If you didn’t get your invitation in the mail or haven’t been personally asked to come, then consider this a special invite from me to you. We would love to have you be here on Sunday to help us celebrate. Our service will begin at 10:00 a.m. We’ll hear testimonies of God’s work through this church, we’ll sing songs of His victory and His faithfulness, and we’ll engage in His Word as we pray He’ll speak clearly to us.
Our guest preacher will be Duane Faulkenberry. Bro. Duane served as the pastor of Ridgway FBC from 1984-1991, and we’re looking forward to welcoming him back. Duane is currently pastoring Bryan St. Baptist Church in Herrin, IL.
Don Moye will be leading the music on Sunday. Many of you know that Donnie grew up here, and his family has long been a vital part of the church. He now serves as Executive Pastor at the First Baptist Church in Vidalia, GA.
After lunch on the grounds we’re looking forward to The River City Quartet ministering to us through music. This will be a free concert, starting at 2:00 p.m., and we’d love to have you come even if you can’t make it for the morning service.
I love what God has done and is doing through the church! Not just locally, but globally. His church in Ridgway has a rich history of experiencing His mercy, His grace and His faithfulness throughout the years. I’m praying that our greatest days are yet to come. I believe God is raising up prayer warriors who are calling on Him to bring salvation not only to our neighbors but also to the nations. I believe God is calling out more and more workers into His harvest fields. I believe God is instilling in us a greater love for Him and for one another that will result in magnifying His glory in our world.
Globally, the Lord is doing amazing, mind-blowing things in building up His church and His kingdom. People are coming to Christ in Muslim countries where their faith in Jesus literally means risking it all. In the Pacific Rim God is opening doors for the Word and people are responding in faith. In Southeast Asia missionaries are taking the gospel to places where it’s never gone, and many are believing as if they’ve waited their whole lives to hear this message.
God’s “Plan A” for bringing life to a dying world is the church. His plan is for His people to take His message to the ends of the earth. That means that the church lives out the gospel so that others will see the light of Christ shining in us and through us. It means that the church boldly proclaims the truth that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
And guess what. There is no “Plan B.” God has equipped and empowered His church by His Holy Spirit, giving us everything we need to carry out His mission. Worldly wisdom and strategies, worldly wealth and resources will never get the job done. It is the “foolishness” of the message of the cross we preach that saves sinners from death and hell to everlasting life. It is the message of the gospel that showcases the power of God to transform sinners into saints.
And it is the church to whom the message of reconciliation is entrusted, and as His ambassadors God’s appeal through us is this: “Be reconciled to God. God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:20-21).
Friend, if you’re not living a life that is reconciled to God by turning away from sin and trusting in Him, then I want to urge you today to receive His offer of salvation. You may not have another day to think it over.
And if you’re a Christian but are not an active part of a local church, then I want to invite you to join us and see for yourself what God is doing in the church. You need the church, and the church needs you.
Finally, to those who are faithfully serving as the Body of Christ, I so want to thank you for your labor in the Lord, for you know it will not be in vain.
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