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

February – Seeing Stewardship and Giving from God’s Perspective

From my perspective as someone who grew up at Calvary’s Children’s Home, giving still feels different—but it feels even bigger now that I’m raising children of my own. As a child, I learned that giving wasn’t about how much you had, but about trusting God when life felt uncertain, because He always showed up for us. What might have looked small to others became miracles in our everyday lives—food on the table, stability in the home, love that stayed. Now, as a parent, I realize those lessons shaped how I lead my own family, teaching my children that God supplies as long as hearts stay open and willing. That’s why I’m so grateful for Uncle B, because he didn’t just care for us then—he showed us a way of trusting God that continues to change lives like mine, and now the lives of my children too.

SUNDAY’S SERMON SUMMARY

TESTIMONY: When the storm changed our plans, I realized I had always thought obedience depended on everything going smoothly. Even though nothing about God had changed, I was tempted to delay giving because the situation felt different and uncertain. I began to see that stewardship isn’t about timing or convenience, but about trusting God when things don’t make sense. It forced me to ask whether I trusted my own calculations more than I trusted God as my Provider. Giving in that moment taught me that obedience comes before understanding, and that real confidence is found in trusting God, not controlling outcomes.

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

Beats From Your Pastor’s Heart

Strength Borrowed from Heaven

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9

His grace is sufficient for us; when our resources feel weak, His strength is made perfect through our obedience of faith. Weakness is not a defect to conceal; it is an invitation to depend. The natural instinct of the flesh is to hide weakness, manage appearances, and compensate through effort. Yet God does not rescue us from weakness—He reveals Himself through it. In the Exchanged Life, weakness becomes holy ground where Christ’s strength is no longer theoretical, but experienced. God never intended His children to live by self-generated strength. He designed the Christian life to be sustained by divine supply. What feels like limitation to us becomes an opening for grace.

Weakness Exposes the End of Self

Paul’s plea for deliverance was sincere, yet God’s answer was deliberate. The thorn remained, not because God was absent, but because God was at work. Weakness marked the end of Paul’s self-sufficiency and the beginning of deeper dependence. Self-confidence resists grace. Weakness welcomes it. When we admit our limits, we are not failing—we are aligning ourselves with the way God intended life to be lived. Grace flows freely where striving stops.

Grace Is Enabling Power, Not Mere Relief

Grace is often misunderstood as forgiveness alone, but Scripture reveals grace as God’s active power operating within surrendered hearts. Grace does not merely excuse weakness—it inhabits it. It supplies what obedience requires and sustains what endurance demands.

Norman Grubb wrote, “We do not need more strength—we need more surrender.” The exchanged life is not Christ helping us cope; it is Christ expressing His life through us. Weakness becomes the doorway through which His strength moves.

God’s Strength Is Perfected Through Dependence

God’s strength is not added to ours—it replaces it. Strength is “made perfect” not when weakness disappears, but when dependence is complete. Borrowed courage from self fades quickly; borrowed strength from heaven endures.

Oswald Chambers reminds us, “God’s strength is made perfect in weakness, not in strength. If I feel strong, I am not leaning on Him.” Where we stop leaning on ourselves, God begins to work freely.

Weakness does not disqualify you—it positions you. It strips away illusion and creates space for Christ to be revealed. When we stop demanding strength from ourselves, we discover the sufficiency of grace. The Christian life is not sustained by trying harder, but by trusting deeper.

Warfare Prayer: Father, in the name of Jesus, I lay down self-reliance and the pressure to appear strong. I renounce the lie that weakness makes me unusable. I receive Your grace as my supply and Your strength as my source. Be strong in me where I am weak, and live Your life through mine. Amen.

Daily Assignment: Today, when you feel inadequate or overwhelmed, pause and say aloud:
“This is where God’s grace goes to work.” Then proceed in quiet obedience, trusting Christ to supply what you cannot.

WEDNESDAY’S PRAYER REQUESTS

Sandra Mitchell

Tammy Shelnutt

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