All Together (Pastor Greg Hudson, 01/27/24)

Yeah, last Sabbath morning reminded me a little bit of when I was at seminary.

I know Paul said he grew up in Barian Springs up there in Michigan.

And I'm from Knoxville, so a bit of a southern boy.

And so it was wintertime up there, and the first time it snowed was Friday night.

It was Friday night, and I was attending the Coloma Church, which was about 20 miles from

Barian Springs, helping out there.

And so Sabbath morning, there was like four inches of snow on the ground.

So I called the pastor and said, are we having church today?

And he was like, well, it's Sabbath.

Why wouldn't we have church?

I'm like, well, there's four inches of snow.

And he's like, you've got a lot to learn, young man.

So I did learn to drive a little bit in the snow, and we made it to church that morning.

But I'm glad for rainy days as well.

Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.

Dear God, we thank you so much for just Sabbath.

We thank you for this church family that we can gather together, that we can celebrate

together, we can sing songs together.

And God, just be with us as we open up your word together.

May we learn more of you, and may we be more like you.

In your name we pray, amen.

So today we're actually going to continue our series in the book of Acts.

And so if you were not here two weeks ago, we started in Acts chapter one.

Just a refresher, Acts is a sequel to one of the gospels.

Who wrote the book of Acts?

Luke, the Dr. Luke.

And he also wrote the gospel of Luke.

And so the book of Acts is basically a sequel to that story of Jesus.

And so as the story continues, it opens up, and Jesus is there with his disciples, and

he gives them a command or an instruction, which is a promise.

And he says, you need to wait for something.

You need to tarry for this promise that you're going to receive power, and then you're going

to have this purpose.

And Acts 1, 8 says, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you

shall be my witnesses.

You're going to be my witnesses.

So that was the power and the promise and the purpose of that.

And so we're going to jump into Acts chapter two today.

But as we do that, here's what's going to happen.

I just want to give you a little preview.

We're going to start by going looking back.

We're going to look back at some history.

We're going to look at the Bible.

And then from Acts chapter two, we're actually going to go into the future.

From our time as well, we're going to go into the future.

And then we're going to come to the present.

The present in Acts chapter two, and perhaps even the present in 2024.

So let's dive in here to Acts chapter two.

And we're going to start in verse one.

So remember, this is a sequel.

Jesus had told his disciples to wait for a promise, and something was going to happen.

And so it says in Acts two, verse one, it says, when the day of Pentecost had fully

come, they were with one accord in one place.

So let's talk about what's happening here.

In Acts chapter one, in verse three, it says that after the resurrection, Jesus appeared

for 40 days.

So for 40 days, Jesus was with his disciples, teaching, instructing his disciples, and so

forth.

And that's when he said, you've got to wait for this promise that I'm going to give you.

But now in Acts chapter two, it says the day of Pentecost had fully come.

So let's think about a time period here.

So there's 40 days that Jesus was on earth, and then we've got the day of Pentecost.

So if you have a shape that has five sides, what is that called?

A pentagram.

It's got five sides.

Penta means five.

And so Pentecost actually is talking about 50.

50 days after the Passover, 50 days, which would be after the cross and the resurrection,

comes this next feast that the children of Israel had.

They would call it the feast of first fruits, which is where they would come to Jerusalem,

at least the males would.

And they would celebrate this harvest of the crops that were just coming in.

Probably the wheat harvest would be the first one.

And so 50 days after Passover, there was another feast, this feast of Pentecost.

And so that's when this story takes place.

So we're going back to 50 days after the resurrection.

We're going to the past here, looking at this story.

Now the disciples did not know how long they had to wait.

Jesus had just told them, wait for this promise.

Wait for this Holy Spirit.

We've talked about it.

It's going to be a comforter.

It's going to take my place.

But Jesus did not tell them how long they were going to have to wait.

Jesus did not give them that instruction.

He just said, wait.

And so now, let's do some math here.

Jesus was there 40 days.

This is 50 days.

So what's the time gap there?

10 days.

Very good.

Jesus had been gone for 10 days, and it says they were with one accord in one place.

And in Acts 1 verse 14, it says these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.

Acts 1:14

So they'd spent 10 days now praying for this promise.

