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. . .

Still Remembering
While observing the 13th anniversary of
September 11th , we thank God that we have been
spared by His Mercy to this time. We pray for
His mercies daily. We are ever mindful of those
who put their life on the line every day to
promote the safety and well being of our great
land. Our military and public servants no doubt
have a difficult job. We wish to encourage each
individual who serves and their families who
support. (Church families included). We see
their service for their fellow man and neighbors.
We appreciate this service and pray that we see
our greater duty to serve the true and living
God. He is first and ultimately He is the only
One who is able to save us.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most
High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my
refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I
trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare
of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under
his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy
shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for
the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth
by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in

September 18, 2014

darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at

noonday. (Psalm 91:1-6)
To the military and other families among us, we
invite you to join us in worship and enjoy the
Great Salvation that Jesus freely gives.

Real Christianity Is All about Christ

The Heart of the Matter Is the Heart
by Troy Calvert
The religious people of Pauls day were not
much different than religious people
todaythose who emphasize their own works
rather than Gods grace, the doing rather than
the being of the Christian life. Paul wished to
redirect Christian believers to that which is most
important: living Christianity is all about
focusing on the Saviour and not on ourselves.
Each of us should do a personal, spiritual
assessment to find where our focus lies and what
motivates us in our walk with God. This is
particularly true within independent Baptist
circles where we are tempted to live by an
external list of dos and donts. If youre saved,
you will dress like this and not like that. You
will go here and not there. You will talk like this
and not like that. Externals are, of course,
important, but our motivation must be deeper

2 News From College Lakes Church

than simply conforming to certain rules and
expectations.
We must not lose sight of the fact that man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the
LORD looketh on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
We must guard against becoming like the
Pharisees whom Jesus condemned as whited
sepulchers...full of dead mens bones (Matthew
23:27). Each of us needs to make certain that we
are walking with God out of a desire to do that
which is right and to please Him, not to please
man.
If I am simply doing what Im doing because
someone in my church is watching me, I am
missing out on what God desires. He is watching
me whether someone else sees me or not. If
everything Im doing is to be seen by man, to
meet mans expectations, God says I am wasting
my time.
When I get to Heaven, all of my acts and
accomplishments that flow from wrong
motivations will burn up as wood, hay, and
stubble. Every work that is done in my own
strength and not in the strength of the Lord,
every work that is done to be seen by man and
not by the Master, will go up in smoke!
Going beyond our personal values and
behaviors, we should be actively involved in
serving in our churches, but the same principle
applies: it is the Lord we are ultimately serving.
If we can embrace that, Christian service is
enjoyable and exciting. Even if someone
complains about the work we do, we can know
that if we are doing it for God, He is pleased as
we serve with the focus on Him, not on
ourselves.
In a nutshell: dont focus on works at the
expense of your walk!
The Apostle Paul was mindful of the potential
harm done in the early church by a group who
came to be known as Judaizers. They believed
that the only way a non-Jew could be saved was
by becoming a Jew. Paul calls these men dogs.
In the first century, dogs were not mans best
friend! They were vicioustraveling in packs
and often attacking people.
Paul says that we need to beware of religious
dogs, but in so doing he doesnt claim that the
external is of no value. He simply wants us to
understand that salvation is not gained by even

September 18, 2014

one external act. What cleanses and saves a soul

is the blood of Jesus Christ which was shed on
Calvary, plus nothing.
No matter how many good things we do or bad
things we dont do, if our whole focus is on the
external, if our heart is not transformed, if we
have not repented of our sins, we will still go to
Hell. Paul says we have reason to be excited by
the power and simplicity of the gospel, but he
warns that there are those who are not our
friends and will lead us astray if we follow their
thinking. They know the lingo, but they distort
what God says.
In the second verse of Philippians 3, Paul also
warns us to beware of the concision. The
reference here is to the fact that Jews believed
males had to be circumcised. Without this
external sign, no male was accepted as a Jew;
yet in their firm adherence to the belief they
missed the deeper, spiritual meaninga
circumcision of the heart. We must be careful
not to put so much emphasis on the external that
we forget to cultivate a heart for God.
On the other hand, a note of caution is necessary
in highlighting this obvious point. We live in an
age when the younger generation questions
everything, asking why we should care about
how we dress, or how we talk, or why we tithe,
or witness, or attend church. Many churches try
to deal with these questions simply by lowering
their standards in order to draw more people,
but this is the wrong approach. God does want
us to be holy, pure, righteous, and godly;
however, He wants our actions and our service
to flow from a heart captivated and motivated by
a love for Jesus Christ.
Ushers for September 21st
A.M. Jerry Adams
Michael Williams
John Johnson
Elijah Henry
Billy Tyson
Sonny Alvarez
P.M. Ken Triplett
Lamentations 3:22-23
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not
consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy
faithfulness.