2026 THEME — “SEEING LIFE FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE”                      

February – Seeing Stewardship from God’s Perspective

As you walk with God, you begin to realize that giving was never meant to be measured by how much you have, but by how deeply you trust Him. When resources feel tight, obedience becomes a quiet declaration that God is still your source. What once felt risky becomes an invitation for God to realign your heart and loosen your grip on self-reliance. Like the widow whose oil flowed as long as she kept pouring, you discover that what is surrendered to God is sustained by His faithfulness. In learning to give by faith, you begin to see that God is always working far beyond what your eyes can perceive. This Sunday, you will hear from Brian Busby, a man who lives out this perspective daily—trusting God not in theory, but in faithful obedience—and whose testimony reflects what it looks like to give by faith and watch God multiply it for His glory.

SUNDAY’S SERMON SUMMARY

Even though the storm changed our location today, it has not changed our purpose or our obedience. We are still a worshiping people, still gathered before the Lord, and still called to trust Him with all our heart. Much like a GPS that recalculates when the route changes but never changes the destination, God’s direction remains sure even when circumstances reroute us. Seasons like this gently expose where our confidence truly rests, because wisdom always begins with honoring God first, while leaning on our own understanding places confidence in self. When circumstances feel uncertain or inconvenient, the subtle temptation is to delay obedience—to assume that because we didn’t gather in the building, giving can wait too. But trust is not proven by intention or location; it is proven by surrender. One of the clearest places that surrender is revealed is in stewardship. Long before God asks for our comfort, He asks for our trust—and stewardship is where that trust becomes visible. As we step intentionally into Missions Month, God is inviting us to see tithing and giving from His perspective. The tithe is not what we offer after everything else is settled, or only when conditions feel familiar; it is how we acknowledge God first as our source, not our circumstances. Giving is not God taking something from us—it is God loosening our grip on self-reliance and exposing the foolishness of trusting what we can calculate more than the God who provides. What may feel risky in our hands becomes worship in His. Stewardship is trust training, forming hearts that say, “Lord, You lead, You provide, and You direct.” When we give faithfully—even when the route has changed—we declare that obedience comes before understanding, choosing the wisdom of putting God first rather than honoring self, and resting our confidence not in what we can control, but in a faithful God who always supplies what He asks us to release.

GO TO www.belmontbaptistchurch.com/sermons and listen to Sunday’s message.

Beats From Your Pastor’s Heart

Not I, But Christ

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” — Galatians 2:20

I am crucified with Christ; therefore my resources no longer belong to me. Nevertheless I live—yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. The life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Because He gave Himself fully, I no longer cling to what I have, but place it in His hands. My giving is not driven by fear or calculation, but by faith and obedience. What I release, I trust Him to redeem, multiply, and use for His glory. My life—and my stewardship—now testify that Christ lives through me, and I gladly honor Him first.

The Christian life does not begin with trying harder—it begins with dying deeper. One of the greatest misunderstandings among believers is the belief that Christianity is Christ helping us become better versions of ourselves. Scripture teaches something far more radical: the old self has been crucified, and a new life has taken its place. The Exchanged Life begins at the point where self-effort ends and Christ-life begins. Until this truth is embraced, spiritual life will feel exhausting instead of empowering.

God Did Not Improve the Old Life; He Replaced It

God never intended to rehabilitate the flesh. He declared it crucified with Christ. When we attempt to “manage” what God has already put to death, we live in constant frustration. The weariness many believers experience is not from obedience—it is from self-effort masquerading as faith. The cross was not God’s way of making us better; it was His way of making room for Christ to live His life through us. Paul’s declaration, “I am crucified with Christ,” is not poetic language—it is positional truth. The old source of life has been removed. A new Source now lives within. Victory begins when we stop trying to resurrect self and start trusting the life already placed inside us. This is why spiritual growth feels impossible when self remains on the throne. Resurrection life only flows where the cross has been fully accepted, not resisted or re-negotiated.

“Not I” Is Not Passivity, It Is Right Source Living

When Paul said, “yet not I,” he was not denying responsibility—he was identifying the source. Love, patience, obedience, and endurance no longer flowed from human resolve but from divine union. This is not laziness; it is alignment. The exchanged life does not eliminate effort—it eliminates self as the power supply.

Oswald Chambers expressed this clearly:
“The Christian life is not a change of life, but an exchange of life.”

Every day presents the same question: Who will live this day—me, or Christ in me? When Christ is allowed to live through us, obedience becomes an overflow rather than a burden, and faith becomes a posture rather than a performance. Responsibility remains, but the source is no longer self—Christ now supplies what He requires. When effort flows from union instead of self-reliance, obedience becomes life-giving rather than life-draining.

Surrender Is the Doorway to Grace

Grace does not flow where self insists on control. Grace flows where surrender opens the door. The moment we stop striving to live the Christian life and start yielding to Christ living in us, strength replaces strain. The Christian life was never meant to be powered by human determination but by divine indwelling. Christ does not supplement your life—He is your life. When you surrender self-effort, you are not losing control; you are transferring it to the only One who can carry it. This is where rest begins. This is where freedom is found. The Exchanged Life is not something you achieve—it is something you receive. God is not asking you to try harder today; He is inviting you to trust deeper. When you stop saying, “I will do better,” and start saying, “Lord, live through me,” the burden lifts and grace flows. Christianity begins with this confession: Not I—but Christ. This surrender is not a moment of weakness but an act of faith that honors Christ as sufficient. Where self steps aside, the life of Christ steps forward with peace, power, and purpose.

Warfare Prayer: Lord Jesus, I renounce self-reliance, self-effort, and self-rule. I declare that my old life was crucified with You, and I refuse to draw strength from what You have already put to death. I take authority, in Jesus’ name, over every lie that tells me I must live this life in my own strength. I receive the life of Christ within me as my source, my power, and my victory. Let Christ live fully through me today. Amen.

Daily Challenge: Before every major decision or response today, pause and say aloud: “Not I—but Christ lives in me.” Choose surrender over striving, and allow Christ to live His life through you.

MONDAY’S PRAYER REQUESTS

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