And they couldn't wake up that morning and say, you know what?

Today's the day.

They didn't have that option.

They didn't know how long it was going to be.

But when it came, I think they noticed.

Because the day of Pentecost had fully come.

They were all together.

Notice the next couple of verses here.

Suddenly, suddenly, this was unexpected.

They didn't wake up and mark this day and say, this is the day.

They were together.

And suddenly, something happened.

There came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house

where they were sitting.

And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

So there's kind of two elements that are mentioned here.

There's wind and there's fire.

And these believers are together.

They're praying.

And suddenly, something out of the ordinary, something miraculous happens.

And there's wind and there's fire.

That echoes a little bit to the Old Testament, because there was a story about Exodus 19

or so where God comes down and there's wind and there's fire.

Now what happens around Exodus 19 and Exodus 20 perhaps might ring a bell a little bit

better.

That's where God comes down to Mount Sinai, and he bestows upon the people the Ten Commandments

written in stone.

And so God came down and there was wind and there was fire, and God gave the law.

But here in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit, God comes down and there's wind and there's

fire, but it's not the law that's being given.

It's this Holy Spirit which is being poured out.

And in fact, the very next verse says, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

and begun to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

So something out of the ordinary was taking place.

And we need to pause just for a second to talk about this, because the very next few

verses it begins to talk about people from other lands, from other countries.

And there's about 15 different places that are listed there.

And the people even say, wait, didn't, here we'll read it in verse 5, there were dwelling

in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.

And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone

heard them speak in his own language.

And there's 15 different countries, 15 different dialects that are listed there.

This is a cross-cultural experience, and the miracle of God is making it so that all of

these people can hear the gospel in their own language.

And all those places are a map there, you can't quite see that, but that's the different

places that were listed.

Now Acts 1-8 that we looked at two weeks ago, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit

comes upon you and you shall be witnesses to me.

And then it says, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

And that's kind of an outline of what happens in the book of Acts as the church spreads

to these places.

And yet here at the very beginning when the church is just getting its start already,

the means are there for that gospel to go not just to Jerusalem and Judea, not just

to Samaria, but to the ends of the earth.

And in fact even Rome is listed, the capital of the empire is listed as one of those places

that is there.

And so it's a pretty incredible story that's taking place.

And something happens, it says they were all amazed and said, look, are these not Galileans?

These are fishermen, we know these guys.

How is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born?

They could do it because a miracle was taking place, because the Holy Spirit was being poured

out.

And so when the Holy Spirit is poured out, things change a little bit.

In the Bible, when it talks about the Holy Spirit, there's two different things that

are talked about.

One, it talks about the gifts of the Spirit.

You could look at 1 Corinthians chapter 12 or Romans chapter 12, and there's long lists

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention Romans 12 · chapter mention

of gifts of the Holy Spirit, talents.

And it says that all of God's believers have at least one gift.

Everybody's got some gift of the Holy Spirit.

Do you have a gift?

Yes you do.

Do you know what it is?

I don't know if you know what it is, but you have some gift and talent that the Holy Spirit

has given you for a purpose, to reach the church, to be part of the body of Christ,

the church.

That's what we are, the body of Christ.

And so there's gifts like administration, hospitality, evangelism, speaking in other

languages is a gift, healing, all these different gifts.

But then there's another element about the Holy Spirit, and that is called the fruit

of the Spirit.

That's in Galatians 5, just one or two verses, nine different things.

And I imagine some of you may have memorized this at some point.

The fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness

and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control.

And as you read down through that list in Galatians 5, if you're like me, if you're

like most people, some days some of those words on that list come pretty easy for you.

But some of those words come a little more challenging.

Love and joy and peace and patience?

Oh, kindness?

You know, different days, maybe different words resonate with you a little bit differently.

But the point is that when the Holy Spirit comes into your life, something is going to

change.

Something is going to be different.

There's gifts that you can minister to the body of Christ, but then there's just this

fruit of the Spirit that is going to change how we act with each other, change how we

treat other people.

It's more, I'm going to say this, it's more than just coming to a place like this for

one hour a day and sitting and listening.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is more than that.

That's a good thing, but the Holy Spirit is more than that.

