Messages form Rev. Wayne Marcus, Pastor of Tom's Creek

Today's Message

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:41:27 -0400

Today I sit in my seat agonizing in pain and rejoicing in my heart. I am agonizing in pain because my mouth volunteered my body into activities that it is no longer willing or capable of doing. Every year I find that my abilities to play like a teenager are diminishing, yet I have to admit I had a great time Saturday water skiing, swimming and pulling others on the inter-tube. As I stated early, my body aches but my heart rejoices. I rejoice because we have such a great church family, after almost eleven years of serving along side of you as my church family I still get amazed by your love and willingness to minister to others. Last Saturday I was so thankful and proud of the turnout at the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home lake day. The kids had a blast; they were so thankful and already are asking to come back next year. Then on top of all that we did Saturday, we had our family night and VBS kickoff service Sunday evening, with a great turnout and a lot of hard work being done. It is such a blessing to serve along side of you and my prayer is that we will see a lot of kids come to know Christ during our Vacation Bible School. Tammy and I would like to say thank you for the love that you exhibit for Christ Jesus and those in whom He died for. There are a lot of people who talk about loving Jesus, but you show that you love Him through your devotion and commitment to do ministry. May God continue to bless our lives and ministry as we serve Him!

Today's Message

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:18:40 -0400

We had a great Father’s Day and now we turn our attention to the celebration of our Country’s Independence. As Americans we would be amiss if we did not thank God for the freedoms that we have been able to enjoy in America. Not only should we thank God but we should also pray to God that he will give us wisdom to protect our fleeing freedoms. Our freedom of religion, our freedom to bear arms, and our freedom of speech are all under attack and in great jeopardy. Why most Americans are concerned with the economy, one of the most valuable attributes of America is being destroyed; our freedom!
I would like to encourage you to read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights so that you can see how far America has already been drawn away from our freedoms. As Christians we need to understand the urgency of the moment and do all that we can to preach the Gospel before the opposition grows is strength. No matter what happens we will be determined to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, but the door of opportunity that has been opened wide is swiftly closing. Therefore, with urgency and resolve let us do all that we can to spread the gospel around the world starting here at home. As the debauchery of our generation continues to increase pray that our boldness and determination to share the good news of Jesus Christ will grow in an expediential way. May God give us grit, gumption and determination that will help us preserve the fundamental principles this country was founded on.

Today's Message

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:57:56 -0400

What a mighty God we serve! We had a great day Sunday with a great atmosphere of worship and God moved in an amazing way. When God is doing a work it makes going to Church exciting, I am already looking so forward to this coming Sunday as we celebrate Fathers Day and Worship our heavenly Father. Please continue to be in prayer for our mission teams that will be leaving for their different destinations in July and our VBS both at Church and in several of the communities where we will be doing back yard Bible Clubs. If you have not signed up to help in VBS please do so soon so we can get you all prepared and placed in the right job.
As I conclude please remember that as a Christian one of the most valuable things you have to protect is your Christian witness. God called us to be light and salt in this world therefore; we must walk in the fullness of the Spirit and not be defiled or distracted by this world, our flesh, or the principalities and powers of darkness in this world. A Christian without a good testimony is like an axe handle without an axe head, or a ink pen without ink. For you to be used as you were intended you must be a good witness of the power of God almighty to make a real difference in your life. People are watching your life more closely than they are listening to what you are saying, so walk louder than you talk. Souls hang in balance and the way you live your life makes a big difference.

Today's message

Mon, 8 Jun 2009 11:10:42 -0400

Sunday you as a church voted to allow Tammy and me to purchase a home of our own. We would like to thank you from the bottom of our heart for allowing us this privilege. Over the past ten years we have enjoyed the opportunity of living in the house that you have provided for us and are very grateful to have had such a nice home to live in. Yet, now we know it is the right time to try and purchase us a home of our own, I am 42 years old and not getting any younger and need to be buying a home of my own. I have jokingly, and yet seriously said in the past that the pastorium is nice but when I retire or get too old to pastor I know that I will not be allowed to continue to live there. It just makes sense while housing is a buyers market with a lot of tax benefits and low interest rates now is the time to work toward getting a home. We are looking forward to having a place to call our own, to work on, to relax in and yes to have some privacy. I would never have ask you as a Church to consider this if it were only going to benefit me and my family, this will allow the church the opportunity to turn the house into church offices, which will save the church money on utilities. It will be much more efficient to heat and or cool the house through the week than it is to heat and cool the second building of the church. It will also make the church offices much easier to find, and allow us the opportunity of turning the present offices into ground floor Sunday school classes which are desperately needed. This is obviously a win – win situation for both the church and Tammy and I. Of course you have already seen that which is obvious by your 93% approval vote. I just want to write this to say thank you and please know that this will not negatively effect the way I serve you in any way.

Today's Message

Tue, 26 May 2009 09:41:28 -0400

Today is a day of opportunity, although everyday has its own share of evil and adversity each day brings with it great potential for us to give honor to God. When faced with opposition today remember that opposition is opportunity in disguise, problems are platforms for us to trust God and see His mighty hand at work. Does this mean that we are excited about the turbulent times of life; not at all, but they are still going to come! Therefore, let us determine in our hearts to make the most of them, as the ole cliché says “make lemonade out of lemons”. Life has a lot of sour spots in it and those spots are as much a part of life as any other, so in order to get the most out of life we must be determined to get the most out of our problems. As you walk with God today ask Him to help you cease the opportunities that are around you, show people the love of Christ, and do all that you do as unto the Lord. I would like to challenge you to memorize this verse of scripture this week, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” 1 Peter 3:15 (KJV) Living out this verse will change our lives as we prepare ourselves for service to our Lord every day.

