Samaria Baptist Church

A wonderful time was had in Jesus at Samaria Baptist Church on Sunday.

It is amazing how we can always receive a blessing when we are open to one. Bro. Shane Wyatt is a true messenger of God, and we are blessed that God led him our way.

Prayer needs are for Paul Shearon, Diane Bullard, Barbara Collins, Ray and Phyllis Hardee, Mike Smith, Nita Smith, and the United States of America and its leaders. Special music was “How great Thou art” by Harold Fraser.

Bro. Harold has been blessing our hearts for a long time in song and in other ways as a follower of Christ. We are so thankful for him and for Alice also.

The scriptures were from Revelation 3:20-22.

We need to ask ourselves this question. Where are we in our relationship with Jesus Christ? Do we fall on our faces only in times of desperation, or do we honor God in our everyday walk?

We need to find our place with the master, and decide if he is the voice of leadership in our lives.

We can hear all kinds of spiritual guidance, but we need to be sure that we are hearing the right voice that knocked on our heart’s door is loud and strong.

Do not wait until you get it all figured out to give your all to him. He wants us because he can do the repairing.

We cannot wait to come to him until we have fixed ourselves. It does not work that way.

Do not make the mistake of battling the very one that can make your life complete. In II Peter, we can escape the corruption of the world by the divine power of God.

We can accomplish greatness but only in him. We get excited about serving, but if something comes up or someone makes us upset, then we might be tempted to throw it all away and give up.

This is straight out of the bonds of Satan. We must always keep our door open to Jesus Christ in order to defeat these attacks on our sanity, our service and our very soul.

Choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

May this be our battle cry in the difficulties of our lives today.

This Sunday we will have our Easter meal, followed by an egg hunt for the children. May God keep you in the palm of his hand.

Submitted by Diane Fisher Greer

Mt. Springs Methodist Church

Sunday morning, the congregation sang the following hymns: “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms,” “I Want to Know More about My Lord” and “Heaven’s Jubilee.”

Bro. Roger Cleckler brought a devotion from 1 Samuel 13:19-20.

The devil will try to take whatever he can from you, like the Philistines took the Israelites weapons away.

We have a battle with the enemy and we need to get whatever weapons we can to fight him. We can hide God’s word in our heart as a weapon, and the devil cannot take that away from us.

After Sunday School, Ricky Cleckler welcomed the congregation back with the hymn, “Are You Washed in the Blood?”

Roger Cleckler sang a special, “Didn’t Throw the Clay Away.”

Bro. Buddy Hayes brought a message from Hebrews 1:13-14 and Hebrews 2:1-4, 9. Those living outside of Christ are living a life that is empty.

Every individual who wants peace and the love of God has got to make a decision whether or not they will receive Jesus. Some people ignore the Lord and reject him. Jesus Christ is willing to profess us if we confess him. We were people with no hope, full of sin, and in agony apart from his saving grace.

God came to save us. Are you in fellowship with God?

Sunday night, Ricky Cleckler led the congregation in the hymns of, “Just Over in the Glory Land,” “Where the Soul Never Dies” and “I Have Somebody with Me.”

Ronnie Moates brought a devotion from Acts 5:34-39. You cannot overthrow God.

After the testimony service, Sheri Moates sang, “Gospel to the World.”

Bro. Buddy Hayes preached from Genesis 1:27, Genesis 9:1-6 and Galatians 5:22-26.

Bro. Buddy said that, “When God saw me, he saw someone overcome with sin. He had compassion and touched my heart. Since God touched me, he keeps on changing me.”

God wants us to love him above all creation, ourselves, or anything that he gives us. Remember to keep him first.

We are called to live like God in spite of all our circumstances. We are to love God and serve God, and we were created by God to do that.

The biggest waste is when people neglect such a great Salvation. People are being dragged through life by the devil, when they could be resting in Christ.

Submitted by Savannah P.

 

Friendship Baptist Church

Bro. Dusty Dutton sang, “The Lord’s Prayer,” and Bro. Ken Daniel’s message was from Luke 23: 39-43. His title was, “which side are you on?”

Three men hung on the cross. One man, Jesus had done nothing wrong, while the other two men were criminals.

One hurled insults at Jesus, telling him to “save himself if he was Christ.” The other criminal stated Jesus had done nothing wrong.

He also asked Jesus to remember him in heaven.

Congratulations to Jackalyn, Lindsey, Brayla, Jasmine, Makayla, Tori, Carlie and Addison.

During evening service Janice and Pam recognized the G.A.’s that we had present.

