September 20, 2020
As we approach church anniversary eighty, this Pastor can see in this church a people that the Lord calls sanctified. Not because they are without fault, but because they have a relationship with Christ. Such was the church of the Living God at Corinth. Paul writes to the Corinthian Church to instruct and restore the church in its areas of weakness. He says to them in 1 Cor. 1:2, “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ, called to be saints.” They were set apart for the Lord, declared holy through faith in Christ’s atoning death on the cross. The Corinthian Church has “positional sanctification,” i.e. thy were chosen or set apart by Christ for His service, and it is quite clear from verses 4-7, they were gifted. That notwithstanding, they were in need of massive doses of God’s word. How important it is for any church (Friendship included), to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ “ (2 Peter 3:18). The desire of the child of God is found in Psalm 119:33-34: “Teach me, O Lord, the way of the statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.”
Friendship, you are gifted saints of God. To fully and wholeheartedly fulfill our calling to be all that God has ordained us to be, “Teach…me the way of thy statutes”: (Sunday School, Mission, Brotherhood, and Bible Study), “Give me understanding” (Prayer and Teacher’s Meeting). Friendship, these resources will be available soon (God willing). My prayer is that we will avail ourselves of that which the Father has provided for us that we may be what He wants us to be.
Pastor J. Amos Jones
