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Contributing Writers: David Mathis | Tim Perkins
Past Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard
Faith
April 26, 2019 - Mt Zion CME Church Men’s Day Program will be held on Sunday, April 28th at 3pm. Special guest is Rev. Larry Thorn, Sr. and the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church of Carthage, TX. Bro. C.W. Garrett Chairperson. Rev. Richard Edwards, Pastor.
April 26, 2019 - Sardis Cemetery Homecoming and Fish Fry fundraiser will be Saturday, May 4, 2019. Catfish plates will be sold for $8.00 each. Fish Fry begins at 11:00 AM until we are out. Annual Business meeting and Gospel Singing will immediately follow the Fish Fry. Donations are welcomed. The upkeep of the cemetery is done with these donations. If you are unable to attend the fish fry please mail your donation to Sardis Cemetery, 6034 FM 414, Center, Texas 75935. Please make plans to come and pay tribute to all the loved ones that are buried here.
April 25, 2019 - First Baptist Church Shelbyville Youth are hosting a Pancake Breakfast fundraiser on Saturday, April 27, 2019 from 7am unitl sold out! Plates are $7 each. First Baptist Church is located next to the Shelbyville Fire Department at the top of the hill.
April 24, 2019 - There was a man who had a very strong willed and stubborn teenager who was having some trouble coping with a tragedy that had occurred in their lives.
The young person was on this day, particularly obnoxious and rebellious toward the father. The harder the teen tied to provoke the father, the more quiet the father became. All he said to the teen was that he loved them.
Finally in the heat of the young persons rage they lashed out and said " I don't want you to love me. Can't you see that! I have been trying to do things to make you quit loving me, because I don't want to love you anymore!"
The father was heartbroken, but the next words that came out of his mouth were what changed the whole dynamics of the conversation. He said, "I know you may not want me to love you right now because you are angry at me. You may feel that you don't love me, and that's ok. But you have to know that no matter how hard you try you can never make me 'not love you.' I may get angry with you, I may not be happy with you, I may not like what you are doing, but there is nothing you can do to make me stop loving you."
Real love is stubborn. Real love is not subject to our emotions or environment, but our Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit of God can put that kind of love in a persons heart. Gods love is an unshakable, unconditional, reckless kind of love. That loves us no matter how much we love Him.
- 1Corinthians 13: 7 - Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
- Psalm 118 - 1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Let Israel say, "His steadfast love endures forever." 3 Let the house of Aaron say, "His steadfast love endures forever." 4 Let those who fear the LORD say, "His steadfast love endures forever." 29 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!"
The love that is from God never ends. Could you imagine if it did? Humans would have been obliterated eons ago. God bears with us, he believes in us, he hopes with us, and he endures our constant disobedience and wandering away from him. We are the prodigals.
This love is not dependent on other’s behavior, it is unconditional for the person, but may not be accepting of sinful behavior. Unconditional love means you love the person, but still confront the behavior. That is why God’s love sometimes looks harsh, but the motive is always for our good.
I always shake my head when I hear couples split up because they are "not in love anymore." What does that have to do with anything? What does "in love" mean? I think for those who say this, it mean as long as my selfish desires are getting met - (Eros love.) When we fall out of love it means, we’re bored with the person. That’s not love, real love cannot be shaken, you cannot stop loving if it is real unconditional (agape) love. The essential nature of this love is that it is endless.
Basically love never gives up on anybody, no matter what they do, no matter what we feel.
Aren't we blessed that our Gods love is stubborn. Trust in Him and you will never be unloved.
I'm Just sayin,
Mike Belgard
A Look at the Proverbs 31 Women in 2019
April 24, 2019 - St. Paul Baptist Church of Center is hosting "The Gathering of the Eagles" - Releasing the Anointing Women's Conference on Friday and Saturday, April 26th and 27th. The hostess of the event is Sister Margaret Booth White.
The program starts Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 9am with a brunch served. Guest speakers are Evangelist Evette Mann Netherly, Minister Lowanda Garrett, Minister Amanda Ashton, Apostle Kathy Bogney, Evangelist Stephanie Hicks, and Minister Equallia Malone.
St. Paul Baptist Church is lead by Pastor Dr. Freddie Wilson.
April 23, 2019 - Center Church of Christ invites you to come and join the Area Wide Singing and Gospel Meeting on April 26-28th.
- Friday, April 26th at 7pm is the Area Wide Singing with refreshments served afterwards.
- Saturday, April 27th at 7pm is the Gospel Preaching with Bryant Perkins as guest speaker.
- Sunday, April 28th schedule is 9:45am Bible Class and 10:45am Worship. Bryant Perkins will be guest speaker for both the Bible Class and Worship.
Plan to come and we will lift our voices in songs of praise, we will hear a wonderful message from the word of God by an able Gospel Preacher, and we will have a covered dish luncheon immediately following the morning worship.