Today's Message

Mon, 18 May 2009 09:34:04 -0400

Sunday we talked about the responsibility that we as parents have to teach our children to walk with God during their childhood. Now the question is how do I train my child up in the way that he should go? This coming Sunday morning we will attempt to answer this question with the Word of God. I realize that there are a lot of people who are trying to raise their children up but they are perplexed as to how they are to teach their children biblical principles at an early age. There are so many people in the world trying to tell us how we need to raise our children, and yet so few are seeking the wisdom of the perfect Father. I encourage you to invite all of your family and friends to come this Sunday as we look into the Word of God at how we are to train our children up. We will look at how God told the Children of Israel to teach their children and learn from His instructions.
There has never been anything more important to our families, church, community, state, or nation than this one thing, that we train up our children to walk with God. Our society has become so wicked, and so evil that many people are having second thoughts about even bringing children into this world. As Christians we need to do all that we can to raise up some godly leaders to fight the good fight and lead the church through the perilous waters of the future. Please let us work together to equip the next generation to be godly leaders for heavens sake.

Today's Message

Mon, 11 May 2009 09:22:15 -0400

What does it mean when less than 10% of Christian parents think that “being Godly” or “having faith” is one of the marks of parental success? That means that over 90% of “Christians” believe they can be successful parents without passing on their faith to their own children - those whom they love more than anyone else. Research also shows that 83% of parents believe that they are the main spiritual influences on their children, but 48% (almost half) of them do not consider their own faith as an important influence in their parenting. This means they recognize their influence, but don’t see their faith as a priority in parenting. No wonder we are in such a state of confusion and failure when it comes to raising our children in the faith. Think about it, we have a real dilemma on our hands. We bring our children to church at least sporadically as long as football, basketball, baseball, band or the other 20 activities are not jeopardized, at least until they get out of high school then usually they are gone for about 4-7 years. Then they sometimes come back bringing their broken lives and hurt seeking help and the Lord and, as we ought to do, we wrap our arms around them and do our best to help them get straightened out. Why do we lose so many of our young people when they graduate high school? Why is it that they seem to turn away from their faith and fall into folly? I think it is because their belief is not theirs but rather ours; they have never owned what they believed and to be honest never really understood what they supposedly believe. I think it is safe to say if you don’t know what you believe you really don’t believe it but rather accept it until it is challenged. So over the next few weeks we will be looking at ways to help our children develop a belief system that is theirs. Therefore I challenge you to make coming to Church a priority in your life so you can learn from God’s Word how to be a better parent.

Today's Message

Mon, 4 May 2009 10:51:00 -0400

This coming Sunday we will be celebrating Mother’s Day which is a wonderful way to let women know they are honored, loved, and appreciated. The origins of Mother's Day can be traced back as far as the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The Romans would honor the goddess, Cybele, who they believed to be the mother of all the gods. The Romans would present offerings in Cybele's honor. The Greeks had a similar pattern as they would dedicate spring festivals to their goddess, Rhea, who much like the Romans goddess, was the mother of several other gods. The act of honoring mother figures spread throughout the world as Christians honored Mary, the mother of Jesus, on the fourth Sunday which occurred during the observance of Lent. The act of honoring mothers soon came to America by way of a woman named Anna Jarvis. Jarvis had a desire to better her community and as a means of doing so, instigated 'Mother's Work Day', as a time to celebrate mothers who had to work in order to provide the means of taking care of their families. After Jarvis' death, her daughter, also bearing the name Anna, carried on her mother's work. Jarvis' daughter sought to further the steps her mother had laid out and campaigned in an effort to honor the life of the elder Jarvis. Resulting from this, by 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed a bill that instated Mother's Day as an official holiday, and one to be recognized by the nation. Now, every year on the second Sunday in May, sons, daughters, and husbands, across the country honor the special women in their lives. Mother's Day is an excellent opportunity to let moms know that all their love, hard work, and self sacrifice pays off, and letting them know they are appreciated and valued, is of great importance. Join us at Church this coming Sunday as we honor our Mothers and thank God for them.

Today's Message

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:52:26 -0400

As the summer heat rolls in and the sun begins to shine in all of its power there is always the need to indentify what is proper attire for church. Over the last ten years I have tried faithfully to do this without offending or hurting anyone. It is my prayer that every person reading this understands that when I talk about proper church attire I am not talking about the cost of the clothing or the quality of the clothing, Church is not to be a place where people are looked down on due to the value of their clothes. When we discuss proper church attire we are talking about what is considered morally decent to wear to Church. Understanding that Toms Creek is a growing Church with new people added almost weekly it is important that we be reminded of the Church dress code; the dress code states “that no one over eight years old can wear shorts or bermuda shorts at church except when participating in athletic activities.” Now allow me to take this a step forward, as your pastor I would like to ask you to use Biblical guidelines in determining what to wear to Church. Allow me to share a verse of scripture with you that will help you understand what the Bible teaches about proper attire, and please remember this is not just for church, this is for life in general. “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works” 1 Tim 2:9-10 (KJV) When reading this verse it is important to remember that the Apostle Paul was writing to young Timothy who was a pastor to equip him in the leading of his people to dress properly. This means that God is concerned with the way we dress and the way we present ourselves in public. Please read over this verse this week and come to Church next Sunday night as I will be preaching on this verse and explaining it in great detail. Parents you will want to have your sons and daughters there as this will help them understand why what they wear is so important to their future.