On January 19, 1776 the Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty was passed…  it took 10 long hard years of lobbying to get this legislation through.   Thomas Jefferson stated that it was the most fiercely contested piece of legislation of his entire political career.    It is this victory that paved the way for the First Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing freedom of worship.   This legislation was fought for and influenced very heavily through Baptist preachers and Baptist congregations.

Some may not know this, but many states in New England had a church/state relationship  (Massachusetts until 1833, Ct. until 1818) which means that the Congregational church was not only state funded… but following religious rules was mandated…  so if you had a new born baby in your family, you were expected (and mandated) to have that child baptized by the Cong. church, whether you believed that way or not.  (see article on Obadiah Holmes )

The history books say this “But justice compels the admission that Jefferson’s part in the First Amendment was not as great as James Madison, because of the fact that he was in France during that period. Neither were the contributions of either or both as important as was that of the humble people called Baptists. The Baptists preached, petitioned, and suffered persecution. God used these humble people to have religious liberty as a fundamental principle of our society in the two great documents mentioned above.”

When we named our church the Tri-State Baptist Church, it is with pride that we identify with a people who fought for and endured persecution for standing on a biblical principle.  When some choose to drop that name and choose not to identify with not only a doctrinal distinction, but a rich history, I am reminded that if everyone chose to do that, we would still be baptizing babies.

I am thankful for serving with a congregation who is not afraid to declare who we are and what we believe.   As someone said…  ”You will never change anything by adding more of the same”.

Pastor

When counseling parents,  I always suggest that they look at much at “attitudes” as they do “actions” of their children.    That is because our attitude is displaying what is going on in our hearts.

There are many times when actions are right, but attitudes are wrong and I caution parents that if they don’t deal with that attitude that they can almost guarantee a rebellious child.  The Bible says this:

(Luke 6:45)  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.

Notice the actions reflecting the attitude.   Many times in the New Testament, we are challenged with a standard such as modest dress or holy living or giving to the work of God, and when those ideas are presented, immediately people want to know what the minimum requirement is to meet God’s standard.

Can I suggest to you this morning that the desire that those questions represent is in itself a warning that there may be a heart problem.   When our children were little, we had to give them specific instructions when we left them alone at home.   Now that they are grown, we don’t have to have “the talk” with them because they already understand what is right and wrong (and I thank the Lord for that).

When the Lord tells us to live Holy lives… do we really need someone to define that for us by telling us what is on the approved list and what is not?  We must come to the place in our Christian life where we recognize that our attitudes is really a reflection of what is going on in our lives.  I am thankful that God deals with us like mature believers, and may our attitudes serve as warning lights in our lives.

Pastor

The bible makes it clear that believers and sheep have a lot of characteristics in common… now I know that this is not the most flattering comparison, but I am sorry to say that it is a valid comparison.   Sheep are know to be cowardly, stubborn and really not very smart in terms of doing things that are not good for them.    So while we may not like the comparison, I don’t believe we can argue with it.

To me, the part that I don’t like is the idea that sheep are dumb… but there is no doubt that sheep follow the crowd, even when the crowd is going the wrong way.    So let’s get to the question… am I smarter than the average sheep?

Consider (Psalms 23:2)  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

The still waters being described here are not the absence of trials in the believers life, it is speaking of sensing a calmness while in the midst of the storm.   There is no doubt that storms are part of every life  (Matthew 7:24-27) the still waters though… are only available to those who willingly follow the Good Shepherd.

Now the test… are you a Smart Sheep? or are you looking for still waters where none can be found?

Pastor