Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church "Where The Truths Of God’s Word Have Been Taught For More Than Fifty-Five Years” 1217 Dillon Texarkana, Texas 75501 May 21, 2017            Newsletter Number 620 Brother Randy Johnson, Pastor                   Brother Ronnie Henderson Sr., Song Leader Pastor E-Mail: pastor@sgmbaptist.com                                          Web Site: www.sgmbaptist.com “A Church Seeking To Please God In Prayer, Song, Preaching, And Worship.”

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,  Johnnie Stephens, Alecia Stephens, and children, Frankie Baldridge and daughter, Buckie Thompson, Frank & Sonya Trusty, Frank & Dawana Reigel, Andrew Preston, Larry & Martha Mollette and Her Family, Tyrell Loyd, Bonnie, Ted O'Bonion, Larry Mollette II & Family, Kerry Adcock, Kim Poole, Danny & Nita Mollette, The Muncy Family, Lee & Mary Mollette, Wendell Henderson, 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, Vickie Adkins, Archie & Barbara Griffin, Donna Johnson, James and Luann Reynolds, Timothy Fails, Nathan Fails, Jacob Ramsey, Jerry Hughes, Pastor G. L. Burr, Melody Carr, Janie Capps, Linda Hughes, Donna Jones, Brandy Sullivan, Gina, Brother Kelley and Sister Hinson, Manual Seymour, Sr, The Harris Family, The Morris Family, Teresa Bookout, Little Titan Thomas (Trent and Tiffane Thomas child), James – Diane and Brooke Thomas, Jace Fails, Steve Sparks, Sister Ann McSwain, Brother Archie and Barbra Griffin, Brandy’s Mother, Elaine Sparks, James daughter’s mother-in-law, Rick McCloskey’s brother, Brother Curtis Pugh, Brother Dan Sullivan the work in Thailand, Brother Raul and the work in Romania, Bro. Sergey Mochalov and the Churches in Russia.

A Thought From our Pastor: Walking In The Spirit.Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”   I wonder if we were to examine our walk on this earth could we say we walk in the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God has many effects on us. He convicts us of our lost state and brings us to the Christ and causes us to believe. He effects our learning of God’s word, keeps bringing thoughts of the scripture back to us as we struggle in life. He also keeps us saved throughout life not allowing us to fall. But for us, He also prepares us to meet our Saviour Jesus Christ and our heavenly Father. And, not last or least, He will never leave us nor forsake us. What a blessing He is to us who are called the children of God. If it were not for the Holy Spirit, we would all fall right back into sin and become what we were before we were dragged from the flaming fires of Hell. However, with all this being said we must not forget the part of mankind. That’s right we have a part in all of this and that is our Walking in the Spirit. What it means to “Walk in the Spirit” is our everyday life, from our prayer life, to our study of God’s word, to our everyday living on this earth, to our worship of God. How is our everyday life meeting the standards of the Holy Spirit? What are the standards of the Holy Spirit, just read the bible. The bible is the word of God as inspired by the Holy Spirit. It should be the single book of instructions in our life, it should fulfill our everyday life. If it is our everyday instructions in life then it will control our every thought, word, action, and yes our every walk. Every time we fail to walk in the scriptures we fail to walk in the Spirit, we fail God, and we fail ourselves. Paul went on to write “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh…” in other words you cannot serve God and mammon, who are you serving every day? If you walk to please the world than you cannot please God because Paul also wrote “…these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” If they are “contrary the one to the other” then they can never be served together, ever. Jesus said in Matthew 12:30 “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” If you are not serving God, if you are not walking in the Spirit, then whatever you do, you do it against the Lord. Sometimes Christians do not think of the consequences of serving the lust of the flesh, or to walk against the scriptures, but always remember no believer in Jesus Christ should ever go against the God that saved their eternal soul from hell, ever. Beloved, going against God or His word is not an option, we must as Christians guard our everyday life to serve the Lord and to walk in the Spirit. I must admit, in this world it is hard. The world is at war with God and walking in the Spirit takes a lot of energy and humility on our parts, and a lot of grace on God’s part. However, it can be done, and we ought to be ashamed if we fail to give it our best effort. Beloved, there is nothing in this worth the loss we suffer in eternal glory for our failure to do so. Jesus asked this question, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”  Matthew 16:26 Now while our souls are kept by the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ, what about our standing before our Father? If we get to heaven and have no rewards, then what have we gained? It will be like a kid watching other kids playing with toys and you have none. Folks, there is nothing in this world, no possession on this earth is worth our eternal standing in Christ. Our everyday walk is ALL impotent to us, let us all walk in the Holy Spirit everyday no matter what.

MARY'S SAVIORBy Curtis Pugh   Probably most of the things believed about Mary the mother of Jesus are based upon imagination rather than upon the Bible. Let us consider one thing about her that is clearly taught by the Bible: once Mary was a lost sinner, but the Lord saved her. We know this because Mary said so herself. She said,  “My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour,” (Luke 1:46-47). It is obvious, is it not? If a person has a savior they must have at one time or another been saved. For instance, if a man falls overboard and is about to drown and another person pulls him back into the boat, the one man was saved from drowning and the other person is his savior.   Mary was the natural child of her parents. Her genealogy is presented through her husband and her father. It goes all the way back to Adam proving that she was a human being and thus as a descendant of that first man was a sinner. She needed a Savior as do all lost sinners.   Every true child of God, that is, every lost sinner who has been born again by the Holy Spirit experiences the same thing that Mary experienced. She and all who know the salvation of the Lord have experienced the rejoicing of the inner man that comes with being born from above. They can all say with Mary, “my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” Those who do not experience this joy have never been born again!   Every child of God ought to say with Mary, “my soul doth magnify the Lord.” But, alas, there are some who will only share a part of the credit for their salvation with God. They magnify themselves by claiming that they initiated their own salvation. They are like the man overboard who, once rescued, says I sure am glad that I held on tight to you and pulled myself back into the boat with your help – when in reality they were helpless and were pulled in by the other person.   “I came to Christ,” they say, thinking they did it themselves. While Christ said,  “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day,” (John 6:44). They refuse to “magnify the Lord,” but rather attribute at least a part of their salvation to themselves. They did not need to be saved. They only needed a little help. They helped save themselves and so they are a co-savior with Christ, only sharing a part of the glory for their salvation with Him. Their attitude is “we did it.”   There was none of that in Mary's confession! She said, “my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour”! What do you say? “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalm 107:8).

Church News:   The Church will observe the Lord’s Supper next Sunday May 28th at the evening service.