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Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard | Tim Perkins
Faith
September 18, 2019 - All people seek peace whether it be at their work, or in their family life, or in the relationship of their country to others around them.
All seek peace at some point in their lives. I want to tell you about the greatest peace of all, the peace that only comes through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
For all who have accepted his free offer of salvation, deliverance from the penalties of sin, for which the penalty is death of one’s life spirit.
“For the wages on sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
“Therefore, since we have been justified (set aside) by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into his grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)
When one accepts Jesus as Lord he is set aside for God. Made free of guilt for his past sins and made holy and acceptable for entrance into the kingdom of God. It is by this faith in Jesus Christ as the Sovereign Lord, belief in his death on the cross for the sin of all mankind, and belief that the Father raised him from the dead on the third day after his death.
Belief that he is now in heaven at the right hand of God watching over all who believe in him and making intercession for all believers with the Father when we stumble or fall.
“And he who searches hearts knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:27)
But we rejoice not only in the blessed hope of our impending acceptance into the kingdom of God but we also rejoice, even in our tribulations here in earth.
“Not only that but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8)
Yes, Jesus died for the lost, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:9)
The saved have been justified (set aside) by the blood of Jesus for the pleasure of the Father. Our lot as the saved is to represent the Lord here on earth, to reflect the goodness of the Lord Jesus with our lives lived for him, drawing others to him by our words and deeds.
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10)
It is by the life Christ lives now with the Father and through his intervention through the Holy Spirit that the saved are kept for God’s own good pleasure, to do his works of the fruit of the Spirit of Life here on earth. See (Matthew 5:16) to understand the good works of God, the light that shines into all the darkness of this world and glorifies the Father.
“More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:11)
All praise and glory be to the Lord Jesus Christ for his love of all people and his death and resurrection for all people.
September 17, 2019 - St. John Missionary Baptist Church of Center, Texas and Rev. Winston Kibbles Sr., Pastor presents 'Lord Make Me Over' Women's Conference 2019 on Saturday, October 12th. The conference starts at 10am and guest speakers are Eva Chadwick and Phyllis Handcock-Chavis. Worship leader is Christina Leary.
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. ~ Psalm 51:10
“Preach the Word...” II Tim. 4:2
September 17, 2019 - In 1952, my pastor, Dr. Chadwick of Center, Texas invited me to a revival he was preaching in the Clayton Community near Carthage, Texas. He made arrangements for me to stay that week with the church Music Director and work with the youth. Brother Bass was short, loud, and wore a pocket watch with a long gold chain. He vigorously snapped his fingers as he led us in songs like “Turn the Radio On” and “I’ll Fly Away.”
I was thrilled when Bro. Chadwick asked me to preach on Wednesday night while he returned to his home church. It would be my third sermon to preach… ever. As we gathered for the evening service, dozens of cars suddenly appeared on the highway and slowly turned into the church’s parking lot. They had driven all the way from Shreveport, Louisiana to hear Dr. Chadwick preach…. and they were about to hear me!
Embarrassed and apologetic, I stumbled into a sermon. Several of the bugs that swarmed the yellow light bulb above me wound up in my throat. Coughing and stuttering, I preached “from generations to revolutions and the accidents of the apostles” all in one sermon. I got David instead of Daniel in the lion’s den and never did get him out.
After making remarks like, “Good sermon,” and “You’re another Billy Graham,” the dejected visitors fled to their cars. As he patted me on the back, Bro. Bass thundered, “Great sermon, Junior!” “I can’t preach like Brother Chadwick,” I sighed. Eyeing me intensely, he calmly replied: “That’s right, Junior… but he cain’t preach like you, neither!!”
It took me years to fully appreciate Bro. Bass’s wisdom. God doesn’t compare us to others, but expects us to do our best with what we have. That’s always been a great comfort to me…
… and a great conviction.
September 17, 2019 - I think most of us are ready for the first day of fall—especially if it will come with cooler temperatures. My computer isn’t acting right but being a Monday morning I might excuse it. We had a good Sunday at Paxton United Methodist Church. Our Sunday school lesson spoke of God as a great mystery. The scripture was Exodus 19: 9-25 and 20: 18-21, where the writer speaks of God in the midst of thunder and lightning. God is enthroned on the mountain; the people are ready to send Moses up to the top as long as they don’t have to deal with the ultimate mystery.
My years preaching have reinforced this idea of mystery: I often speak of the Divine as the ultimate unknown and God as incomprehensible. When someone tells me they have everything figured out, I just smile and keep on truckin’. There are questions of God’s presence and what seems to be God’s absence that have puzzled mankind since he first pondered the Divine.
In Sunday’s Gospel lesson (Luke 15: 1-10) Jesus is confronted with the religiously correct who are aghast at how easily Jesus fits in with sinners. They openly question whether he can be a true rabbi. So Jesus speaks to his understanding of God’s nature—another mystery. Jesus compares God’s eternal love to a shepherd who goes looking for one lost sheep and to the woman who searches her entire house again and again, looking for a misplaced coin. This was an unconventional way of understanding God then, but Jesus was a radical for his day and would certainly be the same in ours.
We had quite a “crowd” for worship. Lillie, Mike, and Liz were up from Houston to get work done on the farm. They are so faithful to come when they are in, and we love seeing the three of them. Last week my son was in for a visit, and this weekend my daughter had come in. She and our “grand dog” Stella headed back home right after church. Nice to see our grown-up kids.