And you can think to chapter 2 verse 14, the first words, it says, but Peter, Peter is

a perfect example of a life that's changed.

Because 50 days before when Jesus was on trial there, when Jesus was taken from the Garden

of Gethsemane, when Peter was following along and people began to ask Peter some questions,

do you, do you know Jesus?

Nope, I don't know him.

And your accent, you sound like you're from Galilee.

You must know that guy, Jesus.

Nope, I don't know him.

And then a little girl, maybe like one of the singers we had up here comes and says,

don't you know Jesus?

I think I saw you with him.

No, I don't know him.

Maybe even threw out some words that he shouldn't have said there.

As he's denying Jesus, 50 days before, Peter is denying Jesus, but now filled with the

Holy Spirit, we don't see Peter fearfully denying, we see Peter fearlessly proclaiming

about Jesus.

Verse 14, but Peter standing up with the eleven raised his voice and said to them, men of

Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words.

And then he says, we're not drunk.

The people thought they were drunk because of what was happening.

We're not drunk, but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.

So Peter, not this trained orator, stands up and he begins to proclaim.

And so we've gone to look at the past.

We've gone and looked at this 50 days post resurrection, 2000 years ago.

But now Peter is about to take us into the future.

But you got to stay with me here because to go to the future, Peter is actually going

further back to the Old Testament.

That doesn't quite make sense.

So let's stay here and see what Peter says.

He is, he's going to recite some words from the prophet Joel, who was an Old Testament

prophet.

This is what he says in verse 17, it shall come to pass in the last days, says the Lord,

I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, your sons and daughters shall prophesy.

Your young men shall see visions.

Your old men shall dream dreams.

And on my men servants and maid servants, I will pour out my spirit in those days and

they shall prophesy.

Peter is reading that prophecy from the Old Testament and he's saying that's happening

right now.

We're not drunk, we're speaking in other language because the spirit is being poured out just

as it was prophesied.

But how is Peter going into the future?

Well if you were to go back to Joel chapter 2 and read that passage, you would say that

Joel 2 · chapter mention

Joel actually says, it shall come to pass afterwards.

That's what it says in Joel, it shall come to pass afterwards.

But Peter, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, tweaks that just a little bit and

he says, it shall come to pass, what's that phrase in yellow?

In the last days.

So it's as if Peter is saying this is being fulfilled here right now on the day of Pentecost,

but in the last days something similar is going to happen.

The spirit's being poured out now, but in the last days before Jesus returns, it's going

to happen again, something else is going to happen.

And so Peter on that day in the past is looking forward into the future.

Now you've probably heard if you've been around the Bible very much, there's a different

phrase that's sometimes talked about and used and it's rain, like rain that we're having

today.

But they sometimes use some other words like early rain and latter rain.

And that has to do with the harvest cycle with the crops.

The way their agriculture was set up, they knew that when they put the crops in the ground,

that if the weather was cooperating, that right at that time of year that the early

rain would come.

A light rain which would help to germinate those seeds and start their crops growing

in the right way.

And then it would rain off and on, but then when it came time to harvest, right before

that harvest time, there was something called the latter rain.

And that rain would fall and it would water those crops and bring them to the perfect

level of ripening.

I don't know if that's the word or not, the perfect level to be harvested.

So there was the early rain, which would get this crop started and then the latter rain,

which would bring them just in time for harvest.

And as you read through the scripture over and over again, these phrases are used not

just about agriculture, but about spiritual life, about spiritual history, about the history

of salvation we could say.

And so this day on the day of Pentecost was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

It was the early rain.

But then we're told that there's going to be another outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

There's going to be a latter rain.

In fact, we're told that the great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation

of the power of God than marked its opening.

One place we could look at, Zechariah 10, it says, ask the Lord for rain in the time

of the latter rain.

And so if we think that we're living what we would call the last days of earth's history,

that's the rainy season.

Are we praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?

You know, Jesus said something similar.

He told his disciples, you are going to do greater things than I have done.

One place is John 14, greater works than these he will do.

Those who are followers of Jesus, those who are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus promises his followers that greater things would be done than even Jesus himself

did.

That's something that's yet to come.

That's something still in the future.

And so I want to shift directions just a little bit here.

