In Philippians 1 Paul calls himself a servant (KJV) of Jesus Christ, but the Greek word doulos means “slave.” 1) The slave is the possession of his master. We are bought with a price and that price was His blood. We are the possession of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; He is our Master. He made us and He bought us. 2) As His slave, our will is to do His will. We owe absolute obedience to Jesus Christ, yielding our will to His will. 3) Being the slave of Jesus Christ is a paradox. The Bible says we will reign with Him one day, so to be His slave eventually is to be a king. To be His slave is the way to perfect freedom.

“Christ did not redeem us from sin, the curse of the law, and the fear of death, so that we would be uncontrolled; rather that we might be controlled by Him and belong to Him.” So what does it mean to you to be controlled by Him? Thoughts, attitudes, actions, words, intentions of your heart, etc. If you are like me, I need to spend more time asking for forgiveness for what I failed to do in Christ. Lots of times I find myself just on autopilot, going about my day. Lord, forgive me for not acknowledging and yielding to You.

2020 Annual Church Planning is beginning now. We want the ideas God gives you to make His church more of what it needs to be in 2020. He can speak to all of us and tells us what He desires His church to be. At the same time, He may be speaking to you personally about your service to Him. Our plans need to be His plans. We examine each thought and idea to see if we are in line with what He desires His church to be. 1) Worship that is meaningful; 2) Bible study, 3) Mission opportunities; 4) Ministry to members and others; and 5) Koinonia – Sharing Christian experiences. Already I have gotten some excellent responses.  If there was something we have done in the past was meaningful to you that you would like to repeat, tell me that too; ministries, mission projects, speakers, day trips, etc. 

September is State Missions Month – Margaret Lackey State offering will be received. Margaret was born in Copiah County in 1858. She attended Hillman College in Clinton. She loved missions and taught young children in her church to love missions. She asked church WMU’s all over the state to set aside a day for an offering for the mission needs of our state. She felt strongly that there were areas of Christian ministry in our state that needed attention – social, racial, moral, religious. In 1903 the offering began. In 1912 she was the first salaried corresponding secretary for the WMU of Mississippi. In 1917, the State Mission Day became the Week of Prayer for State Missions. Five years after her retirement, the offering was named in her honor. The offering goes to fund the following – Mission Volunteers, Central Hills Retreat in Kosciusko, GARAYWA in Clinton, Area Community Ministries, Planting Churches, Criminal Justice Ministry, Disaster Relief, Language/Deaf Ministry, Cross Cultural Evangelism, CWJC/CMJC, Collegiate Outreach, Port Ministry, 

September 10, Amy Lancaster, We Will Go Ministries, will be our guest speaker at our State Missions Luncheon. Put this on your calendar.

September 16, Day Trip to St Catherine’s Village Comedic Play

September 18, Teacher Appreciation Dinner. Every year we want to express to our teachers our appreciation for the time and study they put into teaching God’s Word to us every week. Mark this date! John Pace, former pastor of Terry Baptist Church, now with MS Baptist Convention, will be our guest speaker.