Mt. Carmel No. 1

It was wonderful to be in the house of the Lord once again. Our cup needs to be filled regularly. If you sow a seed, you will harvest from it. If you sow with love and a pure heart, you will reap from it likewise.

Our morning worship got off to a great start with the congregation singing some great praise songs, one titled, “There’s Power in the Blood.” Bro. Derrell taught the children a lesson about showing favoritism. For his ‘sermon in a sack,’ he used a box of crayons as his example and asked the children their favorite color. He then asked them why that was their favorite color. The scripture from James 2:5 was the passage he used: love every person, show no favoritism, and be Christ-like.

Acts 20:6-12, “The One Who Fell Asleep in Church.” Paul had a great testimony. He was a great preacher who preached long sermons. Verse 7 tells us, “He continued his speech until midnight.” There was a certain young man who sat in a window on the third loft. He fell asleep, fell down and was taken up dead. Paul went down and fell on him and, embracing him, said, “Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.” Bro. Derrell told the congregation to prepare for the Lord’s day, get plenty of rest the night before, be prepared spiritually and don’t fall asleep for fear of missing out on your blessings. It is our place, as well as our pastor’s, to pray and be prepared for the message. Hebrews 10:25 teaches, “…not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.”

Sunday, Oct. 21 is the date set for Pastor and Staff Appreciation and an Old-fashioned Sunday. Keep this date in mind and help us to plan for a great day of fellowship.

Sunday evening service for Oct. 21 will be a combined service. We will welcome the congregation of Shiloh Baptist Church as we celebrate the ordination service for Chad Foshee.

Our business meeting will be held Wednesday night, Sept. 12. The 2012 Association Mega Conference will be held at Jemison First Baptist Church on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.

On our prayer list this week, please remember Tammy Harmon, Donald Liveoak, Robert and Minnie Childress; Gladys and Cecil Franklin, Baby Jacob Jones and Annie Jo Battles. Continue to pray for our church and those who are lost. Please come and worship with us this Sunday.

Christ Independent Methodist Church

After a week of unsettled weather, we were blessed with a perfect sabbath to go to the house of the Lord. We began our service by singing, “O Worship the King,” “Wonderful Savior” and “Jesus, Name Above All Names.”

Dr. Mac Stinson’s sermon title Sunday was, “Who is Jesus?” The scripture was taken from Mark 8:27-35. When Jesus and his disciples were in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi, he asked, “Who do people say that I am?” When pressed for a specific answer, it was Peter who answered, “You are the Messiah.” Then Jesus began to teach them things, saying he must suffer and be killed, then rise again after three days. The disciples loved Jesus, but Peter began to rebuke him, saying, “Please don’t talk like that; it is discouraging to hear you.” Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me Satan! You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” At this point, Jesus called the people to him and spoke some of the most profound words in the entire Bible: Mark 8:34, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”

Mark 8:35-37: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, but lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

These few short passages should make us all stop and give serious consideration. Consider the question of this sermon, “Who is Jesus?” Who say you? Is he a man you hear about at church occasionally? Is he a man the preacher talks about occasionally? Is he the Lord of your life? Who say you?

On our prayer list this week: Dr. Mac Stinson, Carl and Anne Glass, Cathy Lufta, Horace Carden, Cindy McCavitt, Opal Miller, Shea Simms in Kuwait and the David Family. Please continue to pray for our church community, Israel and each other.

Sunday, Sept. 16 is our Homecoming celebration. We would like to extend a special invitation to each of you who has present or past connections to our church. Bro. Mike Weldon, past president of AIM, will be our guest speaker. Warren Sweeny and singers will share in the music. Lunch will be served. We invite you to come for the day. All present for the day will be welcomed.

Thanks to all who came to our work day on Saturday. The work was done and the fellowship together was enjoyed. Have a blessed week.