I want to stop talking about the church in Acts.

I want to stop talking about that early church.

And what if we took a few minutes and talked about this church, the Ringgold Seventh-day

Adventist Church?

I'm going to geek out a little bit because I really like history.

Some of you may not, but I did some research and I found some interesting things about

this church, about the church here in Ringgold.

You can go all the way back to 1914.

I don't know if you can see that at the bottom.

Yeah, Field Tidings.

It was before the Southern tidings, which a lot of you get.

It was a magazine called the Field Tidings.

So this is November 1914, and it says Elder Magoon, he was one of the conference people,

is spending a few days in Ringgold, Georgia.

We hope a church will be organized there this winter.

This is the first time Ringgold shows up that I could find in any of the magazines and so

forth.

And it goes on.

So this is from 1915.

It's a little bit small there, but let me just tell you what's happening.

It says, a company of believers located a few miles from Ringgold, Georgia.

There's about eight or 10 in this company.

And it says, all of whom have accepted the truth as a result of reading our books and

a little personal effort on the part of a friend who was visiting them.

They had never seen or heard a Seventh-day Adventist preacher until Elder Magoon visited

them.

That was what we just read.

And so there's eight or 10 people that begun to read books and began to study their Bibles

and began to be gathered together.

So that is 1915.

So just a few months after Elder Magoon came.

Whoops, I went too far.

It says, while there, the writer baptized six people.

So six people got baptized there in 1915.

And then we jump up to 1917.

I want you to pay attention to this guy's name because we are going to come back to

him.

It says, this morning's mail, again from the field tidings, brought a nice letter from

brother J.A. Goodlett at Ringgold in which he enclosed a nice large check for tithe.

Aren't you glad that the Southern tidings doesn't report whether or not we send our

tithe in?

I'm glad they don't do that anymore.

It says, although brother Goodlett, notice this, is deprived of his eyesight.

This brother's blind.

He is doing all in his power to hasten on the coming of the Lord by paying a good tithe.

So 1917, there's a blind guy who's become a believer there.

So let's continue on.

1920, there's some literature evangelists that are there.

1930s, those two little stories talk about people from the Collegedale Church and the

Stannifer Gap Church who are doing branch Sabbath schools in Ringgold trying to get

a little church started.

So you've got the 20s, you've got 33, 34.

There's Bible studies happening.

There's a little group of people here, but that's it.

1940, the Ministerial Association of Southern Junior College.

That's Southern Adventist University.

Down in the middle it says, one of these projects is the theater effort in the village of Ringgold,

Georgia.

These meetings are being held every Sunday evening with an average attendance of 200.

So in 1940, right before World War II, there's a group of 200 people meeting in a theater

in Ringgold.

I don't know where that theater is or was, but still that's some pretty cool things happening.

But notice this next one, 1943.

This is an obituary.

Actually found that picture.

That wasn't in the magazine.

I found that separately.

James A. Goodlett, age 78, passed to his rest at home near Ringgold, Georgia.

Brother Goodlett was well known in North Georgia, having served as a tax collector for many

years and was also well known among the believers in Georgia Cumberland.

In 1914, he became a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and lived a faithful Christian

life ever looking to the glad day when Jesus will come and open the eyes of the blind.

But Brother Goodlett, for 30 years, from 1914 to 1943, almost 40 years, how many of those

Bible studies had he gone to?

How many of those meetings down at the theater had he sat and listened to somebody preach?

But still, there's no church in Ringgold.

And he died 30 years later with no church in this community.

Going ahead, and these are just some of the articles.

1953.

So the 50s.

There's Brother Fuller from the Stand for Gap Church starting to branch Sabbath school,

trying to do something.

So 53, still nothing really happening.

And then you come to the 60s, and things begin to pick up a little bit in the 60s.

Now those words are small, but this is from 1961, and it says that there were students

from Southern down to Ringgold, a little town 12 miles from Collegedale, located in a dark

county.

It was one of the Seventh-day Adventist churches in Catoosa County at that time.

The writer led out in the endeavor, it says, meetings at Ringgold continue each Sabbath

afternoon.

And so the picture on the bottom, that's the group of students from Southern who are helping.

