Bethany Baptist Church

On this beautiful spring day, we were glad to have several members back who had been away for different reasons. Our choir special was “Little Is Much if God Is In it.” Bro. Steve brought a message from Joshua 2. Joshua, who did his best to lead the Israelites in the way God challenged him has passed away, and there is a new generation who have forsaken God’s way. Either they were not taught God’s Word well, or they merely failed to submit to what they were taught. Even through the chastening of God and the leadership of the Judges, they failed to turn from their stubborn ways (verse 19). There will always be new generations; will those who come after us know about God and who He is?

Sunday night, Bro. Steve’s message was taken from Mark 4:33-41: “What Manner of Man Is This?” In this familiar story of Jesus asleep in the boat with his disciples during the storm at sea, we learn that in spite of His weariness in his humanity, in His Providence he cared for those in danger and provided His wonderful power and peace. God doesn’t always take away the storms in our lives, but He will always give us the peace we need in the midst of the storm.

Prayer List: Clayton Armstrong, Betty Biggs, James Bixler, Ellen Gray, Ophelia Griffin, Ernestine Hatch, Danny Jones, Hazel Kelly family, Larry Miller, Billie Neeley, Jamie Sanders, Lilianna Thompson, Tim Wallace, and our VBS in June.

See you Sunday!

Calvary Independent Baptist

We are very thankful for the many blessings that the Lord has seen fit to shower upon us lately. Two men in our church were recently ordained into the gospel ministry. Bro. Matthew Brasher preached this Sunday morning’s message on the joy every believer should have because of a personal relationship with our savior the Lord Jesus Christ.

He also brought the message for the night services and serves weekly here at Calvary as interim music minister.

Sunday April 1, in the 10 a.m. service, Bro. Kevin Shaw, our youth pastor, will be preaching the morning message with Bro. Oscar Mims our associate pastor preaching in the Sunday Evening Service. We will be having communion service Sunday night. Our Wednesday night service is centered on studying Bible doctrines and  we are on the study of prayer. We want to invite and make welcome anyone who wants to come and worship the Lord Jesus Christ with us during any of our services.

Cedar Grove

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him” (Revelation 3:20).
Brother Alton Russell sang, “He Touched Me” just before Sunday School. It was so beautiful.
We had a wonderful Sunday School lesson entitled “Peter’s Denial.” The text came from Matthew 26:31-35, 69 -75.
Golden text: “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Happy birthday to Violet Porter, Bro. Jeff Carroll, Jerry Hunter and Gerald Smitherman.
Welcome to our world, Caylee Morgan Bullard, daughter of Robin and Shannon Bullard. She arrived March 19.
Bro. Clay Collins and Jessica are blessed again with another son that will arrive in June.
Robin Horton has a baby girl, I don’t know the details but her name is Paisley; maybe we will get to see her soon.
We are truly blessed with babies and young people. They are the future leaders of our church and country.
Out deepest sympathy goes to the Danny Hayes family in the loss of his mother, Mrs. Carrie Hayes, and to the Robinson family in the loss of Marvin.
Bro. Alton Russell led the singing Sunday morning; songs were “Sweet Bye and Bye” and “Amazing Grace.”
We had a guest speaker, Casey Gruber and his wife Laura, missionaries. At this time they live in Ohio but will leave for Africa soon.
Sister Amelia Hubbard sang the song of invitation, and many went to the altar.
Please pray for the prayer list at Cedar Grove; we have sickness, family problems and financial situations. God knows all about it.
We welcome all our visitors, we loved having you worship with us and hope you will come again
In the morning, go look outside and just look at the beauty of God’s creations, just stop and think and you will be amazed. This is my favorite time of year.
Have a good week and God bless.

Center Hill Baptist

Although our attendance was down this Sunday, there was a “worship time” at Center Hill today.

Ladies, don’t forget our Ladies Luncheon on Saturday, May 12. Jean Castille, wife of football great Jeremiah Castille, will be our speaker. Come and bring a friend with you!

This Sunday we concentrated our study of Revelation on the worship of God and the holiness of God.

This study reminds us that God has the end of time already prepared, and it will not change. John describes what he saw in his vision of Heaven. John uses the word “like” many times. This tells us that it is hard to describe the majesty and holiness of God. God’s appearance was “like jasper and sardius”.

