and Hunter Hackie, Daughter Shannon, and Brother Philip & Sondra Thornsberry, Sister Alice Hoskins, Joyce Gomez , Frank & Sonya Trusty, Bryndon Thomas, Frank & Dawana Reigel, Andrew Preston, Larry Mollette, Larry Mollette II & Family, Kerry Pennington, Kim Poole, Danny & Nita Mollette, Wendell Henderson, Judy Dunn, Martha Gray, Joshua Kidd, Matthew Kidd,, Ronnie Henderson Jr. & Son Kevin Henderson, Jim Stagner, Bro. & Mrs. Hammond, Don & Neil Hammond, Charles Hammond, Archie & Barbara Griffin & son Daniel, Bro. & Sister Bob Keller, Kathy Rosinbaum, Mary Ramsey, Donna Johnson, Fay Johnson, Luann Reynolds, Brother Curtis Pugh, Timothy and Nathan Fails, Jacob Ramsey, Jim & Linda Meier, Brother Manuel Seymour, Letha Langford, Brother & Sister Kelley Hinson and Kelley Lee, Jerry Hughes, Sister Nita Bookout, Justin Bookout, Pastor G. L. Burr, Melody Carr, Janie Capps, Gina Sullivan, Imajo Tracy, Linda Hughes, Roy Lemmon, Marshall Risinger & wife, Lee Mollette’s Daughter & Granddaughter Kristal, Dale Barnes, Keith Johnson, Tammy Hairston, Tommy Lee Walker, Leon Wyckoff, Billy Smith, Linda Mollette – Linda at the thrift store - Shawn - his girls – and Eric, 15 year old boy with cancer, Anita Marsh, Brooke Thomas, Kimberlee McCool, and Bro. Sergey Mochalov and the Churches in Russia.

The Pastors Corner: The Wonders of God. Colossians 1:16, 17 “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (17.) And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Rarely do we think of the true wonders of God and even when we do it is only a drop of water in a large bucket of what the wonders of God truly are. We learn in here Colossians that God is the creator of “all things” then it proceeds to give us some of the things that God has created and they are; visible and invisible things - not some but all things, thrones this includes thrones that kings and world leaders set on, dominions this is governments that would include all governments of the world, principalities this would include various applications of order i.e. time, place, or rank of everything in creation, and powers which includes anything that has power i.e. kings, the sun, the solar system, all the way down to your boss at work to the governing power of His churches. The wonders of God are that not only did He create all these things but He also eternally controls them and knows every detail of them. We sometimes forget what all this details but if the heavens has hundreds of billions of galaxies and each of those galaxies has hundreds of billions of stars then how Wondrous is God Who not only has them all counted but also all named. We must understand and be reminded often that God controls all things and that includes from the smallest to the largest of all things created. Oh the Wonders of God; how wonderful indeed they are. God went on to say “…all things were created by him, and for him…” not that He created them all but everything created was created for His own glory. Now this one is sometimes troublesome for us as Christians because we must attempt sometimes answer why God does certain thing certain ways. For example if God truly created and maintains all things in creation whether visible and invisible then why does He allow horrible things to happen such as hurricanes, tornados, and even death? Why did He allow 911 to happen and why does He allow war. Well the truth is we do not have all the answers because we do not know the mind of God. Unless God reveals why He has done something or allowed another power (for example Satan) to do something then we may never know why He allowed something bad to happen, but this is for sure; God has a reason for everything that happens. Let us use Job as an example. Job is a revealed example by that I mean God let us know what happened and why it happened but this is not always the case. When Job suffered his persecution Job and everyone connected thought God was punishing Job for something he done wrong to God; but God in His word revealed they that was not the case, God simply wanted to prove His glory to Satan through Job. We sometimes have to look at events and happenings in our lives and ask “to what glory did God get from that” but know that He did. God’s wonderful mind is so that He knows every detail of every thing. The Lord concluded that “…by him all things consist.” The word “consist” means - to set together – that is not only set up in a certain order but constantly holds it together. Without God holding things together we would die, for example it the sun was to change then we could burn up or freeze to death. If the oxygen level or any other gases in the atmosphere was to change we would die. The reason we survive is because God continually controls everything and every detail of every thing and beloved this is why we have a God of Wonders. Everything was created for His glory and no matter what happens God will get glory from it even if we consider it a natural disaster. Psalms 97:6 “The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.”

Divine Recompense: "He that watereth shall be watered also himself." Prov. 11:25 If I carefully consider others, God will consider me; and in some way or other He will recompense me. Let me consider the poor, and the Lord will consider me. Let me look after little children, and the Lord will treat me as His child. Let me feed His flock, and He will feed me. Let me water His garden, and He will make a watered garden of my soul. This is the Lord's own promise; be it mine to fulfill the condition, and then to expect its fulfillment. I may care about myself till I grow morbid; I may watch over my own feelings till I feel nothing; and I may lament my own weakness till I grow almost too weak to lament. It will be far more profitable for me to become unselfish, and out of love to my Lord Jesus begin to care for the souls of those around me. My tank is getting very low; no fresh rain comes to fill it; what shall I do? I will pull up the plug, and let its contents run out to water the withering plants around me. What do I see? My cistern seems to fill as it flows. A secret spring is at work. While all was stagnant, the fresh spring was sealed; but as my stock flows out to water others the Lord thinketh upon me. Hallelujah! By Charles Spurgeon from his "Faith's Checkbook" series

Church News: Pastor Johnson will be guest speakers at the Northside Baptist Church in Oakdale, La during their bible conference March 16 – 18 Please plan to join him and the other speakers during this time. More details will be coming soon.

Psalms 97:9 - 12 "For thou, LORD, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods. (10.) Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. (11.) Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. (12.) Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness." Jeremiah 10:10 "But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation."