Mt. Gilead Baptist Church

If you want to know where you are going, it’s best that you know where you are. Decades ago, when we didn’t have all the technology we have today to know where we were (Garmins and Tom-Toms and the like), sailors on the high seas in the Northern Hemisphere, out of sight of land, would fix their position in the ocean by locating Polaris, the North Star. By taking various measurements, they could calculate not only where they were, but if they were headed in the right direction as well. By being able to get this information, they could keep on course, even if they encountered a storm.

Sometimes when we encounter storms in our lives, it is easy to get blown off course. The challenge for us all is to stay on the course God has plotted for us. The question is, “How do we do that?” The Book of Job is a fascinating account of a man who encountered a monstrous storm, and how he made his way through it. As we study Job this week, let’s allow God to speak to our hearts about our own spiritual navigation skills as we find True North.

I hope you have a great week. I plan to.

Blessings, Pastor Lawrence

Easter is upon us! The time has come to again remember all that Jesus did for us on the cross and to celebrate His glorious resurrection. This event, His resurrection, is the central theme of the gospel. Think about it! It would have done us no good at all for Christ to have come in the manger, live a perfect life, and die on the cross if He had not completed the task with His resurrection. But He did it all - it is finished!

This Sunday morning, we will be celebrating this amazing event with a 7:00 am sunrise service at the church, followed by a fellowship breakfast. Then 9:45 Sunday School and 11:00 Worship Service featuring a musical cantata with visual presentation. You are invited to join us for any or all of our Easter celebration.

How are you preparing for Easter? In just four short weeks we will be celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Like with any holiday, there is a tendency over time to shift the emphasis from the original meaning and purpose and concentrate on something quite different. It’s happened with Christmas, and even such holidays as Independence Day, Labor Day and Memorial Day sometimes have an emphasis not completely in accord with the original purpose.

Easter is a season fraught with great meaning for believers in Christ. The week leading up to Resurrection Sunday is indeed Holy Week for Christians. The event that changed the course of the history of the world took place when Jesus died on the cross for the sins of mankind, and He rose from the dead on that Sunday morning.

So, how are you preparing for Easter? Many people fast from some food or activity in order to spend that time focused on what God in Christ has done. Use this week to pray, and to study and meditate upon the truth that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.

I hope you have a great week. I plan to.

Blessings, Pastor Lawrence

How many times have you heard that distinctive voice say, “Paul Harvey. Good day!”? But last week that voice was stilled by the thing that eventually stops every voice. Paul Harvey died last Sunday at his home in Arizona, but by his own testimony, he still lives, for he was a believer in Jesus Christ and had the promise of eternal life and heaven.

The series of sermons I have been preaching about heaven has been enjoyable, and I am looking forward to the next three or four weeks as I wrap it up. The promise of heaven reminds us that as good as it is to live here on earth, it will be even greater in heaven where there is no imperfection at all.

A second thing I want to share with you is an effort by the Morrow County Ministerial Association to have prayer being sent up to God 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Trinity Methodist Church is the location for the 24/7 Prayer Room. It’s located in Trinity Chapel on the Church Street entrance. You’ll receive information about this prayer room today along with suggestions on how you can become involved. I strongly encourage you to be a part of this ministry to Morrow County. Especially in such a time of challenge for us all, we need more than ever to put differences behind us and unite in fervent prayer for God to work in our midst. As Mordecai said to Esther, “Perhaps we have been put here for such a time as this.”

I hope you have a great week. I plan to.

Blessings, Pastor Lawrence

A boy came into the local lumber company. “I want to buy some 4-by-2’s,” he announced. The man at the counter said, “Are you sure you don’t want 2-by-4’s?” “I’ll have to go ask my papaw,” the boy replied. In a few minutes he came back and said that he did, indeed, want 2-by-4’s. The man at the counter asked, “Well, how long do you need them?” “Now, I don’t have to ask my papaw that! We’re building a barn, so we need them for as long as you can spare them.”

It’s so important for us to know what other people are trying to say to us, isn’t it? God wants us to know His will, and He wants us to know the assignments He is giving us. It’s not His idea to keep us in the dark. But if we’re going to know God and His will, we need to communicate with Him. That is, we need to make sure we spend time in prayer. When we meet God, and fellowship with Him, and worship Him; when we read and study and meditate upon His Word, we put ourselves in a position to really hear God when He speaks, and understand Him when He reveals Himself, His purposes and His ways to us.

Be sure to make fellowship with the Heavenly Father a priority this week. It’ll change your life.

I hope you have a great week. I plan to.

Blessings, Pastor Lawrence

Music seems to be a kind of universal language. Different peoples with different languages can connect when they enjoy some great piece of music together. I’ve always loved music. From the grand symphonies to the indigenous music of the various cultures of the world, it brings joy to listen to the results of the creativity of talented musicians.

Music is also an integral part of worship. In both the Old and New Testaments, music brings the worshiper into the presence of God in a most wonderful way.

