Ministers of Jesus Christ Church

Date: August 29, 2021

To all the Saints of God,

Grace and peace be unto all the Saints of God around the World. As this Coronavirus Pandemic continues, we are continually reminding the Saints of God that we are obeying the magistrates and following the guideline of the health and governmental authorities for the safety of all people.

Health authorities and governmental officials continue to strongly encourage people to wear face coverings in public gatherings and use social distancing, wash your hands, and get tested to help stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus. In some places wearing face mask is mandatory in indoor public spaces.

We are continuing limited in-person services with face mask, social distancing, temperature checks and Covid-19 testing. We are also continuing online services through Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube. In-person Baptism and prayer service are available by attending our local service on site, attending our services on Zoom or emailing your request to:

info@ministersofjesuschrist.com or prayerrequest@ministersofjesuschrist.com.

As we obey the Magistrates, we have complete faith that God will continue to hear our prayers and provide a way for us through these uncertain times.

Romans 13:2-4 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

TITUS 3:1-2 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

This week’s encouraging words of growth focuses on:

The One Plan of Salvation (part 2)

By Apostle Dennis G. Smith

We must repeat that salvation to most who are Christians is defined as the saving of true obedient believers from the consequences of sin, which is separation from God in the eternal lake of fire.

Revelations 20:11 – 15 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelations 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Apostle Paul preached that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification. Most Christians grow in knowledge and began to fully understand that they are partaking in a new covenant with God, open to both Jews and Gentiles, through the sacrificial death of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the cross and his arising from the dead in a glorified human body resulting in his exaltation giving him a name that is above every name.

Philippians 2:8 – 11 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Because of what has been done and is known as the gospel, the good news, most Christians readily know that salvation is the result of the person and sacrificial role of the Lord Jesus Christ as this is well documented by most Church denominational statements, historical writers, and modern scholars in various atonement theories, such as the ransom theory, Christus Victor theory, the recapitulation theory, the satisfaction theory, the penal substitution theory, and the moral influence theory. But despite all of the various theories, the summary remains the same that Salvation to most Christians is simply deliverance or redemption from the wages of sin, which is saving obedient believers from death and separation from God, by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and his resurrection from the dead as payment for the penalties of sin.

Romans 4:23 – 25 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

1Corinthians 15:2 - 4 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Because of the different views on salvation which is commonly called soteriology in bible schools among Christian denominations, different and sometimes conflicting definitions on sin and depravity (the sinful nature of mankind), different views on justification (God's means of removing the penalty of sin), and different views on atonement (the forgiving or pardoning of sin through the suffering, death and resurrection of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ) people can easily be misled or deceived if you are not following the Apostle’s Doctrine which is the only true plan of salvation from God Almighty. Any other plan is made up by those with sometimes personal motives or misunderstanding.

When we teach baptism, it is because the Lord Jesus Christ commanded the Apostle’s to baptize and when we teach people to tarry for the Holy Ghost it is because the Lord Jesus Christ told the Apostle's to wait for the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Christian salvation deals directly with what a person has to “do” which means to obey what is commanded in the one and only plan of salvation, by faith, obedience, baptism and the receiving of the Holy Ghost. Some so-called Churches teach conflicting definitions on sin(unrighteousness), justification (achieving righteousness), and atonement (forgiveness) that are not according to the Apostle’s Doctrine. They may also make false statements regarding the afterlife when speaking of heaven, hell, purgatory, soul sleep, and annihilation which can cause a person to function in delusion.

To overcome all of the deception, we must learn first learn to love the one and only God, who is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which is what the first great commandment teaches us.

Deuteronomy 6:4 - 5 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Matthew 22:36 – 39 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Mark 12:29 - 30 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Luke 10:25 – 28 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

All people must come to understand that Salvation is promised to those that love God only!!!!!

1Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

So, we all can clearly see that we must love God and obey the commandments of God Almighty pertaining to salvation if we hope to achieve salvation!!!

The Lord God Jesus Christ has already said; "IF YE LOVE ME, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS." - John 14:15

John15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

So, he commanded us to teach and baptize all nations in his name….

Matthew 28:18 – 20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Luke 24:45 – 47 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

From this we can see that salvation is a free gift from God received by faith and obedience to his commandments which are not grievous. It is free in that none of us has to pay the price of death to escape the lake of fire which is the wages of sin because the Lord Jesus Christ has paid the price.

It is by belief in that we must hold the word of God to be true in the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ has died upon the cross and paid the sin dept. We must have faith or put complete trust in him by obeying and acting upon or doing what he has commanded in turning from all unrighteousness(repentance).

