Ministers of Jesus Christ Church of The Lord Jesus Christ Assemblies of The Apostolic Faith Atlanta, Georgia - USA Apostle Dennis G. Smith, Pastor and Spiritual Overseer

Date: February 26, 2023

 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 are now advising people to wear face mask in public gatherings, use social distancing, and get vaccinated for your own health and safety from the Covid-19 virus.  In some places wearing face mask is no longer mandatory in indoor public spaces. 

·   February 17, 2023, community transmission of Covid-19 remains in the green zone in Atlanta, Georgia. This means that the spread of the virus is at a low level in Atlanta, and you should continue to take precautions based on for your individual health condition. All must continue to be cautious because the area where you live may have a high spread.

·         Face masks continue to be recommended in public gatherings for individual safety based on your individual health condition and risk.  

·         Gatherings indoors is allowed without face mask, but each individual should be aware of their individual health risk.

·         Vaccinations and boosters remain the recommended most effective way for individual safety for dealing with the spread of Covid-19 according to health authorities. 

·         Covid-19 vaccinations and boosters are offered to everyone in the State of Georgia. 

      We are open for indoor in-person services with face mask, social distancing, temperature checks and Covid-19 testing when needed. Each person attending in-person services should be fully aware of their own health risk as mask may be removed during singing and speaking, and some may attend without mask. 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: 

   Chastisement from the Lord God Jesus Christ

by Apostle Dennis G. Smith

     One of the most important aspects of life is education or learning and instruction on how to live and behave.   You will notice that some of our behavior may be due to instincts as we see in the insect and other animal species.  Even though instinctive behavior in human being is often debated among scholars, some may define an instinct as a behavior pattern that an individual produces without reasonable thought that come from their inner being in response to external conditions.  We also see that many of our behaviors patterns are based on what we learn from others or according to the environment that we grow up living in the beginning of our lives.  If no one teaches us about the dangerous elements in our surroundings we are doomed to find out the hard way through daily experiences which may cause us great harm or even death especially during our young years.  Also, because harmful elements are a part of our daily life, we need someone to guide us. 

     When we listen to the guidance and correction of the Lord God Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit, His Word, the Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers that he sends to us, then we achieve happiness in our life.

Job 5:17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

The Lord God Jesus Christ has given us true faithful individuals to lead us and guide us to overcome our sinful, harmful ways and go on to perfection.  God chose true faithful individuals to cause us to recognize the false people whose goal is to deceive us for their own personal fame and financial gain.

Ephesians 4:11 - 15 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

     Why do the Lord God allow us to be punished when we do wrongful behavior that causes harm to ourselves and others?  It is because He loves us and wants the best for us. He wants us to be Holy and have eternal life with Him. 

     Sometimes we will not recognize our unrighteous harmful behavior until we are faced with punishment.  After we experience punishment, it will cause most of us not to repeat the same error.  Therefore we should count our chastisement which may some time include punishment that we experience in our life from the correction of the Lord God Jesus Christ as a blessing because it is for our own good.  We must learn to recognize that God has a system of punishment for wrongful behavior which most of us know as Law Enforcement from the police officers and the court system or civil law.  What if there were no speed limits and no one to control the movement of vehicle traffic?  Most of us can admit there would be more death from auto crashes with no consequences for the drivers that endanger the lives of others.  Since we all know that we need road safety, we also know that there must be chastisement to keep people aware of the need to obey the law.

Proverbs 3:11 - 12 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

     Many times each of us may become the one who will need to chastise and correct a person who has committed a serious harmful act to another person.  We may be a person in charge of workers on the job which may present a need to discipline or fire a person who refuses to perform the job correctly or does not obey job rules. But in our chastisement, we must learn not to condemn people who repent of their sins and seek to make restitution to those that they have caused harm. We must not condemn them because of situations in their life, or their background, or their skin color.  We must not function with a prejudice mind.  We must keep in mind that God did not condemn us, but gave us a chance to overcome our sinful conduct. We must look on others as we look on ourselves.  Then we must judge ourselves according to commandments of the Lord and not by popular opinion or our own opinion so that we will not be condemned and doomed to eternal damnation.  Notice how chastisement works to stop a person from being condemned with the sinful people of the world who refuse to obey the commandments of the Lord God Jesus Christ for salvation or obey the civil laws of a state for the health and safety of all people.

