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Pastor's Notes
Greetings and grace to you in the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are serving a great God that will do great things in and through us! This past month has been one of tremendous blessings to me. I cannot begin to give you a summary of all that the Lord has done and revealed during this month. I stand in awe of the Lord God! He is worthy to be praised, loved and worshiped for He alone is worthy!
I want to thank you Church Family for your love and service of the Lord. Thank you for caring enough to be involved in our Father’s work in Haiti through Good Shepherd’s Ministry. Our recent team was blessed by the Lord and I know all of ERBC was also. Continue to pray for the people of Haiti, Bill and Sandy Younger and the work of Good Shepherd’s Ministry. Please also remember the teenage boy, Privilus, that attended our Bible studies and that the Lord’s hand is on. There is a great need and our great God can meet that need and even do “exceeding abundantly” more than what we ask Him to do. Please pray for a great awakening and a turning to the Lord in Haiti. Please pray for the ’08 Haiti Keswick, which I am humbled to be a part of. The Haiti Keswick will take place July 4-6 in three locations in north Haiti, centered around Milot. Bro. Bill estimates that attendance will be around 2,000 people. Dr. Larry Draper, Bro. Don Graham, Bro. Glen Bonds, Bro. Shad Smith and Bro. John Harris are the other preachers for the conference. We will receive a special offering on Sunday, May 4th, to help pay the expenses for this conference. My only request of you, is that you pray and obey the Lord as He directs your giving.
There are many ministry events on the horizon in the upcoming months (Please see the calendar). The Men’s Campout, The Ladies’ Luncheon, Sunday School Training, and VBS are all opportunities for ministry, outreach and fellowship. May each of us pray, participate and purpose within our hearts to be used of God to encourage one another and to evangelize someone that is unsaved during these planned activities.
“The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.” (Proverbs 19:23) The Lord has been working this verse into me for several months now, and I want to share some of the understanding He has taught me through this great verse. First we must understand that the “fear of the Lord” is a reverential trust of Almighty God. It is our coming to grips with Who and What God is and can do, and who we are in the light of Him. Isaiah wrote of his personal gripping of the fear of God in Isaiah chapter six when he saw God high and lifted up. O how we need a fresh vision of the holiness of God that would lead to the fear of God in our land. Moses wrote that the fear of the Lord was learned (Deut. 4:10), and David wrote, “Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.” (Ps. 34:11). The Word of God reveals that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge, which we must understand is only learned from the very Word of God itself. Solomon writes that “by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil” (Prov. 16:6), but also writes that some men do not choose to fear God (Prov. 1:29), because they hated knowledge, which is the Word of God (Prov. 2:6). Why do I choose to fear God? He is God and I am not is the main reason. “A man must know his limitations.” God is the one that can destroy the body and the soul in hell (Matt. 10:28), and the Lord Jesus commanded us to fear Him. Solomon also wrote that it was one of the two whole duties of man (Eccl. 12:13). If we read the first question and answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” We must know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning and summation of what accomplishes our duty to glorify God. It is the first step of our spiritual growth and development and all spiritual advancements will always begin with the fear of the Lord (Deut. 10:12). Notice this truth revealed in Proverbs 19:23. First, the fear of the Lord is Provision. Everything needed for life is provided by the Lord and we become recipients through fearing Him. Second there is Satisfaction. O that we would be satisfied only with the Lord and love Him supremely! Third with the fear of the Lord there is Protection. Dare we to doubt the sovereignty of the Almighty, Who keeps us by His power? May the Lord continue to teach me and you to fear Him, and that when we fear Him, we need not fear another!
By His grace,
Toney
By His grace,
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