Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church
1217 Dillon Dr. (Wake Village) Texarkana, Texas 75501
February 27, 2005 
Elder Randy Johnson, Pastor                                Bro. Ronnie Henderson, Song Director  
Pastor E-Mail: sgmbcpastor@countrybaptist.org            Web Site: www.countrybaptist.org/sgmbc
Please Pray For:

Virgil and Alice Hoskins & His Daughter Debbie Wenske & Great Grandson Coty, Ronnie & Sarah Henderson, Wendell & Hazel Henderson, Joe Henderson, Randy Henderson, Larry & Linda Mollette, Donna Johnson, Vinson Hoskins, Rosa Graves, Bobby & Vickie Thompson and Family, Mrs. Thompson, Raymond Hammond, Fay Johnson, Brad Hensley, Sovereign Grace Baptist Church Mansfield, Ohio, Bro. Curtis & Sister Janet Pugh, Zee Mink and Family, Her son Bryan Armstrong and Sister – in - law Sondra Thornsberry, Larry Mollette II, Danny & Nita Mollette (about moving here and getting a job), Charles & Debra Burton and Family, Tammie Hairston, Howard Flescher, Randi, Larry Platt, Leroy Sherwood, And All of Our Military, Their Family’s & All the Civilian Workers in The Middle East.
A Thought For The Week:

Empty Religion!

Now we will grant you this morning that much of the religion which is abroad in the world is a "vain thing".
The religion of 'ceremonies' is vain. If a man shall trust in the gorgeous pomp of uncommanded mysteries, if he shall consider that there resides some mystical efficacy in a priest, and that by
uttering certain words a blessing is infallibly received, we tell him that his religion is a vain thing. You might as well go to the Witch of Endor for grace as to a priest; and if you rely upon 'words', the "Abracadabra' of a magician will as certainly raise you to heaven, or rather sink you to hell, as the performances of the best ordained minister under heaven. Ceremonies in themselves
are vain, futile, empty.
All 'ceremonial religion', no matter how sincere, if it consist in relying upon forms and observances, is a vain thing.
So with 'creed-religion'- by which I mean not to speak against creeds, for I love "the form of sound words," but that religion which lies in believing with the intellect a set of dogmas, without partaking of the life of God; all this is a vain thing.

Again, that religion 'which only lies in making a profession of what one does not posses', in wearing the Christian name, and observing the ritual of the Church, but which does not so affect the character as to make a man holy, nor so touch the heart as to make a man God's true servant- such a religion is vain throughout. O my dear hearers, how much worthless religion
may you see everywhere! So long as men get the name, they seem content without the substance.
Everywhere, it matters not to what Church you turn your eye, you see a vast host of hypocrites, numerous as flies about a dead carcass. On all sides there are deceivers, and deceived ones;
who write "Heaven" upon their brows, but have hell in their hearts; who hang out the sign of an angel over their doors, but have the devil for a host within. Take heed to yourselves; be not
deceived, for he who tries the heart and searches the imaginations of the children of men is not mocked, and he will surely discern between him that fears God, and him that fears him not.
By: From Spurgeon's sermon, "Religion- a Reality"
News for the week:

...A sting operation by the New York Daily News has revealed that vendors of pre-paid porn (PPP) cards are defying the law and selling the cards to children. The newspaper reported earlier this week that its two undercover teens were able to purchase the cards at half of the six Manhattan outlets they visited. The cards, which cost from $5 to $50 and carry an 18-and-over warning, allow the user to anonymously enter raunchy porn websites that typically require users to pay for access with a major credit card. But as the Daily News points out, the PPP cards "sidestep" such issues as recurring credit card charges, identity theft, and "uncomfortable questions from a significant other when the bill arrives." According to the newspaper, the cards hit New York City about four months, compliments of Bronx entrepreneur Greg Moss, who plans to expand to several other major U.S. cities in the coming months. He says pornography "has always gotten a bad rap -- but people enjoy it." His venture, he claims, is making access to Internet porn "more secure and less worrisome." But he maintains he will pull the cards from any vendor found selling the cards to people under the age of 18, even though his company signs a contract with retailers that exempts it from responsibility if the cards are sold to minors. [Jody Brown]

Source The Agape News Press

The Coming Wrath:
by C. H. Spurgeon

"But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa."

--Jonah 1:3


Instead of going to Nineveh to preach the Word, as God bade him, Jonah disliked the work, and went down to Joppa to escape from it. There are occasions when God's servants shrink from duty. But what is the consequence? What did Jonah lose by his conduct? He lost the presence and comfortable enjoyment of God's love. When we serve our Lord Jesus as believers should do, our God is with us; and though we have the whole world against us, if we have God with us, what does it matter? But the moment we start back, and seek our own inventions, we are at sea without a pilot. Then may we bitterly lament and groan out, "O my God, where hast Thou gone? How could I have been so foolish as to shun Thy service, and in this way to lose all the bright shinings of Thy face? This is a price too high. Let me return to my allegiance, that I may rejoice in Thy presence." In the next place, Jonah lost all peace of mind.

Sin soon destroys a believer's comfort. It is the poisonous upas tree, from whose leaves distil deadly drops which destroy the life of joy and peace. Jonah lost everything upon which he might have drawn for comfort in any other case. He could not plead the promise of divine protection, for he was not in God's ways; he could not say, "Lord, I meet with these difficulties in the discharge of my duty, therefore help me through them." He was reaping his own deeds; he was filled with his own ways. Christian, do not play the Jonah, unless you wish to have all the waves and the billows rolling over your head. You will find in the long run that it is far harder to shun the work and will of God than to at once yield yourself to it. Jonah lost his time, for he had to go to Tarshish after all. It is hard to contend with God; let us yield ourselves at once.

Happy Birthday:

Linda Mollette February 29th

Bryan Thompson February 28th