1Corinthians 11:31 - 32 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

     It takes continuous education, guidance, rebuke, and correction to raise up all children to be good productive adults who can become great leaders to take control of the governmental system and have control of the business system that provides for our daily life needs.  Those who are leaders now and the future leaders are our Children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces who are apart of the one human family of the entire planet.  As congressman John Lewis said continuously, “We all live in the same house!”  So, the Lord God Jesus Christ punishes and corrects our wrongful ways to make us partakers of his Holy and righteous ways which is good for all mankind.

Hebrews 12:5 - 10 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

     Punishment for wrongful behavior and the correction of the Lord does not bring us joy during the time we are enduring the rebuke.  It may even cause us great pain and we may shed many tears during the punishment, but when we have learned our lesson, it will produced a changed individual who can now live as a much improved and better person.

Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

The Chastening of the Lord will destroy or crucify and kill the sinful works of the flesh and bring forth The fruit of the Spirit. It will produce love and patience, longsuffering, humbleness, meekness, and self-control or temperance.

Galatian 5:22 - 26 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

And though the Lord God will punish and correct us, he will have mercy on us and consider the pain and hurt that we experience during our punishment when we honor and respect him because the Lord God has pity for his children that fear him in love.

Psalms 103:11 - 14 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.  For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

     As we journey through our daily life, we experience many conditions that may cause emotional responses that will range from joy to anger, from comfort to hardship, from soothing relief to intense pain which gives us an increased knowledge that our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being increased in strength and renewed day by day.  It is our inward man that cannot be seen with the human eye that is everlasting.

2Corinthians 4:16 - 18 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

     It is not hard to understand that we all learn to be obedience once we have gone through some hard times.  After our experience, we can now warn another person about what to expect.  We can now give hope and guidance because we have made it through a difficult moment and now have a greater appreciation for the correction and chastisement of the Lord God that corrected our wrongful behavior. This is also the example of the Lord God Jesus Christ while he lived in the natural flesh and blood body on the Earth. Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.  The Lord God also cried and shed tears while he was in the natural body of flesh and blood.  It should be no surprise to you now that sometimes you will cry and shed tears in your suffering and in your joy.

Hebrews 5:6 - 10 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;  Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

     Since most people do not like to be corrected, they will sometime disagree with the mode of correction that will bring them pain and suffering. But the bible is not a book that ask you whether or not you agree with the commandments.  It does not ask for your opinion on different matters.  The bible simply tells you to obey the commandments and turn from your sinful ways.  The Bible which is the Word of the Lord God Jesus Christ simply tells you that God was also tempted while he was in the natural body but he did not ever commit sin.  This proves to you that you can overcome all sinful ways through the receipt of the gift of the Holy Ghost which is the Lord God Jesus Christ within you.  But God will not force you to comply with his will.  You will have to surrender yourself and your desires to obey his commandments which will lead you to living a daily holy lifestyle.

Hebrews 4:13 - 16 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Chastisement and correction from the Lord God Jesus Christ will guide us in living a holy lifestyle and the mercy of the Lord God Jesus Christ will be our help in the time of need.

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 you must continue in prayer to the Lord God Jesus Christ asking him for the Holy Ghost, calling on His Name which is the Lord Jesus Christ and waiting or tarrying until you receive the gift of the Holy Ghost with the sign following speaking with other tongues as the spirit gives you utterances.  This experience with God will endow you with power.

 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.

 Then you must 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 9:50 am for Eternal Life Church of the Living God and 12:00 noon for the general Ministers of Jesus Christ Church services to the Saints and friends who sent in 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 services 10 am each Sunday morning. 

  We also start the Thursday Evening Bible Study and Auxiliary meetings at 7:30 pm.  You should attend the meetings for as long as you can to learn all the Doctrines and Rules of the Church and to participate in the operation of the Church. Thank you.

       You are invited to attend and be a part of the Ministers of Jesus Christ Church Services each Sunday 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 tithing and offerings through Givelify, Cash App, Visa, Master Card, American Express Credit and Bank cards or PayPal.  For cash app use the cash app link name ($MinistersofJesus935).

  ONGOING GUIDANCE 

 (1) Wear a well-fitting mask indoors in public, regardless of vaccination status if you are high risk for severe disease.

(2) consider avoiding non-essential indoor activities in public,

(3) talk to your medical provider about other precautions to take,

(4) have a plan for rapid testing if you are exposed and experiencing symptoms,

(5) talk to your medical provider about treatments like oral antivirals, PrEP, and monoclonal antibodies. If you have household or social contact with someone at high risk for severe disease: consider self-testing to detect infection before contact and wearing a mask when indoors with them. Maintain improved ventilation throughout indoor spaces when possible. Follow CDC recommendations for isolation and quarantine, including testing guidance.

 Everyone should remember the phrase: “My mask protects you; your mask protects me.”