Passover Seder

Sunday, April 9, 2006
Led by Rev. Doug Merck

It Is Well With My Soul

My sin - oh the bliss of this glorious thought: my sin not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!"

That is a glorious thought for me. Yet it is more than a thought...it is a glorious reality that my sin has been forgiven and removed as far as the east is from the west. The Psalmist writes, "How blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered!" (Psalm 32:1).

Have you come into the glorious reality of having your sins forgiven? When God forgives sin, He also removes guilt which can be as devastating to the conscious as sin can be to the soul.

Jesus died on Calvary so that you and I could live for eternity. He gave His life so that we could live. This Easter would you consider giving your life to Him?

To understand how log on to cbcamericus.org and click on the link "How To Be Saved."

Have a blessed Easter.

Easter 2006

What is going through your mind and heart as a believer as we approach Easter? Are you thinking about the cross and His suffering? Are you giving thanks for your salvation? Is your mind looking ahead to the celebration of Easter morning when we celebrate the fact that HE LIVES and BECAUSE HE LIVES you can LIVE also? To many this week means different things. Eggs and bunnies overshadow life and victory. New clothes are more important than NEW LIFE. Religion overrules relationship. Speaking of salvation, when were you saved? What were the circumstances? How old were you? Who did God use to bring you to Christ? If you had to grade your progress since salvation on a scale of 1 to 10 how far have you come? If God were to grade you what would He say? Some people come to Christ because they come to an understanding that they are lost, they need to be saved and they make a decision to accept Christ, because it is the right thing to do. However, beyond that decision not much more has happened except to exist and call themselves a Christian. This person seems to be always looking for what God can do for them. Does this describe you? Others experience a crisis in life and seek the Savior. The motivation here is not altogether out of love for Christ as it is to be rescued from a bad set of circumstances. It is a cry for help and many times they continue to cry for help. Do you fit here? Then there are those who have come to the end of themselves, conviction has gripped their heart and confession of sin has poured from their lips. They have a deep love for the Savior, because they understand that only because of His grace and mercy are they saved "and that not of themselves." Many of these have the attitude, "though He slay me, I will hope in HIm." "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow; Because He lives all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives."

Family

Ours is a blessed family. Our daughters are grown and away from home. Shauna and Katie are married. Natalie recently returned home from Russia. Phyllis and I continue to serve Central Baptist Church in Americus, GA.

Shauna and Ben (Pilgreen) live in Tuscaloosa, AL where Ben is Minster to College Students at Calvary Baptist Church. Shauna is a free lance writer doing most of her work with LifeWay Christian Resources. Elijah and Samuel are our grandsons. Except for the fact that they are under the influence of Crimson Tide fans, they have everything going for them. Elijah knows who Hairy DAWG is and can say Go DAWGS. So there is hope.

Natalie lives in Gainesville and is seeking God's will on a job. She hopes to teach next year somewhere in North Georgia. She spent the last two years doing Sports Evangelism in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Katie is married to Matthew Strickland and they live in Gainesville, GA. Matthew is a systems engineer for a computer company. Katie will be teaching in the fall.