God’s Plan of Salvation 
(Song Service)

Baxter T. Exum (#1731)
Four Lakes Church of Christ
Madison, Wisconsin
April 14, 2024

Good morning and welcome to the Four Lakes Church of Christ! We are glad you are here, and if you are visiting this morning or joining us online or on the phone, we are glad to have you with us as well. We’d like to ask that you fill out a visitor card online if you can, or you can use one of the cards from the pew in front of you. Whatever works for you, we would love to hear from you, and we invite you to pass along any questions or prayer concerns.

We are here this morning to worship God, and we plan on doing that today by reading from the word of God and by singing together as well as by partaking of the Lord’s Supper. We are putting the order of worship on the right-hand side of the slides up here, and as you can see, we are focusing on God this morning – he is worthy of praise, he created us, he loves us, and he cares for us. But in addition to reading from the word and singing to God and to one another, we also honor God by preaching the good news. The good news is that God loves us so much that he sent his Son to this earth to die for our sins. We were lost, separated from God as a result of sin, but Jesus gave his life for us on the cross, he was buried, and he was raised up alive on the third day. We obey this good news by believing the message, by turning away from sin, by publicly stating our belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and by being buried with him in baptism. And we do have six examples to share this morning, starting with another update from the church in Honolulu, Hawaii. They simply say, “Rejoice church! Another soul has come home to Jesus. Isaac made the decision to put on Christ in baptism. Praise God!”

This next one comes to us from Paul Holland, a friend who preaches in Swartz Creek, Michigan. He posted this week and he says that “Pat Vargas was baptized into Christ today for the forgiveness of her sins. We are also thankful that Janet Meade brought Pat to worship with her a few months ago. It all started when a Christian said, ‘Will you come worship with me?’ There are about half a dozen more Bible studies going on. Pray for more fruit.” So good to see it!

This next one comes from the Lord’s church down in Paintsville, Kentucky. They posted a few days ago, and they say, “What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Rejoice with us! There is joy in the presence of the angels! Everyone welcome our new brother in Christ, Joseph Ford Burchett. Joseph obeyed the gospel by being baptized for the remission of sins and the Lord added him to His church (Acts 2:38-47).” They then quote Acts 22:16, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” He is pictured with his girlfriend and member of the Paintsville church of Christ, Isabella Stephens, a soul-winner.”

This next one comes from Joey Ferrell, a friend who spent the last week or so preaching in a village in Costa Rica. He posted a few days ago saying that “...the Lord added Isaac to the church! We have a new brother in Upala! What a joyous day with another precious soul also repenting of sin and being restored! To God be the glory!” In other posts, he says that the temp has been in the mid to upper 90’s down there, with heavy rain some days. They have no air conditioning, and people were coming to the meeting on bikes, on foot, and on the bus. But good things are being done down there. I love their baptistery setup! It looks like their worship facility is open (on the left), with the baptistery right outside. Very interesting!

This next one comes from Edmund Borfay, who preaches in Monrovia, Liberia. He says that the “Center Monrovia Church saw a new growth today. Seven precious souls obeyed Jesus.”

And this last one comes to us from Yuri, who preachers in Warsaw,  Poland. Yuri says, “Today we have a joyful event in the Church.  Victor and Camilla acquired the Heavenly Father and the Church as Spiritual family. I am very encouraged by the words of Jesus, who said that he would not leave us orphans. Victor and Camilla obeyed the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark 16:15-16). Both are refugees and orphans from Ukraine. Victor is from Poltava and Camilla is from Kharkiv. Praise the Lord!”

As always, we share these by way of encouragement: If you would like to study God’s plan for your life, if you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch using the contact information on the wall up here (or on your screen at home). If you are joining us on the phone, you can send a text or give me a call at 608-224-0274. As we begin this morning, Caleb will lead us in a song to help prepare our hearts for the Lord’s Supper…

To comment on this lesson: fourlakeschurch@gmail.com