Jasper, like a diamond, represents the holiness and purity of God. Sardius, a red stone, represents the justice of God.

Also there is a rainbow “like an emerald” around the throne that represents the mercy of God.

There are four creatures that surround the  throne that constantly worship God, “and they do not rest day or night”. Rest is a physical necessity for us on earth, but in heaven it is unnecessary. There is constant worship.

If we will be constantly worshiping God in heaven, why is it sometimes difficult to worship God in our churches today? Do we let the world intrude? Do we let Satan in? Are our hearts and minds prepared for worship?

In conclusion, we sang “Holy, Holy, Holy.” After reading the fourth chapter of Revelation, there is new meaning to the words of this old and familiar hymn.

If you drove past Center Hill Church Sunday night, you might have wondered why there were people sitting outside in a circle with their Bibles in hand. There was a totally unplanned service outside, the weather was too beautiful to stay inside. We chose to worship God and enjoy the world He created for us at the same time. This quote summarizes our Sunday night message, “The task ahead of us is never as great as the power behind us.”

Christ Independent Methodist Church

It was our great pleasure to have some of Dr. Mac and Glenda Stinson’s children and grandchildren worship with us. These teenagers serve as proof to remind us that time indeed marches on.

Dr. Stinson’s provocative sermon title today was “Did You Hear That?” His scripture reading was from John 12:20-33. The crux of his sermon was the fact that we all sometimes hear but we don’t hear.

With reference to his sermon, Dr. Mac made three specific observations:

1.) “Many people are so disconnected from God, that if He were to speak to them, they would not be able to hear his voice.”

2.) “Other people are so preoccupied with their own pursuits that they are unaware when God speaks.”

3.) “It is important to know that God does speak to those who listen.”

Mother Teresa said “The essential thing is not what we say, but what God says to us and through us.”

Do you hear God’s voice, or do you only hear thunder?

Prayer list: Carl Glass, Dwight Sammons, Dakota Justice, Liliana Thompson and those travelling spring break.

If you wish to place a lily in the sanctuary on Easter morning in honor or memeory of a loved one, see Laurel Lee.

Palm Sunday evening we will conclude our study of Revelation. Join us as we conclude “Escape the Coming Night!”

Have a blessed week.

Friendship Baptist

Bro. Ken’s message was from Mark 15-33-39, “Message From The Cross.”

Upcoming events:

• April 7- Children’s Easter Egg hunt at the church, 2-4 p.m.

• April 21-Mother/daughter/friend banquet, “Angels Among Us.” Bring teddy bears for public service workers.

• May 19- Yard sale and pancake breakfast: fundraiser for youth mission trip

Prayer requests: Ruby Bolton Family, Aubrey Burnette Family, William Sanders Jones, travelers, Susan Daniel, Jim Staggs, Tammy Colvert, Pat Hay, Rachel Lowrey, Shelly Bryan

Happy birthday: Betty Mims, Edith Williams, Keith Funderburk, Linda Dutton, Bobby Lucas, Brandi Dutton.

Jackson Chapel

Bro. Dewayne Castleberry got the Sunday school hour started off with a good lesson entitled “Recommit to God’s Word.”  Sis. Wanda Chadwick got the morning worship service started off with “Everybody Will Be Happy Over There.”  Bro. Dennis’ text came from 1 John 4:10-17 – We need to love God consistently because he has an unconditional love for us.

We need to stop comparing ourselves to everything as we are on our journey to Heaven because the only way we will get to Heaven is by God’s grace and because Jesus Christ loves us.  We as Christians need to come to the realization that when situations come about in our lives, that whatever the outcome is in those situations is God’s will for our lives.

We need to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ and if we will do this we will never sink because we’ve got our focus on Jesus Christ.  The service ended with several coming to pray.

Happy Birthday to Chase Varden.

Upcoming events: April 8 (Easter Sunday) We will be presenting a live re-enactment of the Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and Pastor Dennis Smith and congregation cordially invites everyone.

