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Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard | Tim Perkins
Faith
Good Morning! It's Monday, October 21.
Today our focus is on the subject of control.
What do you say when you answer the phone? I guess there's more than one way to do it, but I'm 99% sure you say "hello". In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, and he decided on the word that people should use when they used his invention. He decided we should say "ahoy!". If that had caught on, we'd all sound like sailors every time we got a phone call.
So, even the man who created the phone didn't have complete control of it. I'm thinking that Bell was probably annoyed by that. It can be annoying, frustrating, even terrifying when we lose a sense of control. Have you ever been driving in winter and suddenly started skidding on a patch of ice? Not a nice feeling. Control - of our health, our finances, our time, our lives - is important to us.
God's Word, however, urges us to lose control or, rather, to relinquish control to someone else. That can be a very difficult thing to do. I'm thinking it was very difficult for one particular New Testament character. He was an ambitious guy, some might say driven. He was a builder, a motivator, a leader. God gave Paul all those characteristics so that He could be the man to grow the new, young church. But those same characteristics would have made Paul a man who valued a sense of control. And yet he wrote in Galatians 2:20 -
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
October 14, 2024 - First Baptist Church of Center is hosting a Blood Drive from 10am until 2:30pm on Thursday, October 17, 2024 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/376379. Appointments are preferred; however, walk-ins are welcome.
Eat. Drink. Bring I.D..
October 17, 2024 - In our world today, it seems that more and more people care little or nothing for the things of God. There are many who never think of being in the assembly when the saints of God have gathered. Often we speak of these as “waiting for the hearse to take them to church.” Let me ask. Have you ever thought about that statement? I read the following somewhere, many years ago and saved it. I have no idea of the original source, and would like to claim it as my own, but sadly, I cannot. It does however provide some food for thought. Here are some things that will happen if you wait for the hearse to take you to church.
1. You will go regardless of the weather.
2. You will go regardless of how your family feels about it.
3. You will go regardless of the condition of your body.
4. You will have beautiful flowers but you will not enjoy them.
5. Regardless of how good the singing is, you will not enjoy it.
6. Whatever the minister says will do you no good.
7. You may have a great need, but no one will be able to help you.
8. You will never be able to attend an assembly on earth again.
9. There will be relatives and friends there, but you will not worship with them.
10. You will go regardless of how many hypocrites are there.
All in all, waiting for the hearse to take you to church doesn’t seem like such a good idea. Perhaps it would be better to attend on your own before that happens.
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 14, 2024 - Good Morning! It's Monday, October 14.
Today we focus on Change, on Christianity, on Columbus. Happy Columbus Day, by the way, or maybe you had forgotten about this holiday. That would be understandable - Columbus Day isn't what it used to be. But if you've studied the history of this holiday, you know that it has always been marked by change.
Christopher Columbus, on October 12, 1492, landed on an island in what is now the Bahamas. He thought he had reached the Far East, what was then called The Indies. And so, the native people who greeted these strange visitors were given the name "Indians", a name that unfortunately stuck, and forever after has been a reminder that Columbus had no idea where he was. With the way history usually works, it's amazing that we don't call our nation "Columbia". But Amerigo Vespucci, another noted Italian navigator, recognized that this was a New World, and so we live in America.
The first official observance of Columbus Day in America came in 1792, the three-hundredth anniversary, with a celebration in New York City. During the 1800's it was celebrated mostly in major cities, especially those with large Italian immigrant communities. New Orleans was one of those places, but along with Italian immigrants came violent racism. And there, in 1891, the largest single lynching in U.S. history occurred, as 11 Italian Americans were seized by a mob and brutally murdered.
President Grover Cleveland, partly in response to that tragedy, declared a one-time commemoration of Columbus the next year, the 400th anniversary. But it wasn't until 1934 that Franklin Roosevelt signed a proclamation declaring the second Monday in October to be Columbus Day. Before Congress could make it a federal holiday, though, the United States found itself at war with Italy, and during the 1940's many Italian immigrants were put into containment camps, some right here in Texas.
It wasn't until 1971 that Columbus Day was officially established. But in the last 50 years, public opinions about this holiday have continued to change. Most states - Texas included - no longer officially observe it, and many have changed the name to Indigenous Peoples Day. Change has always been a part of Columbus Day.
Christopher Columbus' first name means "bearer of Christ". He reached the new world on a ship called Santa Maria - "Holy Mary". And when he stepped out on what he thought was Asia, he called it San Salvador - "Holy Savior". An initial goal of the Spanish was to spread the gospel of Christ. But that goal soon gave way to another purpose - greed.
Still today, we who call ourselves Christians struggle with change, struggle with finding our purpose, struggle to keep our faith relevant in this ever-changing new world.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
October 10, 2024 - King David, the man after God’s own heart could not build a temple, but he wrote a psalm! Three temples, one after another, crumbled in the dust, but the psalm lives today in the hearts of millions. Through three thousand years, the Twenty-Third Psalm has been a source of inspiration. It is the Christian’s great symphony, the theme of which is God’s care for His own.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Or, as Paul says it, “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
After announcing the theme, the writer gives us the three R’s of the abundant life. They are Rest, Refreshment and Restoration. First, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” Second, “He leadeth me beside the still waters.” Third, “He restoreth my soul.”
Rest and relaxation are essential to our well being. Many a man or woman is in the hospital today because they could not afford to rest or could not rest. God makes us rest and then he leads us beside the still waters for refreshment. Restoration just naturally follows rest and refreshment. How wonderful are the still waters that God leads us to. Make your plans to be in worship with the saints of God on the Lord’s Day. You will find yourself rested, refreshed and restored by being in Worship. It’s something to think about.
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 9, 2024 - New Prospect Missionary Baptist Church in Timpson will honor their musicians on Saturday, October 19, 2024 at 7pm. Everyone is invited to attend. Sis. Joyce McCoy, president and Rev. Rayford Caraway, Pastor.
October 8, 2024 - The members of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church (BoBo) invite the community to fellowship with us at our annual "Family and Friends" day. Service starts at 2pm on Sunday, October 13, 2024.
Special Guest will be Pastor Derrick Rhoades and the Wallace Chapel Baptist Church (Timpson, Texas).
See you Sunday.
Pastor Jeremy Moore
October 8, 2024 - Blount Chapel Baptist Church invites the community to attend its Annual Harvest Program at 3pm on Sunday, October 20, 2024. The theme is ‘Harvest of Transformation’ Romans 12:2. Speakers will be Sis. Stephanie Hicks, Sis. Yolanda Neal, and Sis. Pearl Nash.
Church pastor is Bryon Coutee, Jr.. Blount Chapel Baptist Church is located at 298 Co Rd 3760, Center, TX 75935.
October 8, 2024 - October 27 at 1pm will be the New Prospect Church Harvest Celebration.
Superintendent Marvin Jackson will be bringing the message. Lunch will be served after the service
October 7, 2024 - Mt. Gillion Annual Harvest Celebration will be held on October 13th at 11am. Rev. Caraway will bring the message. Lunch will be served. Come celebrate and worship the Lord with us.
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