John 6:25-26, And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them and said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat the loaves, and were filled.

Jesus had just fed thousands of people and those same people came searching for him the next day. They didn’t come because they realized he was the Saviour, they came because their tummies had been filled. Their motives was selfishness!

I’m gonna ask you the same question I asked myself this morning! Why do you seek God? Is it to get close to him, or deep down is it because you selfishly want something from him?

To tell you the truth I’ve done both. This is what I’ve come to realize. All I need is God. I must seek his face daily and try to live for him! As I live for him he provides everything I need! The problem arises when a person isn’t satisfied with their needs simply being met, they want that and a whole lot more.

Seek God with all you heart and allow Him to take care of you, your family and friends! He can do a better job at it than you can!

And the angel said to them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Isn’t it wonderful to see a little baby come into this cold, cruel world, and your heart goes out to him; there is sympathy that goes from you to him.

This is exactly the way Jesus entered the world. He could have entered as the King of Kings but He came in the form of a helpless little child so that you and I could accept Him into our hearts as Lord and Saviour.

The first time He came, He came in the weakest way possible, as a baby. The second time He comes, He’ll come in power and great glory!

Since I’ve been born, I’ve received some pretty fantastic gifts on Christmas morning, but the greatest gift I’ve ever received is Jesus Christ on a Sunday morning at Bristol Baptist Church in Bristol, Georgia!

John 6:16-20, And when even was now come, his disciples went down to the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea to Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.

And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the water, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. But he said unto them, It is I; be not afraid.

Jesus came to the disciples in the mist of a dangerous storm. I have two friends in the mist of a storm. Both have been given a short time to live. They both live in Oklahoma City and they’ve been placed in Assisted Living Facilities!

I do understand their spirits are high during this time. One will be gone soon, and the other has been given six months to live. You might wonder how in the world can they be in a jolly mood knowing they’ll be gone soon. The reason being is Jesus is with them in the shadow of death.

Please pray for Rusty and Ed. Please pray for their wives, kids, grand kids and friends for it’s those who seem to struggle with the fact that their loved ones are dying! They’ll be home soon, in the midst of their Saviour. In this we find great comfort!

Once upon a time Jesus and his disciples were out on a mountain with 5,000 men including their wives and children. It was time to eat so Jesus told his disciples to feed the people.

They didn’t have money to buy enough groceries to feed the crowd so one of his disciples said, “Lord, there is a lad here who has five loaves of bread and two small fish!

Jesus had the people sit down in an orderly manner and he took the bread and gave thanks. He then gave it to his disciples and they gave it to the people. Everyone ate until their tummies were about to pop. After they’d finished, they gathered twelve baskets full of food.

Impossible you say! Nothing is impossible with Jesus. You see, what you need in this equation is what McGee calls the Mathematics of a Miracle! You need Jesus. I tell you, if you have the five loaves of bread, plus the two fish, plus Jesus, then you’ve got something. Without HIM you have nothing at ALL!

What we have is the Lords. Our money, our positions and our talents all belong to Him. We just need to allow him to do with it and us as he pleases! Serve the Lord with gladness during this holiday season!

It’s Tebow Time! It’s Tim Tebow this and Tim Tebow that. I know that many of you are fed up with hearing about Tim Tebow. It’s true, he’s not the most talented quarterback on the face of Gods green earth. He doesn’t throw a perfect spiral and he doesn’t always make the right decisions.

Millions of youngsters look up to him and that irrates the fool out of many of you. Let me say this, “I like the young man!” He’s a Christian and he’s trying to live for our Lord in a sport that hardly mentions Christ at all.

He’s a fine example for our kids. Deion Sanders said, “Tim Tebow will let the world know about his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!” Another commentator said, “Tim Tebow told him that he prays that God wouldgive him the strength to give Him the glory at the end of every game, win or lose!”

As Christians, lets stop bashing Tim Tebow, He’s attempting to give honor and glory to our Lord in a world living in darkness! I pray he’ll continue to keep his eyes on Jesus just like I should!