We must be baptized in water in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins because he commanded it. And we must receive the gift of the Holy Ghost which will impart a new nature in us giving us the power to live a Holy life because he promised it.

Acts 2:36 – 41 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

The NAME of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is JESUS CHRIST because the Bible teaches us that there is no other name given among men that is able to give us Salvation.

Acts 4:10 – 12 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone, which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

We continue with part of a Message from Apostle S. McDowell Shelton …. “They were all with one accord in one place” ………

"THEY WERE ALL WITH ONE ACCORD IN ONE PLACE" (part 2)

By Bishop S. McDowell Shelton

In Acts, the Second Chapter, the Holy Scripture states - "And when the day or Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." (Acts 2:1) It said that they were all with one accord. One was not sitting up looking around, or the other one, talking to the person next to them.

These things are disorderly, and you must learn orderliness in the House of God. You must learn that there are some things, places, and situations that are so “absolutely sacred” until you must walk softly. When you come into the house of God, you must learn that you cannot walk and sound like twenty mules. You cannot bang, doors, and throw down seats.

The Scripture says keep your feet when you go to the house of God. (See Ecclesiastes 5:1)

In other words, do not disturb the tranquility, when God is moving by His Spirit. It is difficult enough for the human being to overcome all of the limitations and weaknesses that flesh is heir to. It is so difficult for him to lay aside all of those small and large encumbrances, and those hindrances which would hold him back from reaching that high place in Christ Jesus, to which he (man) is laboring and reaching out for – so why would you disturb it? Why would you disrupt the moving of the Spirit by some selfish slamming of the doors, or by some carnal gazing, or by conversation?

The Bible speaks about two and three being “gathered together” but what were they doing? They were touching and agreeing on the same thing. One cannot be combing their hair, or the other one asking - Are you going downtown, today? We have never read where they did that in the Upper Room!

You must lay every weight aside. In most cases, that is why it is so difficult to make any progress - because of these weights that so easily beset us. You could be praying, and someone might come along and turn on the water faucet. The annoying sound of running water could be enough to interfere with the anointing of the Spirit, and before you know it, you will come right down from that lofty spiritual experience. It might take hours, or another day, another week, or maybe another month before you get back to that exact state of spirituality that you were in at that very moment. Oh sure, you will pray “again "and you might feel the moving of the Spirit again, but we are talking about trying to recapture that very same feeling of anointing that you had previously. When these moments come, they are so precious, that you cannot do anything to waste them! You cannot afford to let anything come in to offset them!

God knew What He was doing when he had Moses go up to Mount Sinai alone, because if Moses would have stayed there with those folks he would have never, no doubt, been able to accomplish what he did accomplish; but since he did go alone, and was not distracted by anybody or anything, he received the Ten Commandments—some-thing from God written by His own hands. God was able to just communicate with him entirely, and Moses was able to give himself over completely to God.

When God spoke to Elijah, suppose somebody had been talking out of place where he was, or somebody was screaming upstairs to somebody else? Elijah would have never heard that still small voice, because God was not in the wind, neither was He in the fire, but He came as a still small voice, and Elijah was able to hear him.

When you do not hold anything sacred, you become so undisciplined that you become as the Scripture says —“If any man among you seem to be religious, and brideth not his tongue, but deceiveth is own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” (James 1:26)

What else does the Scripture say? It said to rejoice with them that do rejoice (See Romans 12:15), but if the joy has departed from you—you either pray to get it back, or excuse yourself.

Praying and tarrying for the Holy Ghost is not a show! That is not what it is all about! We are laboring to save souls. We are laboring to prepare old men, old women, young men and young women, white, black, and brown and all nations for the coming of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

We are preparing them that they might have power to be kept here in this evil world. The function of the Apostolic Church is not to give you entertainment. When those who are tarrying for the Holy Ghost receive it, they will come out of the tarrying room and you will know they have received it. So, do not be like those outsiders or those unbelievers who, on the day of Pentecost, stood amazed and gawked at the Apostles and the rest of the brethren when they received the Holy Ghost, speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (See Acts, the Second Chapter) Instead, just thank the Lord for them. If you do not want to take on the burden of praying with them, then wait until they come out, and then you will hear the joyful sound.

Yes, they were all with one accord in one place, but nowhere do we read where someone was standing over them clapping, talking about—"That's it, that's it!” "Press your way! "Press your way!

