+ Church Directory
+ Read the Bible Online (Link)
Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard | Tim Perkins
Faith
February 18, 2019 - I left Amarillo in 1968 to return to Hemphill, Texas to fish a couple of days with my friend Forest Ranger Lew Whitaker. Toledo Bend Reservoir was still filling up and the fishing was at its best. I had just bought a weird little car to drive along the sandy outback of The Canadian River. It was a “52 Volkswagen Beetle—29 HP Motor—no gas guage. When the motor started sputtering, you turned a lever in the floorboard with your foot, connected to a one gallon auxiliary tank, and prayed the gallon would get you to a gas station.
I didn’t realize how little power the engine had and shifted to second gear to climb the steep hills between Amarillo and Bowie. But I finally made it to Hemphill and Lew and had two days of amazing fishing. On my way back home I drove to the top of a tall hill near Childress and spotted a beautiful antelope about seventy yards to my right. I’d never seen one before…only read that they were the 2nd fastest animals on earth….. and was surprised that he didn’t run off. He just stood stone still and stared.
I reached in my back seat and grabbed my Remington .222 Rifle. I had mounted a 10 power scope on it and it was deadly accurate. But when I put the crosshairs on him and saw how beautiful he was, I began questioning myself. Why did I want to shoot him…and how many laws would I break if I did? Season wasn’t open, I didn’t have a license, it’s unlawful to shoot from the highway…and who owned the land?
I eased my hand off the trigger and returned my rifle to the back seat. The Antelope just stood there as I cranked up and eased away. As I left, I felt guilty about wanting to shoot him. Many of my preacher friends believe, “To think the thought is the same as committing the act.” I don’t believe that. The Bible says Jesus was “tempted in like manner as we… yet without sin.” But as I thought it over, I was glad I had not shot him. And if the antelope knew what I about to do, he’d been glad, too. But lastly…and most importantly…….
……. I know God was glad, too.
February 17, 2019 - The Golden Harvest Ministries Club will meet Monday, February 18, 2019 in the Fellowship Hall of First Baptist Church at 11:30 AM. We look forward to a musical program presented by Dr. Danny Paul and Sally Windham.
Visitors are always welcome to join us for a delicious covered dish luncheon, a good program and time of fellowship.
Submitted by Linda Anderson
February 14, 2019 - Mt. Zion C.M.E. Church invites everyone, especially high school students and parents, to their Black History Spotlight on this Sunday, February 17th at 11am.
Guest speaker is Center native Ashley Odom. Ashley is the daughter of Melvin and Mattie Suell. Ashley graduated from Center High School in 2001 and attended the University of Houston where she received her Bachelor's in Marketing. She went on to receive her Masters in Instructional Technology from UH Clear Lake and later received an Education Specialist Degree in Educational Technology from Walden University.
Ashley is currently employed as a Program Manager for Teacher Development with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, which is based out of Washington D.C,. and works with the 47 publicly funded Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) around the country. They provide scholarships, internships and programs, one being the Teacher Quality and Retention Program which Ashley leads. Her topic will be the importance of education and HBCUs.
Rev. Richard Edwards, Pastor
February 14, 2019 – Save the date and join us for an evening of family fun, food and fellowship! The First United Methodist Church (UMC) of Center Missions and Outreach Committee will host their inaugural Soup and Chili Cook-off competition on Sun., February 17, 2019 beginning at 4:00 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. at the church Fellowship Hall located at 211 Porter Street. The First UMC annual Talent Show will begin at 6:00 p.m. following the cook-off.
Cook-off ticket donations are $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for youth ages 4 to12 and children age 3 and under are free. Tickets will be available at the door. The event begins at 4:00 p.m. for competition food sampling, which includes soup and chili samples, crackers, and drinks. Adult ticket holders will receive 5 tickets to vote for their favorite Soup and/or Chili and youth ages 4-12 will receive 3 voting tickets. Additional voting tickets will be available at the event for $1.00 each. First and Second Place People’s Choice awards will be presented in both Soup and Chili categories and winners will be announced during the Talent Show.
All proceeds will benefit First United Methodist Church of Center Missions and Outreach. For details, please contact Becky Parfait, Center First UMC Missions Chair at (936) 332-3456, beckyparfait@yahoo.com, visit http://fumccentertx.org or the church Facebook page at First United Methodist Church-Center Texas.
Prepare to be amazed, entertained, and dazzled by the talent right here in our own faith community at our annual Talent Show beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Please contact Chris Watlington, Center First UMC Music Director, at (936) 332-3255 for details or to sign-up for the Talent Show.
February 13, 2019 - (Registration Form) - First United Methodist Church of Center announces Soup and Chili Cook-off Competition and Annual Talent Show
Save the date and join us for an evening of family fun, food and fellowship! The First United Methodist Church (UMC) of Center Missions and Outreach Committee will host their inaugural Soup and Chili Cook-off competition on Sun., Feb. 17, 2019 beginning at 4pm until 5:30pm at the church Fellowship Hall located at 211 Porter Street. The First UMC annual Talent Show will begin at 6pm following the cook-off.
The Soup and Chili Cook-off competition is open to individuals of all ages and local organizations, but all must be amateur cooks only. The cook-off is limited to 12 teams with a maximum of 4 members per team and advance registration is required by Wednesday, February 13, 2019. A non-refundable entry fee of $10 secures the team’s cook-off space. Cook-off teams will have the opportunity to compete in both the Soup or Chili categories.
