FROM YOUR PASTOR –
The big event in Augusta in April is The Masters! For Master’s week, our family will be traveling to the mountains of North Carolina. As I was thinking about making the journey to Montreat, I was reminded that life is a journey from conception to our rebirth to eternity spent with God in heaven.
Life does begin at conception and every life is important.
Psalm 139: 13For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. 15My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;16Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.
While I know that each on reading this has experienced birth, I hope each has also experienced rebirth. Without that you cannot experience eternity with God, but instead will experience eternity separated from God.
Matthew 25:46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
How does one experience rebirth? Believe in Jesus!
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
What does the Bible say about our journey through life? How should we walk?
Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
On the journey and once we arrive in Montreat, we will be surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation…wood, mountains, flowers, streams, animals.
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
On previous trips to the Montreat area we have been warned not to leave food out, to put trash in secure bear boxes. Spring & summer are prime time for bear activity in North Carolina. We could let fear keep us from going, yet on trips, in day-to-day life, God is the only one who can protect us.
Psalm 121: 7The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. 8The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.
While we are in Montreat, we will be able to spend time with our immediate family and perhaps even part of our extended family…aunts, uncles, cousins. God created family and loved us so much He adopted us into His family.
John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.
Ephesians 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household.
During Master’s week and beyond, remember The Master. Believe in Him so you can be cleansed and spend eternity with Him. Walk with Him. See His Glory in His creation. Do not fear for God is with you. Remember, once you are saved, you are a beloved child of God, part of God’s household forever!
And don’t miss the blessing of gathering with your church family to worship God and to encourage one another.
Hebrews 10: 24and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.