Bethany Baptist Church

Morning services began with a hymn “Stand Up, Stand Up, For Jesus,” a devotion, “Rejected by His Own,” from John 1:10-13. Jesus came to the Jews, his own, but was rejected. Christ, the Messiah, was presented to them in the Old Testament. The Law of Moses was important to the Jews, but they only chose to obey the parts that made them feel good. They wanted no part of the judgment of God; therefore, the gospel was spread to the Gentile nations. We should spread the gospel to the entire world. Our only New Year’s resolution should be to serve God better than we have in the past.

After prayer and Sunday school, our congregation sang “Are You Able,” “Give of Your Best” and “Amazing Grace.” Our choir special was “The Savior is Waiting,” followed by the message.

After welcoming our many visitors, Bro. Aubry read text from James 1:2-8, followed by prayer. The message, “Through the Storms,” reminds us that we will always be going through storms in this life. Yes, even after we become saved. The book of James tells us like it is, good or bad. We are saved through faith, not by works.

We can fall into trials, and we will be tried of God, but many of our difficulties in life are self-inflicted. Many times trials just happen, like David in the Bible, when King Saul was trying to kill him. David had done nothing to deserve the anger of King Saul. There will always be difficulties in our lives because of the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden. But then there are those trials we have because of sin in our life. King David got in trouble by lusting after Bathsheba. He allowed sin to take over. After the sin, he tried to fix things but they were out of his control. David could have walked away, but he didn’t and everything in his life went wrong.

We should rejoice when we fall into trouble that is not self-inflicted. God is trying to teach us patience when we are being tested. The goal of the book of James is patience. We need patience to go through the tests. God is building us, but he wants servants and churches to grow. God wants us to make it to the end, and that is not working to be saved. To overcome the trials of life, we need Godly wisdom. The only way to have this is through reading and studying the Bible and through constant prayer. To achieve wisdom, we need to study the book of Proverbs.

We need to believe what God says, be ready to stand through the storms and rejoice when our heart is broken. God is still on the throne. What will we do with Jesus today?

We were dismissed with the hymn “We Need Thee Every Hour” and a prayer.

Evening services began with “Work for the Night is Coming,” followed by announcements prayer and BTC. We combined Sunday night and Wednesday night services because of New Year’s Day. There were no services at night.

Bro. Aubry’, message about trust was taken from Psalm 62. Trust is almost gone from society today. Even Jesus knew better than to trust man. (John 2:24,25) God knows all about us and knows that we turn to him when nothing we have tried will work. As a nation, we should trust in God. We marginalize God. Many see God only as a religious term. We do not trust him with our lives and we no longer reverence him. When we put God first in our lives, we will be branded as a religious fanatic. We are obligated to serve God, but should serve him because we love him. We think we can live without God, but then we want a guarantee before trusting. In trusting God, we have a guarantee in writing. (Hebrews 6:17) We do our best to not trust God, but he will keep us able to perform the duties he wants us to do. Unwillingness to trust God leads to ultimate desperation. We want to be able to call on God when we need him. (Revelation 3:17) Even though we do not want to trust God, he offers us his grace. When we trust him, he will draw us closer to him. After prayer and a hymn, “Rock of Ages,” we were dismissed in prayer. Our prayer list includes many who are sick, need salvation, or are doing God’s work and may be having a difficult life.

Bethsalem Baptist Church

Our day of worship opened with congregation singing.

Bro. Bobby gave the welcome and ministry opportunities.

On the fifth Sunday of Advent, the Christ Candle was lit by Keith and Misty Kelley.

The children’s message was given by Bro. Bobby.

Our celebration choir special was wonderful, singing reasons for joy.

Bro. Bobby’s message was taken from Philippians 3:12-16: “This one thing I do.”

We had a great Lord’s day.

No services will be held Sunday night or Wednesday night.

We will begin our services on Sunday, Jan. 6.

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and a happy New Year.

Happy birthday this week to Diane Moore, James Earl Bates, Alton Ellison, Tommy Corn and Monica Eiland.

Pray this week for our Pastor Search Committee: Charles Bryant, Hunter Moore, Eddie Vaughan, Johnny McClain, Bobby Bush, Ralph and Marie Smith, Renee Dobbins, Hayley Boyd, Mesha Stewart, George and Diane Williams, all those facing cancer and all our homebound people. Also remember those in nursing homes.