Cook-off ticket donations are $5 for adults, $3 for youth ages 4-12 and children age 3 and under are free. Tickets will be available at the door. The event begins at 4pm for competition food sampling. Adult ticket holders will receive 5 tickets to vote for their favorite Soup and/or Chili and youth ages 4-12 will receive 3 voting tickets. Additional voting tickets will be available at the event for $1 each. First and Second Place People’s Choice awards will be presented in both Soup and Chili categories and winners will be announced during the Talent Show.
All proceeds will benefit First United Methodist Church of Center Missions and Outreach. For Soup and Chili Cook-off competition details and entry form, please contact Becky Parfait, Center First UMC Missions Chair at (936) 332-3456, beckyparfait@yahoo.com, visit http://fumccentertx.org or the church Facebook page at First United Methodist Church-Center Texas.
Prepare to be amazed, entertained, and dazzled by the talent right here in our own faith community at our annual Talent Show beginning at 6pm in the Fellowship Hall.
Please contact Chris Watlington, Center First UMC Music Director, at (936) 332-3255 for details or to sign-up for the Talent Show.
February 13, 2019 - “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted,” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)
Time waits for no one but marches on toward the end of the age when all things will change and all things will be made right under the Lord.
When this new age arrives all will see the glory of the Lord and all will know that he is Lord of all and King of kings, but for so many the time will have passed and they will be lost, destined to an eternity of tribulation and distress, while a few will see peace at last.
“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 for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” (Romans 2:9-11)
And so I ask you,”Where will you be two hundred years from now? Can you answer that without hesitation, without doubt or question? If the answer is, “I don’t know, or I hope, then the answer is, without repentance, you will be under that tribulation and distress the scriptures speaks of in (Romans 2:9-11), a very sad place to be.
Jesus said, “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom (meaning the kingdom of earth) will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:11-12)
I tell you today, that is not the place that anyone would wish to spend eternity, cast away from God forever in torment and agony. But it does not have to be, for God wishes that none should perish but that all should repent and receive everlasting life with him in heaven. Peter tells us as he attempts to save us all from the perils of non-belief as he says; “I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.
For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
By the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
Do not overlook this fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” (2 Peter 3:1-10)
And so I ask you again, where will you be two hundred years from now?
I and all other born-again Christians will be waiting with the Lord.
“But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:13)
Repent of your sins and accept Jesus Christ as Lord now for the day of the coming of the Lord grows closer but no one knows the day nor the hour when he will come...
February 12, 2019 - Love and peace from our brother, Jesus. Sunday was the 5th Sunday of Epiphany. We had all four seasons this week, including snow. Sunday started out cloudy, but by afternoon it was sunny and warm. We were in double digits again this morning at Paxton Methodist. We began the third unit of study in Sunday School. The title was “Pondering God’s Steadfast Love.” The Scripture reading came from Psalm 48 and only had one line speaking of God’s love. The lesson began by talking about churches having fewer members than when their buildings were built. Maybe the author was speaking about Paxton, but we are still kicking and keep moving forward.
I had a difficult time this week getting everything together for Sunday morning. I use a tablet and have my sermon and prayers on it. But I always run off a “hard copy” just in case my Amazon Fire doesn’t do what I want it to do. This morning, unfortunately, I left the printed pages home. I was “working without a net,” but luckily everything went fine.
Today’s Gospel Lesson is a familiar one in which Peter, James, John, and Andrew are fishing but having absolutely no luck. Later in the day, Jesus has Peter take the boat back out and cast the nets again. This time the nets are full of fish. Jesus tells Peter that he will now be fishing for people. This week we head to Focused Care for our monthly ministry—our version, I guess, of fishing for people.
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.
Randy & Sue Smith
Paxton Methodist Church
February 11, 2019 - “Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:
In 1949, Daddy moved our family of eight children to a house on the Shelbyville Hill. It was a good year for me: I had been converted in a tent revival that year and George Smith had given me a job taking up tickets at The Rio Theater in Center. I was able to hitch-hike to work every Saturday and hitch-hiked back home around midnight. I would be dropped off on the hilltop where the old cotton gin used to be and walked the 100 yard walk to the house in total darkness. I I could see neither the road nor the dark ditches on each side.
So I prayed all the way home…that God would hold my hand and keep me from falling in the ditches. I was learning that praying in dark times was a lot easier than praying when the sun was shining. And who would believe that in 1990…fifty years later…we moved back…not just to East Texas…but to Shelbyville’s First Baptist Church. And the sanctuary sets precisely at the mouth of that dark road I walked years ago. I’m an old feller now and God still holds my hand and guides my feet…..
…………. and I’m still praying on my way home.
February 5, 2019 - Smyrna Baptist Church in Huxley invites you to "The Porch," Monday, February 11th at 7pm, refreshments at 6:30pm.
Coach W.T. Johnston (Head Coach of the State Champion Newton Eagles) will be unable to attend as planned. Come on and have praise and worship with us, we're still going to have the program.
Worship Leaders are Paul & Brittany Koiner, Abigail Hagerhyelm & Bryan Lemmons.
Everyone is invited to Come and Receive a Blessing... Bring someone!!! More info? 332-7079 Pastor Bro. Rusty Hall
February 6, 2019 - Short United Methodist Church invites all to an evening of singing and fellowship February 15, 2019 6pm.
Special music by Ed and Heather (Hart) Held. Pot luck fellowship following singing. For more information please contact, Sherry Harding - 936-288-2382 or Kenny Harris - 936-427-7083
Pages
