THE GREATEST SUPPLY IN LIFE IS JESUS

I want to say that we had another successful year celebrating the 15^th Annual Suggs & Spencer Historical Freedom Festival in the city of Vandalia, MI.

It is the famous birth place of the James Suggs historical Museum.  The later James Suggs was one of America’s famous storytellers of all time.

Folks we had a Holy Ghost filled anointed time as friends came from as far away as Nashville and Atl.

A special thanks to the curators and overseers Sister Maratha Suggs Spencer, Brother Willie Spencer and Sister Tokga Suggs and the countless number of people that made this year one of the greatest events ever.

And to Rev. Marvin Bingham a special thank you for provide the gospel music that set the atmosphere for the testimonials on the hill at the foot of the cross.

I encourage you the mark your calendars for the first week of August in 2009 to attend and visit the Suggs Historical Freedom festival.

Being around such wonderful storytelling I would like to try my ability today to relate a spiritual lesson by a natural one.

What would you say the greatest school supply is for every student?

Is it the new clothing you buy?  The back pack or could it simply be a computer, cell phone or iPod.  What is in your opinion the most important supply for school?

This might seem to be a strange question for a Sunday morning Church sermon, but nevertheless, we all need to have the right supplies in this life. 

How many of you know that life is like a school teacher and if you don’t learn life’s lessons you are destine to repeat them. 

Would you believe there are people that are teenagers still in the kindergarten of life, because they refuse to learn elementary life’s lessons?  Would you believe there are adults still in the high school of life,  because of not learning middle school life’s lessons. 

And of course there are those that have gone on and died much too soon, because of not having the right supplies to succeed in life.  Please don’t you be like that.  Make sure you possess the right supply both in school and in life.

What then is the answer to our question about the most important supply that we must have today?  Has anyone figured out the most important supply yet?   Well let me tell you, it is this “the pencil”.

No matter what technology is invented to replace it “the pencil” will never lose it position as being the number one useful tool to all mankind.  But not just any kind of pencil will do you.  You must not only be sure you have an able supply of pencils, but have an equal amount of erasers as well, because you are going to make mistakes in school.  Also, mistakes are going to be made in the school of life.

When we consider how a pencil is use in this life.  Let me say this about that, from the time you enter life you have been making a mark, your mark, whatever mark is your mark. 

Sometimes that mark may be faint and unrecognizable to the world and at other times our mark is more pronounced and visible to the world. 

Sometimes the mark you make in this life in beautiful and other times ugly. 

Listen, what do you do with ugly marks you make?  The choice is ours, we can continue to rewrite over the ugly mark like so many people do with their lives.

Have you ever seen a child scrabble and just keep on scrabbling over the same lines on the same sheet.  My, friends what I am trying to say is people do the same thing to their life; that don’t have a sufficient eraser.  I say sufficient, because all erasers are not equal.  Some will leave a stain no matter what you do you cannot get rid of the stain.  Are you all still here? 

In my storytelling today; I would have you to know that life is like a sheet of paper that we use our pencil to write and chart our course, to write our story, to claim our place in history and to leave our mark and legacy.  And when we mess up on our paper of life as Christian’s we know our eraser is sufficient to make the paper new.  This is what our faith in Christ can do.  It restores and makes new.  Amen.

ABC’s of Salvation

ALL HAVE SINNED

The bible say in Romans 3: 10-23

*10.  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

 11.  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

 12.  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

 13.  Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

 14.  Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

 15.  Their feet are swift to shed blood:

 16.  Destruction and misery are in their ways:

 17.  And the way of peace have they not known:

 18.  There is no fear of God before their eyes.

 19.  Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

 20.  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

 21.  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

 22.  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

* 23.  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

 24.  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

 25.  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

 26.  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Ecclesiastes 7

20.  For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

BEHOLD THE LAMB

John 1

29.  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John 3

16.  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 17.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Acts 4

12.  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

COME UNTO ME

Matthew 28

28.  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

 29.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

 30.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Acts 16

18.  And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.

 19.  And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,

 20.  And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,

 21.  And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.

 22.  And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.

 23.  And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:

 24.  Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

 25.  And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

 26.  And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

 27.  And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

 28.  But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

 29.  Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,

 30.  And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

 31.  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

 32.  And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.

 33.  And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.

 34.  And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

Equipped and supplied with Jesus all mistakes are made perfect.

Preached by:  Rev. Sylvester Williams, Jr.

I.C.U., Ministries, Inc.

August 3, 2008