Is He Pleased With Your Image?

Today we had guest pastor, Brother Perry Spaulding visiting our church.  He shared a simple message about our images.  Today's message came from Colossians. 

Brother Spaulding's message revolved around one quote that he referred to frequently...."God said it, that settles it."  Whether you believe it or not, if God said it, that is the end of discussion.  There is no, "what if's or buts" when dealing with what God tells us.  Do people see you as a person who always follows God's commands or do they see you following them only on Sunday, or do they see you not following them at all? 

Our image is what the world sees.  Do people look at you and say, "That person is like a flooding river ready to burst out of its banks and spread the good word" or do they look at you and say, "That person is like a stagnant pool of water, never going anywhere or doing anything"? 

Satan wants people to see the church as dying.  Looking around at what is acceptible in today's society, you can see that less and less people are working for the glory of God.  Christians need to STAND UP TOGETHER NOW and share God's word!

Think of this.....what happens as rushing flood waters sweep across the land with force?  It collects debris and things along the way.  It sweeps things up and they join in the rush.  This is the way a christian should be living their life.  They should be out there, unashamed to show their love of the Lord, ready to spread the good word with others all the time, hearts bursting with excitement, picking up people along the way and sweeping them into the arms of our loving Father. 

Our Christian life should not be like a stagnant pool of water.  Stagnant is defined as being a body of water with no current or flow and often having an unpleasant smell as a cosequence.  The only thing a stagnant pool of water attracts is mosquitoes!  If we want to win people to Christ, we must be like flood waters bursting through the flood gates! 

Mark 16:15 (King James Version)

 ¹⁵And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

GOD SAID IT, THAT SETTLES IT!

We are commanded by God to be like those floodwaters and preach the gospel to every creature. 

Our image we portray to others is our biggest testimony we have of our faith!  So I ask you, what do others see in you?  Does your image win people to Christ or push them away?  Or is your image and Christian walk "stagnant"?  Does your image show people you put God first in your life or is Satan controlling your desires?  Become those rushing floodwaters!  Share His love and your faith with someone today! Pray that God helps you to constantly have the mind of Christ and the desire to display a Christlike image!

Learn to Pray

This week's sermon at Sparta Baptist was one all Christians need to hear frequently.  Visiting pastor, Jason Holbrook shared another wonderful sermon.  This one dealt with prayer.  Though we understand that we should pray, we don't always do it.  Some of us do it, but not correctly.  Here is an overview of his wonderful message! 

Jeremiah 33:3 (King James Version)

 ³Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Do we pray the way God expects us to?  We teach prayer but struggle to give the Lord the time he deserves in prayer.

Prayer shouldn't be rushed.  Do you rush prayer because your favorite television show is coming on or you have to get dinner on the table or the yard mowed?  If you are rushing your prayer time, you are failing to see the power of God in your life. 

Brother Holbrook shared the best analogy: "Prayer is like fuel for your car.  You might have the most desired car on the planet, but without gas it isn't going anywhere.  The same is for prayer.  You may be a Christian but your Christian life and walk is going nowhere without your fuel.....prayer!"

Maybe you are reading this and are thinking to yourself, "I do pray."  The question is do you pray the way God wants you to?  Is your heart and mind in the right place when you enter into your prayer time?

Prayer is:
1.) Talking to God
2.) Humbling Yourself Before God (God already knows your every need, but he wants you to take the time and humble yourself before him and ask for it.  Ask.....Seek......Knock).
3.) Heartfelt Conversation (words flow from your heart, not from a book or memorized verse).

Prayer is NOT:
1.) A Proud Show
2.) Vain Repetitions (those prayers you say just to be saying them.....the ones you learned as a kid and just say because they sound good.)
3.) Proud Attitude/Spirit

So where does your prayer life fall?  Are you truly sitting with the Lord and enjoying his presence?  There are some things that can "hinder" your prayer life.
1.) Lack of Faith/Doubting God's power
2.) Unconfessed Sin
3.) Discord in the Marriage
4.) Greed
5.) Pride
6.) Jealousy
7.) Anger
8.) Gossip

Let's take a look at how the Lord says we should pray.  The answer is found in Luke 11:1-4.

Luke 11:1-4 (King James Version)

 ¹And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
 ²And he said unto them, When ye pray, say,
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
 ³Give us day by day our daily bread.
 ⁴And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.


We have heard this prayer before but do we understand it?  In fact, this may be one of those memorized prayers you say just to be saying it.  You won't see God's power until you pray it with your heart and truly mean what you say. 

"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name."  This is simply saying, "Lord, I respect you.  I am calling out your name."

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth."  "I understand that your will is what is best, and I am giving you total control. I trust you Lord."

"Give us day by day our daily bread."  "Make requests for your needs even though he already knows them......remember above.....he wants us to humble ourselves before him and ask."

"And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us."  "Forgive me Lord for my sins, and help me to forgive those that have hurt me just like you willingly forgive me."

