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Pastor Beal

FIFTEEN GLORIOUS YEARS

"Except the Lord build the house, they
labor in vain that build it:" Ps. 127:1

I would like this week to just Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of His promises. Fifteen years ago I brought my family here to Ft. Madison, based on God's call to start a fundamental, independent, Bible-preaching, and soul-winning church in this town. We never came to do a survey to see if God knew what He was doing, or to see if it looked good to the flesh. Instead we came here trusting Heb. 11:1 "Now faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for..." Fifteen years later we can see the substance of what we asked God for. We have seen J.B.C grow from a "seed of faith", into a living body of blood bought believers, who have grown into a bountiful crop of fruit. I can testify today of Heb. 11:3, which tells us that "Through faith we understand..." I can look back at these fifteen years and see how God works in ways that sight could never have taught me. Again in Heb. 11:4 we hear how God loves us to bring offerings of faith, that only He can be glorified in. How clear God is in telling us in Heb. 6, that "...without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please him:". If we want to please God, we must trust His way and lean totally upon Him and walk by faith. We find in Heb. 11:7 that faith is action, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, MOVED with fear, PREPARED an ark to the saving of his house:". Sincere faith in God can be seen in our actions, which brings evidence that we truly believe in His promises. Heb. 11:8 is a key to our faith producing fruit, in that it talks of how Abraham "...obeyed; and he went out, not knowing...". Could a lack of faith or obedience be what's keeping you from coming to God with the hope of receiving substance?

Thanks! Pastor Earl Beal