Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church 1217 Dillon Texarkana, Texas 75501 March 31, 2013             Newsletter Number 409 Brother Randy Johnson, Pastor                    Brother Ronnie Henderson, Song Director Pastor E-Mail: pastor@sgmbaptist.com          Web Site: www.sgmbaptist.com "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, Junior Baldridge, Frankie Baldridge and daughter, Buckie Thompson, Frank & Sonya Trusty, Frank & DawanaReigel, 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. & Children, Ricky Henderson and Family, Jacie Henderson, Velma Hammond, Charles, Don Hammond and Families, Archie & Barbara Griffin, Bro. & Sister Bob Keller, Mary Ramsey, Donna Johnson, Fay Johnson, James and Luann Reynolds, Timothy and Nathan Fails, Jacob Ramsey, Jerry Hughes, Sister Nita Bookout, Teresa Bookout, Pastor G. L. Burr, Melody Carr, Janie Capps, Imajo Tracy, Linda Hughes, Roy Lemmon, Rosie Tomlin, Lee Mollette’s Daughter & Granddaughter Kristal, Pat Abercrombie, Barbara Brewer, Donna Jones, Dale and Linda Trahan, Ricky and Margaret McCoy, Brother David O’Neal, Gina, Ryan, and Mallary Peel, Tommy Walker and family, Brother Steve McCool and the work in Canada, Brother Curtis Pugh, Brother Dan Sullivan and the work in Thailand, Brother Raul and the work in Romania, and Bro. Sergey Mochalov and the Churches in Russia.

A Thought From Our Pastor: Easter; What Is It?“And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” 1 Corinthians 15:4   You know I grew up celebrating all of the religious holidays just as most of the world does and out of ignorance had no idea what I was doing. Christmas was always about gifts and Santa Claus and Easter was always about the Easter Bunny, hiding and finding Easter eggs, and  candy. But today I find that neither one represent nor honor God. As a Sovereign Grace Pastor I have found that God is a jealous God and has no desire to share His glory or honor except with those He chooses to share it with. If we use Christ’s birth and resurrection with mythical creatures such as Santa and the Bunny then could Christ also be thought of asmythical. According to the Religionist and Arminian’s world of worship, Easter is all about the resurrection of Jesus Christ but that simply is not true; because every Sunday morning is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus rose from the grave early on Sunday morning just before the sun rose. Matthew 28:1 “ In the end of thesabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.” And the stone had been moved and the Lord had risen. This is the very reason we have the Christian Sabbath on Sunday morning instead of Saturday as the Jews did. We as Christians are not under Jewish customs therefore the Passover has nothing to do with our celebration of the Lords resurrection. Colossians 2:14 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” Every Sunday morning is a celebration of the Lords resurrection and not just one time a year. Good Friday is nothing! This one has me totally confused. I guess if you have the weekend off then every Friday must be a good Friday. But just as Easter make no sense, Good Friday make even less. Now I’m not stupid; I understand what they (the Religionist and Arminian’s) think; but what confuses me is the math of it. The scripture conclude that “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matthew 12:40 Now if Christ was in the grave for three days and nights then how did He die on Friday. Their calculators need an adjustment. In order for Christ to have been in the grave three days and nights then He must have died on Wednesday instead of Friday. Folks, church services are about worshiping Jesus Christ and nothing else. We are not to worship to satisfy the worshiper but to serve the Lord God. A proper service includes prayer, song, preaching, and more prayer and anything else is unacceptable. Worship is not about Christmas, Easter, cowboys, strong men, comedians, or etc., etc., etc. I am afraid that more places of worship are more interested in creature satisfaction than in God satisfaction. So while those that have their Easter egg hunts today, think about this and ask yourself this question, “is God satisfied”? Something looks very wrong when I think about the Apostle Paul hiding Easter eggs. I believe Paul would have been insulted to walk into a place of worship and see what most of these places are doing and calling it worship. If I ever get to the point where I need an Easter bunny to remind me of my Saviour’s resurrection, I will consider myself to have great spiritual problems. Matthew 4:10 "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (9.) But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (7.) Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (7.) If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine."

For Our Weekly  Meditation: The Way You Must Go “And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.  Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.  And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” (Joshua 3:3-5) This is such a wonderful picture of salvation through Jesus Christ, who is the Covenant of the LORD our God. Why?  What is the revelation of the “ark of the covenant”?  Notice: “…the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat;” (Heb. 9:4b-5a)  The ark, its contents, and the mercyseat were designed to be direct types of Jesus and the way of salvation through him. The only way one must go to be saved!  “Manna” is in reference to Jesus being the bread that gives eternal life by which He said, “This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.” (Jn. 6:50)  The cut off “rod that budded” (“…shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself…” Dan. 9:26)) is pointing to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as the Branch that was cut off, yet he lives forevermore.  The “tables of the covenant” reveal Jesus, the Word, as the everlasting covenant of God.  “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” (Heb. 13:20) Over all of this, one will find the “mercyseat” where the grace of God is gifted through the sprinkling of the blood of the Lamb.  The ungodly have never passed this way before, but God by direction has shown Jesus to be the only way one must go to reach the mercyseat.   By Dr. M. J. Seymour, Sr.

Happy Anniversary: Danny and Sister Nita Mollette  - Friday April 05