Westside Baptist Church

Westside Baptist Church
6:30 P.M.

The pastor, Jerry L. Wilson, said good evening to everyone and said to remember everyone in their prayers. His sermon went as follows: He mentioned people on the prayer lists. He read an article on the back of the bulletin titled Lost in America. The article talked about percentages of lost in America and people who say they are Christians and percentages. There is a steady decline in the number of people who have a concept of a relationship with God. As the population grows, the percentage drops. 15 percent of those interviewed said that they had no interest in God. Even people who profess to be Christians (76 percent) based their Christianity to be based strictly on keeping rituals rather than a relationship with Christ. In Nacogdoches County this number would be the equivalent of all of the town of Nacogdoches not being saved. There is probably someone you love or someone you know that is in that number. This is all based on a survey and that this is not the only survey that has a similar outcome. This should make us pause for America to think about it and pray about it. Jerry then said a prayer for us.

We sang “He Whispers Sweet Peace to Me”, “Precious Memories” and “Somebody Loves Me”. Jerry read from 1 Peter 5:5-7 and said that tonight will be a continuation of last Sunday night. The word likewise is used to connect what is being said to what is in previous verses. Those who lead are to lead by the example of Jesus Christ. Jesus did what was right because it is in his nature. We should do what is right because it’s the right thing to do. What did Jesus give people the opportunity to do? He gave them the opportunity to choose. By the nature of Adam, we have the nature to sin. It is impossible for man to live without sinning for all of us except Jesus. Jesus was given as an example of how we should live. “Submit” is not a pretty word in today’s age. We need to transmit God’s message and God’s plan from one generation to the next. We are not heeding sound words as a society. We should be an example and pattern for others to follow when we are following Christ and we should humble ourselves. He mentioned the Military chain of command. Everybody has a place. When someone steps out or doesn’t follow orders it causes disorder. Troops are at a lost as to what to do. Young people should use elders as a guide for their lives. Kids’ heroes today are sports figures who do drugs. Jerry said that he is not going to be like the preacher who walked by the pool and talked about how girls dress wildly, but can’t remember how the boys dressed. A lot of athletes have to wear long shirts for interviews because they have vulgar tattoos and they have to cover them.

People who have declared the word of God in the media have forsaken the word of God. We need to maintain the Chain of Command. He tried to express the importance to people who grew up in the church to take responsibility of taking care of the other people. When this doesn’t happen it endangers his children, it endangers his world, and it pollutes his world. People who are a part of the body of Christ should act differently from the World. When members who are part of the church act worldly, it brings injury to the church body. We should confront each other in love when we are not acting right. We should be subject and accountable to one another. Jerry said that when he was a teenager he thought he could do whatever he wanted. We never come to a place where we are not accountable to someone. We are called to be modest and not arrogant. We should have a higher estimation of people’s worth. God knows how much we are worth. Jerry quotes Psalm 8:4. We are the crowning glory of God and the apple of his eye. The man who overestimates himself however is on the verge of insanity. God is in warfare against those people who are proud and arrogant. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Jerry wants to boil it down and said that God makes it possible for the humble to have peace and joy. Humble is used three times in different subtexts. As a result of the economy today, we have 2.5 million less millionaires. Being wealthy in America today is an iffy thing.

God doesn’t give some people wealth because he knows it will destroy them. If we take all of our wealth and spend only on ourselves that is not an act of humbleness. He said that J.C. Penny kept 20 percent of his wages and gave the rest to God. In doing so he showed humbleness. Jerry said that mighty is a word used exclusively for power and is used in describing the majesty of God. The word exalt can mean to the highest pentacle. How far can a man go? With all the wealth and other things a man can acquire, he can not go beyond where God wants him to be. Under God’s authority and will there is no limit. In the afterlife we will be rulers under Christ. If we will not try to put ourselves in that place but allow God to put us in that place in his timing. God wants us to allow him to shape us and put us in higher places if we will allow him. If we get ahead of God’s time we get ahead of his blessings. Jerry mentioned Psalm 23 and said that sheep have an abundance of food in the winter. In the summer there is nothing for the sheep so they must move up the mountains. There is a higher elevation at each level and the freshness and renewal exists at each level. If the Sheppard takes the sheep to the highest level they would die, because the blessings aren’t there yet. If the sheep stay where they are, they will die. They have to follow the shepherd. In the same way, we have to follow in the hands of God. We have to cast all our cares on him.

Jerry mentioned where Jesus is preaching the sermon on the mound and Jesus asked who can add one cubic or one hair on their head. Jerry mentioned that there was a co-worker at Foretravel he talked to named Ms. Easter. Sometimes they would talk when problems would arise and Ms. Ester would tell him, if a situation was beyond their control, “It just be’s that way”. We should leave things in God’s hands. If we can’t fix it, don’t worry about it. He said that everything has to do with context. When you are talking about bank it means different things to different people. To some people it means a bank like a river that you fish in. To other people it means a financial institute. Jerry said that he likes the image of laying it on the alter. He said that we can’t throw our problems away because like a rubber band they will come back to us. We need to lift them to Christ. The Bible says to cast all, not come, of our cares to him. Jerry said that he has an imagery of each individual one and laying it on the alter. Why should we cast our cares on God? Because he cares for us. If we will lift them up and put them before him, he will minister grace to us in that circumstance. God will elevate us, if he does not necessarily eliminate the problem. Jerry quoted Matthew 10:28-30. One of the members of the church said the closing prayer and we were dismissed.