Atwood First Baptist Church like a fruitful vine near

We will be holding Revival services at 11:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M next Sunday. We invite you to come join us--and bring friends and family. Kevin Duck will preach, and Bo Chesser and Jake Walker will lead the music at both services. Be prepared for good preaching and good singing that comes from God’s Word and nourishes your soul.

The rain this past week just about got away with itself. Reminds me of the olden days before sophisticated weather reports when it would set in without much warning and rain for two or three days straight. Unless we were good at reading the sky and other weather signs, the weather just changed when it changed and we adjusted accordingly. We still adjust, but we often know to within a couple of hours, or even less, when the rain or snow or heat wave will begin and end.

Shelley Brown brought the music special this week. She played the piano and sang “It Is Well with My Soul.” In her beautiful song, you hear the statement of Christian faith that has been tested and found solid.

Rev. Brown’s message was titled “Beyond the wall” and it was taken from Genesis 49: 22-25 and Acts 9:22-25.

Shortly before he died, Jacob spoke a separate blessing over each of his sons. When he came to Joseph, part of the blessing was that Joseph was like a fruitful vine near a well. His branches ran over the wall…..his [strength] came from God who helped him and blessed him greatly.

Joseph had been in some tight places in his lifetime already. The pit his brothers had thrown him into, the accusations of Potiphar’s wife, and prison. Refusing to harbor bitterness, Joseph’s steadfast faith in God helped him reach over and move outside each set of “walls” that enclosed him and tried to limit him.

If, instead of harboring bitterness, we use our misfortunes to help us know better how to support others, we will be able to reach outside the circumstances that will limit us if we allow it. Further, we can take our blessings and use them to bless our families and others. God wants to bless us and he wants us to be a part of blessing others.

In the New Testament, Paul was serving God and found himself in bad circumstances also. He was preaching the gospel to the Jews in Damascus, but instead of receiving the gospel they plotted to kill him. He learned about it, and the disciples there helped him go over the wall one night by putting him in a basket and letting it down on a rope so that he could escape.

Our walls will not be exactly like Joseph’s or Paul’s, but we can learn much from their faith and faithfulness to God. We can grow like a vine that is planted close to the well of our faith. Circumstances don’t have to limit us because we can grow over and outside their walls.