Bro. Ken’s message was from II Corinthians 8: 1-9, 15. His title was “The Financial Respect of Ministry.”

The Macedonian churches give abundantly to the saints in Jerusalem.

Meagan Daniel will marry Yoshimots Ishida on March 26 at 1 p.m. at Friendship Baptist Church with a reception to follow.

They will reside in Japan, and we are asking everyone to give cash instead of gifts due to the commute back to Japan (most of our gift cards will not work in Japan).

Upcoming events include:

March 19: Pancake breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and an Easter egg hunt at 11 a.m.

March 27: Easter sunrise service and cantata.

May 2: Senior Adult Evangelism Conference at Taylor Road Baptist Church in Montgomery from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free and no registration is required.

May 8: Sandi Patty’s Forever Grateful: The Farewell Tour at First Baptist Church in Prattville at 6 p.m. The cost is $25 and $18.50 for seniors 60-plus.

May 12: OASIS ’16: A Refreshing Event for Senior Adults will be held at 1:30 p.m. at Mt. Habron West Baptist Church with Allison Durham Speer, Bro. Billy Bob Bohannon and Frank Jones. Tickets are $15 if purchased by April 22.

June 3: Men’s fishing trip. See Dusty for more details.

June 17-18: GRIDIRON Men’s Conference at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. Register at www.gridironmen.org

June 20-24: VBS Cave Quest.

Oct. 17-20: Celebrators Conference in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. with Max Lucado, David Jeremiah, Phil Waldrop, Dennis Swanberg, Greg Buchanan, Michael W. Smith, Steve Green, The Gather Vocal Band and Charles Billingsley. Visit www.celebrators.org.

We are still looking for old pictures and/or mementos to use for our 100th year homecoming.

Happy anniversary to Jim and Rita Vanderslice.

Happy birthday to Keith Funderburk, Betty Mims and Linda Dutton.

Prayer requests for Rachel Lowrey, Fay Honeycutt, Liby Fanning, Judy Jones, Lancaster Littleton, Jerry Wilson, Gwen Turner, Lia Howard and her son, Colin, Todd Varnett, Byars family, Ricky Taylor, Gene Ellison, Jim and Terri Pack and Kayla Singleton.

 

Mt. Carmel No. 1 Baptist Church

Were you late for church last Sunday because you forgot to spring forward an hour on Saturday night?

If so, you probably were not alone. Maybe by now you are adjusted and running on schedule.

In addition to the change of time, our Sunday at Mt. Carmel was wonderfully different than others have been.

Our morning service began with Libby Warren playing for the penny march. This was followed by only one congregation song preceding Bro. Travis Burnett’s message to us on “Obedience in Faith.”

He used the verses of scripture found in Matthew 28:19-20. This was a special message leading up to the baptism of Mesha Mims.

Baptism is for believers – those that have truly been saved by accepting Christ as Lord and Savior.

If you are not truly saved, you go into the water a dry sinner and come out a wet sinner. The water does not have any saving power.

Salvation comes only by grace through faith in Christ. You must believe with all your heart and confess with your mouth.

In doing so, we die to ourselves and begin to live in the newness of Christ. Our desires are changed from walking in the ways of the world to walking in the way of Christ.

Jesus made salvation possible to everyone with his death on the cross. Even though this message was delivered with the new convert in mind, it was inspiring to those of us that have been Christians for many years.

It reminded us that we have a command from God to go and make disciples. Accepting Christ is just the first step in our Christian walk.

Whether we are new Christians or have been for years, we can be assured that Christ is with us and will always be.

Mesha was presented with a Certificate of Baptism and a new Bible.

Elijah Warren, who had been baptized previously, also received a new Bible. We also want to say a big welcome to Kacie and Ashley Liveoak, as new members of our church.

On Sunday evening, our services were also different. They began with our regular monthly business meeting.

After this, the congregation went into the Fellowship Hall for finger foods. When everyone had enjoyed this time of food and fellowship, the ladies met to start a new Secret Sisters Ministry.

Laura Jones began the meeting with a devotion and words of encouragement. For the ladies that may want to participate, but were unable to attend the meeting, please see Laura.

Even though it seems our prayer list gets longer each week, but we do have a lot to praise God for. He has answered many prayers and bestowed blessings upon all of us.

Please continue to remember these in your prayers: Reba Chambers, Marlene Hayes, Libby Warren, Elijah Warren, Mary Ellen Campbell, Jennifer Watley, Mary Dean Higgins, Gladys Franklin, Minnie Childress, George Campbell, Dorothy Bowman, Kaitlyn Burnett, Elladene Mims, Virginia Church, Mary Maudlin and Christy Lowery.

