Christ Independent Methodist Church

Sunday was another perfect spring day. God is so good. I have always felt that God loved a garden because that is where he placed the first man and woman; in the Garden of Eden. His last night on earth he went to spend in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he often went to pray, when Roman soldiers arrested him and carried him away to face Calvary. He gave us so many different flowers that I believe he loved a garden.

Dr. Mac Stinson’s sermon title was “No Other Name.” His scripture was taken from Acts 4:8-12.

Acts 4:11 says, “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

This story is the aftermath of Jesus having healed the blind man. He had appealed to Peter and John for money, but Peter asked him to look at them and then said to him, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk.”

Then Peter took the man by the hand and the cripple began to walk and went to the temple courts with Peter and John jumping about and praising God. Would we believe such a miracle if we witnessed such today? Or would we be skeptical? So were people unconvinced in that day. But Peter points them to Jesus, the man they crucified, and gave him credit that the man was healed.

This story leads us to the decisive declaration: “There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Could this statement be more explicit? Here is the line drawn in the sand.

Dr. Stinson leaves his sermon with this explanation: “This is not a sign of disrespect for other religions. All the world’s great religions make valiant efforts to make meaning out of existence. All the world’s great religions contain much that is good. All the world’s great religions have made contributions to the lives of the people who follow them.”

Our prayer list: Carl and Anne Glass, Dwight Sammons, Dakota Justice, Lilianna Thompson, Kelly Parker, June Simms and Dr. Stinson.

Beginning Wednesday night at 6:45 p.m., join us for the beginning of a new study titled “Jesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message” by Ravi Zacharias. This study will last the entire month of May. Join us as we look in depth at the comparisons between Jesus and other gods of today.

We will resume Sunday Evening Worship services on May 6.

Remember to pray for our country, church, community, world leaders, areas recovering from tornadoes, little Israel and all our service men and their families, remember Shea Simms.

Have a blessed week.

Friendship Baptist Church

Our choir special was “Sanctuary.” Our special music was sung by Pam Jones, “Where There Is Faith.” Bro. Ken’s message was from John 21:15-19, titled “Love Them, Lead Them.” Peter’s love for Jesus is affirmed. Evening service – we worshipped in song.

On May 5, please support our youth at Winn Dixie. They will be bagging groceries to raise money for their youth mission trip to “Give Kids the World” in June. On May 19, a yard sale and pancake breakfast will be held from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. as a fundraiser for our youth mission trip. Baptist Builders mission trip to Phil Campbell will be June 1-8. A baby tea for Lauren Collum will be held June 3. The deadline for the Association Kid’s Camp is June 6. The camp will be July 23-27. See Andrea for forms. A youth mission trip to “Give Kids the World” will be June 16-23.

Happy birthday to Alisha Glover, Susan Daniel, Susan Davis, Shay Dennis, Allie Roberts and Caleb Wakefield.

Prayer requests this week are for Carmen Thomas, Staggs family, Traci Bates, Beth Jones, unspoken, Claudene Daniel, Shelbie Bryan, Lacie Taylor, Sue Roberts, Lucille Price, Stephanie Adams, Martin family and Summer Brooks family.

Mt. Carmel No. 1 Baptist Church

It would be a great injustice if the first note of news this week wasn’t our thanks to God for sending us a wonderful week of revival. Our thanks go to Bro. Don Vanderslice for being willing to let God use him in a mighty way to bring the messages that inspired all that attended. On Sunday, Bro. Derrell used the passage of scripture from Psalm 46:8-11 to bring us our morning message titled “Be still and know that I am God.” God is sovereign and His love is beyond measure. None of us are immune to Satan’s darts, but in time of trials and troubles, we need to be still and know that the God of Love is there for us. His love never fails. God is our refuge and strength.

On Sunday evening the message “Success” was taken from Joshua 1:6-8. How do we have success in our spiritual walk? We must go to God’s Word to find the way. The responsibility is great and there are conditions we must follow. It takes strength and courage to have a successful spiritual walk, but we can rest on the promise that God will be with us if we wait upon the Lord for direction, stay true to Him and be devoted to the path He shows us.