I have been working on the Charge Conference Reports and hope to have the budget and other required reports ready for the church to approve. Our Charge Conference is the first Saturday in October. All this month we will be collecting macaroni and cheese for Community Christian Services. Tomorrow we head to Holiday Nursing Center at 2:00 for our monthly program.
“Whoever you are, in whatever faith you were born, whatever creed you profess; if you come to this house to find God you are welcome here.” Paxton United Methodist Church is an inviting church that takes to heart the idea of “Open Doors, Open Hearts, Open Minds.” Sunday School starts at 9:30 and Worship begins at 10:00. Our email address is paxtonumc@yahoo.com. If you would like the weekly email newsletter about Paxton Methodist you can send me your email address to the Paxton email address and I will add you to the list. God’s Speed.
September 17, 2019 - In preparation for the cemetery homecoming, the annual workday to ensure that everything is ready was held Saturday, September 14, 2019 from 7:00 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. This was a time to ready the area for dinner on the grounds, and ensure that the open air chapel is ready.
Now, the annual Old East Hamilton Cemetery Homecoming will be held on Sunday, September 22, 2019, from 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Please join us for dinner on the grounds, fellowship, music, and a short business meeting. We will also be accepting donations for the upkeep and maintenance of our beautiful historical cemetery. We hope you plan to attend because we would love to see everyone there. If you are unable to attend, but would like to donate, please contact Dudley Cox at 936-368-2596.
Directions: From Shelbyville, take Hwy 87S to Patroon. Turn left on FM 2261, and drive approximately 6 1/2 miles. Turn left on Forest Service Road 126 off of FM 2261, there is an East Hamilton Cemetery sign on FM 2261 showing where to turn. Continue down FSR 126 to the next intersection and turn right. Continue less than a quarter mile to the East Hamilton Cemetery sign on the left, and turn left and go to the end of the road.
The righteous shall live by faith-
September 16, 2019 - The apostle Paul said these words of faith in the book of Romans as he describes his own faith in Christ Jesus when he says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17) Paul more deeply describes this, faith for faith, in chapter three when he says, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets (Old Testament) bear witness to it - the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” (Romans 3:21-22) Faith as shown by Jesus as his faith in the Father, faith that allowed him to place himself upon the cross to die horribly for the sins of all mankind. Faith exhibited by Job as he sat in the garbage heap, covered in sores, having lost everything he owned, having no clue as to why he was suffering but having total trust in the Lord.
“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. After my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” (Job 19:25-27) Faith undying, without question, without doubt. Job’s faith gave him joy and peace in the knowledge that his redeemer lives and one day he would see him in the flesh and be with him forever. But for those who refuse to do God’s will, which is to believe in the One whom he has sent, the Lord Jesus Christ, a much different story.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” (Romans 1:18)
“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” (Romans 1:28)
“There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace fro everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” (Romans 2:9-11)
All people must stand in judgement, for the believers, the judgement seat of Christ, but for those who do evil, the Great White Throne judgment, when all who come before him are judged guilty and sentenced to an eternal hell of suffering. I pray that you too will have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and have been justified by your faith in him.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)
Accept Jesus as Lord today and know forever the joy of living in him, knowing that your eternity is secure and that he waits for your arrival, forever at home with him…
September 16, 2019 - Please join Northside Church of Christ on Saturday, October 5th from 6pm until 7:30pm for an evening of "singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." The theme is Great is Thy Faithfulness. Northside Church of Christ is located on US Hwy 96 North in Center, Texas. For more information, contact Nathan Cox, evangelist at 936-332-1091.
September 16, 2019 - The Golden Harvest Ministries Club will meet Monday, September 16, 2019 in the Fellowship Hall of First Baptist Church at 11:30 AM. The program for this month will be an “Old fashioned hymn singing” with everyone participating.
Visitors are always welcome to join us for a delicious covered dish luncheon, a good program and time of fellowship.
September 11, 2019 - Do any of us have the ability to fully comprehend the value of our influence? Because of our influence, none of us will go to heaven alone, we will take someone with us. However, conversely, none of us will go to hell alone either. We will take someone there with us also.
In the “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus told his followers that they were the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Light illuminates and salt acts as seasoning and as a preservative. It is us to Christians to shine the light of the Gospel of Christ and illuminate a world in darkness. It is up to us to provide the seasoning to those within our sphere of influence. How bright is your light shining? You see, the only concept some folks have of Christianity is what they see in our lives. Because of our life, what is their concept of Christianity and the Church? Does the “thunder” of what we are drown out the “whisper” of what we say that we are?
In our business dealings, what is the concept that our associates have of Christianity? In our personal relationships, does the love of Jesus Christ show through in our lives or do people wonder how “Christians”, “church people” could be so low down and mean? If the image of Christianity and the church was dependent on your life, what would others think of Christianity and the Church? When people look at our lives, what is their concept of the church?
It’s something to think about… tbp
Join us for worship this coming Lord’s day at the Center Church of Christ, 110 Hurst Street, Center, Texas or online at www.centerchurchofchrist.com.
September 10, 2019 - The annual Mt. Herman Cemetery Homecoming is Sunday, September 15th at noon.
All are invited to bring their dinner to share and donations for the upkeep of the cemetery.
You can also send donations to Mt. Herman Cemetery Fund, 670 CR 1190, Center, Texas 75935.
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