2026 THEME — “SEEING LIFE FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE”
February – Seeing Stewardship and Giving from God’s Perspective
From my perspective here at Calvary’s Children’s Home, giving looks a little different—but it feels really big. I’ve learned that giving isn’t about how much you have, but about trusting God even when things feel uncertain, because He has always taken care of us. Sometimes what might seem small to others becomes a miracle to us, and we see God show up in ways only He can. It’s like the stories we hear where God keeps supplying as long as hearts stay open and willing. That’s why I’m so excited for you to hear from Uncle B this Sunday, because he knows us, loves us, and lives this kind of trust every day. When Uncle B shares, you’ll be learning about us—and about how God uses faithful giving to change real lives like mine.
SUNDAY’S SERMON SUMMARY
From a reflective perspective, the storm altered our plans but did not alter our allegiance. Though the route changed, God’s direction never did, reminding us that wisdom is found in honoring Him first rather than leaning on our own understanding. In the disruption, the temptation surfaced to postpone obedience and assume that stewardship could wait, but true trust was revealed through surrender, not convenience. Stewardship became the proving ground of our faith, showing whether we trusted our calculations or our Provider. By giving faithfully even when conditions shifted, we affirmed that obedience precedes understanding and that our confidence rests in a faithful God, not in what we can control.
GO TO www.belmontbaptistchurch.com/sermons and listen to Sunday’s message.
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Beats From Your Pastor’s Heart
From Striving to Abiding
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me… for without me ye can do nothing.” — John 15:4–5
Striving is the reflex of self-reliance; abiding is the posture of faith. We strive because we believe outcomes depend on us—our effort, our discipline, our strength. We abide because we trust the Source. Jesus never commanded His followers to produce fruit; He commanded them to remain connected. Fruit is not manufactured through pressure—it is produced naturally when life flows freely through the branch.
Abiding confronts the illusion that spiritual success is achieved by effort. It invites us to stop performing for God and start resting in Him. This is not laziness—it is surrender.
Striving Reveals Who We Trust
Striving exposes where our confidence truly lies. When pressure increases, our instinct is often to do more, push harder, and carry the weight ourselves. But striving is evidence that we believe the burden belongs to us. Jesus’ words dismantle that assumption: “Without me ye can do nothing.” Not little. Not less. Nothing.
Abiding shifts the weight from our shoulders to His. It acknowledges that spiritual fruit is impossible apart from divine life. When we strive, we ask Christ to assist our effort. When we abide, we surrender effort entirely and allow Christ to live His life through us.
Abiding Is Dependent Obedience, Not Passivity
Abiding is often misunderstood as inactivity, but Scripture presents it as dependent obedience. It is a continual awareness that Christ is present, sufficient, and actively at work. Abiding does not mean we stop obeying—it means obedience flows from relationship rather than pressure.
Oswald Chambers wrote, “Abiding is not a passive state; it is the deliberate determination to be completely yielded to God.” To abide is to consciously choose surrender moment by moment, trusting that Christ’s life within you will accomplish what your striving never could.
Busyness Is Not the Same as Fruitfulness
Busyness often masquerades as faithfulness. We equate activity with obedience and exhaustion with devotion. Yet Jesus never praised busyness—He emphasized connection. Branches do not strain to bear fruit; they simply remain attached.
Abiding produces lasting fruit because it draws from an eternal Source. When connection is maintained, obedience becomes the overflow of relationship rather than the strain of performance. Peace replaces pressure, and fruit becomes inevitable rather than exhausting.
The Exchanged Life teaches us that Christ does not improve our striving—He replaces it. Abiding is the daily choice to stop trying to live for Christ and instead allow Christ to live through us. When we abide, we exchange pressure for peace, effort for trust, and self-reliance for divine sufficiency.
Warfare Prayer: Father, in the name of Jesus, I renounce the lie that I must strive to be fruitful. I reject self-reliance and the pressure to perform. I choose to abide in Christ, trusting His life within me to produce what You desire. Let every attempt to live in my own strength be replaced with surrender and faith. I declare that Christ lives through me, and His life is sufficient. Amen.
Daily Challenge: When pressure rises today, pause and whisper aloud: “I abide—Christ supplies.” Then deliberately release the outcome to God and proceed in quiet obedience.
TUESDAY’S PRAYER REQUESTS
Tammy Shelnutt – Back Surgery Today
Sandra Mitchell – Fall
Jean Partee – Newton Medical
Aston Savage
Gloria Young – Rehab
Amy Garner’s Dad
Bentley Smith – Broken Leg
Carol Lawhead – Riverside in Conyers
Joni Oberhage
Linda Mays
Myles Elliott
Rose Fuller – Pruitt-Monroe Nursing Home, Forsyth GA
Brando Echarte
Debbie Foskey
Don Franklin’s Daughter, Darlene, Son, David
Ed Adkins – Friend of Brian Edwards
Jake Jenkins
June Cronan
Jean Partee’s Sister
Kim McClain’s Daughter, Amanda
Deon Lotter
Doris Loyd
Nancy Brown
Annette Ford
Andrea Nix– Friend of the Shelnutt’s
Angela Bryan’s Sisters
Ann Stanley
Danny Jarrard
Darlene Wiggins
Doris Loyd
Dr. and Mrs. Davis
Eric Magnusson’s Mother
Eric Ward
Friend of Linda Hodge
Gayle Sparks
James Burnette
Jessica Headrick
John McClain’s Mother
June Cronan’s Sister
June Davis
Kailey Bateman
Kim McClain’s Mother
Kim’s Sisters – Ann & Brenda
Lee Cronan
Lillianna Magnusson’s Mom
Lonzo Christian
Lori Blount’s Mother
Mary Williams
Mary Williamson – Dana Jackson’s Mom
Mrs. Franklin
Nora Allison
Ron And Johnnie Barry – Friends Of Ashton & Glenda Bateman
Scott Lanier
Scotty Nix
Stephanie Seivers – Friend of the Shelnutt’s
Steve Michaels
Tom Witcher