Old Fort Baptist Church

The Giver's Gift

No doubt you have heard the songs of the season on your radio or in the shopping mall because it’s that time of the year. As one of the most famous melodies reminds us, “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas Everywhere I Go.” Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. Today, Pastor Eric Lethco begins a short series of messages called THE GREAT GIVER. It fits right in as we think about what we will give each other as gifts for under the tree or the office party or just as a way to express our love for someone near and dear to us. The act of giving actually goes back a lot farther than we may realize. In Romans 6:23, we read The gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Pastor Eric’s message will help us see that God has been pouring gifts on us since the beginning of time and it’s only right that we should do what God has done and give back. As we understand more about THE GREAT GIVER, let us find more ways to follow THE GIVER’S EXAMPLE.

How’s your Thanksgiving history? Since this is the time of year we gather together to ask the Lord’s blessings, let’s just see how much we really know. The English colonists we call Pilgrims celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion. These were days filled with prayer and not with feasting. That came later. Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. Today, Associate Pastor Randy Sorrow will be sharing a Thanksgiving message from Psalm 107:21-22. Now, back to the history lesson for just a moment…in 1621 the Wampanoag Indians and the Pilgrims celebrated together for the colony’s first successful harvest on “Turkey Day.” From there, we have what we have today. But what Pastor Randy will share with us is a true THANKSGIVING FROM THE HEART. It will give us an opportunity to look inside ourselves. Are we living a thankful life? It is said history reveals itself in those who keep it alive. Maybe today, your history lesson will be a revelation. We invite you to open your copy of God’s Word and join with us for our THANKSGIVING FROM THE HEART.

We live in an area where military operations are no stranger to us. Having one of the largest Joint Forces installations with the Air Force and Navy in our front yard and the Army and Marine Corps close by we know what it means to carry out orders. Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. Today, Pastor Eric Lethco concludes his discipleship series READY, SET, GO, with his message A CLEAR DIRECTIVE. He’ll be reading from Matthew, chapter 10. In these passages, the twelve apostles are identified and Jesus gives them clear instructions…or directives on what needs to be done. He spells out the mission, outlines the method, issues a warning and promises a victory. Anytime there is a battle before us, there must be a plan. And that’s exactly what Pastor Eric will share with us in this CLEAR DIRECTIVE. So, open your Bible and join with us as, together, we all get READY, get SET and GO.

Some of you may not be old enough to remember a cultural icon from World War II. Her name…well, listen to this song clip and see if it helps any. (Rosie the Riveter clip) Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. Today, Pastor Eric Lethco takes a break from his discipleship series READY, SET, GO to respond to a strong call to share a message following the presidential election. It’s called AMERICA: What Next? Rosie the Riveter became a household name in 1942. During the Second World War, women had to take a different place in society in factories as assembly line workers doing their part in the American war effort. Pastor Eric will be reading from 1 Peter 2:13-17 in today’s message. In verse thirteen, we find these words. “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men.” Given the election, what do we do now? We will learn to be just like Rosie by taking up the Godly tools we need to pray for, sacrificially support and share our faith with our country. Why? Because this is still ONE NATION UNDER GOD!

Educational experts call it disambiguation. That’s because they are experts. But those of us that played it at recess many years ago called it something else. The idea of the game was to do exactly what the person at the head of the line did or we were out. Disambiguation? Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. Today, Pastor Eric Lethco continues his discipleship series READY, SET, GO and will call it exactly what it is…FOLLOW THE LEADER. He’ll be reading from 1 John 4:1-6 which contains a very familiar passage of scripture I’m sure we have all heard before. It’s in verse four and says “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world.” When those words were written in Ephesus by the Apostle John many years ago, God knew they would still ring true to this very day. The world would have us believe in a lot of fancy words and try to get us to march to the drumbeat of several different drummers. So open your Bible and let’s GET READY, GET SET and GO as we FOLLOW THE one true LEADER together.

In the King James translation of the Bible, there is a word that appears 247 times. In other translations, such as the New American Standard Bible or the New International Version, you will see this word almost 400 times. It must be a pretty important word. What do you suppose it is? Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. Pastor Eric Lethco continues his discipleship series READY, SET, GO with the word for today…FAITH. The text for the message comes from Luke 9:12-17. It’s a familiar passage about twelve disciples, around five thousand men, five loaves of bread, two fish and one God…the perfect combination for a late afternoon picnic. 2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us “We live by faith, not by sight” and “without faith it is impossible to please God” says Hebrews 11:6. So you see, faith is a very important word and that’s why Pastor Eric shares today’s message LEARNING TO LIVE BY FAITH. Open your Bible and join with us as we all get READY, get SET and GO.

