The Buckner Baptist Beacon Ye are the light of the world. – Matthew 5:14

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like an immovable mountain, Zerubbabel thought. But now with God at work he knew he could finish the temple.

The final words of the prophecy jolted him. "Do not despise the day of small things. Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel" (vs. 10).

He had despised that early start. How weak, how insignificant, how naive he had been. Yet, in spite of all that, God had been in those beginnings.

How often our efforts for God are attacked by the enemy. We can get so discouraged we don't even want to try again. But God delights in taking the insignificant and making something out of it. Down through history we can see the pattern: • Moses' rod that delivered

a nation from Egypt (Exodus 4:1-9),

• The jawbone of an ass that in Samson's hand killed a thousand Philistines (Judges 15:14-16),

• Five smooth stones that felled the giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17),

• The handful of meal and a jar of oil that sustained a widow through years of

Volume 1 Number 30 Sunday October 12, 2014 Ye are the light of the world. – Matthew 5:14

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I remember the excitement in my boyhood neighborhood when somebody began to build a large home on a vacant lot at the end of our street. A concrete truck rolled up to pour foundations, and for several days we could hear the sound of vigorous pounding as carpenters framed the walls. Then everybody left. I never knew why. Not another nail was pounded. The frame stood winter and summer--as long as I lived there--a house of sticks and little more.

Some of God's projects stall, too. Five centuries before Jesus was born, the Israelites returned from exile to find Jerusalem in ruins and their beloved temple destroyed. With great enthusiasm they set about rebuilding it. However, Zerubbabel the governor, got little farther than laying the foundation before opposition set in. Neighbors fought the project tooth and nail, finally succeeding in getting a restraining order to halt construction (Ezra 4). Enemies mocked. Supporters became discouraged. For years the site stood silent.

Failure. Zerubbabel felt like a failure. Oh, there were plenty of other things to do.

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Zerubbabel set to work building his own wood-paneled home. But his grand dream had fizzled.

He was probably like the rest of us when failure looms. What little self-confidence we have ebbs away. We seal ourselves from more pain by denial. We meet further effort with skepticism. We protect ourselves from getting our hopes too high again. We look at the ground rather than the sky, at the past rather than the future.

And then one day a man of God, Zechariah, began to speak words that pierced Zerubbabel to the heart and filled him with fresh hope: "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel," came the message. "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty." Zerubbabel could feel his heart pounding as the message continued. "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!' The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple, his hands will also complete it" (Zechariah 4:6-7).

The project had seemed

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famine (2 Kings 4:1-7), • Five barley loaves and a

couple of fish that fed a multitude (Matthew 14:13-21), and

• The mustard seed Jesus said would become a great tree for birds to find shelter (Matthew 13:31-32).

What little thing, what dream, what false start, have you despised? Your church, your Bible study, your hopes of ministry for Christ? Do you despise your failures? Don't. Surrender them to the God who delights in taking human weakness and showing His strength. Take another look at your discarded dreams, this time through God's eyes:

"Not by might, not by power, but my Spirit says the Lord Almighty" (Zechariah 4:6). Oh, by the way. When I went back to my old neighborhood, someone had finished that house at the end of the street. It's beautiful.

Don’t Despise the Day of Small Things - Dr Ralph Wilson

The Buckner Baptist Beacon Sunday October 12, 2014

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I slowly pulled up to the four way stop sign and brought the car to a stop. I waited for the light to change. Yes, you read that right. I waited for the light to change. As I waited I suddenly realized that there was no light. It was a stop sign. Thankfully no cars were behind me.

My mind was somewhere else and my thinking was so clouded and fuzzy that I was not focused on the driving. Fatigue does strange things to the human mind.

Go ahead and laugh. It’s all right. I say go ahead and laugh because you have probably done things just as ridiculous.

Focus is necessary. Sometimes life is like a camera that is out of focus. The picture we get from life is blurred and uncertain. It may even make life look ridiculous.

Being out of focus in our relationship with God and one another is a very dangerous thing. It leads to warped thinking and blurred relationships. It leads to establishing the wrong priorities in life and it also leads to the failure

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to see ourselves and life through God’s eyes.

