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Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard | Tim Perkins
Faith
September 7, 2022 - Open Door Worship Center presents "Work on me Lord" Women's Conference on Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 10am. Open the Eyes of my Heart, Lord!
Search me, O' God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts. Psalm 139:23
Special keynote speaker is Prophetess Annie Moore. Additional speakers are Sister Isha Brown, Sister Stephanie Hicks, Sister Rockie Williams, and Sister Sharon Hamilton.
The conference is hosted by Open Door Women's Ministry, 900 Cotton Ford Road, Center, Texas 75935 and Pastor Alvin Davis.
September 5, 2022 - Grace and peace from our brother, Jesus. For the third Sunday in a row, I mentioned the Chinese proverb (or possible curse), “May you live in interesting times.” The weather has certainly been interesting the last week of August. Dallas had a historic, once-in-a-thousand-year rain, and the temperatures of the hottest month for Texas have been in the 80s, while other parts of the country are getting our usual triple digits. The possibility of rain has been in the forecast almost every day. Despite the rains, we are still in the midst of drought, although most counties and parishes have lifted burn bans.
On Wednesday, I took sacks and sacks of new children’s underwear and socks to Community Christian Services. I always get a good vibe when I visit with the volunteers as boxes of food are brought out to lined-up cars. I dropped off what Paxton Methodist had gathered during the month of August, along with a couple of checks. In September Paxton Methodists are going to donate macaroni and cheese to CCS. Today we also discussed the Kids’ Christmas part of CCS; Sue is our church’s contact for that, and she had information from Beverly at First Baptist.
We got new Sunday School booklets for Fall 2022, so we were introduced to new themes and a new writer. This first lesson spoke about standing up against oppression. The scripture came from the first two chapters of Exodus, where we hear about baby Moses. Claudia liked this lesson, as she remembered hearing the wonderful story when she was young. We are told that Joseph and his family coming to Egypt to escape hunger and famine had been generations ago. The Hebrews had grown in such numbers that the pharaoh felt threatened and had the Hebrews enslaved. When their population continued to increase, he ordered Hebrew baby boys sought out and killed. That didn’t work either. The author of our lesson focused on two Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, who defied the pharaoh and concealed the births of baby boys. One child they saved, Moses, became the lawgiver who would later lead his people out of Egypt.
It being the first Sunday of the month, we celebrated a Service of Communion and Remembrance. In the United Methodist Church, communion is open and the table is considered to be Jesus’ table, not the individual church’s. Our Gathering Words were based on Psalm 139, and we spoke the Apostles’ Creed as our affirmation of faith. To recognize Psalm 137’s “By the rivers of Babylon,” we sang “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand.” Our second song was “Marching to Zion,” and Gene shared about his and Joy’s trip to Zion National Park in Utah. One bulletin quote was from Malala Yousafzai, at 17 the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize: “If you go anywhere, even paradise, you will miss your home.” The other was from Frances Clark, an American pianist: “There wouldn’t be a sky full of stars if we were all meant to wish on the same one.”
The Gospel lesson, Luke 143: 25-33, was one of those “hard sayings” of Jesus. He turns to the growing crowd and tells them the possible costs of discipleship, suggesting they weigh their decision very carefully. Those considering what this young teacher was saying were at a crossroad. I used Psalm 137, a gripping lament of the people of Israel who, after being enslaved, were also at a crossroad. Held against their will by a foreign government, they were living in “interesting” times (translation: frightful).
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, and Open Minds.” 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 your email address to the Paxton email address, and I will add you to the list. God’s Speed.
September 4, 2022 - Youth Wednesday night services will be held each week at 6:30pm at Mount Calvary Full Gospel Church. Come enjoy food and refreshments, fun including inside and out side games, and bible study. The next Wednesday night service is September 7th.
Mount Calvary Full Gospel Church is located at 5527 FM 417 East, Shelbyville, Texas 75973.
September 1, 2022 - The Pastor and members of Bright Morning Star Baptist Church invites you to join in with us as we celebrate Our Annual Usher’s Day on Sunday September 11th at 2:30 p.m.
Special Guests will be Pastor Jeremy Moore and the Friendship Baptist Church of the Bobo community. Come on out and enjoy!
September 1, 2022 - This past June we had the privilege of taking a family vacation to the Smoky Mountains. All of the family was there, both of our sons and daughters-in-law (truly, they are more like daughters to us) and of course the grandsons. We all stayed in the same cabin together for 7 days and still came back loving each other.
One of the most impressive things about that trip, was enjoying the beauty of God’s creation. The first morning in the cabin, some of us were up before the sun was. We were sitting on the porch, drinking our coffee (hot, strong coffee) facing west as the first light of a new day was showing itself. We were staying on top of a mountain in North Carolina. As the first light of the new day appeared, we were sitting above the clouds, looking at some mountains in the distance, and it looked as if you could just step out on the clouds and walk across to the next mountain.
As we spent time there, we saw beautiful rock formations, gorgeous flowers and scenery and were privileged to witness some of the most beautiful sunsets you have ever seen. With all the beauty around us on top of that mountain, a passage of scripture came to my mind. The Psalmist would write in Psalm 19:1; “The heavens declare the glory of God”. Yet, another passage from the Psalmist also came to mind and this is found in Psalm 14:1; “The fool hath said in his heart there is no God.” I thought, how perfectly the Psalmist describes there those who can see the beauty of this world and deny the existence of God.
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.
August 31, 2022 - First Baptist Church is having a children’s ministry kickoff party on September 7th from 6-7pm. Come join us for a fun night of fellowship. Ages pre-k - 6th grade. We will have Four Water Slides, Hotdogs and Snow cones. Please wear shorts and a t-shirt over your swimsuit.
