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Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard | Tim Perkins
Faith
June 5, 2023 - The New Prospect Cemetery Association will hold its annual Homecoming event on Sunday, June 11th at the church on FM 1645 near Timpson.
This article is copied from Shelby County Today without permission.
Lunch will be served at noon and our supporters are invited as we honor the lives of those buried in our cemetery. Please bring covered food dishes, old family photos, genealogy records and join us for fellowship and financial support of our cemetery.
June 5, 2023 - I have told “my first sermon” story for my years now, but realized last week that I had almost forgotten my real “first sermon.” I didn’t preach it at Center’s Central Baptist Church in 1950 (as I have claimed) but preached it at the Mill Pond in Shelbyville, Texas. I had the year right but not the place.
In the fall of 1950 I enrolled in Panola Junior College in Carthage, Texas. As I was hitch hiking home to Shelbyville one day, I spotted a hungry little puppy abandoned at the roadside. I hitch-hiked home with him and named him “Spot.”
One day after school, Spot followed me to the pond and heard me preach my first sermon. My preacher expressions like “One more word” and “in conclusion” didn’t seem to bother Spot nearly as much they bothered our church members. I had three points (like preachers do) and after closing with “amen,” Spot followed me back up the hill without uttering a single amen or a word of praise.
When I later preached at Central Baptist Church, my Aunt Belvin Busbee told me that I’d be another Billy Graham and that I needed to buy a suit. And she was half-right.
I did need to buy a suit.
June 5, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, June 5.
This article is copied from Shelby County Today without permission.
This morning we begin Vacation Bible School at First Baptist Church Center. I've chosen 25 of my favorite Bible verses and will share five each day this week. No commentary. No teaching. Just the Word of God speaking for itself, speaking with power, speaking with wisdom.
- Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
- Matthew 6:33 - Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given unto you.
- John 16:33 - I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.
- Isaiah 40:31 - Those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall soar on wings like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint.
- 2 Timothy 1:7 - God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self control.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
June 2, 2023 - Lydia Missionary Baptist Church 2023 Revival starts Sunday at 11am and 6pm, Monday - Wednesday at 7pm located at Hwy 139 in Huxley. Everyone invited.
June 2, 2023 - The annual New Hope Cemetery Homecoming will be held Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 12:00 noon. Bring your favorite dishes and come enjoy a time of food and fellowship. If you are unable to attend please send donations to: New Hope Cemetery, 1597 FM 2974, Center, TX 75935.
Blount Chapel Missionary Baptist Church Center, Texas and Pastor Byron Coutee, Jr. is hosting their Annual Usher's Day program on Sunday, June 4th, 2023 at 3pm.
Guest speaker will be Rev. Rayford Caraway from New Prospect Missionary Baptist Church Timpson, Texas.
Dinner will be served. Everyone is invited to attend.
Church Clerk, Sis. April N. Moore
June 1, 2023 - Clever Creek Church, located at 199 CR 1042 at FM 417 West in Center, Texas will be bringing the “Love Worth Sharing Meeting” first week in July, 2023. Beginning on Sunday, July 2nd, Sunday School will be at the regular time of 10:00 am, followed by the 10:55 am Worship, with Brother Jim Moss preaching. Prayer meeting will return at 6:00 pm, followed by Brother Dwayne singing, and Brother Jim preaching. Services will continue Monday, July 3rd, with the same schedule as Sunday evening.
On Tuesday, July 4th, beginning at 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, there will be an all-day of preaching and singing. A free lunch will be provided at 12 Noon and then preaching resuming at about 1 pm and concluding at 3 or 3:30 pm. Then at 6:30 pm services will resume with a prayer meeting and Brother Dwayne’s singing, followed by Evangelist Jim’s preaching. Services will wrap up on Wednesday, July 5th, with 6:00 pm prayer meeting, 6:30 pm, with Brother Dwayne’s singing, and concluding with Rev. Jim’s preaching at 7:00 p.m.
Evangelist Jim Moss, from Nacogdoches, Texas, will be one of two key speakers during this patriotic week in July. Rev. Moss was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and called to preach at the age of 14, preaching in over seventy-seven churches in his young years. When he turned eighteen, in 1978, he became the pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in Arkansas in a year’s time, which included over two-hundred-fifty baptisms. He moved to the Shelbyville area in 1981, pastoring Ephesus Baptist Church, before he became pastor of the First Baptist Church in San Augustine. In the year 2000 Pastor Moss felt called to be involved in evangelism. He began a ministry in the Love Worth Sharing Evangelistic Ministries where he has shared the gospel to over fifty church meetings a year.
