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 February 26, 2012 Newsletter Number 356 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, 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, Brooke Thomas, Kimberlee McCool, Ricky McCoy, Robert Wilson, and Bro. Sergey Mochalov and the Churches in Russia.

The Pastors Corner: Death Is Appointed! Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” Oh! The wonderful power of our God, how is it possible to forget His wonderful grace. This same God who created Adam from the dust of the ground; who created Eve from a rib from Adam; that created the earth out of nothing; that created the heavens also from nothing; has also appointed you and me a time to die, and after that death our judgment. We are so soon to forget that God is in control of all things and has by His infinite knowledge predetermined our death. We live everyday by the grace of God and we will also die by the grace of God. Our text says “And as it is appointed unto men once to die…” the word “appointed means - to be reserved – just as it was with Jesus Christ it also is with all mankind. God said in Ecclesiastes 3:1 - 2a "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: (2.) A time to be born..." The Hebrew word for “season” means - an appointed time” so to EVERYTHING God has appointed a time for it to die not just mankind but to everything that exist. If God has the ability to not only number the trillions upon trillions of stars but also to name each and every one of them then He certainly has the ability to ordain the death of each one of us. We sometime think of death as an accident or as a mistake but each and everyone are appointed by God. We think of aborted babies as a tragedy and they are but God has ordained the death of every one of them. We also think of the death of a young person as a tragedy but they to are ordained of God. We like sometimes not think that God controls death and the time of death but the real fact is, He does. "Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth..." Job 7:1 and then answered the question in Job 14:5 "Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;" if our days are numbered than can anyone live beyond the time limit set before us by God; No we can not. Death does not surprise God because He orders each and everyone. We do not live by luck nor do we extend our lives because we cannot override Gods ordained will. Sometimes people just simply do not want to think that God orders our death as His ordained will because it is so painful when one looses a child so young, or looses one to war, but beloved if it were not for God we would not have life period. Life is a gift from God and He controls our life as He controls the rest of His creation. Some want to believe that we control our own lives but that could not be more wrong. God said “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way." Psalms 37:23 The word “good” was added by the translators and is not in the original text therefore the proper reading should be “The steps of man are ordered by the LORD…” and the word “ordered” means appointed, no matter what we are in life it was ordered by God. Salvation was ordered by God; “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:" Ephesians 1:4 and here is the big one of all; God changes our will to believe in Jesus Christ. I know that so many preachers love to say “God cannot change our will” but beloved if God doesn’t change it then is will not be changed. We will never just to decide to follow Jesus Christ and seek God. "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." Romans 3:11 Me do not just become righteous it is ordered by God. So let us all understand that what we do in this life it will not extend our days on the earth. We may live healthier lives and get ran over by a bus or we may die of a heart attack but one thing is most certain we will all die and on Gods time table.

Blessing On Littleness: "He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great" Ps. 115:13 This is a word of cheer to those who are of humble station and mean estate. Our God has a very gracious consideration for those of small property, small talent, small influence, small weight. God careth for the small things in creation, and even regards sparrows in their lighting upon the ground. Nothing is small to God, for He makes use of insignificant agents for the accomplishment of His purposes. Let the least among men seek of God a blessing upon his littleness, and he shall find his contracted sphere to be a happy one. Among those who fear the Lord there are little and great. Some are babes, and others are giants. But these are all blessed. Little faith is blessed faith. Trembling hope is blessed hope. Every grace of the Holy Spirit, even though it be only in the bud, bears a blessing within it. Moreover, the Lord Jesus bought both the small and the great with the same precious blood, and He has engaged to preserve the lambs as well as the full-grown sheep. No mother overlooks her child because it is little; nay, the smaller it is, the more tenderly does she nurse it. If there be any preference with the Lord, He does not arrange them as "great and small," but as "small and great. By Charles Spurgeon from his "Faith's Checkbook" series

Church News: Our Next church Business meeting will be on March 4th please be making plans to attend. Daylight savings time is March 11 Don’t forget to set your clocks forward 1 hour. Pastor Johnson will be speaking at a Bible Conference on March 16 – 18 in Oakdale, La. At the Northside Baptist Church. Brother Steve McCool from Sulphur Springs, Texas and Brother Justin Bookout will fill in for Pastor Johnson for the services on March 18th.

Happy Anniversary: Brother Harace and Sister Velma Hammond March 2nd This is their 60th

1 Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: (13.) But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”