From the Pastor’s Pen – January 2008

As I enter into my seventh year of being the pastor of Grace I have much to be thankful for. First, I am thankful that God called me to preach the glorious gospel. There is no higher calling than this. It is a calling that I do not take lightly, for to do so would be dangerous to my soul as well as the souls of those God has placed me over. The pastor’s call to His people is the same as the Apostle Paul’s calling in I Corinthians 11:1 “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” As pastor, I am to be an example in word; how I speak. In my actions; how I walk each day. In spirit; zealous for God’s glory and holiness. In faith; how I believe and trust my Lord and Savior. And in purity; seeking to live a pure and godly life. Now I know that I have a long way to go in each of these areas but these are goals that I am to be seeking after as your pastor. Why? So that you might be able to follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. I ask that you continue to pray for me as I pray for you that we might together strive for the prize that has been placed before us. A new year always gives us new opportunities. Today’s church and our world are in desperate need of godly examples. We must pray that our Lord would be pleased to use each member at Grace to bring glory to Himself in 2008. Second, I am thankful that God has given me people that have truly experienced His salvation and understand the greatness of this salvation. This is not true in the most churches. It is good to know that most of our members have a good understanding of the doctrines of Grace. Most of you understand just how sinful and how undeserving of God’s Grace we were. I pray that God will give each of us greater knowledge of His glorious salvation during 2008. Third, I am thankful that many of you have a desire to see people converted. You have been faithful in going into “Jerusalem” and presenting the gospel. If we continue to be faithful we will most likely reap a harvest, Jesus Christ will accomplish His will by saving His people from their sins. May God be pleased to add many to our congregation in 2008. Fourth, I am thankful that God is faithful to us as a congregation. He has never failed to bring new families into our church at just the right time. We can trust Him for 2008. It has been exciting to see how He has done this in the past and it will be just as exciting to see what He does in the future. But we must remember that we have a responsibility to pray and invite people to join us. Fifth, I thank God for our new place of worship we will have in 2008. Where will this be? I do not know but God does! If God desires for us to move from our present location then He definitely has another place for us. Again, we must fulfill our responsibility by praying and looking. If you see a piece of property for sale, let our deacons know. If you personally know a realtor, let him know about our situation. If you know someone desiring to make a generous donation to God’s work tell them about Grace. Let us all be aggressive in doing each of these. God has untold blessings in store for Grace Baptist this coming year, do not miss out on them. Make a commitment to be more faithful in God’s work than ever before in 2008 & see what God does. Let us all give thanks to God Almighty for His goodness towards us in 2007 & this coming year!

Pastor Thomas Winn