Brother Dwayne Williams will also be sharing his music and testimony at Clever Creek as a full-time “cowboy evangelist. He is better known as the “Texas Teddy Bear” and is also a Nacogdoches native. Dwayne grew up loving music. It wasn’t long before he was performing with a country music band, The Rolling River Band, living out the dream of a sought-after musician in Nashville. Nominated as New Male Vocalist of the Year in 1996, he felt he had reached the Nashville recognition with record contracts that he had only dreamt of.
“But God had bigger plans”, said Brother Dwayne, as he surrendered his music over to the Lord, first through studying God’s Word and then again through the music that he felt within. This time, with the Lord’s prompting. Dwayne has followed the leading, recording Christian music and sharing his love for Christ through music and the Gospel.
The July 2023 meetings at Clever Creek Baptist Church will be a good time to enjoy the food and fellowship with friends and partake of the great music and preaching of these two evangelists. You won’t want to miss out. For further information you may contact Dr. Jerry Hopkins, pastor of Clever Creek, at (936) 591-1936.
June 1, 2023 - A businessman was sitting at his desk. All around him were bills, letters and other evidence that he was totally absorbed in the details of his business.
The minister of the church entered, anxious to discuss the man’s soul. The business man said, “Oh, you must excuse me brother, I am too busy to take time for that today.” Politely, the minister asked, “When shall I call on you again?” The man said, “I don’t know and I can’t tell you. I am just too busy right now. I have a lot to attend to.” With a sad and heavy heart, the minister excused himself and the businessman returned to his paperwork.
A few days later, a disagreeable stranger stepped into the businessman’s office and laid a cold hand on his shoulder. “Come, you must go home with me” the visitor demanded. The businessman laid down his pen, closed his desk and left. He had no choice. A cold chill settled on him as images of so many things left unfinished flashed before his eyes. The name of the visitor was death.
We may think we are so busy we don’t have time to obey the Lord and live His kind of life. However, we will someday not be too busy to die.
Find the time to serve the Lord today!
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.
May 30, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Tuesday, May 30.
Yesterday, a good crowd of community friends met at our civic center for a Memorial Day event. One of the children from First Baptist, Dylan Roberts, gave us a special moment as he sang "God Bless America".
This song was written in 1918, during World War I, when it's composer, Irving Berlin, was a private in the U.S. Army. He revised it right before World War II, and on Armistice Day, 1938, Kate Smith premiered this "new' song on her radio show. Its' popularity swept the nation. If we examine the lyrics, we could easily describe it as a song of prayer. Berlin called it a peace song. The verse is seldom sung today, but Kate Smith always included it in her rendition -
"As the storm clouds gather far across the sea, we will pledge allegiance to a land that's free
"We will all be grateful for a land so fair, as we raise our voices in a solemn prayer"
Kate Smith raised over 600 million dollars in war bonds, more than any other celebrity. Irving Berlin donated the millions in royalties from this song to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America. He died in 1989. She died in 1986. But their song lives on. A song of patriotism. A song of peace. A song of prayer.
"God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above
"From the mountains to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam, God bless America, my home sweet home.
"God bless America, my home sweet home."
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
May 25, 2023 - Admittedly, in our day and time, with the uncertainty in our world, there is seemingly much to be afraid of. Jesus said in John 10:10, “I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly”. Yet, to live the abundant life Jesus wants us to live, we must conquer certain things and one of those is fear.
Fear can have a ravaging effect on our lives and can be one of our greatest adversaries. There is an ancient legend of a man driving one day toward a certain city. He was stopped by an old woman asking for a ride. He took her up beside him and they drove down the road. As he looked at her, he became frightened and asked, “Who are you?” The old woman replied that she was Cholera. He ordered the old woman to get out and walk. Yet, she persuaded him to take her. She promised not to kill more than five people in the city. She even gave him a special dagger, the only weapon that oculd kill her and told him that she would meet him in 2 days and he could stab her if she broke her promise. 120 people died in the city of cholera. The enraged man went to look for her, and meeting her raised his dagger to kill her. She stopped him, saying she had kept her agreement, and killed only 5 people. Fear, she said, killed the others.
Oftentimes, this legend is a true parable of life. Disease kills its thousands, fear kills its tens of thousands. Sometimes, the greatest miseries of humanity come from the dread of trouble rather than from the presence of trouble.
It’s something to think about... tbp
Join Us for Worship this coming Lord’s Day at Center Church of Christ or online www.centerchurchofchrist.com
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