The one in the middle there, you may not be able to read that, but it says, an audience

attending the Ringgold meetings in the American Legion Hall.

So as I look that up, I think that was on Emberson Street, if I'm saying that right,

and that closed down a few years ago.

I think they changed the name to Patriot Hall, but it's not American Legion Hall anymore.

But that's a big group of people there in 1961, as things are beginning to take place.

Then we go to 1962, and Elder Winn, again from Stand for Gap.

It says he lost an evangelistic crusade at Ringgold, the heart of another of North Georgia's

dark county.

And then it says a branch Sabbath school has been active there for six months.

We're going to talk more about that.

Within the bottom, it talks about they were looking for a place to pitch a tent to hold

some meetings.

And it says the city clerk had issued no permits for 14 years, so they were having a hard time

finding a place to pitch a tent.

I just got word from Darren yesterday that, I don't know if it was the city clerk, but

they voted that we can build our new signs.

So it didn't take 14 years, so that's good.

But they were looking for a place, and so they ended up, it says, I found a place after

a three-day search south of Ringgold near Highway 41.

So go on down Highway 41 somewhere.

Somebody gave some property or loaned some property to hold some meetings.

And so here we are, 1963, a new church at Ringgold on March 2, 1963.

So we're just a couple of weeks away from the 61st anniversary of the official formation

of the Ringgold Seventh-day Adventist Church.

And it says 42 members were listed as charter members, and there's a picture of all of them

there.

And then it says, it talks about Elder Lewis and a branch Sabbath school in the home of

Mrs. Rose Poteet, who was not an Adventist.

And he left Ernest Stevens, a theology student, in charge of this Sabbath school.

And if you can see that, it says it continued 47 weeks, that's almost a year, with attendance

ranging from 4 to 17.

So week after week, a theology student came down unsure, was it going to be four people,

was it going to be 17 people?

And then it says, on January 19, the Sabbath school was transferred to the temporary location

on Highway 41.

I'm not sure where that is.

When it was announced that a church was to be organized, area residents swelled attendance

to 60 on the first Sabbath, and attendance grew to 90 just two weeks before the organization

ceremony.

So that's kind of cool.

It went from year after year after year with nothing, and then four, and then maybe 17.

And then suddenly now it's 42 are part of the membership, and attendance is at 90.

That's pretty cool.

The membership is here, and the attendance is more than that.

Unfortunately many churches, including this one, kind of do the opposite.

We have the membership here, and the attendance is a bit less, although I'm glad everybody

came today.

So we may have to have Riley get baptized every Sabbath.

Thank you, Riley.

But this is the second cool story, and we're almost done here.

I know we've gone a little bit long.

This says, a child's desire sparks evangelistic crusade.

Early in 1962, I love the way this is written, little Miss Donna Patterson asked her mother

if she could go to Sunday school.

Why?

Well, on Monday morning at school, the kids that went to Sunday school, they got to do

something special and have a special writing project on the blackboard.

I wish I could go to Sunday school, so I could do that as well.

Her mother talked to some other relatives, one of whom was an Adventist, and they came

to the conclusion, I wish she could go to Sabbath school.

From that, as that word got out, that is why that little branch Sabbath school started

in Ringgold, because little Miss Donna Patterson wanted to go to Sunday school.

They couldn't do it at Donna's house, because they lived in a trailer, and so they went

to Donna's grandmother's house, and that's where they were having this branch Sabbath

school.

And then notice that second column, on August 3, following a crusade conducted by Elder

Wynn, Donna's mother, grandmother, stepfather, aunt, and uncle were baptized with eight other

baptismal candidates.

So there were 20 people that made decisions.

That brings the membership to 63 with Sabbath attendance at 90 to 100.

That's what happened right here.

Not right here, but somewhere around here.

But what about right here?

Well, now we jump forward to 1966, and that's when this structure, at least this part of

it, was built.

And notice it says in the signs of the times, 1966, the Ringgold Georgia Church, with seating

for 180, will soon be ready for use.

I know we've actually added some pews since then.

Could we fit 180 people in here?

I sure would like to try, wouldn't you?

I think we could squeeze people in here.

We got four seats up here.

We could make it work.

At least it'd be fun to try.

