Forty-two years of God’s amazing grace. Throughout my forty-two years of pastoring the Friendship Baptist Church, God has ceaselessly worked through grace to impart to this Pastor/Preacher and perfect in him corresponding graces.

 Grace is the methodology of divine dealing in salvation and in the believer’s life and service. It has been the singular desire of this Pastor to serve his Lord and His Kingdom. For you see grace stands connected with service. To serve the Lord’s Kingdom is to serve humanity. The Holy Writ tells us in Matthew 25:40 (b): “In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me”. A constant in our society is there will always be hurting people. Whether they are “the down and out” or “the up and at-em”, there will always be a need. A hall-mark of this ministry has always been: “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more”. God has entrusted to this Pastor/Preacher, as He has to all preachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Word of reconciliation, the wondrous gospel of Christ.

 For forty-two years this Pastor has had a passion for the unsaved. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

 In a summary fashion, the desire of this Pastor/Preacher has been that collectively, Pastor and Church, will grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 To Him be glory both now (and has always been) and forever.

 Pastor J. Amos Jones

Scholarly, Insightful, Stimulating and Resourceful are some of the superlatives that can be used to describe the Sunday School here at Friendship. Because the Word of God is timeless and we have teachers who are serious about “rightly dividing the Word of Truth”, our students receive information that will “equip” and “edify”.

 The Bible is the basic textbook of the Sunday School. A knowledge of the Bible is essential to scholarship in many fields. The libraries of the world are to a large extent commentaries and elaborations on the principles laid down in the Bible. It is truly a library within itself. The man who knows the Bible is a scholar and if he adheres to it, a gentlemen. Here at Friendship, you are taught not to read anything into the Good Book, if you wish to get anything out of it – just take it straight. You cannot alter the Bible to fit you, rather you must change yourself to fit it; otherwise you will have Christianity’s conformity in reverse. What you think of the Bible does not affect it—just you. What you think of the Sunday School does not affect it—again, just you. If it appears the Bible is too deep, you surely need the exercise it affords to think deeper. If it looks too exacting, you definitely require its influence to keep from straying. (Ahem), and if it seems dry, it might be that you have allowed too much dust to accumulate on it. If you think the Sunday School is not for you, THINK AGAIN!

 In Sunday School, we are taught to DO RIGHT. Right is not something just to verbalize on; it is something to be and do. And the steps are simple: Know right, believe right and do right. This will give one the basis to hope for attainment, because it is always linked with right. Hear the big BOOK; “Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). “Then Peter opened his mouth and said, ‘Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him’  (Acts 10:34, 35).

Do Right, come to Sunday School.

Pastor J. Amos Jones

At the time of this writing (day two of Revival 2015), we have experienced a mighty move of God. The Lord has used the evangelist in an awesome way. With clarity and power, the Word has been proclaimed.

On Monday evening the evangelist talked about “The ABCs of Life”, taken from Col. 1:9-18. This message was particularly significant because it focused our attention on the beginning. It took us back to the basics. If you want a clear understanding of anything, go back to it’s beginning. This is a principle demonstrated by Jesus, the Master Teacher, as he taught on marriage in Matthew 19:4: “and He answered and said unto them. Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female”.

The evangelist opened unto us the manifold wisdom of God. We explored the two parts of the text:

• Christ’s supremacy in creation and

• Christ’s supremacy in redemption

 We know from scripture that God rules in the affairs of men, therefore we can give faith-based answers to the following questions:

• Where did we come from?

• Who is sustaining (keeping) me?

• Where will I spend eternity?

 We praise God for Elder Earl Whitaker and the gift of grace given to him to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. The takeaway from the message is indeed a blessing. In these times of trials, tribulations, terrorism, murder and may-hem, it is good to know that: Are you ready for this? “JESUS HOLDS ALL THINGS TOGETHER!”

To God be the glory for a blessed Revival.

Pastor J. Amos Jones

Well, here we are on the eve of Revival Soul-Saving Campaign 2015. We have prayed, we have believed, we are prepared, and now we are awaiting the move of God. Praise God for the unsearchable riches of His Word. Hebrews 7:22-25: “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them”.

 We praise God for our High Priest after the order of Melchisedec, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of the Living God, who has entered into the sanctuary of God and has sat down on the right hand of God. With His work completed, His one sacrifice having atoned for the sins of all time, we are eagerly anticipating His sending the revival, His instrument for the salvation of many.

 Be blessed as we continue in Him.

 Pastor J. Amos Jones

Men want to control their lives – It’s our training and our nature. We are raised to be independent.

 Most men are taught to “pull themselves up by their own bootstraps”. “Be a Man! Life is what you make of it”! We’re told. We are taught early-on that we can author our own destiny; we can be the captain of our soul, the master of our fate—Wrong! Flawed teaching. Men want to control their own lives. To “be a man”. Even if we were not taught to seek independence, which most of us were, our own human nature gravitates in that direction. We want the freedom to chart our own course. We want the power to shape the events of our lives. These are the hallmarks of our desire to be independent. But too often in our effort to be self-reliant, we move away from God and go our own independent way. There is a marked difference between taking responsibility for our lives and trying to live independently from God. We are to take responsibility for our lives—no one will go to work in our place, in most instances, no one will continually pay our bills. The difference is this: responsibility fully recognizes our part and God’s part. Our part is to trust God and faithfully fulfill our duties. God’s part is to provide for all our need and well-being. Independence rebels against the influence of God, thinking it can meet its own needs.

 The independent man thinks, “I want to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, wherever I want to do it, with whomever I want to do it. I want to be in control. I want to satisfy my ambitions. I don’t want to be dependent upon anyone. People let me down. God will let me down. I can make it on my own. With independence, I am in control of my life. I have the power, whether through money or influence, to have my way”. The opposite of desiring to be independent of God is to trust Him. The Apostle Paul states it so well:   “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring” (Acts 17:28).

 Be blessed, Brethren, as we live responsible, yet dependent upon Him, lives.

Pastor J. Amos Jones