FROM ELDER WARREN BECKES:
Sunday July 4th was a great time to be in fellowship with those of you that were able to attend service. For all of you that couldn’t be with us, I hope that you had a safe and relaxing weekend.
I always feel blessed when I have the opportunity to give the message on a particular Sunday. I am blessed for the week or weeks that precede the service as I am spending deep, rich time in the main passage as well as the supporting passages. Time in the word of God cannot be replaced with anything without causing damage to our walk with the Lord. I am also blessed when I know many of you are praying for me in that time. Also, the encouraging words from all of you can’t be underestimated either as we greet one another after the service.
Salt and Light are two things that we can, and at times do, take for granted in this day and age. Both are at our fingertips almost constantly. In that respect Jesus and his disciples were not as fortunate as we are today. It took some effort and cost to have both available to them. Even when they did have them available neither were as convenient and as effective as we have today. The light today is some of the most developed technology giving brilliant light and the salt has been purified of all toxins and impurities leaving only the purest salt. That being said, Salt is salt and Light is light no matter what generation we live in they have a great impact on whatever they touch. Salt has a great transforming power on whatever it touches as does the Gospel of Jesus Christ so share it with everyone through your words and good works. Light can pierce the darkness for us and keep us from stumbling as does the word of God. So, stand fast and spend as much time as possible in it daily. When possible, supplement your daily reading of the word by reading other good books that reinforce good doctrine and continue to develop your theology and doxology.
The book Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas has been a challenging read for me but excellent in the sense that it points me back to the word of God. Let me encourage you to take every opportunity to read good books. Never to replace your time in the Bible but to augment it.
We all have people that we interact with in our day-to-day activities whether it is at school, at work or in our communities and maybe even in our own home. Be the Salt and Light in their lives in the same way that Jesus was commissioning his disciples to be. It’s not always going to be “safe” to step out and share the Gospel but as Pastor Johnson has said many times It’s never all and never none but when we share the Gospel there will always be some that will come to know the Lord as their Savior. It’s worth the risk. God bless you all.
In Christ
Warren Beckes