And so that is what happened right here at the Ringgold Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Now the thing is, that's the past.

But as a church, as a group of believers, a group of people, and we're human, and humans

don't always say the right thing, don't always do the right thing, get upset with each other,

hold grudges with each other, whatever.

And Jesus said greater things are going to happen than happened in the past.

And so we can look at how this church started, and we can look at the future and what Jesus'

promise is going to happen in this church when we keep our eyes and we keep our focus

and we keep our attention on Him.

And so I said we were going to look at the past when we looked at Pentecost.

I said we were going to look at the future, and that's that outpouring of the Holy Spirit,

which we need to be praying for each and every day, because God says greater things are going

to happen.

But what about today?

Are we praying for rain in the time of the latter rain?

Well let's go back to Acts chapter 2, because we've got to end where Peter ended this sermon.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 2 and verse 21, because Peter ends the sermon talking about Jesus, and he

Acts 2 · chapter mention

says, It shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

That's Peter on the day of Pentecost.

Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

And we skip down to verse 23, and it says, Him, Jesus, being delivered by the determined

purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and

put to death.

Jesus died on the cross.

But then it says, Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was

not possible that he should be held there.

They crucified Jesus, they stuck him in the tomb, they thought he was going to stay, but

Jesus could not be held down by the bonds of death.

And he raised up again.

Let's skip down to verse 36, because Peter preaches this sermon about Jesus, about the

resurrection.

And we come down to verse 36, and he says, Therefore, let all the house of Israel know

assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Those words can be challenging there.

Because we love to say Jesus is our Christ, he's our Messiah, he's our anointed one, he's

the one who died for our sins.

We love that picture of Jesus.

But sometimes it's a little bit harder to say that Jesus is our Lord.

Have we humbled ourselves before Jesus?

Have we surrendered our life totally to Jesus?

Are we willing to live for Jesus each and every day, no matter what happens?

Because it says that Jesus is supposed to be both Lord and Christ.

And Peter goes on in verse 37, and it says, Now when they heard this, they were cut to

the heart.

You know, in most churches today, we've got a little bulletin, we've got the order of

service.

Maybe it's been the same since 1966, I'm not sure.

But you know, there's a sermon, there's a closing song, there's a benediction, and it's

the same.

That never happened in the book of Acts.

The apostles never got to say our closing song today is, because in the book of Acts,

the sermons always ended one of two ways.

One, the people got mad and threw rocks at them and tried to kill them or put them in

jail.

Or two, like this, they said, Stop talking.

What do we do next?

Verse 37, When they heard this, they were cut to the heart.

And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we

do?

What are we supposed to do?

And this is where Peter answers.

Peter said to them, and we had a children's story about it, we had a song about it, we've

seen a baptism about it.

Peter said to them, Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ

for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Repent and be baptized.

That's what Peter told them to do on that day back at the past.

But notice, Peter goes on and he says, For the promise is to you and to your children

and to all who are afar off.

That's us, as many as the Lord our God will call.

That promise that Peter preached that day is the same message for us today.

What shall we do?

Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission

of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This promise is not just for the people in Jerusalem.

This promise is for the people in Ringgold.

This promise is for those who we can look back and see what God has done in the past

and we can look ahead and see what God has promised to do for the future and we can look

at today and see what God wants to do in our life.

Are you ready to respond and let Jesus be not just the Savior of your life but also

the Lord of your life?

I don't know all you guys, I don't know where your spiritual walk is.

I said it before, maybe some need to take that next step with Jesus and get baptized.

Maybe some need to take that next step with Jesus and start reading your Bible every day.

Maybe some need to take that next step with Jesus, whatever it is.

What is your next step with God?

If you want to get baptized, I think there's a card in front of you, pull that out and

fill that out and we will make that happen.

As an individual, are we seeking God?

As a church, are we seeking God and the Holy Spirit and praying for Him each and every

day?

Let's bow our heads.

I thank you God, I thank you for this church, for this group of people, I thank you for

your promise of Jesus who came and died for our sins, of your promise of a Holy Spirit

which is going to fill us and change us and make us to be like you.

So Lord, with all the people here, we repent, forgive us of our sins and Lord we want you

to be our Savior and our Lord, in your name we pray, Amen.