Mars Hill Baptist Church

Oct. 14 was set aside as Pastor Appreciation Day. We had a wonderful service, followed by lunch prepared by our terrific cooks at Mars Hill. We truly love our pastor and his wife. Their entire family is a part of our family in Christ. Bro. William Short and Mrs. Cindy Short, we are blessed to have you with us. Our special speaker on this Sunday was the son-in-law of Bro. William Short, Tyson McClain. Bro. Tyson did a wonderful job for us. We appreciate the message he brought and what he stands for. Bro. William’s son, Bill Short, blessed us with special music that was enjoyed by all.

The message was taken from John 11:35. “Jesus wept,” a short verse with big meaning. People have said many things about this scripture. Why did Jesus weep? Maybe it was because he loved Lazarus, or because those in the house with Mary and Martha did not believe Jesus could raise the dead. Perhaps he wept because he was about to bring Lazarus back from heaven. I know that I would not want to come back to this old world after having been in heaven with Jesus! All of these things could be true. Maybe Jesus wept because he was all God, but full man.

Jesus still weeps today. He weeps for me, for you and for this world. He cares about everything we do, and he loves us. Maybe he weeps because we are so selfish. We care only about ourselves. People struggle everyday, yet what do we do? Tell someone, “I’ll pray for you,” then forget to pray, or we tell them, “I’ll put you on our prayer list.” We send foreign aid to countries every day, yet people in this country are homeless and in poverty. Maybe Jesus weeps because of our lack of a prayer life. When and how do we pray? When we are in trouble? When there is sickness in our homes? Do our prayers start out with “Dear Jesus, if you will do this for me, I will do this for you? So often we pray on Sunday, asking God for help, then expect to wake up on Monday with our problem solved. God works in his own time, in his own way and brother, he has not messed up yet!

In John 11:21, Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus was there, and he is here now for us. He is still in the miracle business; there is nothing that God cannot do. We only have to believe in him, have faith in him and put our trust in him, for he is our only hope.

Maybe Jesus weeps because of our inactivity. What does that mean? We sit on our stool of ‘do nothing’ and expect someone else to get the job done for us. It doesn’t work that way; Jesus expects us to tell others what he has done for us. He expects us to go to church on Sunday, and he expects us to share our faith with others.

Here is a sad statistic for you: 95 percent of Christians have never shared their faith with anyone and have never lead another person to Christ. Friends, this is a problem.

To be a Christian is to be Christ-like. We are failing in this job. There is something for every Christian to do. Just as in a sports game, it takes the whole team doing the job they are supposed to do in order to come out on the winning side, it takes every Christian, every day, telling those we meet about Jesus Christ, and how much he loves and cares for us. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. What is your job? Ask God and he will tell you, then get up and do it.

Finally, maybe Jesus weeps today because of our unbelief. The Christian faith is in the minority in this world today. There are many religions, but there is only one true God, one way to heaven, which is through the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. Put your trust in him today. It’s been said the difference in heaven and hell is the distance between your heart and mind. To be almost saved is to be 100 percent lost. Only Christ Jesus can save you.

Are you causing Jesus to weep today? You can cause him to smile and heaven to rejoice! Ask him into your heart now, this moment, and you will never be the same again. Please pray for our church, the lost, the sick, our troops and our country. God is good, all the time. Amen.

Calvary Independent Baptist Church

We would like to thank everyone who attended services this weekend. The morning service included a message about baptism and the result of taking God out of our political programs. All good things come from God. When we leave him out, we are no longer in a position to receive his blessings. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, we find a word of hope. If God’s people would begin once more to love God more than they love sin, there is hope.

We had a baptismal service just after the morning message. Sunday night’s service included a message from James 1:5-7 about wisdom and praying with faith. What is the driving force of your prayer life? If faith is the driving force in our prayer lives, we will see souls saved and lives changed for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We want to invite you to our Homecoming and Old-fashioned Day service on Sunday morning, Oct. 21. Bro. J.T. Meank will be preaching, and Forever Blessed will be the guest singers. We would love for you to attend any of our regular services. We are located south Clanton, just past Dollar General, off U.S. Highway 31 on Fulmer Drive. Sunday School starts at 9 a.m., Children’s Church and adult worship services at 10 a.m., Sunday evening services at 5:30 p.m. and Wednesday service at 6:30 p.m. For more information, call Pastor Oscar Mims at 205-755-9399.