Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church
1217 Dillon Dr. (Wake Village) Texarkana, Texas 75501
October 31, 2004 
Bro. Randy Johnson,  Pastor                            Ronnie Henderson, Song Director  
Pastor E-Mail: sgmbcpastor@countrybaptist.org           Web Site: www.countrybaptist.org/sgmbc

Please Pray For:

Ronnie & Sarah Henderson, David & Lucille Wall, Wendell & Hazel Henderson, Joe Henderson, Eddie & Lorain Murray, Larry & Linda Mollette, Donna Johnson, Virgil Hoskins, Vinson Hoskins, Elder & Mrs. Harace Hammond, Rosa Graves, Shawn Brenda Tubbs, Justin & Holly Bookout, Gina & Bryan Thompson, Danny Hammond, Bobby & Vickie Thompson and Family, Eld. Davis, Raymond Hammond, Fay Johnson, Brad Hensley, Sovereign Grace Baptist Church Mansfield, Ohio, Bro. Curtis & Sister Janet Pugh, Randy Henderson, And All of Our Military, Their Family’s & All the Civilian Workers in The Middle East.

A Thought For The Week:

"DOGS EAT OF THE CRUMBS "

She said, Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.–Matt. 15:27

Here is blessed reasoning: it produced admiration in the Lord: "O woman, great is thy faith!" It also obtained a rich grant from him: "Be it unto thee even as thou wilt." Great faith] How does it appear? We do not find that she came to Christ in full assurance of faith, saying, I know thou art my Saviour, I am assured thou hast loved me and wilt save me. No. Still there was great faith without this. Look at her faith: imitate it: she honored the Lord by it; he honors her for it.

She was in trouble: she flees instantly to Christ; she tells him of her sorrows: "Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil." To cry to Jesus for mercy, in trials and under a sense of sin, is the prayer of faith, and honors the Lord of glory.

Here were great discouragements: Christ answers her not a word: the disciples desire him to cure her, that they might get rid of her: but Jesus answers, (not her, but his disciples,) "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Was not this repulse enough to strike her dumb and send her away in despair! Instead of this, her faith grew stronger and her importunity greater. She falls at his feet, with, Lord, help me. O that was putting it home to the loving heart of our dear Lord: she brought her case to a point: Jesus, you can help me; none but you can: if you do not, I am miserable. Have you no compassion for a poor miserable sinner? Lord, help me. Thus casting herself upon the Lord's love and power, she at last gets an answer from him: but, O such a one as was like a dagger to her heart, "It is not meet to take the children's bread and east it to the dogs."

Does she now turn away in despair? No. She had a child's heart, and a child's faith too: she again puts her case home to the Saviour. Mark it: I am a dog, a vile, unworthy creature; let me be fed as such upon the falling crumb: I know I do not deserve even that from thee. See what perseverance, faith and prayer will do; it overcomes all difficulties, surmounts all obstacles, obtains the sought-for mercy. Some in our day would have thought this woman undervalued herself: but Jesus humbles those sinners to the very lowest whom he raises to the very highest. O take up this resolution, "I will wait upon the Lord, who hideth his face: I will look for him." Isa. 8:17.

By: William Mason (1719-1791)

News For The Week:

...The Internal Revenue Service has informed churches that there are certain things for which they are not allowed to pray. The "Prayer for Life 2004 Rally" has been touring swing states this past week, conducting prayer services for the upcoming election. As a courtesy, rally organizers asked the IRS for clarification of free speech in churches. Yesterday, Pat Mahoney got an answer. "The IRS has ruled that churches may not pray that God grant the president four more years," he reports. Such a prayer, the federal agency says, would be a violation of the federal tax code. The ruling upset Mahoney, who heads the Christian Defense Coalition. "This is nothing more than censorship," he says. But Mahoney explains there is much more involved: "The IRS and the federal government are not only telling pastors what they can say behind the pulpit, but now they are dictating how pastors [and] congregations should pray." According to Mahoney, this development should scare every Evangelical in the nation. Churches, he says, should be allowed to pray "according to the teachings of scripture and the dictates of their conscience without government intimidation or harassment" -- regardless of the candidate for whom parishioners are praying. [Bill Fancher/Jody Brown]
Source: Agape News Press

Seeking Jesus by C. H. Spurgeon:

"But their eyes were holden that they should not know Him."
--Luke 24:16

The disciples ought to have known Jesus, they had heard His voice so often, and gazed upon that marred face so frequently, that it is wonderful they did not discover Him. Yet is it not so with you also? You have not seen Jesus lately. You have been to His table, and you have not met Him there. You are in a dark trouble this evening, and though He plainly says, "It is I, be not afraid," yet you cannot discern Him.

Alas! our eyes are holden. We know His voice; we have looked into His face; we have leaned our head upon His bosom, and yet, though Christ is very near us, we are saying "O that I knew where I might find Him!" We should know Jesus, for we have the Scriptures to reflect His image, and yet how possible it is for us to open that precious book and have no glimpse of the Wellbeloved! Dear child of God, are you in that state? Jesus feedeth among the lilies of the word, and you walk among those lilies, and yet you behold Him not. He is accustomed to walk through the glades of Scripture, and to commune with His people, as the Father did with Adam in the cool of the day, and yet you are in the garden of Scripture, but cannot see Him, though He is always there. And why do we not see Him? It must be ascribed in our case, as in the disciples', to unbelief. They evidently did not expect to see Jesus, and therefore they did not know Him.

To a great extent in spiritual things we get what we expect of the Lord. Faith alone can bring us to see Jesus. Make it your prayer, "Lord, open Thou mine eyes, that I may see my Saviour present with me." It is a blessed thing to want to see Him; but oh! it is better far to gaze upon Him. To those who seek Him He is kind; but to those who find Him, beyond expression is He dear!

It is not true faith to trust Christ ONLY WHEN YOU FEEL YOU ARE SAVED. True faith is to trust Christ AT ALL TIMES, whether you feel like you are saved or not, when you have a deep consciousness of your sin and when you don't, when you have assurance of faith and when your faith is so weak you wonder if you have faith at all. A person is not saved because he feels saved nor because he is aware of his sinfulness. A person is saved when he trusts Christ–His blood for redemption and forgiveness of sin, His righteousness for acceptance with God–when he commits all to Him as the "AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH." Our feelings may change by the hour, but our salvation is not dependent on our feelings; it is dependent solely on Him Who never changes– "JESUS CHRIST THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER."