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Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard | Tim Perkins
Faith
October 11, 2023 - Clever Creek Baptist Church 199 CR 1042 at FM 417 West, Center, Texas 75935 will host Evangelist Michael Durham from Denton, Texas, for a special study event on Sunday, October 15, 2023. Evangelist Durham will preach during the 10:55 am worship time and then again in the 7 pm service Sunday evening. The meeting will continue on Monday and Tuesday evenings at 7 pm. Clever Creek Baptist Church will support Evangelist Durham’s continuing meetings with Parkway Baptist Church in Carthage on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, October 18-19, 2023, at 7 pm.
Michael Durham is an evangelist and founder of Real Truth Matters Ministries. He served as a pastor for 23 years before going into full-time evangelism. Michael’s burden is to see Christians cultivate an all-surpassing fascination with the Lord Jesus. His preaching exists to pursue the recovery of New Testament Christianity by promoting the pursuit of Christ as the Gospel. His wife, Karen, and he have been married since 1981 and have three children and two grandchildren.
October 11, 2023 - First Baptist Church of Tenaha invites everyone to High Attendance Sunday on October 15, 2023. Breakfast is at 8:30am with Sunday school starting at 9:30am. Worship service is at 10:30am. Bring a friend and invite your neighbor.
The church is located at 200 S. George Bowers Drive, Tenaha, Texas 75974.
October 11, 2023 - Jefferson Christian Academy (JCA) Music Department Fall Tour swings through Center at the First Methodist Church Sunday night, October 15 at 6 pm. Their vocal choir and hand bell choir has performed all over the states of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
“We are excited to host these talented young people,” church music director Chris Watlington said. “The kind of joy they bring to their music will give you a much-needed shot of positivity in these not-so-positive days. The Lord is definitely at work through the JCA musicians.”
Everyone is invited. Come on out Sunday night and share in the music!
First Methodist Church is located at 211 Porter Street, Center, Texas 75935.
October 10, 2023 - Please come and help us celebrate our Harvest Program the theme is Harvest of Blessing on Sunday October 15, 2023 at 3:00pm at Blount Chapel Missionary Baptist Church with Pastor Byron Coutee, Jr.
Speakers: Sis. Stephanie Hicks, Sis. Yolanda Neal and Sis. Pearl Nash.
October 10, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Tuesday, October 10.
On October 10, 1966, the Beatles song, "Yesterday", became the #1 song in America. In 1999, Rolling Stone magazine declared it the greatest pop song in history. It's been recorded ("covered") by over 2000 artists, and performed over seven million times.
It's a simple little song, just two minutes long, just a voice, a guitar, and a string quartet. Beatle Paul McCartney has said that the melody came to him in a dream. The lyrics came much later, and connected the melancholy tune and minor chords, with words of regret and remorse.
There are certainly words of regret in the Bible. And there can be no forgiveness without remorse over sin. But God's Word also speaks of moving forward, of new beginnings, of fresh starts.
Jesus warned us about living only in the past when He said, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
The Old Testament prophet Isaiah spoke for God when he wrote, "Do not remember the former things, nor dwell on the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing!"
And then we have the words of the Apostle Paul to the Philippian Church, "Forgetting what lies behind, and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on."
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee….” Hebrews 13:5
October 9, 2023 - Soon after I preached my first sermon in Center, Texas, the pastor of The Baptist Church in Hornbeck, Louisiana invited me to preach an evening service for him. The next Saturday I “thumbed a ride” from a soldier on his way back to his unit at Fort Polk, Louisiana. His ’41 Ford’s speedometer was so loud that we had to shout to be heard. Just as we passed through Fisher, Louisiana, the car went “Ka-BOOM”… and we both shouted “YAAAAA!”” when we realized the cable had finally snapped. An hour later he dropped me off at Hornbeck and I found Deacon Green’s house and spent the night.
