Bethany Baptist Church

We met and sang “Victory in Jesus,” and then had a devotion from Ephesians 4:11-15titled “Edifying the Body of Christ.”

Edifying the body of Christ is the idea of teaching and instructing and helping fellow Christians. A church is one united body of individually saved members. Like an army on a battlefield, we cannot as an individual do what a whole church can do. Each person has a different role to do in the church, but as a church we are here to lift up those around us.

The word “perfect” in this passage means to be complete. We as a group must strengthen each other. We need to attend, and after being saved be a member of a church. It is in a church that we can grow continually in the Lord. This can only be done through a group. We always need the help of fellow believers. After a prayer, we sang “Each Step I Take,” All Because of God’s Amazing Grace,” “He Did It All For Me” and “What a Day That Will Be.”

Bro. Aubry made these announcements:

•Homecoming will begin at 10 a.m. on Sept. 27 and end with dinner in the fellowship hall. We will not have and evening service.

Prayer requests were spoken at this time, of which there were several.

Bro. Aubry began his morning message from Hebrews 1:1-15 titled “Jesus, a Man Who Was Different.” Jesus Christ is the most important part of your worship. The Bible is the only Book we must use in our worship services.

There are no prophets, priests or miracle workers left today. When Jesus Christ fulfilled and took away The Law at his death on the cross, all these other things went away. God only speaks to us through his Word.

Jesus was more than a historical man of long ago; he was and is God. God’s Word is about having a relationship with man and woman, whom he created. Jesus shows us that God is love.

We cannot completely understand the love of God. Love is why Jesus was born. We can live through Jesus, and through him only can we have eternal life. Jesus was and is God and man. As man, he suffered as we do, but being God, he did not sin.

God speaks to us through his Son, Jesus. Unless we read and study the Bible, we will never hear God talking to us because that is the only way he speaks to humans now. In the past, many great leaders were spoken to directly from God, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Joshua, Daniel, etc., but Jesus was the greatest teacher of all. He was God who came to teach. In 1 John 10:30, Jesus tells that he is God. In John 5:58, Jesus identified himself as God. He has the same powers that God has, and he showed his power in many ways: He turned water into wine, stopped the storm and raised the dead.

Jesus alone, as God, has the power to forgive sin. God is the only one who can forgive sin. Jesus was different from ordinary man because he was and is God. He was the only perfect man to walk on this earth. Jesus was the creator of everything.

Jesus is not only God; he is our Redeemer. He created the world, and before creation, it was decided that he would be the redeemer of the world.

There are no rules to follow to be saved. The Bible offers Jesus as the only way to be saved. God doesn’t force us to worship him, and he could not force us to love him. We choose to love him or reject him. He loves us like no other, and he sent his only Son to die for us. Services closed with a prayer and the song “The Savior Is Waiting.” Evening services began with the song “Just a Little Talk with Jesus.”

Bro. Aubry’s text was Psalm 31:23. Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart and you should love your neighbor. Once saved, we became ambassadors for Christ. Our neighbor is everyone.

We should spread the gospel. Until we have a burden for the lost world, we cannot express the love of God to them. 1 John 4:19 says that we love God because he first loved us. Because we love God, we should live for the Lord.

Once we have been saved, and begin to obey the Lord by doing good deeds for him, we will be rewarded. 1 Corinthians 4:2 tells us that it is required that be faithful to him, and John 14:15 say that if we love God, we will keep his commandments.

Be not boastful in what you do for God, but whatever you do, do it with pride and to the best of your ability. The law of the Old Testament demanded “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” but under grace, if someone strikes one cheek, you should turn to him the other cheek.

When someone needs help, help them. In the Judgment, the Lord will judge whether or not we have been honest to him. As much as is possible, we should live peaceably with all men. Romans 12:19: “’Vengeance is mine, and I will repay,’ saith the Lord.”

If we do good, it will be easier to overcome evil. “They who trust in the Lord, shall never lose their place in the heart of God” (Psalm 125:1). We closed with a prayer and the hymn “Blest Be the Tie.

Our prayer list includes, our church, Bro. Aubry, Shirley, Grace, Bro. Hubert, Henry M., Jenny, Glenda, missions and missionaries, Wayne S., our visitors, Lisa, Debbie, Frankie and family, Vikii, Helen, Charlotte, Evelyn K., J.C., Barbara W., and many more, but most of all the unsaved.

Submitted by Jane Vines