16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that everyone believing in Him should not perish but have life eternal. (John 3:16 translated from the NA28 Greek text)
The Lord has blessed our church over the last several years with massive growth. Why? We are centered on the Word of God, Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and the Gospel message as the focus of all we do. The growth is amazing, but it also has required us to alter how we respond to it. What do I mean? We have changed nothing about the message. If anything, the message just keeps going out more and more in more and more different ways. Because of the growth we have had to adapt to serious parking problems, overcrowding throughout our building, etc….
It is not unusual to have at least 5 or more baptisms in each service on Sunday mornings. We usually attend the 11a.m. service. This last Sunday, as we drove home we talked about how wonderful it is to hear preaching like that and watch the Holy Spirit work as the altar filled up with people responding to His moving. Whenever I witness things like that I think of my own salvation. I remember it vividly. I remember how my turning to Christ in faith was not a work on my part, but an act of faith that I did not have before. I was convicted of my sin and lost condition and drawn to Christ by the Holy Spirit in such a powerful way that I was convinced that the time to act was NOW! I could not wait. I could not put it off for any reason, so I didn’t and so I believed and received salvation by grace through faith as God’s gift. I told my pastor at the evening service at the Invitation time. We had been friends since the 9th grade and his eyes lit up when I told him what had happened. He had me pray with my Sunday School teacher and then I was Baptized the following Sunday. That was in January 1986 and I remember it all like it was yesterday. <Continue reading post>