Friendship Baptist Church

Our choir special was “Soon and Very Soon.” Bro. Ken Daniel’s message was from Habakkuk 1:5-11 titled “Watch and See.” Habakkuk poses some very difficult questions to God. He was wondering why evil was prevailing. God said the he would not believe it if he were told. God urged Habakkuk to be patient and trust him.

In the evening service, commissioning was held for those going on the mission trip to Guatemala. Please keep Michelle, Mark, Brenda, Lauren, Keith and Regeana in your prayers.

Bro. Ken’s message was from Isaiah 6:6-8 titled “Here I Am, Send Me.”

Upcoming events:

Sew for Fun is held each Tuesday at 9 a.m.

March 14: Breakfast at Supper, the association’s annual event for deacons, pastors and wives, will be held at Thorsby First Baptist Church at 6:30 p.m. Music will be provided by The Farm Hands bluegrass quartet. RSVP by March 7.

March 17-22: Trip to Lancaster, Penn., leaving at 5 a.m.

April 20: Easter musical to be performed during the morning service.

May 3: Friendship ladies luncheon at 11 .m. The theme is Charity.

June 6-7: Brotherhood fishing trip and ladies’ trip to the beach

June 16-20: VBS

Aug. 7-10: Trip to the World’s Longest Yard Sale

Birthdays: Christie Dutton, Mark Conradi and Kimi Mios

Prayer requests: Sara Gamble, Sonya Moore, Abbie Thornton, Jeanette Seales, Jeremy Huff’s grandmother-in-law, Pauline Little, Fay Patton, E.J. Headley, Cathy Waltower, Jack Johnson and the medical mission trip to Guatemala

Christ Independent Methodist Church

On this beautiful Sunday, only the date on the calendar would tell us that winter is still here. I happened to walk outside for a breath of sunny air and noticed that my yellow jonquils were beginning to bloom. What announces spring more readily than the early blooming jonquils? For once in a while, the sun was warm and not a false messenger when you stepped outside.

Our church attendance was low due to the sunny but cold weather, giving some of our members a late personal illness.

Our congregational songs were “Victory in Jesus,” “He Took My Sins Away” and “The Longer I Serve Him.”

These beautiful old hymns were followed by Dr. Mac Stinson’s inspiring sermon taken from Nehemiah 8:23, 5-6, 8-18. His sermon title was “The Book That Changes Lives.” The first book that comes to our thought is the Holy Bible. It gives us both philosophical and moral structure for our lives.

Dr. Stinson says, “The Bible is not an easy document to work with. It is confusing at times. But when we read it, when we discuss it with other believers, and when we prayerfully seek to break open it’s meaning, we find there—as we can find nowhere else—a plan for abundant living, a plan for happiness, a plan for holiness and a plan for peace and joy. And that is something that every person desperately needs.

Value-based happiness comes from the sense that your life has meaning. Raising a child, contributing to a charity or standing up for ideals—all these things inspire value-based happiness. Such people can find joy in simple pleasures and can renew those feelings of happiness every time they reflect on the things that give their life meaning.

The Bible provides us with a moral and philosophical structure for our lives. Even more important, if we let it—if we will study prayerfully, led by Christ’s Holy Spirit—it will shape us into the people God intends us to be. If we will study the Bible prayerfully, it will shape us into the people God meant when he said, “Whenever two or more are gathered in name, there am I also.”

When you pray, remember Bobbi Sammons, Phil Simms, Bobby Varden, Sally Adams, Dwight Samms, Annelle Smith, Judy Atkinson and our military, wherever they are stationed.