[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 15, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1643-E1644]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[[Page E1643]]
ROCK SPRINGS CHURCH DEDICATION
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HON. MAC COLLINS
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Mr. COLLINS. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to Dr. Benny Tate and
the Rock Springs Congregational Methodist Church in Milner, Georgia.
Rock Springs dedicated a new sanctuary on August 15, 2004 with a
seating capacity of 1,100. What makes this dedication so special is
that Rock Springs is a rural church in Middle Georgia which in 1989 had
an average attendance of less than 100. But as Dr. Benny Tate explains
in his dedication sermon, ``The Favor of God'' is on Rock Springs
Church.
In a day and age when more and more people are moving away from the
founding principles of our nation and turning to secularism, I commend
Dr. Tate and the congregation of Rock Springs Congregational Methodist
Church for continuing to seek the lost, and walking in the Favor of
God.
Without objection, I would like to enter into the Record Dr. Tate's
sermon, ``Walking in the FOG (Favor of God.)
Rock Springs Church--New Building Dedication, August 15, 2004
Dr. Benny Tate--Walking in the FOG (Favor of God)
It is great to be in the Lord's house today and we
appreciate you being here for our dedication service. It is
an honor and privilege to have each and every one of you in
attendance.
I invite you today to take your Bible if you would to the
book of Acts chapter 2, verse 38 through 47. ``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. And
they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and
fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And
fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were
done by the apostles. And all that believed were together,
and had all things common; And sold their possessions and
goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And
they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and
breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with
gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having
favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church
daily such as should be saved.''
I want you to notice verse 47. The scripture says ``and
having favour with all the people.'' I have been preaching a
series of messages entitled `Walking in the Fog.' An acrostic
for the word Fog is the Favor of God. Today I want to talk to
you about the favor of God on a church. It is amazing what
happens when God's favor rests on a place. It is amazing what
happened when the favor of God was on the early church. I
think it is amazing now what happens when God's favor is on a
church.
We need to understand the favor of God. We need to
understand the prerequisites to the favor of God. Many times
we don't understand the favor of God. Why it is seemingly
God's blessing is on one place and God's blessing is not on
another place. Why does God choose to give favor as he did
here in the second chapter of the book of Acts and maybe
seemingly the favor of God is not on another place? I want to
you give some pre requisites to the favor of God.
The first ingredient to the favor of God is to have a
dream. We can have a lot of debates about God's spirit. Acts
chapter 2, one of the indicators of being filled with God's
spirit is young men shall see visions and old men shall dream
dreams. It is so important that every church has a dream. It
is so important that our church many years ago had a dream.
Philippians 2:13 says, ``For it is God which worketh in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure.'' The Bible says
in Proverbs 29:18, ``Where there is no vision, the people
perish.'' It is imperative; it is vital we have a dream.
I know scores of people in their personal lives, in their
spiritual lives, in their occupational lives, that are stone
blind. They don't have a dream! For the favor of God to rest
on a place, we must have a dream. Not only getting a dream
but also keeping a dream. Three Hundred Eighty years ago, a
group of pilgrims had the courage, the tenacity, the
adventurous spirit to cross land and sea to come to a land
where they could have freedom, and worship God in spirit and
in truth. The first year they were here these 102 pilgrims
established a town. The second year they established a town
council. The third year the town council proposed building a
road out into the wilderness five miles. The fourth year, the
people tried to impeach the town council because they said
the road five miles out into the wilderness was a waste of
funds. A few years before they could see across the ocean,
but now they could not see five miles out into the
wilderness!
It is so important that we get a dream. It is so important
that we keep a dream. H. B. London of Focus on the Family,
who is the Pastor to pastors, said, ``Congregations, allow
your pastors to dream.'' I am so grateful that I can say with
affirmation, after being here working on my fifteenth year,
the wonderful people at Rock Springs Church have always
allowed me to dream. It may be insane to live life with a
dream but it is madness to live life without one. What
brought the favor of God on this place? It was because they
had a dream.
They had dedication. Acts 2:42 says, ``and they continued
stedfastly;'' dedication. Today is a culmination. We started
in 1852 when a group of men, one of them being Absolum
Ogletree, had the courage to leave an established
denomination and walk out and tread new waters. They formed a
denomination, the Congregational Methodist Church; Rock
Springs Church being one of the charter churches. It took
dedication for a handful of people on July 5, 1979 to watch
their building burn to the ground. It took dedication for
those people to say, ``Our building may have burned, but the
church is still here, and we'll build back.'' What brings the
favor of God? Ladies and gentlemen, it is not only a dream,
but also dedication to the dream.