I have a little book, published in 1891 by the Baptist Book Concern in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s called “Manly’s Choice”, and was compiled by Professor Basil Manly, a Baptist minister and professor at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville. It is a collection of approved hymns for Baptist churches. The interesting thing about this little collection is that it was compiled in response to the trend of the day to leave the “old hymns” and focus more on the new modern hymns, “novelties”, as Manly described them. I suppose there have always been disagreements about styles of worship.

When John told Jesus the disciples had told a man to stop casting out demons in His name, Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for whoever is not against us is for us.” (Mark 9:38-41) Rather than seeking for things to divide us, let’s join in affirming the fundamental truths of the Christian faith, and seek to serve Him all the days of our lives.

I hope you have a great week. I plan to.

Blessings, Pastor Lawrence

Sometimes Randi will ask me to pick up an item or two at the store while I’m out. I’ve learned through experience that my capacity to remember those items is limited. If there are more that two, I make a list. If I don’t, I’ll invariably forget at least one. Actually, when you go to the store, it’s a good idea to have a list, and get only what’s on the list. Experts tell us that we will be less likely to buy impulsively that way, and as a result, we’ll save money. That’s important in these challenging economic times.

Those same experts, or so I suppose, are convinced we should not go to the grocery store hungry. So we need to do our grocery shopping after supper. That keeps us from buying everything in sight. Believe me, if I’m not hungry, those turnips will NOT tempt me in the least! And if you only need one of those handy plastic baskets, don’t start pushing a cart. It has way too much space, and that empty space will cry out to be filled.

Charles Lowery says that that’s not a bad strategy for life. Know what’s important, have your list, and remember that you probably don’t need the biggest house or car they make. And the best advice is that you have the Bread of Life so you don’t start the day hungry.

I hope you have a great week. I plan to.

Blessings, Pastor Lawrence

Heaven. What comes to your mind when you hear that word? Is it angels sitting on clouds playing harps? Gates of pearl and streets of gold? Heaven is a subject that is talked about a great deal, but there seems to be much to learn.

Ultimately, Heaven is the abode of God, a place of perfection where all is as the Father created it to be. It’s a place where there is joy and peace. The Bible also speaks about a new Heaven and a new Earth. Heaven occupies a good deal of our conversation. When something is the best we can imagine, we often describe it as being heavenly. As Christians, we need to know the significance of Heaven, and what it means for us.

Over the next several weeks, we will be examining what the Bible says about Heaven. Eternal life through Jesus Christ is about our living with God in Heaven. We’ll discover where Heaven is, something of what it is like, and who inhabits Heaven. As the weeks go by, this important subject will become clearer to us. And perhaps we’ll also receive encouragement from our study of our Heavenly home.

I hope you have a great week. I plan to.

Blessings, Pastor Lawrence

In the early years of the Christian church, as it was in the process of moving from a Jewish sect, as it was thought of then, to a world-wide movement encompassing both the Jewish and Gentile world, the Apostle Paul sensed a need for the churches in Asia Minor and Europe to be linked with the church in Jerusalem. God led him to propose an offering for the Jerusalem church from these other areas. Those churches enthusiastically agreed, and began collecting offerings to send east with Paul.

The idea was that since the Jerusalem church had many poor people with many needs, this would help them in a brotherly way. The church has always done this, and today we continue to give so needs can be met.

Last year, in addition to budgeted benevolence funds, we gave $150 to the Souper Bowl Offering. This allowed us to help more people in our community than we might have been able to otherwise. Next Sunday, we will again receive this offering. As you know, the needs this year will probably be even greater than last year. With local, state, and national governments falling far short of needed revenues, there will be more requests for help. We want to be able to do what we can. Our generous gifts next week to the Souper Bowl of Caring offering will be used here in Morrow County to help meet the needs of our fellow citizens. Please give as generously as you can. It really will make a great difference in the lives of many people.

I hope you have a great week. I plan to.

Blessings, Pastor Lawrence

On Wednesday morning at 6:00 AM the Day of Prayer for Morrow County begins. For the next 24 hours there will be individuals praying for our county every minute. This week, on Monday, the Morrow County Commissioners passed a unanimous resolution in support of this Day of Prayer. It is very encouraging to know that our governmental officials are supportive of this effort and are behind it. Our sincerest thanks to Commissioners Clinger, Hardin, and Jackson.

As part of the resolution of support, they offered some suggestions for directing our praying. They include the following:
The salvation of Morrow County.
Increased partnership among our churches.
The economic condition of our county and nation.
Our schools, families and government leaders.
Shut-ins and nursing home residents.
Military personel.
For people to become people of faith.

If you haven’t signed up for a time slot, and you feel so led, be sure to do so. And whether you signed up or not, pray during that 24-hour period. When God’s people come together and pray, God begins to do His work.

I hope you have a great week. I plan to.

Blessings, Pastor Lawrence