I could hardly believe my eyes when I entered the sanctuary Sunday evening! It was packed with young people… elderly people… children… and a large number of soldiers from nearby Fort Polk. After the music service, the Pastor introduced me and I walked to the pulpit… opened my Bible…. and went completely blank! I finally managed to read my text and stuttered through a five minute sermon. As the pastor prayed the closing prayer, I slipped out the side door and headed toward the highway. Running up behind me, the Pastor slipped a $10 check in my pocket and said, “Thank you for doing a good job, Son.” After thanking him, I hurried to the highway and caught a ride home.
This all happened when I was 18 years old… the year was 1949… that was 74 years ago! During my many years, I have rehearsed what happened that day in Hornbeck many times. It was always how I felt… what the Pastor thought and what the people must have thought that bothered me. But I finally asked myself the most important question… the one that I had completely overlooked all these years: What did God think that night? I suddenly realized that God did not require that I be successful or that I produce great results… he just required that I live up to the light He had given me and to be faithful.
So this is what I now know about that night. When I stuttered through that sermon… when I slipped out that door in embarrassment… when I was worrying about what the people thought… when I made my way to the dark highway that night… I was never alone. The same Savior that saved my soul was walking with me all the time…
… and I didn’t even realize it.
October 5, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Thursday, October 5.
Here’s one of my favorite quotes about New York City. ”If you stand on the corner in Times Square long enough, every person in the world will walk by”. It’s a thought both clever and illuminating. And it comes to mind as we sit in our church ice cream booth at Poultry Fest, our town’s fall festival. There's always a huge crowd that attends this event and it seems like, over the weekend, that every person in Shelby County walks by.
I'm also reminded of another time, another place, another county. Fifteen years ago, I was Minister of Worship at First Baptist Church Rosenberg, Texas, in Fort Bend County, just west of Houston. While there, our staff did a study and discovered that within a fifteen mile radius of our church there were 75 different people groups. There was a huge Asian community, a large Indian community, and thousands of Muslims. First Baptist Rosenberg was a church that had always gone above and beyond in supporting world missions. But, in that moment, we realized that God . . . had brought the world to us.
Well, you say, that was the Houston area, known for being an international place. But even here in East Texas we have brothers and sisters from Asia and Africa and South and Central America. The planet Earth is still a big place, but every day it seems to get a little smaller. Every day we’re reminded that missions start just outside our front door. Every day . . . God brings the world to us.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
October 4, 2023 - One of the great inventions of the 20th century was the washing machine. It totally changed the back-breaking way that laundry had to be done. With the washing machine, you can put the clothes in, turn it on, come back in a few minutes and clean clothes are ready to be put in the dryer or hung on the clothesline (yes, some folks still do that!)
Yet, have you ever noticed how clothes sometimes come out of the washing machine? Often the shirts come out with the sleeves all twisted. Aprons come out with the strings tied in knots. This is caused by the outward pressure as the clothes are squeezed dry on the tub of the machine.
If you think about it, the spin of the washing machine often illustrates the way we live our lives. We spend out lives in a whirlwind of activity. Consequently, we often feel like we have been through the spin cycle and come out all tied in knots.
God never intended for us to live like that. Remember, Paul would write; “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request s be made known unto God. And the peace o God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6) Let’s stop living our lives in the spin cycle!
It’s something to think about... tbp
Join Us for Worship this coming Lord’s Day at Center Church of Christ or online at www.centerchurchofchrist.com.
October 4, 2023 - White Rock Missionary Baptist Church is hosting Trunk or Treat on Saturday, October 21, 2023 from 4pm until 6pm. Come and enjoy the fun and candy!
White Rock’s Awana Club meets on Wednesdays at 6pm.
The church is located at 12545 State Hwy 7, Center, Texas.
October 3, 2023 - Bright Morning Star Baptist Church is celebrating its 115th Church Homecoming at 11am on October 22, 2023. Reverend Deshmond Jolenson will be the speaker of the hour. There will be a Special Dedication to the Great WJ Star, I.
Pastor Anthony Jackson and Reverends Deshmond Johnson and Stephen Fields.
Bright Morning Star Baptist Church is located at 623 Martin Luther King Drive, Center, Texas.
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