Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church "Where The Truths Of God’s Word Have Been Taught For More Than Fifty-Two Years” 1217 Dillon Texarkana, Texas 75501 August 17, 2014 Newsletter Number 478 Brother Randy Johnson, Pastor Brother Ronnie Henderson, Song Director Pastor E-Mail: pastor@sgmbaptist.com Web Site: www.sgmbaptist.com

Our Prayer Request: 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, Helen Maggard, Johnnie Stephens, Alecia Stephens, and children, Frankie Baldridge and daughter, Buckie Thompson, Frank & Sonya Trusty, Frank & Dawana Reigel, Andrew Preston, Larry & Martha Mollette, Larry Mollette II & Family, Kerry Pennington, Kim Poole, Danny & Nita Mollette, The Muncy Family, Wendell Henderson, Judy Dunn, Martha Gray, Joshua Kidd, Matthew Kidd, Ronnie and Sarah Henderson, Ronnie Henderson Jr. & Children, Ricky Henderson and Family, Jacie Henderson, Velma Hammond, Charles, Don Hammond and Families, Archie & Barbara Griffin, Bro. & Sister Bob Keller, Donna Johnson, Fay Johnson, James and Luann Reynolds, Timothy Fails, Nathan & Claire Fails, Jacob Ramsey, Jerry Hughes, Teresa Bookout, Pastor G. L. Burr, Melody Carr, Janie Capps, Imajo Tracy, Linda Hughes, Roy Lemmon, Rosie Tomlin, Pat Abercrombie, Donna Jones, Dale Trahan, Ricky and Margaret McCoy, Brother David O’Neal, James & Diane Thomas, Gina Peel, James and Lynn Tomlin, Brother Kelley and Sister Hinson, Megan Whitaker, Manual Seymour, Sr., Brother Jerry and Sister Jean Dodson, 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 Pastor Johnson: Trust the Lord and He will never fail you. “And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” Matthew 14:29 We sometime find ourselves of little faith. Faith is biblically defined as "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1 A. H. Strong’s defines it as “persuasion” which means - belief in something – and W. E. Vines defines it as “trust”. Either way it is defined it always ends with an uncertainty or dependence on someone else. Peter knew his ability to walk on water was an impossibility, he knew if he tried he would sink, this is not faith but a known fact. But Peter said in verse 28 “… Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” With Peter knowing without the power of Jesus he would sink then he had to have faith in Jesus power to hold him up. Therefore Peter stepped out on the water and walked, with success. It was only when Peter took his eyes off of Jesus that he began to sink. “But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.” Verse 30 This reminds me that if we have a hot plate sitting in front of us; then we touch it to see if it is hot. Peter knew once his faith in the Lords power slipped then he would sink but he did it anyway; but the Lord saved him any way. Folks if we trust in the Lord, then let us trust in him. All Christians at certain times always take our eyes off the Lord and trust in ourselves even though we know without the Lords power we will fail. Our future is an uncertainty, except where we trust the Lord. We know only what the Lord tells us in His word, but we will do everything in our power to fix something or change something that we cannot fix or change. Faith is stepping out of the safe boat and walking on the water, with our eyes fixed on Jesus. Life is moving forward with our faith and eyes on Jesus, let us not take them off when trouble comes, the Lord is in control. The old quote is “if the Lord leads you to it; He will lead you through it”. However, it is wonderful to know the Lord loves us enough to lift us back up and help once we cry to Him. Jesus said to Peter in verse 31 “And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” or “why did you fail to trust me”. Folks, if you are convinced that the Lord has led you into something then trust Him to get you through it. Even if the waters rise into a wave and everything seems to be falling a part, keep moving forward, trust the Lord and He will give you a hand and lift you to safety. We as Christian know this, just as we know the plate sitting in front of us it hot, but sometimes we just forget what we are not to do. Once our eyes are lifted from Jesus than we will began to sink and we become “O thou of little faith”. We all fall into this same unfaithful way, because if we did not and our faith was as strong as it should be there is no telling what we could truly do as Christians. Matthew 17:20 “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” I cannot explain why we have such little faith in this flesh but we do, every time trouble comes we start to worry and doubt. Beloved, it is the Lord in whom we trust, so let us all trust Him more and more, and when the storm begins, let us trust Him even more. Because if we take our eyes off of the Lord then we will surly began to sink. “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. (9.) It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes." Psalms 118:8 – 9 Trust in the Lord and certainty will come.

A Thought To Share With Others: A Thorough Hatred "You hate all workers of iniquity!" Psalm 5:5 "It is not a little dislike — but a thorough hatred which God bears to workers of iniquity. To be hated by God is an awful thing. O let us be very faithful in warning the wicked around us, for it will be a terrible thing for them to fall into the hands of an angry God!" - Charles Spurgeon "What a vile thing is sin, which makes the God of love and Father of mercies — into an enemy to His creatures; and which could only be purged by the blood of the Son of God!" - Thomas Adams "Not only the work — but worker of iniquity also becomes the object of His hatred." - William Gurnall "Those whom the Lord hates, must perish. What is more due to such impenitent sinners, than hatred? What is more proper than wrath — since they treasure up wrath? Will He entertain those in the bosom of His love — those whom His soul hates? No! Destruction is their portion. What is that which Christ hates? As Christ hates iniquity, so also the "workers of iniquity." - David Clarkson "If God's hatred is against the workers of iniquity — then how great is it against iniquity itself! If a man hates a poisonous creature — he hates poison much more. The strength of God's hatred is against sin — and so should we hate sin, and hate it with all our strength! Sin is an abomination unto God — let it be so unto us!" - William Greenhill Taken from Charles Spurgeon’s, "Treasury of David"

Would we really rather have things our way? Children of God — our Savior will never leave us to ourselves! He is with us always! He loved us! He chose us! He suffered, bled, and died for us! He redeemed us with His own precious blood! He called us by His Spirit and gave us life from the dead! He has staked His glory as God, upon our everlasting salvation! He has promised to do us good, and to withhold no good thing from us! How can we not faithfully, joyfully, and patiently wait on such a God as this? By Frank Hall