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

February – Seeing Stewardship and Giving from God’s Perspective

NEXT SUNDAY

From where I sit as a Senior Citizen, living on a fixed income and counting every dollar carefully, missions is not just a church theme or a special month on the calendar. It is part of my daily walk with the Lord. I may not travel across the ocean, but I can pray. I may not have much to give, but I can sacrifice. And I have learned that when something costs me a little, it means something to God. When we connect live with the Wachira family in Kenya, you will hear real voices and see real faces. You will hear how your prayers and obedience help children sleep safely at night, how believers are being discipled, and how families who once felt forgotten are now finding hope in Christ. That is not theory—that is fruit. You will also hear from Marli and learn how Medical Missions Worldwide carries life-saving care into places of deep poverty. In those places, compassion speaks loudly. A bandage, a prescription, a listening ear—those simple acts often open hearts to the gospel. Sometimes healing the body becomes the doorway to healing the soul. As you listen, I encourage you to pray—not just about what to give, but about your availability. Ask the Lord if He might want you to go on a future two-week medical mission trip or serve in some other way. I may not be able to go myself, but I can help send someone. I can help hold the rope. And that matters. Whether you pray, support, or go, your faithfulness is not small in God’s eyes. I have learned that He multiplies even widow’s mites. So together, let’s ask one simple, honest question: “Lord, would You have me do?”

SUNDAY’S SERMON SUMMARY

Missions Month isn’t just another emphasis on the church calendar to me. I grew up in Calvary Children’s Home. I am living proof that missions and giving are not theories—they are lifelines. When your church talks about seeing missions from God’s perspective, I don’t hear pressure or obligation. I hear gratitude. I hear opportunity. I hear love in action. There were people who gave when they didn’t know my name. People who prayed for children they would never meet. People who trusted God with their firstfruits and responded in Faith Promise, not because it was easy, but because it was obedience. And because they did, I had a safe place to sleep, people who discipled me, and a future that once felt impossible. When Pastor teaches on giving, I don’t hear a financial lesson—I hear a freedom lesson. Honoring God with our firstfruits isn’t about money; it’s about surrender. It’s about saying, “Lord, I trust You more than I trust my understanding.” I watched missionaries visit the Home. I saw how churches sustained ministries year after year. I saw how obedience—quiet, consistent obedience—changed lives like mine. Through Scripture, testimony, and decades of faithful ministry, we’re reminded that when we stop calculating and start obeying, God moves. He uses our prayers to strengthen weary missionaries. He uses our gifts to rescue children. He uses our trust to push light into places we may never personally see. Missions is not a program to me. It is the reason I had stability. It is the reason I found Christ-centered mentors. It is the reason I graduated from college with hope instead of hurt defining my future. Missions is love with a name. It is obedience with a face. It is our privilege to partner with God in reaching the world—and sometimes, that world is a child like I once was.

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

Beats From Your Pastor’s Heart

Putting Your Wages in a Bag with Holes

“Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.” Haggai 1:6

Few things are more frustrating than working hard and still feeling behind. The hours were long. The effort was real. The income came in—but somehow, it never seems to stay. Bills rise unexpectedly. Resources vanish quickly. There is motion without progress and effort without reward. God, through the prophet Haggai, reveals a sobering truth: sometimes the problem is not the amount earned, but the order in which God is honored. When firstfruits are withheld, blessing is not merely delayed—it leaks.

Activity Without Alignment

The people in Haggai’s day were busy. They were planting, harvesting, eating, drinking, and clothing themselves—yet nothing satisfied. Their labor produced exhaustion instead of fruitfulness. God exposed the root issue: they had prioritized their own houses while neglecting the house of the Lord. Productivity without spiritual alignment leads to frustration. When our lives are full but our priorities are off, God allows us to feel the emptiness so we will return to His order.

Spiritual Leaks Often Feel Natural

A bag with holes doesn’t announce itself. Money doesn’t disappear all at once—it slips away gradually. Unexpected expenses. Broken appliances. Medical bills. Repairs you didn’t plan for. The enemy loves to disguise spiritual consequences as “just life.” But God was clear: the loss had a spiritual explanation. When God is not honored first, He does not curse—He removes protection. What we call coincidence may actually be correction, lovingly designed to draw our hearts back into obedience.

Firstfruits Restore Flow and Covering

God never demanded firstfruits to impoverish His people but to position them under blessing. When Israel returned to honoring God’s house, He promised to rebuke the devourer and restore fruitfulness. Firstfruits are not about percentages—they are about lordship. When God is first, provision flows with purpose. When God is delayed, provision leaks without explanation. The order of giving determines the outcome of living. God does not desire His children to live exhausted, anxious, or always behind. He reveals the holes not to shame us, but to heal us. The moment the people obeyed, God responded with favor. What feels like financial frustration may actually be a merciful invitation to reorder your heart. When God is honored first, the bag holds. The harvest lasts. And peace replaces pressure. Imagine filling a bucket from a well, only to realize there’s a crack at the bottom. You draw water again and again, growing tired and confused as it drains away. The solution isn’t more water—it’s fixing the leak. God’s Word identifies the cracks so restoration can begin. Increase never fixes a spiritual leak—obedience does.

Warfare Prayer: Father God, I come before You in humility. Reveal any area where I have placed myself before You. I repent for honoring my needs before Your command. I ask You to close every spiritual leak, rebuke the devourer, and restore what has been lost. I choose obedience over understanding and trust You as my Provider. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Daily Challenge: Review your finances and your priorities today. Ask the Lord, “Am I honoring You first or fitting You in later?” Take one concrete step of obedience—whether in tithing, giving, or reordered trust—and watch how God begins to restore peace and provision

WEDNESDAY’S PRAYER REQUESTS

Brittany Smith ~ Breast Cancer

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

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