Upcoming events that our church are planning include an egg hunt on March 26 at 9 a.m., choir practice after church on Sunday evening, cantata “The Nail Scared Hand” on March 27 at 11 a.m. and Senior Celebration at Bell Lane on April 5.

Submitted by Louise Liveoak

 

Calvary Independent Baptist Church

Calvary Independent Baptist Church wants to thank everyone who attended services this past week. Sunday morning services included a message from I Corinthians 15:1-4 on “The Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

We looked at how the gospel is a message that needs to be heard, the gospel tells of a Savior that must be received. The gospel calls a people who will be able to stand, and the gospel has caused someone to be praying for you.

Someone has been praying for you for salvation, rededication or maybe even church membership.

Have you heard the good news about Jesus Christ, how he died for our sins, buried and resurrected from that grave and is alive forever more.

We pray that you are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and are faithfully serving him in a bible-believing church near you.

Sunday night services included a message from Luke 19:1-10 on “Jesus Makes The Difference. A Call for People Who Will Be Caring and Sharing.”

We looked at a call for people who will care for the lost, poor and the suffering. We looked at a call for people who will share possessions, money and food with the ones who are less fortunate.

We looked at a call for people to not be bare in their fruit bearing, earth, Heaven and in eternal things.

We looked at a call for people, but are we a people who will have ears to hear.

Elijah heard the call from God through a still small voice in I Kings:19.

Moses heard the call from God out of the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3.

Are you listening for the call of God in your life?

We pray that you are and if you are in or near Clanton on Sunday and looking for a church to visit, we would love to see you at Calvary.

We are located in south Clanton just past Dollar General right off U.S. 31 on Fulmer Drive.

Our regular weekly services include Sunday School at 9 a.m., children’s church and adult worship service on Sunday at 10 a.m.

Sunday services will also be held at 5:30 p.m., while Wednesday services will begin at 6:30 p.m. and a Bible study on every other Tuesday at 7 p.m.

For other services and events check us out on Facebook, Twitter, visit our website at www.cibc-clanton.com or call Pastor Oscar Mims at (205) 755-9399.

Submitted by Oscar Mims

 

Floyd Baptist Church

Bro. Mike Lawerence’s message was from John 10 and was entitled “Jesus is the Door.”

What is the door?

It is for exiting and entering. We enter into salvation and exit to tell the world about salvation.

As Christians, we exit the road to Hell and enter the road to Heaven. Jesus is the only door, and there is no other way to Heaven and eternal life than through him.

Floyd will be having an Easter egg hunt and family night on March 26 at 4:30 p.m. There will be plenty of food, fellowship and fun. Everyone is welcome.

Come worship with us at Floyd. We are located at 3439 County Road 59 in Verbena.

 

Bethsalem Baptist Church

Bro. Justin welcomed everyone and gave the ministry opportunities.

We were bless in singing lots of songs directed by Bro. Cleve Mallory our music director.

Our celebration choir special was “He Looked Beyond My Fault,” with a soloist performed by Emily Edwards.

Bro. Justin preached from John 1:35-42 about “Being an Andrew.”

Night service and Adult and Students Bible Study was also held.

Wednesday night family supper will take place at 5:30pm, with adult prayer meeting and the outlet for students and children’s choir at 6:30 p.m.

Pray this week for Paul Price, Elaine Hayes, Allen and Casey Daniel, Myra Burnett, John Flowers, Walter Aaron, Ruth Carter, Bob Thasher, Debra Mims. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Glasscock, Bobbie Tipton, Caleb Harrison, Lynn Cox, Charles Bryan, Melissa Langford, Kathy Fitzgerald, Stephanie Hinton, our country and leadership, Dreama Thomas, those facing cancer, our homebound, assisted living and nursing home residents as well as everyone who needs salvation.

Pray for our vacation bible school on April 17.

Happy birthday this week to Ran Kelley, Abigail Britton, Mike Williams, Jenny Summerlin, Dylan Chavers, McKenzie Cleckler, Oakley Yeargan, Jeff Mims, Julia Chism, Bryant Benjamin, Allie Stange and Gavin Wilson.

Next Sunday is Palm Sunday. Come worship with us and have a blessed week.

Submitted by Elvie Patterson

 

Cedar Grove Baptist Church

Announcements include: The Kempters Group will be singing Saturday night at 6 p.m. at Cedar Grove Church.