Let us tell you one thing—if someone is sincere, they do not need anyone over them talking about "Come on through!" They do not need a song, neither do they need a tambourine. The best thing you can do to encourage them, if you want to be there as a witness, is to believe the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength that the Holy Ghost from heaven is going to come down and fill everybody.

And when it comes, be a witness to it, for the Scripture says prove all things, and in the mouth of two or three witnesses let all things be established. God knows you do not need to be clapping in anybody's ear. You do not need to sing one song. That is false holiness "ism"! That is not the way it was done on the day of Pentecost! (This is the reason why we sing softly and not loudly when people are tarrying for the Holy Ghost because we know that the song is not needed for a person to receive the Holy Ghost, but we maintain the spiritual atmosphere of prayer with our soft singing and do not sit gazing upon the seekers.)

"And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting." (Acts 2:2)

We will continue with these messages in part 3....

May the Lord Bless you and Keep you and eternally hold you in the center of his will, may he open your understanding that you will come to know that you must repent of your sins and be baptized by immersion in water in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, then continue in prayer, tarrying until you receive the gift of the Holy Ghost with the sign following speaking with other tongues as the spirit gives you utterances. Then you must leave the principles of the doctrine and go on to perfection overcoming the love of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life and continue steadfastly in the Apostle’s Doctrine remembering always that he that endures until the End, the same shall be saved. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ who is God Almighty. Amen

With perfect love,

Apostle Dennis G. Smith

The online service Zoom link is sent out each Sunday at or before 2:00 pm to the Saints registered email addresses. If you wish to worship with us, please send you email address to: info@mininstersof Jesuschrist.com and we will email you a link to join the service. We start the zoom service after 2:00 pm.

You are invited to attend and be a part of the Ministers of Jesus Christ Church Services on Zoom at/or about 2:00pm. Which are also published on Facebook through Holy Tabernacle, Ministers of Jesus Christ Apostolic Church, and Ministers of Jesus Christ Church or Dennis Smith Facebook timeline. You will need to download the zoom app to your cell phone, laptop computer, or tablet to activate your connection. Go to Google Play Store to get your free zoom app and install it on your cell phone, laptop computer or tablet. When you see the zoom link sent to your email address, click, or tap on the link to open the connection. Then click or tap on the camera and microphone icon to join the service and select internet. We look forward to seeing you and worshipping with you in the Lord! You may also give freewill offerings through Givelify, Cash App, Visa, Master Card, American Express Credit and Bank cards or PayPal. Use cash app link name ($MinistersofJesus935).

Currently the following groups are eligible for COVID vaccine in Georgia:

Everyone age 12 and older. Note: Pfizer is the only COVID vaccine currently approved for children aged 12 and older. People younger than 18 years of age are not authorized to receive either the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines in the United States of America. Moderna is now approved for those above 12 years old in Canada.

ONGOING GUIDANCE for Red Zone

• Vaccination remains the most effective protection against COVID-19

• Practice social distancing

• Frequently wash hands

• Frequent cleaning of public and high touch areas

• Practice telework and staggered office schedules where feasible, with safety measures

• Non-essential City facilities may open to the public. Masking will be mandated for now and the number of persons indoors may be limited to avoid crowding

Social Distancing guidelines:

• Social distancing means staying away from close contact in public spaces. It includes actions like staying out of places where lots of people gather and maintaining distance — approximately 6 feet — from others.

• Social distancing also includes minimizing contact with people when possible, limiting nonessential travel, working from home, and skipping social gatherings.

• All people should practice social distancing — not just those who are seriously ill or at high risk.

• Social distancing is a proven way to slow the spread of pandemics.

When to Wear a Mask:

Those who are staying home and have no close contact with people who are infected with COIVID-19 do not need a mask most of the time. However, wearing a nonmedical or homemade mask may be helpful in certain situations or for certain populations. Wear a Mask when:

• Shopping at essential businesses, like grocery stores or pharmacies.

• While visiting your health care provider.

• Traveling on public transportation.

• Interacting with customers/clients at essential businesses.

• When feeling sick, coughing, or sneezing.

• In all public spaces indoors and outdoors.

Because homemade masks protect everyone else from the droplets created by the wearer, it is important that as many people as possible wear these masks when leaving their homes. This helps prevent those who may be infectious but are only mildly symptomatic or not symptomatic from spreading the virus to others in the community.

Everyone should remember the phrase: “My mask protects you; your mask protects me.” By increasing the overall number of people who are containing their coughs, sneezes, and other droplets, it will help us control the overall spread of the virus.