DEDICATED TO BRINGING GLORY TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

COLLEGE LAKES BAPTIST CHURCH

4704 Ramsey Street
Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311-1615
Church Office 910-488-8344
Church Cell Phone 910-658-3475

church@collegelakeschurch.org
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THE
COLLEGE LAKES

Challenger

News From College Lakes Church

A Message from Reverend Lanier. . .

Get Your Salvation Story

The world says we have to get our shine
on. Whatever the meaning is, the best
construction is be all you can be, or
put your best foot forward. There, I
have tried. I could be wrong. However,
in the Christian life, we love to talk about
getting our salvation story. I believe in
every Christians life, there is a wonderful
change that takes place when we invite the
Lord Jesus to come into our heart. He
moves in and takes up residence. He takes
away our sins, guilt, and despair and gives
us grace and hope. He helps us by His
power to live for Him in this world. With
His help, life is worth living (and a lot
easier too). Im talking about the born
again experience. It is also known as
salvation or being saved by Christ.
There are at least 7 things the Christian
has as a Child of God: 1) We must face
sin in our life. 2) We must have a
salvation story. 3) We must have a
relationship with The Son, The Father,
and The Holy Spirit. 4) We must be sure

December 3, 2014

we are in touch with God through His

Word. 5) We must have the consciousness
Jesus has taken away all our sins. 6) We
must know Jesus has given us peace and
rest. 7) We know that God has a plan for
our life, and we are seeking to know more
about Him. While more could be added, I
have a salvation story!
Do you
remember when you were saved? What a
good story! This time of year brings us to
the Christmas story. The birth of the Son
of God is certainly greater than ours.
Because of Him, we have a story! When
you meet Jesus-He will give you
something to talk about, and put a genuine
shine on your face. Lets enjoy this season
because of the Truth and power of God in
this world. (Matthew 1:21, 23, 25)

The Spirit of Thanksgiving

God Is the Only One Worthy of
Our Praise
By Dr. Kevin Folger
There is no doubt that God expects His
children to maintain and practice a spirit of
thanksgiving and sincere gratitude. This is,
first and foremost, to be directed toward

2 News From College Lakes Church

our Heavenly Father from whom all
blessings flow. How terrible it is to not
show gratitude and praise to the great God
of Heaven who gives us air to breathe and
food to eat!
Not to be grateful to the God who allows
our hearts to beat and sent His Son to die
for our sin is the biggest insult. It is
overwhelming to think that we would not
maintain a sweet spirit of thanks and
praise to Him. Yet, sadly, many
Christians spend a good portion of their
lives whining and complaining about what
they want but dont have. The truth is that
when we dont thank God or give Him
praise, it is indicative of the fact that our
hearts are wrong, and that we think too
highly of ourselves. We need a good dose
of humility.
I think of the Canaanite woman who came
to Jesus in Matthew 15. Her daughter was
sore vexed with a devil, and she pleaded
with the Lord to do something. He did not
respond; in fact, the Bible states, He
answered her not a word. Yet, she kept
persisting to the point that the disciples
pleaded with the Lord to send her away.
He responded that He was sent, Unto the
lost sheep of the house of Israel.
The lady finally came to Jesus and
worshiped at His feet. He responded with
what seemed like an insult, It is not meet
to take the childrens bread, and to cast it
to dogs. I love the fact that this woman
was tuned in and was desperate. She
responded to Him with, Truth, Lord: yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from
their masters table.
This woman realized her insignificant
position; more importantly, she also
realized in Whose presence she was
standing. He was God! Although she was
not a Jew, she wanted to be under His rule
and control. He did not have to do very
much because He was so mighty; this was
not a hard task for Him! She just needed
a crumb or two from His great table.

December 3, 2014

I love the Lords response. Although what

He said may seem cruel, it enables us to
see that her faith in Him was great. That
was the point! His response to her is very
revealing: O woman, great is thy faith: be
it unto thee even as thou wilt.
Is it possible that we often dont see Him
properly because we have a skewed view
of our own selves? Sometimes we are like
the Pharisee that prayed in the Temple,
God, I thank thee, that I am not as other
men are. When we fall into this trap, we
are not seeing ourselves properly.
During this season of thanksgiving, lets
begin by seeing ourselves as God sees us.
I understand that in Him we are heirs to all
that He has, but remember, it is not
because of who we are, but because of
what He did. Therefore, we need to see
ourselves as saved sinners unworthy of the
least of His favor, but blessed because He
gives us all things richly to enjoy!
I trust that throughout our lives we will
continue every day to give God glory,
praise, and worship with a spirit of
thanksgiving. Lets not wait for one day a
year to share our thanksgiving. Praise Him
daily! He is worthy, and we are blessed to
be able to come into the presence of our
great God and King as one of His children.

Ushers for December 7

A.M. Jerry Adams
Michael Williams
John Johnson
Elijah Henry
Billy Tyson
Sonny Alvarez
P.M. Ken Triplett
This Sunday
Let us lovingly give to God. Program
at 5. Gifts, finger food after. Come all.
Sunday Dec. 14
Covered Dish meal after AM Service.