This is a very special day for the Friendship family. In addition to celebrating Deacons and Trustees Affirmation Day, on today we are also celebrating 22 years in this church building.  We join with the Psalmist and say:  “Praise ye the Lord, O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good:  for His mercy endureth forever.  Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord?  Who can show forth all His praise?  Blessed are they that keep judgement and he that doeth righteousness at all times.”  (Psalm 106:1-3)

We thank and praise God on this day of assertion and Godly validation.  On today, our deacons are standing up and stating publicly; “I am a deacon as defined by the Bible, God’s holy word.”  Deacons are appointed Church Officers, ordained by the apostles (Acts 6:1-6).  They are named with the Bishops/Elders (Philippians 1:1), and their qualifications are recorded in 1 Timothy 3:8-13.  Deacons, servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Men who have accepted and are serving in their holy calling.  We bless God and honor the leadership of the deacons.  The Word of God states:  For those who perform well as deacons acquire a good standing for themselves and also gain much confidence and freedom and boldness in the faith which is [founded on an centers:] in Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 3:13 Amplified Bible).

The Trustees are certainly included in Colossians 3:23:  Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul, as [something done] for the Lord and not for men).  On today, the Trustees are affirming their stewardship, a trust granted for profitable use, of Spiritual things based on gifts bestowed upon His people.  Trustees servants, of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Men who have accepted and are serving in their holy calling.  We bless God and honor your servanthood.

On the first Sunday in January, in the year of 1996, the Lord blessed Friendship, with great fanfare, to move into this building.  For 22 years, God has been faithful.  In this building, souls have come to the Lord, weddings have been conducted, funeral services have been held.  Truly, God has manifested Himself in His house.  How apropos we celebrate Deacons and Trustees Affirmation Day along with our year celebration of this building, for the former worked mightily to cause the latter to come to pass.

Deacons and Trustees, be blessed as you work for Him.  The best is yet to come.

 Pastor J. Amos Jones

The year is c.A.D. 30, and a despotic, self-serving, governmental representative of imperial Rome, posed a question to the Lord Jesus Christ that has reverberated through-out the centuries.  The despot is Pontius Pilate, the 5^th procurator of Rome in Palestine from A.D. 26 to 36.  The question is recorded in John 18:38 of the holy writ.  “Pilate saith unto Him, What is truth?”  The unfortunate is that Pilate did not allow Him who is “the way, the truth, and the life,” to bring him into the knowledge of the truth.  The Word continues:  “And when he (Pilate) had said this, he went out again unto the Jews.”  Sadly, Pilate was not a seeker of truth.  To the contrary, hear the Master Teacher:  “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him.  If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  (John 8:31, 32)

 Dear ones, please know this; the truth is liberating.  Truth is more than the quality of being in accordance with experience, facts or reality.  Truth is not what the world says or the Deceiver presents to us.  Truth is found in a person.  That person is the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the personification of truth, for grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the truth.  Ah, as we walk in His liberating truth in 2018, we are freed from the shackles of the Evil One, the Deceiver, the one who walked about, seeking whom he may devour.  The truth shall make you free!  You are not, and I am not, who the world says I am or who you are.  We are not defined by the world’s characterization of us. 

 In 2018, it is the desire of this Pastor that we, the people of God, walk in truth.  The Lord Jesus has taken the necessary preparatory actions to ensure that we know and walk in truth.  Jesus tells us in John 16:13:  “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth:  for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come.”  WOW!

The truth is:

•  I am who He says I am
• I can do what He says I can do
• I can have what He says I can have
• I am an heir of God, a joint-heir with Christ
• I am fearfully and wonderfully made
• I am blessed of God
• The blessings of God are contingent upon our obedience to Him and His Word

 Be blessed as you walk in TRUTH.

 Pastor J. Amos Jones

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!” 

How often we are greeted with that greeting.  We are told “to” but not “How to.”  Here are three principles that will help the person who employs them, to have a happy new year.

 Number One:  We must have a “Kingdom mindset.”  Matthew 6:22 tells us that our eyes are the “lamps” for our bodies.  A pure eye allows sunshine into our souls.  Stay positive.  See what God has done, and is doing, for us and thru us.  Don’t allow your life to be governed by negative thoughts and/or deeds.  Stay away from negative people.  They are poison to the soul.  When you can’t isolate yourself from negative people, you can always insulate yourself with the living, covering, Word of God.

 Number Two:  We must “settle the God matter” in our lives.  We can only truly serve one Master.  As Christians, we cannot vacillate when it comes to things of God.  We must say with certainty, as did Joshua:  “but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  (Joshua 24:15 [d]).

 Thirdly:  “Get a Kingdom Perspective.”  Our focus should be the Kingdom of God.  (His Kingdom—where the will of God is manifested in the earth realm).  We must aim at, and strive after, His Kingdom and His Righteousness, for the fulfillment of our prayer:  “Thy Kingdom come.  Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”  When  we really know, I mean really know, that God is in control, that He is sovereign, that He has the pre-eminence in all things, then it will be abundantly clear that it isn’t our position, but our disposition that makes us happy.  The question then arises, when should we apply these principles to have a happy new year?  Let the Psalmist give us some spiritual insight.  “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”  (Psalm 118:24)

 Begin each day with the acknowledgement that GOD IS and you WILL have a happy day and hence, a Happy New Year.

Be blessed in 2018.

Pastor J. Amos Jones

As we enter into the year 2018, allow me to pose a Kingdom question to you. 

•  What are your plans for this year as they relate to the business of the Kingdom?
•  Where is your focus?
•  What is it that you wish to accomplish for the Kingdom’s sake?

 It is this Pastor’s prayer that in 2018, there will be an accelerated involvement in the work of the Kingdom.  Take a lesson from our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.  He tells us in John 9:4: “I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work.”  Jesus says, first of all, He is committed to the work.

 Dear Ones, where is your commitment?  He who sent you depends on you?  The Lord Jesus said in Luke 19:10:  “For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”  That verse is an important summary of Jesus’ Purpose—to bring salvation, and the Kingdom of God.  Christ’s Great Commission, found in Matthew 28:19-20, though spoken to the eleven, was meant for the entire church, in all ages until He returns.  This, of course, includes FMBC, which includes each of us.

 Secondly, we must recognize the importance of the work.  “The works of Him that sent Me.”  Kingdom work is God’s work.  It is as if God has personally recruited us and commissioned each of us to Kingdom work, and He has.

 Lastly, there is an urgency to the work.  The souls of many hang in the balance and we have a limited window of opportunity to reach them with the soul-saving gospel of Jesus Christ.

 The business of the Kingdom is evangelism.  Is that your focus in 2018?

 Pastor J. Amos Jones