Please remember these as you pray this week – The Aubrey Burnette Family, The Ruby Bolton Family, Harold Sansom, June Wyatt, Horace Wyatt, Larry Williams, Shirley Burnett, The Cofer Family, our lost loved ones and our service men and women.

Mars Hill Baptist

The choir sang “He Set Me Free” and then for the sermon, Bro. William used Ephesians 2:1-10. Here we learn that if we don’t act like a Christian, we probably are not one. We all have been lost and must accept Christ as our Savior. It would seem that we are committed to everything except Jesus.

We had special altar prayer for Sandra Morris who will be having surgery this week.

April 3 at 10 a.m. will be the Senior Celebration, this is a countywide program and will be at Union Grove.

On April 27, be a “Life Saver” and support Relay for Life. See Pam Pittman for more information.

June 24 will be our 125th Anniversary Celebration. If you are a former member please make plans to attend. We have 125 years behind us and the best is yet to come.

Our Vacation Bible School will start on June 24 also. This will be 6-8:30 p.m.

The night sermon came from Galatians 6:7-9 where we are told that we will reap what we sow. How many times as children we heard our parents tell us that we will indeed reap what we sow? It is good to remember this and tell our children and grandchildren.

We must always remember that Satan is our enemy.

Mt. Carmel No. 1 Baptist Church

We are thankful to God for the beautiful day we were given to gather in His house for praise and worship. It was so nice to have a lovely arrangement of Dogwood blossoms and Azaleas placed in the sanctuary. This was truly a reminder of the beauties that God gives us to enjoy. We were blessed with special music from the choir singing “The King is Coming” and Donald Liveoak sang “God Has Been So Good to Me”.

Bro. Derrell’s sermon to the children was based on the parable of the fig tree. He explained to them that our lives are like fruit trees; they must be pruned to remove the bad parts and nurtured to help good fruits be produced.

To introduce his message, Spoken from the Cross, Bro. Derrell sang “Who Am I?”. His scripture passage was John 19:28-29. The pain and anguish that Christ suffered was because he loved us so. Christ experienced great thirst on the Cross, but we can have living water that will quench our thirst spiritually for eternity. It is a gift from God.

Upcoming events at Mt. Carmel include: March 31 there will be a dinner and movie night beginning at 4 p.m. We will have dinner then the movie Courageous will be shown. You will be blessed by this story. April 8 we will have Sunrise Service at 6:30 a.m. followed by a prayer breakfast. Revival is scheduled for April 22 – 27 at 6 p.m. on Sunday and 7 p.m. on weekdays. Bro. Don Vanderslice will be our guest speaker. Please remember our sick and shut-ins when you pray. Also start praying for our VBS that will be coming up in June.

Mt. Springs News

Sunday morning services started with Bro. Wayne Barnett leading the church in the following hymns: “Are You Washed in the Blood,” “The Old Rugged Cross,” and “There is Power in the Blood.”

After Sunday school, Bro. Wayne led the church in the hymns “Where the Soul Never Dies” and “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” Ricky and Sherri Williams sang “God on the Mountain” and blessed the church with such a wonderful song.

Bro. Don’s message came from 1 Kings 17:1-16. Even God’s people sometimes have to suffer because of the judgment of God. The only way to get out of the battles you face is to never give and persevere. We will never see what God can do in our lives until we take what he’s blessed us with and use it.

Rocky Mount UMC

Azalea, dogwoods and daffodils blooming.  Warm temperatures and a slight breeze.  The freedom to go to the Lord’s house.  What a gorgeous day to soak up the wonderful glory of the Lord!

Rocky Mount was excited and blessed to have Bro. Ron Jennings bring our message this morning.  What an inspiring message of mercy and compassion as he shared the story of Mephibosheth.  This story also dealt with a true friendship and the keeping of one’s word.  As you read  2 Samuel, Chapter 9, you basically get the end of the story of how David fulfilled a commitment with his friend, Jonathan, the son of Saul. Mephibosheth had a curse of lame legs, but because of that curse, he was never able to fight David, as his brother had.  The Lord made a promise to his children that he would turn their curses into blessings and this was one of those cases.

David had Mephibosheth brought to him and returned to him all that had been his grandfather Saul’s and made him a part of the royal family.  A short story, but with so many lessons for all of us!