West Salem Baptist Church

(1Cor. 16:1) “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”                1)  The Command of Giving – “as I have given order to the churches” 2)  The Time of Giving – “Upon the first day of the week”  (Sunday) 3)  The Purpose of Giving – “collection for the saints” (for missions and saints) 4)  The Participants of Giving – “let everyone of you”  “so do ye” 5)  The Amount of Giving – “as God hath prospered him”    (Pr. 3:9)  “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase :”    

(1Thess. 5:18) “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” It has been said that the happiest people in the world are those that are thankful. They are happy because they have learned the secret of trusting in the Lord in every circumstance of life. If we by faith come to the place where we believe that everything happens for a purpose (Rom. 8:28), then we will be able to thank the Lord even when the bad times come our way. For some reason, some believers have bought into the idea that if we are faithful then only good things will happen to us, but God wants us to know that both good and bad happen to all men alike. The difference between those who are thankful and those who are not, is simply in their ability to understand God’s Word, believe it, and trust in it no matter what. Thank God for all the good things that happen to us in this life, but also thank God that when the bad times do come we have the promises of God’s Word to comfort...

(Proverbs 29:18) “Where there is no vision, the people perish:…” In this verse it is apparent that having “no vision” causes people to perish. The vision implied here is “ hearing from God.” To hear from God in the Bible, two things are necessary. 1) A prophet . A man who was chosen by God to give man God’s message. 2) The message or vision itself . God only gave His visions to prophets who would share them correctly.  Not having God’s message not only causes the unsaved to die and go to Hell, but it also causes believers to fall away. The word “perish” means to “go back to a place of wasting.” When any man is neglected the hearing of  God’s Word, he will end up in a place of wasting, but the 2 nd half of the above verse is also true; “but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” 3) Obedience to God’s vision brings “happiness” or blessings . When any man hears God’s law (or vision) and obeys it, a blessing is promised to him. God’s blessing is only available to those w...