2026 THEME — “SEEING LIFE FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE”
February – Seeing Stewardship and Giving from God’s Perspective
NEXT SUNDAY
We will have the privilege of connecting live with the Wacharia family in Kenya, Africa, hearing firsthand how God is using their obedience to carry the gospel, disciple believers, and care for real people with real needs. Their story will remind us that missions is not distant or abstract—it is deeply personal, happening right now, through faithful servants who have said yes to God’s call. We will also hear from Marli Page, who will share about Medical Missions Worldwide and the life-saving work being done among those who live in extreme poverty. Through medical care, compassion, and the love of Christ, doors are being opened for the gospel in places where hope is scarce and help is limited. As you listen next Sunday, we invite you to pray—not just about giving, but about going. Ask the Lord if He may be calling you to participate in a future two-week medical mission trip, serving those who often go unseen and unheard around the world. This is an opportunity to step beyond comfort and convenience and allow God to use your hands, your heart, and your obedience to bring healing, dignity, and the love of Jesus to those who need it most. Come ready to listen, to pray, and to ask God one simple question: “Lord, what would You have me do?”
SUNDAY’S SERMON SUMMARY
Testimony: I’m the next child walking onto Calvary’s campus. I’m coming in scared, carrying a story I don’t know how to explain and hurt I don’t know how to name. I don’t understand church words yet—but I understand what it feels like to need safety, love, stability, and hope. That’s why Missions Month matters to me. When your church prays and asks God what He would have you do—without pressure or guilt—your obedience becomes my shelter, my meals, my bed, my structure, and the steady voices that help me heal. What looks like “extra” giving to someone else becomes a lifeline to me and to missionaries around the world who are preaching the gospel, discipling believers, caring for children, planting churches, and meeting urgent needs. Faith Promise isn’t something you calculate—it’s something God reveals. When you don’t lean on your own understanding, God uses your trust to carry the gospel farther than your feet can go. And for a child like me, your faithful giving isn’t a program—it’s proof that God saw me coming, and He sent help before I even knew how to ask. Judges 13 shows that Israel was oppressed by the Philistines because of their disobedience, yet God moved in mercy before the people ever cried out by choosing to raise up a deliverer. The Lord announced Samson’s birth to Manoah and his wife, making it clear that the victory would come by God’s power, not human strength, and that Samson was to be set apart as a Nazarite from the womb. Brother Brian emphasized that God’s plan often begins quietly in obedience and consecration long before the deliverance is ever seen, and Missions Month reminds us that God still sends set-apart servants into dark places today so His deliverance can reach people who have never yet cried out.
GO TO www.belmontbaptistchurch.com/sermons and listen to Sunday’s message.
Beats From Your Pastor’s Heart
“Before You Ever Knew My Name”
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” — Rom 5:8
Long before you ever searched for God, He was already reaching for you. Before you ever understood the gospel, heaven had already set plans in motion to bring it to your life. Your salvation did not begin the moment you prayed—it began the moment God loved you enough to send someone, move someone, and stir someone to obey. What you received freely came at great cost to someone else. That truth humbles us—and it calls us forward.
God Knew You Before You Knew Him
Before you ever knew the name of Jesus, God already knew yours. He knew where you would be born, what you would walk through, and how desperately you would need grace. He didn’t wait for you to clean yourself up or figure life out—He moved toward you while you were still lost. Romans 5:8 reminds us that God’s love was proven before our response. That same love still moves today—through people who are willing to obey, give, and go so others can hear. Your story exists because God acted first.
Obedience Crossed Distance to Reach You
Somewhere along your journey, someone prayed when it wasn’t convenient. Someone gave when it wasn’t easy. Someone tithed faithfully, gave by faith, or sacrificed beyond comfort so the gospel could travel farther than their own feet. You may never know their names—but heaven does. That obedience crossed distance. It crossed time. It crossed darkness. Heaven moved because someone on earth trusted God more than their understanding. The light reached you because someone else said yes.
The Question Comes Back to Us
Now the question gently, but firmly, returns to our hearts: Will we do the same for someone else? Not because we are pressured. Not because we are compared. But because we remember what it cost heaven to reach us. Someone is still waiting. Someone is still lost. Someone still doesn’t know the name of Jesus. And God, once again, is looking for willing hearts—not perfect ones—to carry His love forward. You are not just the result of grace—you are now a steward of it. What you freely received, God now invites you to freely release. Your obedience today may be the very thing God uses to reach someone tomorrow. Eternity often begins with one quiet act of faith. Like a torch passed from one runner to the next, the gospel only continues moving when someone reaches back and takes hold of the flame. If the torch is dropped, the race stops. But when it’s received with gratitude and passed with intention, the light keeps advancing—generation after generation.
Warfare Prayer: Father, in the name of Jesus, I resist fear, selfishness, and hesitation that would keep me from obeying You. I reject the lie that my obedience doesn’t matter. I declare that my giving, my praying, and my surrender are weapons in Your hands. Break every mindset that leans on understanding instead of trust. Use my obedience to push back darkness and carry Your light where it is desperately needed. Amen.
Daily Challenge: Today, thank God for the people whose obedience helped bring the gospel to you. Then ask Him—honestly and courageously—how He wants to use your obedience to reach someone else. Sit with the question. Listen without negotiating. And be willing to say yes.
MONDAY’S PRAYER REQUESTS
Darlene Kelley – Cancer Treatment
Don And Carol Franklin – Mae’s Uncle
Ed Franklin’s Son In Law – Heart Surgery
Sandra Mitchell
Tammy Shelnutt
Jean Partee – Newton Medical
Aston Savage
Gloria Young
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