Shelby County Today

July 3, 2018 - Please join us this week, July 2-6, at Pleasant Grove MBC for our Revival. Service begins each night at 7. Specials are welcome and we will have refreshments Friday night after service. Everyone is invited! 

Speakers include: Josh Crawford, Johnny Lewis, BJ Windham, Don Weatherly, and Billy Windham.

July 2, 2018 - Sunday was the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time. It was certainly an ordinary hot and humid Sunday morning in East Texas! I don’t like the cold of winter, but I really can’t take the summer heat anymore. When we were kids we spent many summer days out playing and trying to stay out of our mothers’ hair. It wasn’t until I was in Junior High School that our schools were air conditioned. Last Sunday our air conditioning went out at home; we closed the drapes and turned on all the ceiling fans. It got up to the mid 80s but wasn’t terrible. Luckily the repairman came Monday afternoon, discovered the problem, and fixed it. Later in the week the electric company came by to say that our electricity would be off for a few hours as they are in the process of changing out poles. It turned out to be four hours; this time we didn’t have the benefit of our ceiling fans, but again it wasn’t so bad.

Many years ago Sue and I accompanied my parents to England, where we spent two weeks in London. My dad always made sure that wherever he stayed there was AC. One of our guides said she thought air conditioning was quite unhealthy. We replied that living in Texas during the summer without air conditioning was indeed unhealthy!

On Sunday worshipped with my friends at Tenaha Methodist. I missed seeing Maggie and Gene and hope they are doing OK. Pastor Matt had a fine sermon, and I was able to celebrate Holy Communion with my Tenaha friends. I got to Sunday school late, but Mrs. Fannie gave me an excused tardy! It was so nice to see Vera and Keith. They’ve been under the weather for awhile, and we sure miss them. Fannie’s lesson was based on Matthew 18: 21-35, dealing with forgiveness and how many times we should forgive our fellow humans. Jesus’ answer to forgive often is very hard for us, but we must try and try again.

The Gospel Lesson for this Sunday was Mark 5: 21-43. This lesson is two stories of healing woven into one. Jairus, of the local synagogue, and the unnamed woman who had been sick for twelve years had both despairingly reached their breaking points. Jairus’ daughter was extremely ill, and the woman had been sick for so long she was almost without hope. These two people from two very different walks of life had a chance encounter with the power of love and compassion who was Jesus.  Joe and Hilda led us in patriotic songs: “America,” “America the Beautiful,” and “God Bless America.”

We celebrated Holy Communion today and were excited to be in double digits! Sue took a car full of Paxton Methodist’s toilet paper and paper towel donations to Community Christian Services this week. She reported that, as usual, CCS had everything well organized, with lots of customers but also lots of volunteers. This month we are collecting cans of spaghetti and ravioli.

Last week was our monthly program at Lakeside Assisted Living. Minnie played for us, letting Hilda enjoy the singing part of the program.  Congregational singing included patriotic songs as well as hymns from Heavenly Highways. Gene and Minnie did “Morning Has Broken” and “The Church in the Wildwood.”  Nora had a song she hadn’t known until recently, “Soon and Very Soon,” but a lot of those gathered knew it. Fannie read a piece about our country in view of the upcoming Fourth of July, and Sue had some biographical information about Peggy Lee, accompanied by selected verses from her song, “I’m a Woman.” Pastor Matt began the program, talking about changes—his own, now that he’s through seminary, and Biblical ones. He also finished out the program with a benediction and our usual “God Be with You.”

“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. Godspeed.

June 27, 2018 - Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but we have had to cancel the chicken spaghetti fundraiser on Friday for Dreka Pentecostal Church  until further notice due to uncontrollable circumstances.

June 26, 2018 - The Dreka Pentecostal Church will be having a chicken spaghetti plate luncheon fundraiser on Friday, June 29 from 11-2 to replace the icebox in the fellowship hall that has quit working.

The plates are seven dollars and will have chicken spaghetti green beans, corn, garlic bread and a dessert.For more information you can call Mildred Mcgee at 9365984433.

Thank You & God Bless, Dreka Pentecostal Church

June 26, 2018 - All Who Seek God Have Many Questions About Him. 

Questions such as; “What does God require of me if I am to serve him? What does God wish that I should do for him? What must I do to be saved from my sins and live in the house of God forever?

Now all these are real questions which require answers if one truly seeks to do Gods will in one’s life on earth.
Let us look through the Book of Gods Word for the answers to our questions today.

The Old Testament prophet Micah explains the question of; “What does the Lord God require of me, when a young rich man asks Micah the question of what does the Lord require of me.”

He asks; “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offering, with calves a year old?” (Micah 6:6)

Micah listened to his question and then he spoke in answer to him.

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and walk humbly with your god.” (Micah 6:8)

And so what does the Lord require of us but that we treat others equally with justice for all. That we show mercy and kindness to those less fortunate than ourselves, and that we humble ourselves before God, asking to do his will each day and not the wishes of man.

For the question of what does God wish that I would do for him we need only to look at Gods own words to the Israelites during the time of the prophet Hosea. 

God told the Israelites through the prophet, Hosea, not long before the land of Israel fell to the Assyrians.
And God spoke to Hosea saying; “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6) 

This points directly to the coming of Jesus Christ for this would be his teachings for all time, that we love God and keep his commandments through the knowledge we learn of him through the pages of his Word. That’s still what God wishes of us today, to love him above all others and to do his will and not our own each day.

And for our last question for today; “What must I do to be saved and live in the house of the Lord forever.”

Salvation requires one to be born again to the living hope of the Lord Jesus Christ, this hope being the faith one has that the Word of God is true, believing in him through faith and not through sight.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8-9)

The act of believing, in faith, being further explained by the apostle Paul when he said; “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified (set aside from sin), and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:8-10)

There are other steps to living the Christian life including, baptism and finding and attending a bible based church for fellowship and encouragement but the simple truth of salvation is that, if, we believe in him and have faith in him who has died for all sin. He who asks only that we accept him as our Lord and Master. We will receive eternal salvation from the penalties of sin and we will live in the house of the Lord forever. AMEN… May you receive his holy blessings this day and forever…