The third ingredient to the favor of God is a ``desire to
reach others.'' It is woven in the scriptures in verse 38 and
39. ``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.'' See it would have been easy folks, to stay
where we were. It would have been comfortable to stay where
we were. I even said one time, ``We don't have to do all
this, we don't have to go through all this effort, we don't
have to give all this money--all we have to do is put on the
marquis out front, Go to hell, we're full!'' But God did not
call us to comfort, God called us to a cross. See ladies and
gentlemen, Rock Springs Church realizes, it is not about us,
it's about them What brings the favor of God is when we get
our eyes off ourselves and realize it's not about what we
want, it's about reaching men, women, boys and girls for
Jesus Christ!
A young lady in our church gave me this: I remember the
night during the sanctuary-building program when we made our
pledges. I wondered how we would ever be able to give that
much. Not equal gifts, but equal sacrifices, and we did. Then
I remember the ground breaking when the preacher said,
``We've never been this way before,'' and we all felt a sense
of awe about what was becoming. I am overwhelmed by my
feelings as I look throughout this sanctuary. Life has been
breathed into this place by God Himself. For it is God who
has ordained this place and God who built it. He could have
used anyone, anywhere, but we were willing. Blessed are we
His people who are chosen for such a time as this. Our
blood, sweat, tears and prayers are in this building and
oh, how small a cost. When I look at this sanctuary, I see
the faces of my children growing up in the light of truth.
The children I pray for daily. My youngest daughter will
be saved and baptized in this building. I see the faces of
my family members yet to be saved. My tears will stain the
altar for them. I see the faces of those gone on. The
sacrifices that brought us to this place. Truly their
prayers built the foundation of this building. There once
was a plum tree in the field next to the little church on
Rock Springs Road. Now there is a new fruit tree growing
of wood, brick, mortar and steel. Its branches shall never
stop reaching forth, its fruit will always be in season,
and it will last throughout all the generations.
For the favor of God, there has to be a desire to reach
others.
The fourth and final ingredient is they demonstrated love
toward each other. In verse 45 and verse 46 they literally
sold their possessions because they cared about each other. A
bell is not a bell till you ring it, a song is not a song
till you sing it, love is not put in your heart to stay, and
love is not love till you give it away. Our church loves one
another. We love one another. When we weep, we weep together.
When we rejoice, we rejoice together. People don't care how
much you know until they know how much you care. When we
genuinely love one another like we love one another, that
brings the favor of God and people are drawn to that!
The last prerequisite for the favor of God is to depend on
supernatural power. It is in verse 43, the Bible says, ``And
fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were
done by the apostles.'' President Lyndon Johnson used to tell
the story about a preacher who got up one Sunday morning and
said, ``This morning as I was getting ready for church, my
dog ate my sermon notes. Today, I'll have to rely on the Holy
Spirit, but I promise next week, I'll do better.'' We ought
to be relying on the Holy Spirit every week and on the
supernatural power of God. Last night was my first prayer
service in here. I've been praying in the old sanctuary. I
was praying a while back, and I wouldn't offend the Lord for
anything, but I was somewhat overwhelmed and I said, ``Lord,
this sanctuary is so small and in just a few weeks we are
going to go over there in that big one. Lord, I don't know
how I am going to fill it.'' God spoke to me. People say,
``How do you know it is God?'' Well, if He ever speaks to
you, you won't have to ask me that again. God said, ``You
didn't fill the one you're in now.'' It is God's house. It is
[[Page E1644]]
not my responsibility to fill it, it's God's responsibility
to fill it and it looks like He is doing a pretty good job!
See, the early church depended on the supernatural.
I close with this story. There was a little church up in
Savannah, Tennessee getting ready for dedication day. The
pastor looked over at his son about six weeks from dedication
and said, ``Son, I want you to write a song for dedication.''
The night before the dedication service, the father looked
over at his nineteen year old son Jaron and said, ``Jaron,
have you written that song yet for dedication?'' He said,
``No, dad, but I am getting ready to sit down at the piano
and I am going to write that song.'' Jaron said he sat down
at the piano and said to himself, ``What do I want to
experience when I come into this place for the very first
time?'' He said, ``God gave me these words. As I walked
through the door I sensed His presence, and I knew this was
the place where love abounds. For this is the temple, Jehovah
God abides here, we are standing in His presence on holy
ground.'' When I read Jaron Davis's answer, it so parallels
how I feel today--``It blows me away that God will take a
little country boy from the foothills of Tennessee and let
him write a song as a teenager that would have the effect and
impact that this one has had. It just kind of proves that
little is much when God is in it.''
There is no joy in easy sailing, when skies are clear and
blue,
Nor is there joy in doing things, that anyone can do,
But there is some satisfaction, that's mighty sweet to take,
When you reach a destination, mama, I never thought I'd make.
____________________