Our Radio Revival has a tentative schedule of the second Saturday of every month and will be live From Cedar Grove via local radio station WKLF.

The church family of Cedar Grove wants to give a shout out to God for blessing the radio ministry, to WKLF radio station for helping us to go forward with “Radio Revival” and last but certainly not least, thanks to all the pastors for helping us to stand up for Christ and the Gospel. Please Continue To Tune In.

Pastor Jeff Carroll’s text came from John 18: 12-40 and was entitled “From The Garden To The Cross Part 2”

Jesus was brought before Annas first, the father in law to Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.

After being arrested and bound in the Garden of Gethsemane, Caiaphas advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the Jews.

We see here all of Jesus disciples had fled, left him alone to face his accusers, and they did not stand up for Jesus nor stand with him.

Peter had followed Jesus at a distance, but did not go into court, when asked was he not a disciple also (this is one of three times Peter denies Jesus, as Jesus told him he would before the cock crew twice).

The high priest asked Jesus about his disciples and his doctrine. Jesus answered him “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet and in secret I have said nothing. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them indeed they know what I said.”

When he had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand and said, “Do you answer the high priest like that?”

Jesus answered him “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil but if well why do you strike me?” (Peter is pointed out as a disciple which he denies a second time).

Jesus is now brought to Caiaphas. One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off and said “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” (Peter then denied again and immediately the rooster crowed.)

We need not be ashamed to stand up for Christ. We have to get to the point where we get over the fear factor of what others might say or do, like it or not . Jesus after all of that is now taken to Pontius Pilate, the governor.

Pilate asked him, if he was the king of the Jews?

Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.”

Pilate wanted to let a prisoner go on the day of the feast, so he asked the Jews who they wanted set free they cried Barabbas (a robber and murderer).

Pilate then asked them what he should do with Jesus the Christ? They all said, “Let him be crucified!”

Pilate could find no fault in Jesus and wanted to let him go but the crowd and the Jews were getting worked up, and when he asked why what evil has done?

They cried all the more saying “Let him be crucified!”

When Pilate let the voice of others sway him against Jesus, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person, you see to it”

All the people answered, “His blood be on us and our children.”

Then Pilate released Barabbas to them and when he had scourged Jesus he delivered him to be crucified. Jesus had been mocked, scourged, spit, on beaten, had a crown of thorns placed on his head, and a robe of purple, mockingly calling him king.

In Closing, do you see and know how much Jesus loves us?”

Submitted by Naomi Gillespie

New Salem Baptist Church

Worship service began at 11 a.m. with choir performing the call to worship, “This is the Day.”

Bro. Reeser made the announcements and presented the prayer requests, and the choir sang “Sanctuary.”

Bro. Reeser’s text was from II Corinthians 12:7-10, with the theme of “Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh.”

Sometimes God places things in our lives to slow us down. Paul stated that his thorn in the flesh made him stronger.

Although we do not know exactly what his problem was, it is believed he suffered from an eye problem.

From the scripture we learn that spiritual blessings are more important than physical blessings. Christ is all that matters no matter what happens.

Jesus Christ said that we would face persecutions; the real problem is how we handle them.

Paul said, “I take pleasure in infirmities…” Do people see Christ in our lives? God is looking at how we handle difficulties. If God is used as a measuring rod to measure our spiritual life, what type report would we get. Would it be considered full, low or would we need to add some?

The 5 p.m. service opened with a congregation song, and Bro. Reeser’s text came from the book of Jude.

Jude spoke about the apostasy of the churches, which had declined primarily because the people had gotten away from the word of God and Evangelism.

This was in part because men had crept in unaware and influenced the members to water-down the gospel and not bother trying to evangelize the lost.

That is why we should “try the spirit” to see if it is from God or not. We are not to follow those who we have not found to be teaching the true word of God.

The evening service was followed by the monthly business meeting.

Birthdays this week were for, Jessie Bennett, Glenna Dawson, Mary Hilyer, while Daniel and Holly Matson celebrated their wedding anniversary.

The adult choir will present a special at the 11 a.m. service this Sunday. Lunch will be served following the service and an egg hunt will be held for the children.

Our children’s choir will present their Easter program on March 27th at the 11 a.m. service.

New Salem Baptist Church extends a cordial welcome for all to worship with us.

Sunday School begins at 10 a.m. followed by worship services at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Bible study and prayer meeting will be held Wednesday at 6 p.m. We are currently studying II Corinthians.

You are invited to join with us at any of our services, and can call (205) 389-1102 for additional information.

Submitted by Lucille Price Pierce