Baptists Are The Worst Kind Of Christian

Brother Jay Varner brought our Sunday morning message: "Baptists Are The Worst Kind of Christian."

Brother Varner began his sermon by delivering his personal testimony. He then went on to instruct us from God's Living Word, starting with Mark 1:17: "And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men."

Then, he quickly brought us to Luke 6:43-45: "For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh."

"In the election just passed," Brother Varner started, "the press talked a lot about the voting blocks of Catholics and Evangelicals, identifying them as two kinds of Christians. The first group teaches there is no salvation outside of the Catholic Church and you HELP Jesus by completing your Salvation though your good works. The second group follows the teachings of the Bible alone, in declaring salvation is by Jesus and by Him alone -- not by any works.

"In a nutshell, you could say the first group is marked by 'Grow into all the world' and the second by the Bible command to 'Go into all the world.'"

"So let us look closer at this 'worst kind of Christian' -- the Baptists," Brother Varner said. These worst kind of Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, Bible-preaching, born-again Baptist people, are they truly the worst, or possibly are they the best, for the preaching and teaching of Christ's Kingdom?

"Jesus said 'Follow me,' to His disciples. And as God never changes, He is still calling His faithful to follow Him. Paul, in his letter to the church at Corinth, said, 'Follow me as I follow Christ' (1 Corinthians 11:1).

"And just as a private detective will follow a person they are hired to track, so are we to follow the Christ, Jesus. Or just like the policeman in a crime drama who hops into a taxi and utters 'Follow that car!' This is what we are to do. Even if we wind up in L.A. or Timbuktu. No matter, we are doing the will of the Master."

Luke 6:46 says "And why call ye me, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"

"Either He is the Master of your life, or He is not," Brother Varner told us. "We are to be a living sacrifice, to His will. To serve our Master is but the reasonable service for what He has done for us.

"Then too, we are to be a light to the world, and the salt of the earth. We are to salt the earth, and light the world, so men will glorify God. Not to glorify man, nor the church, nor a pastor, nor a teacher, but to glorify the one true God of all the Universe and Creation.

Brother Varner said, "If you are a born again Christian, you, me, we all are ambassadors for Christ. Let's say, Christian, you are an American and it comes up in casual conversation; people will usually react in one of three ways. First, 'I didn't know that.' Or second, 'I couldn't tell you were.' Or third, 'I could tell right away.' Same goes with your Christian witness. Same even goes with your Baptist witness.

"So now, let's change the scenario a bit. How about a healthy person? You might say: 'I used to eat healthy, and exercise like I am supposed to, but I don't anymore.' To which the world will quickly judge: 'I can tell.' So can the world see you as a Christian, as a Baptist, who was, but is no more? Or does it see you as the worst kind, one who is still living for The Christ?"

In conclusion, Brother Varner told us, "Whenever men or governments draw a line in the sand, they often will draw another line, daring the adversary to cross over this new line. Et. al. But when God draws a line in the sand, He never moves. He says what He means and means what He said always -- without exception. 'Waffle' maybe in man's vocabulary, but it is not in God's.

"So, who is on the Lord's side today? You can be either the worst kind of Christian by the world's standard -- which is the best kind of Christian by the Lord's standard, or you can be the worst kind of Christian by the Lord's standard and be the best kind of Christian as far as the world is concerned. The world is ever ready to accept the apostate Christian and judges the best Christians -- those living as true to the Lord as they can -- as the worst kind of Christians that exist on the planet.

"So the question is begged by Nicodemus on down to today, by all seekers of the Truth. How can I be saved? Simply, you must be born again. Then follow Christ wherever He leads you, and in whatever direction that you find yourself going He will lead you to be fishers of men. As Christians, our lives are now to be on His altar; we are the living sacrifices to our Lord and Master. And we, best of all, get to decide exactly which of the two kinds of Christians we will be."

A Thanksgiving Day leftovers potluck was served right after morning services concluded and was enjoyed by all.

Our church pantry is accepting food and sundry items every church service until after Christmas, as the need is so very great in our area.

Our angel tree is up, and we are taking request applications for the tree as well as looking for people to sponsor a local child in need. See Debbie Serr.

We offer infant care, nursery and children's church through the third grade on Sunday mornings. See Jessica Cole.

AWANA is back on after the holiday, and a free evening meal is provided at 6 p.m. for all children and AWANA workers. If there is no school on an AWANA night, there is no AWANA for that evening.

We also offer transportation for all church services, as needed, for all ages. Please call 417-223-4433 or 417-223-1070 to get on one of our four bus routes.

Our church library is available to all during all church services. See Pat Anders for help.

All verses quoted above are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

MARANANTHA! Come quickly, Lord.