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Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard | Tim Perkins
Faith
March 20, 2025 - First Baptist Church of Center is hosting a Blood Drive from 10am until 2:30pm on Thursday, March 27, 2025 in the Fellowship Hall. Contact Teresa Crawford at 936-598-5605 with sponsor code 7765 to sign up. Or signup online at https://www.commitforlife.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/390331. Appointments are preferred; however, walk-ins are welcome.
Promotions! - Refreshing Water Bottle and Big Rivers Park Ticket and Diabetes A1C Testing!
Save lives on the go with CFL Express Pass. Complete your health history interview before you come in for your donation. Go to https://cflexpress.giveblood.org and complete the same day as your appointment.
Eat. Drink. Bring I.D..
March 20, 2025 - It was in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:9 that Jesus said, “blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” For more than 20 centuries this great word has been knocking at the closed door of the hearts of men and women, largely in vain. We have said yes with our lips. Yet, in our hearts, we have said, “blessed are the sowers of discord.” Blessed are the war makers and blessed are the fomenters of strife. We see it every day in our land.
We must understand that to make peace is to do far more than merely abolish strife. It is to do more than cause folks to be peaceable. It is quite possible that we may keep the peace without having peace. We may bring about cessation of strife without in any real sense being peacemakers.
The peacemaker Jesus speaks of does a positive work. This individual puts an end to strife by bringing in the opposite of strife. This person does not pull up the noxious weeds of discord and enmity and hate one by one and leave the garden bare. Rather, this person sows and cultivates such a luxuriant crop of love, joy, peace and long-suffering that the disturbing weeds are all crowded out.
We live in a world that is filled with and characterized by fighting. It affects every level of our society. In this continual strife, God calls His people to be peacemakers. However, to be a peacemaker, it involves first making peace with God through Jesus Christ.
It’s something to think about... tbp
Come join us for Worship at Center Church of Christ or online at www.centerchurchofchrist.com.
March 19, 2025 – Burning Bush Ministries invites the community to a special Baseball Glove Fundraiser and Family Fun Night on Thursday, March 28, 2025. This exciting event will be held at Southview Family Church, 1229 Southview Circle, Center, Texas 75935, and promises an evening filled with fun, fellowship, and entertainment for the entire family!
The fundraiser aims to provide baseball gloves for local children in need, ensuring that every young athlete has the opportunity to play and enjoy the sport. Attendees can contribute to this great cause while enjoying a fun-filled night with friends and family.
Event Highlights:
- Christian Movie Screening – Gather for an inspiring, family-friendly film.
- Food and Snacks – Enjoy the delicious treats available throughout the evening.
- Family Activities – Participate in games and entertainment for all ages.
Doors open at 6pm, and the movie will begin at 7pm.
Join us for a night of faith, family, and fun while supporting a great cause! For more information, please get in touch with Burning Bush Ministries at (936) 590-6377.
March 18, 2025 - The Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Tenaha (Bobo community) and Pastor Jeremy Moore, would like to invite you to their Women's Day Program, on Sunday, March 30, 2025 at 2pm. The speakers for the hour are First lady Vanessa Davis, Sis. Phyliss Thompson, and Sis. Tranika (Shay Shay) Holland.
The theme is "Empowering women through the power of God." Come out and help us lift up the spirit of God.
March 17, 2025 - Mt. Zion C.M.E. Church is hosting a Women's Conference on Saturday, March 22, 2025 from 9am until 12 noon. The conference theme is "Fruit of The Spirit" Galatians 5:22-23. A $10 donation is appreciated.
Speakers are Sis. Stephanie Hicks, Reed Chapel Baptist Church, San Augustine, Texas and Evangelist Yvette Bates-Coleman, Christian Life Community, Tallulah, Louisiana.
Rev. Richard Edwards, Pastor
Sis. Rose Patton, Conference Chair
March 17, 2025 - Friendship Missionary Baptist Church will have their Women's Day Program on Sunday, March 30, 2025 at 2pm. Please come and join us as we celebrate "Empowering Women through the power of God.”
The church is led by Pastor Jeremy Moore and is located on CR 4649 in Tenaha, Texas 75935.
March 17, 2025 - The Shelby County Ministerial Alliance will host its monthly meeting at 12 noon on Wednesday, March 19, 2025 at Center Christian Church, 1215 Woodlawn Center, Texas. All ministers in Shelby County are welcome. Please join us.
March 17, 2025 - The St. John Missionary Baptist Church would like to cordially invite everyone to our Age Rally Program on March 23, 2025 at 11am. Our very own Pastor Donald Riley will be the speaker of the hour. The church is located at 102 Booker T. Washington Drive, Tenaha, Texas 75974.
2025
March 17, 2025 - Jackson Missionary Baptist Church in Joaquin will be celebrating their 104th anniversary this Sunday, March 23, 2025, at 11am. Everyone is welcome to come help us celebrate this historic event. God continues His blessings with our current pastor, Bro. Micah McArthur a man raised in the church and very versed in the scriptures, a true blessing to hear him preach.