October is the time of the year when many churches have fall festivals filled with different games, rides and lots of fun. One of the newer games I enjoy watching involves children running a race with a bungee cord attached to them. Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. That is exactly what Pastor Eric Lethco will be doing in today’s message…not with a bungee cord tied to him, but with the power of God’s Word. His message is entitled READY, SET, GO, RUNNING WITHOUT RESTRAINT. We’ll find we can do that by learning the secret of being content in Philippians 4:10-13. The object of that fall festival game is to see who can reach a small item at the end of the lane first while being restrained. Philippians 4:13 says “I can do all things through him who gives me the strength.” So, GET READY, GET SET, LET’S GO with Pastor Eric’s message today…RUNNING WITHOUT RESTRAINT.

Here’s a simple question for you. How do you know when something has come to a conclusion? In a book, for example, there are no more pages. If you are watching a movie, two words pop up on the screen…THE END. Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. Pastor Eric Lethco will finish the series, THE FINAL CHAPTER, today with his message, ETERNITY BEGINS. He’s taken us almost completely through the book of Revelation. Today, Pastor Eric will start in chapter twenty-one where what was created in Genesis chapter one, verse one will be destroyed. We’re talking about heaven, earth and the sea. By the way, just so you’ll know when he has concluded his message…listen for the last word in Revelation and the Bible…it’s AMEN. So open your copy of God’s Word and listen closely as Pastor Eric helps us understand when ETERNITY BEGINS in THE FINAL CHAPTER.

We hear the words of the Model Prayer say to us “…thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Do you know that speaks of the Reign of Christ upon the earth? Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. Pastor Eric Lethco is almost finished with his series called THE FINAL CHAPTER with today’s message, THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST. He’ll be reading from the book of Revelation chapter twenty verses one through fifteen. Satan will be bound and God will establish a unified Kingdom restoring Israel and Jerusalem to their place of prominence. But when Satan is released, it starts all over again. So open your Bible and join with us as Pastor Eric helps us understand THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST in THE FINAL CHAPTER.

Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.” A reading from Revelation 16:16. Armageddon…most people think of this as the final battle between the forces of good and evil. Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. Pastor Eric Lethco continues his series called THE FINAL CHAPTER with today’s message, TRIBULATION: The Second Half. He’ll be in the last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter eight through chapter nineteen. This message presents the extremely harsh Seven Trumpet Judgments and The Seven Bowls of Wrath all in preparation for the Battle of Armageddon. So open your heart to receive God’s Word and join with us as Pastor Eric helps us understand the TRIBULATION.

The TRIBULATION…according to definition, it is a period of time when those who chose not to follow the teachings of Christ were left behind for worldwide hardships, disasters, famine, war, pain and suffering. Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. Today Pastor Eric Lethco continues his series called THE FINAL CHAPTER with his message on the TRIBULATION. If you recall, last week we reminded you of an Old Testament scripture from Daniel 12:1 that tells us there will be a time of distress like we have never seen before. Will you or I even experience the distress of which Daniel speaks? Only you or I have that answer because it depends on our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So open your Bible and join with us as Pastor Eric helps us understand the TRIBULATION.

Here’s a little music trivia for you. Do you remember a song that has a verse that goes “she’ll be driving six white horses when she comes?” Sure, it was “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain.” Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. What you may not know about that song is, it originally was an old Negro Spiritual from the late 1800’s called “When the Chariot Comes” and its verses then had to do with the Lord returned. Well today Pastor Eric Lethco continues his series called THE FINAL CHAPTER with his message TRIBULATION: THE FIRST HALF. He’ll be reading from Revelation 6:1-11 where we will hear about riders on a white horse, a red horse, a black horse and a pale horse. Daniel 12:1 tells us “there will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.” So open your Bible and join with us as Pastor Eric helps us understand the TRIBULATION.

Let me ask you a question. Do you know when the Lord will return? I think, today, you and I will both know the answer to that question. Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. Pastor Eric Lethco continues his series called THE FINAL CHAPTER with Part Two of RAPTURE: THE BEGINNING OF THE END. He’ll be reading from the Book of Matthew, chapter twenty-four, where we’ll see certain illustrations, indicators and one final intervention that must take place as we see the “sign of His coming and the end of the age.” In today’s message, you’ll find yourself saying “well, that’s already happened” several times, so open your Bible and listen closely as, together, we explore THE FINAL CHAPTER.

When most people hear the word rapture, you would think the end of time would come to mind. What about with you? Hello and welcome to Old Fort Baptist Church in Summerville, South Carolina where for decades the Truth of God’s Word has been preached for all to hear. Pastor Eric Lethco begins a new series called THE FINAL CHAPTER with today’s message entitled RAPTURE: THE BEGINNING OF THE END. He’ll be reading from First Thessalonians Chapter Four, Verses Thirteen through Eighteen…a familiar passage that helps us understand the order in which we’ll meet the Lord in Heaven. In fact, verse 18 tells us to “encourage one another with these words.” So let’s do just that by opening your Bible and be encouraged…together on today’s THE FINAL CHAPTER.