"And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil."  "Lord help me in my daily walk to not be tempted by sin.  Guide me to say and do the things I should.  Keep evil thoughts and actions away from me."

This is what God expects from us through our daily prayer time. 
"Respect His name, ask for His will to be done, make requests for your needs, ask for forgiveness, and ask for guidance and protection."

God rewards those who SEEK Him.  The reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus himself.  As Max Lucado says:  "Don't be satisfied with angels.  Don't be content with stars in the sky.  Seek him out as the shepherds did.  Long for him as Simeaon did.  Worship him as the wise men did.  Do as John and Andrew did, ask for his address.  Do as Matthew, invite Jesus into your house.  Imitate Zaccheaus.  Risk whatever it takes to see Christ."  The reward:  To be more like Christ.  No guilt, no bad habits, no fear of death. 

He loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way.  He wants you to be just like Jesus.  The only way you can truly seek God is through prayer.  Check your prayer life.  Is it where it should be?

We Stand Up For Jesus

The struggles Sparta Baptist Church has experienced are not over entirely but faith we will conquer is abundant.  Visiting pastor, Jason Holbrook, shared a very powerful and encouraging sermon Sunday that helped the members of our humble church feel confident that what happened was God's will.  He reminded us that God has not been blind to everything going on but has been there watching.  His eyes have been on our church from the beginning and we often forget, in times of trouble, that he DOES see and hear everything.  Brother Holbrook reminded us that this is a time to dig deep into our foundations of our church.  He shared foundations a church should be built on and they are the very foundations Sparta Baptist Church was originally built on.

*The First Foundation:
The first foundation our church was/is built on is God's word.  Sparta Baptist Church makes no apologies for believing in the foundations our church was originally built on.  We believe the Bible is worth fighting for and worth defending.  We believe that in order to defend God's word we must know God's word.  It's not enough to just own a Bible.  You must study it.  Therefore; we have brought back regular Sunday School so that we can fellowhsip and study God's words as the Bible tells us to do with other believers.  All are welcome to join us for Sunday School from 9:30 - 10:30 each Sunday.  We have something for everyone.

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

 ¹⁵Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

*The Second Foundation:
The second foundation our church was/is built on is His plan of Salvation.  Have you ever wondered why there was so much "red tape" to go through to become a Christian or become saved or even join a new church?  We at Sparta Baptist Church believe Salvation is simple.  We believe Salvation is as simple as truly believing God sent his Son to die on the cross to save us from our sins and that you just accept him into your life.  We believe that baptism is a public profession of your faith, but you are saved the minute you believe and accept.  This is according to God's word.

John 3:16 (KJV)

 ¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The Third Foundation:
Our third foundation the church was/is built on is Respect.  We believe that as Christians, we have to have respect for each other, respect for the church itself, and respect for God's presence.  We believe the church is a place of peace and comfort, not confusion and anger.  We believe church is a place to worship and spend time with the Lord.  It is not a place to build yourself up by what you do in the church.  The services you perform within the church should be only for the Glory of God and not for your own self-recognition.  Satan can often present a "gift" of pride for those that do a lot in a church.  Once pride enters your heart, respect for the Lord leaves.  You then work harder on perfecting your ego instead of perfecting your heart.  We believe it is up to us to keep respect for where we are and why we do what we do. 

Respect is listening to God's word without interruption or distractions.  Respect is keeping other worldly thoughts at bay during the study of God's word.  Respect is teaching our children to have the same respect God expects from us. 

The Fourth Foundation:
Our fourth foundation the church was/is built on is Faith.  We believe that without Faith it is absolutely impossible to please the Lord.  Faith is what pulls you through in difficult times.  He expects us to rely solely on Him for everything and in order to do that, one must have Faith.  The Lord reveals himself when we have Faith in Him.

Deuteronomy 32:20 (KJV)

 ²⁰And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

When a church body goes through the trials that Sparta Baptist Church has gone through, Satan muddies the truth even more and fills the mind with doubts.  It is very difficult to have Faith that you made the best choices throughout the storm.  Sunday's sermon and study of scripture helped us at Sparta Baptist Church have the Faith that the Lord pulled us through this His way.  Our Faith can not be shaken.  It is an exciting time for our church.  We are digging down to our roots and remembering the foundations of our church. 

We pray the Lord sends us a true man of God that believes in following God's word as it is written and can believe in our church's foundations, to be our pastor.

Matthew 16:18 (KJV)

 ¹⁸And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

If you are looking for a church, please don't let Satan convince you that Sparta Baptist's circumstances are too big for you.  You might just miss an opportunity to be truly touched by His grace!  All members of our church would agree, that the Lord's presence is felt more now than ever.  We are truly excited about our church's future.  Please come out and be a part of it!  Experience the Lord's presence for yourself.  Join us next Sunday at Sparta Baptist Church!