I know that you are busy. We all are. Life continues to pound us with expectations and voices keep demanding more and more. The faster we go the more out of focus life becomes.

This reminds me of the passage in Hebrews 12:2 where the writer states, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith….” He is describing the race of life and the importance of focusing our eyes on Christ Who is our Finish Line.

When we lose focus, our vision of Christ is blurred and our sight of Him is lost in a background of sights, sounds, and circumstances. We are uncertain of the race we are running and we become distracted by pressures. We lose perspective and we lose our joy.

Losing focus means that our mind is a million miles away from the Lord. Losing focus also means that we see one another in ways that are

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critical and unhealthy. Being out of focus results in anxiety and uncertainty as to how to deal with the problems of life.

An important truth to grab on to is that being out of focus is a choice. We surrender to the pressures that say we must hurry. We go along with the fast pace of life. We move the Lord from the top of the list of priorities and replace Him with jobs, demands, and activities. We replace the Best with what is merely good. The key is that the Lord requires first place in our lives.

Here is good news. We still have a choice. If life has become a blur and we are out of focus God has a way for us to be in focus. Choosing to repent and to return to the Lord and His Word is the most important choice we can make.

Maybe you are sitting at a stop sign waiting for the light to change. You will never move ahead until your heart is focused on Christ. A church can sit at the stop sign waiting for the light to change. There is no progress or real ministry until the congregation chooses the change of returning to Christ.

Good news! He stands at the finish line cheering for us. He is on our side.

Prayer List

Joe Garrison Shannon Jones Knee Surgery Lee Hobbs

Karen Hollon Jackie Robbins’ cousin

Joyce Faught Linda Drake’s sister

Pauline Estes Paul Pannell Gene Payton

Sharon Pennington Lynn Robbins Lee Laizure

Keith Edwards Letticia Reeves Nola’s daughter

Christopher Ross Nola’s grandson

Margaret Taylor Pat Rogers

Becky Walker Pam McCormick

Bill & Vivian Hancock’s daughter Jimmy Don Shepherd

Jean Sorenson Leslie Reeves

Linda Drake’s daughter Jim Wright

Brother passed away Ted & Charlene Doke

Phil Misenheimer Complications from back surgery

Mack Graves Hospice Care

Don & Connie Dunnington Brother and sister in law of Pauline

Smith Lana Wood

Dennis Walker Friend of Roger Wilson

Trey Williams Patti Dutton

Margie Shepherd

The Pastor’s Pen

Stop Signs and Stop Lights

Sunday October 12, 2014 The Buckner Baptist Beacon

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The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

- Proverbs 29:25

As the world becomes increasingly seductive with its various religious cults and belief systems that contradict what the Holy Bible teaches, it is time to renew or minds and hearts with what saith the Word of God. One need not wonder any longer what God expects of His creation after studying these inspired words and then learning to apply them.

In these last days we are experiencing an explosion of evil that is vomiting its vile into our homes through TV, movies, and internet access! We no longer have the sense of security and freedom we crave when bombarded with violence and destruction. It seems the world has gone mad with calling what is good, evil and what is evil, good!

Can anything be done

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to change the direction of this evil progression? Are we prepared to ‘take a stand’ and hold firmly to what God has given us through the power of the Holy Spirit? These are questions that can be answered through the promises found in Scripture. In I John 4:4 we read, “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” As Christians, we must claim this power given to us to become overcomers!

Allowing others to see Christ’s love shine in our lives will bring suffering on different levels. His Divine Power and Holy Attributes will conflict with those that are prevalent in our society and world today. Therefore, we must be prepared to the uttermost in order to successfully live the life God intended. II Corinthians 12:9 tells us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Our strength is to trust and obey Him! I Peter 5:10 says this to encourage us, “But the God of all grace, who

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hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

Our soul can be secure in God’s protection regardless of what evil may befall. In Matthew 10:28 we read, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:” In I Peter 4:19 reveals, “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”

“Are Ye Able? Said the Master,” is the title of a song written in 1925 by Earl Marlatt, a Professor of Religion, for a consecration service at the Boston University School of Religious Education. The words convey a thoughtful summary of Matthew 20:22 and Galatians 2:20.

