Stay Right There

When a person becomes a Christian, how far should he go in changing his lot in life? Should he divorce his unbelieving spouse?  Should he stop working for his unbelieving employer?  The church at Corinth had the very same questions and the Apostle Paul answers three different times in 1 Corinthians 7.


Paul sums up his answer in 1 Corinthians 7:24 by saying, "Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God."  In other words, Paul is saying in whatever circumstances of life you find yourself when you become a Christian, begin to live for Christ right there where you are.


Remember, Paul is also speaking to some who were saved as slaves.  They were still in slavery when they trusted Christ as their Savior.  What should they do?  The answer is the same.  (v.21) "Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather."  Paul said, "If you are a slave, 'care not for it' or "don't worry about it, just begin right where you are as a slave and serve the Lord until He allows you to be free."


This is a great truth that will help anyone who finds himself or herself in a job or situation they think is unbearable.  Do not use it as an excuse to not serve God.  Paul is saying, "You can live for God in the most horrible of circumstances, that of slavery."  


How? (v.22) "For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant."  He reminds them that though they may be a slave to man, they are now in fact the Lord's "freeman."  That word "freeman" means purchased by God.  That is why in the very next verse Paul says, "Ye are bought with a price..."


"Whether you are a slave or free; whether you are in good circumstances or bad", Paul says, "If you will serve Christ right where you are until He changes your circumstances, He will bless you and just might possibly USE you to bring about change in others around you.


"But how can I continue to bear this unbearable circumstance?"  Paul answers that question by bringing us back full circle to our original verse, (v.24) "Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God."


Any circumstance is bearable when God is there with us!  Just ask the three Hebrew children.  So, STAY RIGHT THERE and let God work through you!

Put The Fear Of God Into Your Home!

Someone said, "Marriage is an institution in which a man loses his Bachelor's degree and the woman gets her Master's."  While one can often find humor in marriage, the truth about the matter is that homes everywhere are under attack.

Last Sunday I began a new sermon series on the home and I preached on: "Three Materials Every Home Needs."  You can listen to the sermon HERE. 


While there is nothing simple about husband/wife relationships and what it takes to have a successful marriage, I believe that God has given to us some simple instructions in His Word that will heal and help every marriage.


Ephesians 5:21 says, "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."  This may be a small verse but it packs a powerful punch!  The Apostle Paul said that every home needs "the fear of God."  Think about it, when every member of the home is living in "the fear of God" and they are submitting themselves to God, then they will have no difficulty in submitting themselves "one to another."


The reason many children have not submitted themselves to their parents, is because they have not first submitted themselves to the Lord.  Likewise, a wife will not submit to her husband and a husband will not submit himself to his wife if they have not first submitted themselves unto the Lord. 


Homes are chaotic and falling apart because there is no "fear of God" anymore.  The one thing that would get your home and marriage back on track is if you once again put the fear of God into your home!

The Most Honored Guest

I am still amazed at how God blessed our 911 Honor Service last Sunday.  Every year it just seems to get better and better.  I want to thank all of the members of Community Baptist Church who worked so hard, and in some cases almost none-stop, to make this day such a blessing and a success.  As I told our church on Sunday night, a day like this does not happen by accident.  It takes much preparation, planning and most of all, prayer.  But what a blessing to see what God can do when we turn it all over to Him!

We had 262 in attendance and the place was packed!  The choir did an outstanding job singing and you could feel the Holy Spirit moving from the first song all the way through to the invitation when three people, including a police office, trusted Christ as their Lord and Savior!

Our special speaker was Bro. Brian Stewart.  Bro. Brian is a former Georgia State Trooper and he did a great job sharing how the Lord got his attention and saved him and is now using him to reach others in law enforcement for Christ.  You can see read about his ministry at: www.reachingcops.com

I am thankful for the Sheriff and Siler City Police Chief who came to show their support as well as the many other law enforcement officers, Firefighters and EMS.  One of our police officers brought his entire shift with him and they had just gotten off their 12-hour shift!

Yes, we had many honored guests here, Sunday, but the MOST honored Guest Who showed up was the Holy Spirit!

When Trouble Comes

Have you ever noticed that as soon as you decide to do right, things start going wrong? It seems that sometimes when trouble comes, it comes in a BIG way!  David said in Ps. 34:19, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous..."  David knew a little something about trouble.  In fact, he wrote Psalm 34 when he had been seized by the Philistines at Gath.  Does Gath sound familiar?  It should.  The great giant Goliath whom David slew was from Gath.  He had killed their champion and now they are wanting to kill him!  So, like us many times, not long after his big TRIUMPH David found himself in big TROUBLE!


So what did David do?  What was going through his mind?  Well, he tells us what he did and what we should do when trouble comes.  Psalm 34:1 - "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.." "You are going to do what, David?"  David said, "I will bless the LORD..."  David didn't say he FELT like blessing the Lord.  Sometimes it takes an act of the will to do what is right.  Sometimes it takes an act of the will to go on to church even when you don't feel like it.  Sometimes it takes an act of the will to read your Bible and pray even when you don't feel like it.


If you are like me, when you are down you want everyone else to be down with you.  Not David.  When he was down he encouraged others.  He encouraged them to praise the Lord, too!  (v.3) "O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together."  The word "magnify" means to enlarge something.  David was saying, "Let's start magnifying the Lord.  We cannot make the Lord any bigger than He already is, but we can start seeing Him bigger than anything else in our life."


Are you surrounded by trouble, today?  Decide to start blessing the Lord.  Get back to church.  Get back to your Bible and begin magnifying Him!