Center Church of Christ is located at 110 Hurst Street, Center, Texas. Find more online at www.centerchurchofchrist.com
April 23, 2019 - Jackson Cemetery Homecoming is Sunday, May 19, 2019 at Jackson Missionary Baptist church at 10:45am. Worship service with message given by Br. David Long will be followed by a brief informative report on the cemetery upkeep and expenses. Afterwards we will have lunch and fellowship together as is the tradition of the homecoming. If unable to attend, donations may be mailed to Jackson Cemetery Fund, PO Box 15, Joaquin, TX 75954.
April 23, 2019 - Love and peace from our brother Jesus. Sunday was Easter. Well, at least it was Easter in the Western part of the world. Next Sunday will be Easter for the Eastern Church. It was decided at the Council of Nicea that Easter would be the first Sunday following the full moon after the March equinox. So Easter is a “moveable feast” day. To complicate things more, the Western Church used the Gregorian calendar and the Eastern Church used the Julian calendar to determine Easter’s date: Thus, we have two different dates for Easter.
Our Sunday school lesson was about our need to proclaim the Resurrection. The text for our lesson was Matthew’s story of the women coming Sunday morning to the tomb. They encounter an angel who informs them that Jesus had been raised and would see the twelve in the Galilee. As the women flee the tomb, Jesus appears to them with reassurances.
The Gospel Lesson for this Sunday was Luke 24: 1-12—Luke’s narration of Easter morning. Each gospel tells a different story, but the thrust of each is the same: The women discover the empty tomb and Jesus is among the living. In my sermon I stressed that the Easter story is incomplete until we begin to live as Christ lived. It may sound easy but is hard to do.
Fannie’s granddaughter Alix Ann and her family joined the Paxton Methodists for worship this morning. It was so nice to see all of them; I know that Fannie had Easter plans for her whole family after church. We had a beautiful Sunday morning, the entire day custom-made for get-togethers.
Last week was our Holiday Nursing Home monthly program. I was the emcee, choosing songs for congregational singing and sharing stories with the group. Mrs. Hilda was her usual lively self on the piano, making us sound better than we actually are. Fannie read an Easter poem, and Sue performed The Teacher from the Black Lagoon. We had a nice group of residents, including Activity Director A’leena, who has a strong, melodic voice. This coming Thursday we will head to Lakeside Assisted Living at 2PM for our ministry of music, song, and stories.
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.
April 22, 2019 - The night of June 3, 2005 was hot, humid, and dry. The drought conditions in deep East Texas had continued unabated all year. Both man and beast were in search of cool air and wet water.
As deputies for the Shelby County, Texas Sheriff Department, my partner and I patroled the county, checking the security of businesses, churches, residences, and schools. On this particular night, we were driving through Blair, a community on the far western side of Shelby County. We pulled into the parking lot of a small Baptist church located right off the Farm-to-Market highway. As we drove up to the church, suddenly an animal ran from under the church into the trees beyond.
Although we had gotten only a fast look, we identified the animal as a female fox. She gave a glance back at her intruders as she disappeared into the pine trees behind the church.
Larry and I mused that the fox was probably hot and was using the church crawl space to rest and cool off. Then, suddenly, a young fox peered at us from the church crawl space opening. He seemed not to be very afraid of us as he ventured outside the entrance and stared at us.
The little fox probably was hot, hungry, and thirsty. Larry had brought along a sandwich to eat later on during our shift. He eased out of the patrol car, opened the back door, and got half of his sandwich. He moved toward the small fox, talking to him gently. The fox retreated back into the safety of the church while Larry placed the sandwich on the ground at the entrance.
Then Larry found an old bowl, and filled it with water from a nearby water hose, and set it beside the sandwich.
After retreating to our patrol car, we sat and watched as the young fox came out of hiding, gulped down the food, and lapped up the water, ignoring his audience only a few feet away. Then he just stood there watching us intently long enough for us to take several pictures of him.
I left a note on the front door of the church advising them that they had a family of foxes living under their church.
Each time we were in the Blair community, be would stop and check on our fox family. We saw the mother a few more times, and the young fox began to run from us. His mother probably gave him some lessons about the dangers of humans and how to avoid them. Eventually, they were both gone, but they served as an interesting break for us while on patrol.
A church member jested that the two fox were baptized, and were never seen at church again. Seems I have heard that before.
April 22, 2019 - Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Joaquin will be having their 80th annual homecoming service in celebration of the 180th anniversary of the church on Sunday, April 28th. The church was established in 1839!
Services begin at 10:30am. The morning message will be brought by Bro. Joe Walker. Come out and help us celebrate and join us for lunch following in the fellowship hall. Bring a covered dish if you like, and as the old saying goes, bring enough for you and the preacher, and there will be plenty! An old fashioned singing will follow lunch at 1:30. God's Word, food, and old friends! Great combination!
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