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: November 27, 2022

 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. 

·         As of November 11, 2022, Covid-19 data indicated that community transmission of Covid-19 remained in the green level which indicates that community spread is low. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has not declared that the pandemic has ended.

·         Face masks are 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 health risk.

·         Vaccinations and boosters remain the recommended most effective way to control the spread of Covid-19 by 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. 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: 

  Give Thanks unto the Lord God Jesus Christ Everyday

by Apostle Dennis G. Smith

     The Lord God Jesus Christ is the one Lord God alone and there is no other God but him. He is not three separate and distinct persons which imply three Gods as the false teachers have said, but He is one person which means that He is one individual invisible spiritual being that is present everywhere on the Earth, and in the Heavens, and throughout all of the universes.  

     He is known to us as our Father the one who created us and all things that are made. He is also known to us as the Son of God because he took on a flesh and blood body by being born a human being through the Virgin Mary in which he died on the cross paying the price for our sins.  He is also known to us as the Holy Ghost when he indwells us with his Holy Spirit.  

     And when some may speak of the person of Christ, they must refer to the Human form of Christ being the express image of the of God who is a single person or a single all powerful spiritual being because in the Human form of Lord God Jesus Christ dwelleth all of the fulness of the Godhead bodily.  When we all understand the Godhead, we all speak the same thing, and we give thanks to the one and only God Almighty.

Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Colossians 2:9 - 10 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

Song:  I give thanks unto the Lord for his goodness to me, I give thanks unto the Lord for his goodness to me, I give thanks unto the Lord for his goodness to me, I give thanks unto the Lord for his goodness to me, I give thanks, I give thanks unto the Lord.

I will praise his holy name for his goodness to me, I will praise his holy name for his goodness to me, I will praise his holy name for his goodness to me, I give thanks, I give thanks unto the Lord.

      Thanksgiving unto the Lord is our daily acknowledgement that the Lord God Jesus Christ is the one who made us and is providing our every need each day.  The Lord God Jesus Christ is faithful in making the sun to rise on the good and the bad and is merciful for all who repents of their sinful ways and who earnestly gives Him thanks the daily blessings that we receive.  

      Thanksgiving is essentially an “offering of thanks” to God for His gifts and mighty works in our life. It is an expression of our complete dependence on God for creating us and providing for us each day.  It is our appreciation His delivering us from our own sinful ways and the evil that we are confronted with each day. It is our gladness for His Holy character, His revealing Himself to us, His suffering and dying on the cross as payment for our sins and resurrection from the dead for our justification.  Thanksgiving is essential our forming a daily prayerful relationship with the Lord God Jesus Christ.  

Luke18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.

 During this time of the year the Holiday called Thanksgiving Day commemorates the story of the Pilgrims and their thankful community feast at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The Pilgrims, who set sail from Plymouth, England on a ship called the Mayflower on September 6, 1620, to establish a better life in what they called the New World. The Mayflower was a small ship crowded with men, women, and children, and the sailors on board.  Among the passengers were a group called the 'separatists', who called themselves the "Saints", and others, whom the separatists called the "Strangers".

After land was sighted in November following 66 days of a lethal voyage, a meeting was held, and an agreement of truce was worked out. It was called the Mayflower Compact. The agreement guaranteed equality among the members of the two groups. They merged together to be recognized as the "Pilgrims."

 According to history the Pilgrims first sighted the land off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, but they did not settle until they arrived at a place called Plymouth.  Plymouth was seen as an excellent harbor with plenty of resources.   And the original Native Americans of the land whom they called Indians were reported to be friendly.

After settling their they began to have hard times because they were unfamiliar with the harsh winter conditions of this place which caused them much suffering and lost.

But they were saved by a group of local Native Americans called Indians who befriended them and helped them with food. Soon the natives taught the settlers the technique to cultivate corns and grow native vegetables, and store them for hard days. By the next winter they had raised enough crops to keep them alive. The winter came and passed by without much harm. And the settlers were blessed with a successful outcome and wanted to celebrate their blessings and success.

They celebrated it with a grand community feast and invited the friendly native Americans Indians to celebrate with them.

Referring to the 1623 harvest after the nearly catastrophic drought, Bradford wrote:

And afterward, the Lord sent them such seasonable showers, with the interchange of fair warm weather as, through His blessing, caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, to their no small comfort and rejoicing. For which mercy, in time convenient, they also set apart a day of thanksgiving ... By this time harvest was come, and instead of famine now God gave them plenty ... for which they blessed God.

Pilgrim Governor William Bradford had ordered a day of fasting and prayer when there was a drought, and the Lord sent them rain showers which produced a successful harvest. To celebrate their harvest and gives thanks to God, November 29th of that year was proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. This date is reported to be the beginning of Thanksgiving Day.

      Giving thanks to God for the food that gives us health and life is a common theme in the Bible

Acts 27:33 - 35 And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not a hair fall from the head of any of you. And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.

 Ephesian 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our daily thanksgiving to the Lord God Jesus Christ is most notably celebrated in our prayer over the food that we receive because in eating we can easily recognize that the Lord God Jesus Christ is providing for our health and our daily needs. So we give that to the Lord God each day including the day called Thanksgiving Day!!

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.”