"To Him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages." Ephesians 3:20
March 27, 1921
History of Jackson Missionary Baptist Church
Even before there was a building with the name “Jackson Baptist Church” on it some Jackson Community people were meeting to worship God in an old stone building, referred to as Jackson School, it was used for church services, singing and school. After a period of years, the need for a church was apparent. There was a Jackson Cemetery in the area, and .9 acres was donated for a church building next to the Jackson Cemetery.
Jackson Missionary Baptist Church was organized and dedicated on March 27, 1921 with 26 members. The membership was formed by people from neighboring sister churches. The building was built of ship-lap lumber and painted white. The building faced the “old Road” to Joaquin, and it had two doors on the front and one on the back. Three rows of home-built pews filled the rectangle shaped building. This church building was built with money furnished by the community, labor by members, a love of God, and a desire to serve and worship him.
1950
For almost 30 years, services were held in the original building, However, on February 20, 1950, the church appointed a committee for construction of a new building. On February 26, 1950, the original building was torn down and a second one story brick building was built. Labor was provided mostly by church members themselves. Some worked on regular jobs and came directly from their jobs to work on the new church building, also on Saturdays. Church members helped by purchasing doors, pews, and windows in their family’s names. In 1963, a parsonage was built and afterwards a dedication was held.
Through the years the church family grew, and once again the church appointed a new construction committee in 2013 to seek out expansion possibilities. After much searching it was determined and approved by the church membership, that the church should relocate by purchasing 9 acres of land. And a third building was built. Once, again, the third new building was built following the same pattern set by church members who had come before them. Saturday workdays were held to clear the property and accomplish tasks as the building was being built. Money to build the building was furnished by church members and others in the community. Some made donations in memory of their family members for projects and items. During the Construction phase worship services were held throughout the building process so that members could see progress being made. The stain glass windows from the previous church building were incorporated into the design, along with the previous pulpit and other church furniture. On May 10, 2020 church members met in the sanctuary for a Mother’s Day worship service and it was clear to see that the time had come to begin meeting permanently in the new church building. As the effort to complete this building continues, the church family at Jackson celebrates the Anniversary of the church and carries on the vision that began in 1921. The first church site was donated to the Jackson Cemetery Association, and the sanctuary is now being used by a Spanish Missionary Baptist Church.
Pastors through the Years
1921-1923 - H.T. Ritnor
1924-1925 - Lee J Ellis
1925-1926 - T.N. Fore
1926-1927 - E.B. Anderson
1927-1929 - H.T. Ritnor
1929-1930 - R.O. Bazer
1930 - W.J. Brown
1930-1933 - W.C. Koonce
1933 - Elam Cockrell
1933-1939 - A.L. Meador
1940-1943 - W.E. Crenshaw
1943 - dates unknown - Curtis Peace and Walter Ingram
1943-1950 no records due to fire
1951 - M. Otto Hillis
1951-1954 - E.E. Smithhart
1954-1961 - Dale Roberts
1961-1965 - F.A. McCann
1965-1966 - L.E. Garrison
1966-1968 - W.A. Reeves
1968-1969 - Ray Turner
1969-1970 - Bill Sheffield
1970-1972 - G.W. Griggs
1972-1974 - Roger Cole
1974-1980 - F.A. McCann
1980-1996 - R.D. Warr, Jr.
1996-1998 - Larry Andrews
1998-2001 - Dock Lazarine
2001-2002 - Harold Hanson (Interim)
2002-2003 - George Rogers
2003 - Harold Hanson
2003-2009 - Mike Cross
2009-2010 - Luke Garrett (interim)
2010-2021 - David Long (last day May 09, 2021)
2021 - Mark Sartain (interim)
2021-2022 - Luke Garrett (Interim w/guest speakers)
2022-present - Micah McArthur
March 17, 2025 - Good Morning! It’s Monday, March 17.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! We continue with our six-part series on the Creator and His creation, which will end this Thursday, the first day of spring. Our focus this morning is on the theological term “general revelation”. This is the idea that God reveals Himself, reveals His nature, through natural things - like His creation.
In Psalm 19:1, the psalmist puts it like this, “The heavens declare the glory of our God, the whole earth shows His handiwork.” The Apostle Paul, in Romans 1:19-20, writes, “What may be known about God is plain to men, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
In 1960, Barbara Gaultney, a 25-year-old writer from Atlanta, Georgia, described her experience with God through these lyrics -
In the lightning flash across the sky His mighty power I see
And I know if He can reign on high His light can shine on me
I’ve seen it in the lightning, heard it in the thunder, and felt it in the rain
My Lord is near me all the time. My Lord is near me all the time.
This song of testimony and praise made it into the Baptist Hymnal in 1975 - the year that Barbara Gaultney died, at the age of 39. She was plagued by chronic health issues her entire life, spending her last years bedridden and blind. Her writing gave her purpose and peace - and her Lord was near her all the time.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
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