“Are ye able,” said

the Master, “ To be crucified with

Me?” Lord, we are able –

our spirits are Thine; Re mold them – make

us like Thee, divine: Thy guiding radiance

above us shall be A beacon to God, to

love, and loyalty.

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Eye of Faith

Have you been crushed by some bitter experience. I Believe when God wants us to do an impossible task, He takes an impossible man and crushes him. Perhaps God is crushing you, to perform an impossible task. Perhaps you feel your life is laying in ashes at your feet. remember God is in the business of picking up the pieces of our lives and putting them back together again. He is the God of second chances, so whatever your wounds have been caused by, God can heal and restore your life. He wants to replace your tears with smiles and transform your struggles into success. All you must do is trust Him by the "Eye of faith."

-Ginny Smith Article Source:

http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

Words of Wisdom - Mary Mitchell

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

- Proverbs 25: 11

The Buckner Baptist Beacon Sunday October 12, 2014

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which would best suit the specific needs of our children, youth, and young adults. Everyone on the Education Team is urged to attend. Supper will be provided for those who will be participating.

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Education Team Meeting

On Wednesday,

October 22, the Education Team will be meeting at 5:45 P.M. in the Fellowship Hall. Discussion will involve Wednesday Night curriculum needed for Preschool through Young Adult Discipleship Training. Several educational programs will be presented to determine

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captain!” Soon another message

was received: “Alter your course 10 degrees north – I am seaman third class Jones.”

Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: “Alter your course 10 degrees south – I am a battle ship.”

Then the reply came: “Alter your course 10 degrees north – I am a lighthouse.”

In the midst of our dark and foggy times, all sorts of voices are shouting orders into the night, telling us what to do, how to adjust our lives. Out of the darkness, one voice signals something quite opposite to the rest – something almost absurd. But the voice happens to be the Light of the World, and we ignore it at our peril.

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We sometimes fear to bring our troubles to God, because they must seem so small to Him who sitteth on the circle of the earth. But if they are large enough to vex and endanger our welfare, they are large enough to touch His heart of love.

- R.A. Torrey

The Christian life is about relationships, not performance.

If our perfect Lord

is gracious enough to take our worst, and ugliest, our most boring, our least successful, and forgive them, burying them in the depths of the sea, then it’s high time we give each other a break.

- Chuck Swindoll Some people think

they are bearing their cross when they are only putting up with themselves.

A man usually has

two reasons for what he does – a good reason and the real one.

- J. Pierpont Morgan

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The Lordship of Christ

The captain of a ship

looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message: “Alter your course 10 degrees south.”

Promptly a return message was received: “Alter your course 10 degrees north.”

The captain was angered; his command had been ignored. So he sent a second message: “Alter your course 10 degrees south – I am the

The Buckner Baptist Beacon Is a ministry of

The Buckner Baptist Church 2780 Wyman Road Fayetteville, AR

72701 479-445-6088

Larry F Mitchell, PhD, Pastor

4229 E Huntsville Rd Fayetteville, AR 72701

479-283-8995 lfmitchell@cox.net

Sunday School 10:00 AM

Sunday Morning Worship 11:00 AM Sunday Evening Worship 6:00 PM

Wednesday Evening 7:00 PM

Calendar

Sunday October 12 • 10:00 AM Sunday School • 11:00 AM Worship • 5:00 PM Brotherhood and

Ladies’ Auxiliary Meetings • 6:00 PM Worship

Monday October 13 • 6:30 PM Women’s Bible

Study Wednesday October 15 • 7:00 PM Prayer Meeting &

Bible Study Thursday October 16 • 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Clinical Pastoral Education Sunday October 19 • 10:00 AM Sunday School • 11:00 AM Worship • Fellowship Dinner

Following Worship • 6:00 PM Worship • Business Meeting Following

Worship Monday October 20 • 6:30 PM Women’s Bible

Study Wednesday October 22 • 7:00 PM Prayer Meeting &

Bible Study Thursday October 23 • 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Clinical Pastoral Education Sunday October 26 • 10:00 AM Sunday School • 11:00 AM Worship • 6:00 PM Worship Saturday December 6 • Ladies Auxiliary Christmas

Fellowship and Ornament Exchange

Sunday December 14 • 6:00 PM Christmas Program