Good Start

The Lord gave us a good start to our meeting here in Greer, SC today. We saw a young married woman come and trust Christ in the morning service. Her husband was a relative of one of the ladies in the church and the young couple had been the objects of prayer for quite some time. I have a lot of family and friends in the area (I was brought up just 15 minutes down the road in Taylors, SC), many of whom need to get right with God. Please pray with me that they will both attend and be saved.

This morning in Sunday school, I preached a message entitled "The Glory of His Presence." It was a message from Luke 24 about the two men on the road to Emmaus. After Sunday school, an elderly gentleman came to me and told me that he was a Catholic. He recounted how he would pray often for others and frequently his prayers would be answered, but he said that he could not feel the presence of God when he prayed for himself. After explaining that God's presence is not necessarily perceived by the physical senses, I began to inquire about his salvation. He told me that he was trusting in Christ and the fact that he had been a good person. I answered from Luke 18 with the story of the Pharisee and the publican. I counseled him to begin reading his Bible, telling him just where to start and outlining a simple plan for him. While he is not saved yet, I have confidence that he will be saved soon. He told me of Catholic Bible studies that he sometimes attended and asked me if it would be better for him to attend a Bible study or read the Bible on his own. I suggested that he read on his own. I told one of the saved couple who had brought him, "I have staked his eternal destiny on the power of God's Word to convince a man of his need for salvation." It would not surprise me if this man is in his Bible right now doing just what I counseled him to do. Please pray for George, that the Spirit of God would illuminate his understanding as he reads the Scripture and that he would give up Roman Catholicism and trust Christ alone for salvation.

The meeting is to close Friday night with a special School Night. Please be in prayer that many parents and students will be saved at this special service. God is doing great things already and we look for Him to continue.

Paul