Even though our donations were less than last year’s, our Relay For Life chairperson Laura Liveoak gave a special thanks to all that gave to this worthy cause. Let’s continue to pray that each dollar given will bring us closer to a cure for this dreadful disease.

Don’t forget the pastor, deacons and wives “Breakfast at Supper” meeting that is scheduled for Friday, May 4 at Thorsby First Baptist Church. It will start at 6:30 p.m.

There will be a bridal shower on May 6, 2012, honoring Pam Higgins. This will be at 2 p.m. in the fellowship hall. All family, friends and church members are invited.

Our special prayer request this week includes Gladys Franklin, Cecil Franklin, Ryan Scott, Jacob Jones, Ruthie Jean Giles, our upcoming VBS and the Charles Mull family.

Bethany Baptist Church

We had our usual fifth Sunday morning service and meal in the fellowship hall, with no evening service.

The choir special was “The Blood Can Never Lose Its Power.” Bro. Steve rendered a

Special, “Who Am I?” Bro. Steve’s sermon was “Solomon’s Dream,” taken from I Kings 3:1-15. David was king for about 40 years and Solomon, his young son, became king in his place. Solomon loved the Lord and tried to follow the statutes as his father David did. God appeared to young King Solomon in a dream and asked what he would like God to give him. Solomon was inexperienced as king and desired that God would grant him wisdom and understanding in leading the people. God not only granted this desire, but also gave him great riches and honor. This is a picture of God’s amazing grace.

What is your desire? God desires to grant our desires if they are for the right motive. In I John 5:14-15, John says if we ask anything according to God’s will, we know that we have the petitions that we ask of Him. All of us have burdens. We need to humbly go to God with our burdens and ask for His help.

Prayer List: Betty Biggs, James Bixler, Ellen Gray, Ophelia Griffin, Ernestine Hatch,

Larry Miller, Billie Neeley, Lilianna Thompson, Tim Wallace and our June VBS.

See you Sunday!

Mars Hill Baptist Church

What a beautiful day to spend in the house of the Lord! Bro. William Short took his message from Luke 24:45-53. In this passage, we read, “He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.”

When Jesus rose into heaven, He did not leave us alone! He left us with His Holy Spirit, with the Gospel of Christ, with a promise to return! What a promise that is, to know that, if we know Him, He is coming again to take us with Him into heaven. I don’t know about you, but that is a day I am longing for! To be with Christ Jesus, who is now sitting at the right hand of our Father.

The Bible was spiritually written, and must be spiritually discerned. Have you ever read scripture just to think, “Now what did I read, and what does it mean?” We must ask for and receive understanding, through the spirit of God. His word never changes, but it will change your life!

Then I ask you, do you only worship on Sunday? What about the other six days of the week? Is God worthy of only one day of our week? How much time do we give Him? Jesus is with us all the time, if we have accepted Christ into our hearts, and He lives in us. Where do we take Him all week? Does He see us reading and studying His word, or do we read friends’ posts on Facebook more than we read His word?  Scripture says that they were “continually in the temple praising and blessing God.” If our body is the temple of Christ, then we can praise Him and bless Him every day, no matter where we are! What a blessing it is to be able to praise God whenever we want to, wherever we are!

We praise God for our visitors today. If you don’t have a church home, then we invite you to come to Mars Hill. We welcome you! Our homecoming will be celebrated on the fourth Sunday of May, with special singers Holy Destiny and Justified. We expect a great day in the house of our Lord this day. Bring your dinner and stay awhile with us!

We will celebrate our 125th anniversary on June 24 during our morning worship service. We hope that you will make plans to be with us on this special day! We will also have lunch afterward. Come expecting a blessing!

Pray for our Vacation Bible School. It will start at 6 p.m. on June 24 and run through June 28. We are also having an adult class taught by Bro. William, and we have been promised that this class will be fun, as well as some serious Bible study.

Do you have sunshine in your life? Do you need the SONshine in your soul? Pray for us at Mars Hill Baptist Church, that we continually grow in Christ, and win others to Him. Amen!