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 22, 2012 Newsletter Number 351 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: You Must Be Born Again! John 3:7 “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” Man seems to want to make there own rules concerning salvation. God said that one must be born again if they are going to enter the kingdom of God when they die. This is the rules that God has set down and they will be followed. This poor ignorant Jewish ruler named Nicodemus had no idea what the new birth consisted of or how that it was accomplished, but Jesus with much grace and mercy explained in detail how it was accomplished. John 3:5 "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The two births mentioned are (1.) The natural birth “Except a man be born of water” and (2.) and the spiritual birth “and of the Spirit” and without the second birth one cannot enter the kingdom of God. I know there are some out there that believe there must be other ways to heaven without the new birth or at least without being born again by the Holy Spirit and through Jesus Christ but there is none other way. God said in John 10:1 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." And thieves and robbers are not welcome in Gods kingdom. There is one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ and those that try another way will fail in their attempt. God went on to say in John 10:9 “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” If you enter by the door then you are welcome, and this makes a lot of sense because if you come to my house you are always welcome but please enter through the door and not the windows. Now some may be confused as to what God meant by “and of the Spirit” John 3:5 so please allow me to explain. Salvation is not by our will or our choice or our decision but it is by the Holy Spirit of God. It is not by our “turning over a new leaf” or by “works which we have done” but rather it is by the Holy Spirit. God said in John 6:61 - 63 "When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? (62.) What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? (63.) It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." It is the Holy Spirit that make one alive spiritually; man cannot wake himself from the dead no more than a man in a grave can make himself alive. God also tells us in John 1:12 - 13 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (13.) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." I know many men will have their own opinions to what I am saying but they are wrong and God is right. One must hear the scriptures and then obey them and when God says that we are born of God and by God then that is the way it is regardless of other opinions. God concluded in John 5:39 "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." The scriptures are the final authority and they conclude that salvation is thru Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit. Therefore we will conclude with this verse: 1 Corinthians 2:12 “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” Thank you Lord for my salvation!

GAINING BY GIVING: "The liberal soul shall be made fat." Prov. 11:25 If I desire to flourish in soul, I must not hoard up my stores, but must distribute to the poor. To be close and niggardly is the world's way to prosperity, but it is not God's way, for He saith, "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty." Faith's way of gaining is giving. I must try this again and again; and I may expect that as much of prosperity as will be good for me will come to me as a gracious reward for a liberal course of action. Of course, I may not be sure of growing rich. I shall be fat, but not too fat. Too great riches might make me as unwieldy as corpulent persons usually are, and cause me the dyspepsia of worldliness, and perhaps bring on a fatty degeneration of the heart. No, if I am fat enough to be healthy, I may well be satisfied; and if the Lord grants me a competence, I may be thoroughly content. But there is a mental and spiritual fatness which I would greatly covet, and these come as the result of generous thoughts toward my God, His church, and my fellow-men. Let me not stint, lest I starve my heart. Let me be bountiful, and liberal; for so shall I be like my Lord. He gave Himself for me: shall I grudge Him anything? By Charles Spurgeon from his "Faith's Checkbook" series

Church News: Our next church business meeting will be on February 5th at 4:00 please plan to attend. 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.

Haggai 2:6 - 9 “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; (7.) And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. (8.) The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. (9.) The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts." Galatians 3:8 “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.”