December 15 Look Up, Step Up, Grow Up! Mark 12:28-31
TODAY, we are CELEBRATING the BIRTH of JESUS with our ANNUAL CHRISTMAS CANTANA at BAPTIST TABERNACLE CHURCH, during our 11:00am Service. Ya’ll Come and Celebrate with us as we Proclaim His Good News and Honor His Birth! A Special “THANK YOU” to Sandy Trippe & Paul Brown, Jr. for their hard work and guidance, culminating in another Great Service! TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
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Good morning from Pastor Glen Brock, Baptist Tabernacle Church, Wendell, North Carolina… “Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” 29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31)
As I prepare this devotional, I am aware of difficulties and struggles among God’s people that are causing undue stress and unrest! Being the Shepherd of this flock, I am called upon to navigate and to direct the flock into a growing and productive relationship with our Savior and to instruct the flock in the process of “Getting Along” with one another! One would think that “Born-Again, Bible Believing, Professing Christians,” would be receptive to the guiding and instructions, yet you would be wrong! When we allow the influences of self, pride, human arrogance and the influences of Satan and his minions to direct our actions and our words, then we create an environment of disharmony and division, and we are NOT EDIFYING CHRIST! When this occurs, just like Joe Friday, on Dragnet, used to say, “when this occurs, I go to work, I’m the Pastor!” The most difficult situation that I face as a Pastor is the unforgiveness and the human sensitivity of individuals and their confusion on what should be PRIORITY for LIVING! Every one of us are on this journey of becoming what God intends for us to be, and this journey, if it is to be successful, requires that we lay aside our personal human desires and embrace God’s will and ways for our living! The Greatest Commandment provides the key to success! Love and acknowledge the power and sovereignty of Almighty God, and to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself! Nowhere within the commandment does it declare that “Me, My, Mine” attitude should be the default position for living! Folks, it is CHRISTMAS, and what better time in this life, than to “Repent, Confess, and Receive the Forgiveness and Grace of JESUS CHRIST! If “My Way” is your priority, then there will continue to be conflict and division and turmoil within the body of the local church. Who is responsible for your actions? Regardless of what this world might say, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS, DECISIONS, AND YOUR WITNESS FOR CHRIST! Love God, Love Your Neighbor and by doing so, you will Love Yourself with the Love that God intended! Please, Please, Please focus on Jesus, Walk with Him, Talk with Him, and determine to be what He has intended for You to BE! Stay Strong, Stay Focused…. THE BEST IS YET TO BE!