What does it mean to have joy or even to rejoice? Romans 12:12 tells us that a Christian will rejoice in hope. What does that mean? In the sermon Marks of a True Christian: Joy we take a look at what the language means and how it is true that a Christian can be joy full even in the midst of horrific tragedy.

May God Bless you as you listen:

On October 11 I travelled with David Axt to the Vogel State Park in Dahlonega/Blairsville Georgia. We arrived later than anticipated. It was 7:30 pm and dark. We set up the tent and unloaded what we would need for the evening. That night as we slept the temperature decreased to a brisk 38 degrees. It was great. I woke uo slightly chilled. I had wore shorts so it took a bit of manning up to tolerate the temperature.

While we were eating breakfast I saw a deer a short distance behind the tent. David watched with me. Soon we saw another. That was pretty neat seeing deer as we ate. We broke camp and drove to a parking lot at the base of Blood Mountain. Blood Mountain is the highest elevation in the state of Georgia. It rises about 4500 feet. David and I were determined to summit the mountain.

We started climbing a trail that I cannot remember the name of. This trail intersected the Appalachian Trail and I began to realize a least a portion of a dream I have had to walk the Appalachian Trail. From the entry to the trail from the parking area to where we eventually would summit the mountain was 1400 feet. I estimate that the incline ranged from flat to 20 degrees. The length of the trail we took up was 2.7 miles and so you can imagine climbing 1400 feet elevation over a 2.7 mile trail.

Once we arrived at the top I was dumbfounded, awestruck, paralyzed, and every other word that can be used to describe the feeling of having your breath taken away and having no desire to move another step. David and I just sort of looked and took it all in. There was photos taken. I took some video. We made a snack out of some Nutty Bars and Trailmix and reluctantly began to descend the mountain. I am not sure that I can describe with words the things I saw. I hope to put some of the photos and video online as soon as I can get home to do it. Till then the best I can do is to tell you I saw what I imagined was sample of the grandeur of an Earth created new and what Heaven will be like.

My day did get more interesting on the 12th. After we left the Appalachians David and I travelled to the Men's conference here in Cohutta Springs. On the way we passed through Ellijay, Georgia. Ellijay is in the midst of their Apple Harvest Festival and we just had to stop. Oh Boy! If you ever get the chance to break away from the usual day to day routine of life and need something to do in October you must consider coming to North Georgia, see the sites, and experience the festivals. After a brief stop and a fried apple pie David and I continued our journey to the Men's Conference here in Cohutta. I am proud to be able to represent the fine conference of Florida here and to encourage the men of Georgia as they endeavor to grow their Men's Ministry.

God Bless

This sermon is taken from Romans 12:11. In the delivery of this sermon I wanted people to recognize that worship is a lifestyle not a weekend event. In the sermon I give an appeal. The congregation responded to the appeal and everyone reached out to someone else some even to people they never associated with. We prayed for about five minutes and then closed the worship service.

Wow so I have noticed I have not updated in a bit. So here is why... Golf, fishing, reading, and experimental cooking. Not to mention I am really good at forgetting to do things. So in order to set things right I will post today and hopefully will remember to post tomorrow to get the sermons in the appropriate order and be caught up.

The sermon I will post first is taken from Romans 12:10. In the text we find the description of a true Christian and what a true Christian is like. In the sermon you will hear me offer the congregation an opportunity to honor someone that is in our midst. I gave that appeal at 12:15. We didn't get out of the worship service until 1:30. There was a lot of tears, a lot of hugging, and a lot of people expressing to others just how important they are and I feel like we made one more step closer to being what Jesus intended for church to be.

Here is the sermon God Bless