I root for him because of who he stands for, not because of the game he plays.  He stands for Jesus and I support him because of that 100 percent! Let’s give God glory and honor today for who he is and what he’s doing in our lives!

On December 21, 1954 Herbert and Faye Wright announced the birth of their two children, Gene and Jan. Gene was born first and five minutes later Jan arrived.

Gene and Jan are like night and day. Gene is loud and Jan is quite! Gene is athletic and Jan is not! Gene is tall and Jan is short! As a matter of fact they don’t look like twins at all, Gene got all the looks. Just kidding!

There is another major difference. Gene was saved at the age of 16 and Jan has never accepted the Lord! I do know prayer changes things. Please pray for my sister, she doesn’t have any contact with her brothers and sister which is her choice.

Pray today that the Holy Spirit would convict her of sin so that she might come to know Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour.

It’s true, it’s my physical birthday but I praise God in heaven for saving a sinner like me at the age of 16 at Bristol Baptist Church in Bristol, Georgia! The Bible says let our lips praise the Lord! Let’s give Him praise, honor and glory today for his redeeming love and grace!

Once upon a time there was a woman who lived in Samaria. One day she went to Jacob’s well to draw water. A man named Jesus was there and he was thirsty. He struck up a conversation with her which shocked his disciples.

During their conversation she realized Jesus was the Messiah. She ran back into town telling the men to come and see the man who told her everything she’d every done!

The men ran out to see and because of her testimony some of the men whom she’d been shacking with came to know Jesus. The Bible says a great company was reached in Samaria through this woman with the “shady” past!

Today many people are lead to Christ through the influence of others. Having an influence on others is important but don’t let it end there. See to it that the person you’re influencing comes to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour!

John 4:39, And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that every I did!

I know most of you have never seen our Christmas Tree. It’s fake, it doesn’t give off any odor and I don’t have to water it. It’s a plain Jane tree and there’s nothing special about it until you decorate the dude.

Once a year we get it out of the attic, take it out of the box, set it up and then we proceed to put all the ornaments and lights on the tree. After this small task is done I put the finishing touch on the tree which is a beautiful star on top!

Once the star is in place we plug her up and this fake tree that puts out no odor becomes a thing of beauty.

I was thinking, I’m a lot like that tree. There’s nothing special about me. I’m just an old farm boy from the State of Georgia. I’m losing my hair, I have to wear glasses and I’m on the final stretch in life to heaven.

What makes me special and you special is the light that lives inside us. Jesus is that light and he wants to shine through you today to a lost and dying world who needs Him!

Remember, you are the light of the world, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden!

Last Friday night I had the privilege of going to do Darrington Prison in Rosharon, Texas to do a program for the prisoners and their families.  I knew many of these men from last year.

While there I met a man who told me he was up for parole in 2037. He told me he was in for life but he’d been saved a year earlier and now he was walking with the Lord.

This man is guilty and he’s been condemned with no hope of getting out! Let’s say someone decided to offer him a pardon so that he could be set free. He’d take that pardon in a heart beat so that he could be with his family and friends. If he didn’t we’d consider him down right crazy!

Our position is something like a man who is in prison being asked whether or not we want a pardon. We’re not on trial because we are condemned already, we are guilty of sin.  Jesus offers each person a pardon. Will you accept the pardon? The gospel is preached to save those who are lost. Because of Jesus we can be set free from the bondage of sin!

John 3:17, For sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved!

Have you ever tried to be something you’re not? Let me illustrate! Someone says to you, “How’s it going today?” and you say, “It’s going great, but deep down you’re a miserable wretch!” Or, they might ask, “How’s business going?” and you say, “Oh, business is booming!”  but if the truth me known your business is about to go bankrupt!

Mask, we hid behind them all the time and refuse to take them off until we get home behind closed doors.

We can fool others by hiding behind different mask but we can’t fool God. When we come to God we’ve got to come to him just as we are realizing that he knows all and sees all! God loves you and he doesn’t want you to play games with him. When you meet with God this morning, be honest and be yourself!