August 29, 2022 - Mark your calendars for August 31, 2022 at 6pm for a Luau / Movie at the Beach! You don’t to miss out on the fun and excitement of the new Awana year. Lots of things planned to enhance our learning experience. We are ready for the 2022-23 year - All we need is YOU!!!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact: Sue Finch – Awana Ministry Director – Jackson Missionary Baptist Church at 936 269 4895 or message on FB.
About Awana Ministsry – Brief Summary
Awana is an acronym - Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed – based on 2 Timothy 2:15
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”
Awana Clubs are for ages 2 through 6th grade.
Two major goals of Awana are:
1. Reach boys and girls with the gospel of Christ
2. Train them to serve Him.
It helps churches and parents work together to develop spiritually strong children and youth who faithfully follow Jesus Christ.
Awana is fun with a purpose! Games, crafts, awards and other activities reinforce the gospel message. A lively experience where fun and learning go hand in hand.
Each age group’s curriculum is designed specifically for that age.
19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. Philippians 3:19
August 29, 2022 - The seven deadly sins, also known as cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. According to the standard list, they are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth. They are attitudes and devices that lead into many other sins. I have been preaching since I was eighteen years old. I have preached many sermons on those deadly sins over the years and have heard many other preachers warn us about committing them.
But as I think over it, I wonder why I have preached mostly on only six of these sins. And I’m not alone… other preachers hardly ever preach on all seven of them, either. Maybe it’s because that “ignored sin” gets a little too close to home for most preachers to preach or for many church members to hear.
It’s the sin of gluttony.
August 29, 2022 - Grace and peace from our brother, Jesus. We just finished an unusual week of weather here in East Texas. Gone were the dry, dusty days and triple digit temperatures. Instead, we had substantial rainfall and high temperatures only in the 70s and 80s. Except for a few flooding issues in our area, it was a nice break from our normal summer. High school football is in the air, and all the Shelby County teams that played on Thursday and Friday won! Happy faces come Monday morning.
Today, we gathered up packages of new children’s underwear and socks for Community Christian Services. I will make a trip to CCS on Wednesday to drop off the checks and clothing. It will be great to see many of my favorite Joaquin people! During the month of September we will be collecting macaroni and cheese. We wish our best to Lillie, Hilda, and Joe: We miss them and pray that they are getting along OK. It was great to have Sue and Fred back with us this morning!
This morning at Sunday School we began by talking about the turmoil and breakup in the United Methodist Church. Many congregations, including Paxton, are wrestling with whether it is better to stay in the denomination or to “disaffiliate” from the Texas Annual Conference and The United Methodist Church. Like many congregations, large and small, Paxton Methodist is trying to discern God’s direction in the questionable future. They are currently looking at information from the district and involved in discussions.
Fannie did get to the lesson at hand. The focus for the lesson came from Matthew 26: 47-56 that Gene read for the class. We heard about how Judas betrayed Jesus and a mob came ready to do violence. Some of Jesus’ disciples were ready to respond to the violence with more violence. Jesus would not be part of that but stood his ground with dignity, even as the angry mob took him away.
The author certainly feels the ideas of non-violence and meeting anger with compassion is the way of Jesus. The theme of our worship and sermon was humility; the Sunday School author certainly showed how Jesus met the situation of betrayal with calmness and humility.
Our worship service began with gathering words from Psalm 81. The poet tells his listeners that God wants us to listen to him and that those who do will be fed the finest wheat and honey. This psalm was often read to Jewish worshipers, regardless of the lesson’s theme that day. Our affirmation of faith was The Apostles’ Creed, a favorite of many Protestant churches. We sang “Where He Leads Me” and “Only Trust Him” along with the Gloria Patri and the Doxology. One bulletin quote was from Desmond Tutu, an Anglican Archbishop as well as Nobel peace prize winner: “We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders. All are welcome.” The inside quote was by William Wordsworth, renowned British poet: “The best portion of a good man’s life is his little nameless, unencumbered acts of kindness and love.”
The prophet Jeremiah said that God wondered if his favorite people had forsaken him. They seemed not to listen and to have walked away from living water. They tried unsuccessfully to build their own wells but that didn’t work out. There were two other readings from the Jewish Testament, one from Sirach, found in the Catholic Bible and the Jewish Testament but not in our Protestant Bibles. Sirach and Proverbs 21 speak of the need to be humble—because when you think too much of yourself, you set yourself up for a fall. This was the message Jesus shared with his Pharisee guests at dinner. His parable was a thinly veiled questioning of the way certain individuals around that very table were acting. And then Jesus made an outrageous request of them: When they have their next dinner party, invite the outcasts of society to come and share. People might sneer and laugh, but God will rejoice. The important guests didn’t much like Jesus’ idea.
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, and Open Minds.” 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 your email address to the Paxton email address, and I will add you to the list. God’s Speed.
August 29, 2022 - Good Morning! It's Monday, August 29.
Bro. David is on vacation this week and will be reprinting some devotional favorites from the past. This devotion originally ran on September 28, 2021.
On September 28, 1968, the Beatles’ song “Hey Jude” became the #1 song in the world. Many consider it the greatest of all the great songs that came from that group in the ‘60’s. And for many, it was their one and only connection to that name ”Jude”. But there was another.
James the Less was the primary leader of Christianity’s very first church, the church of Jerusalem. He was one of the Twelve, had a significant influence on the Apostle Paul, and died a martyr’s death. And he was the brother of Jesus Christ. The Jude of today’s devotion, of which we know very little, was said to be a brother of James the Less, and so... also the brother of our Lord.
And he wrote the shortest book in the New Testament, and the second shortest in the Bible (after Obadiah). It’s’ 25 verses are found right before the mighty Revelation and are mostly focused on warning the early church, and us, about false teachers. But then, at the end, there is one of the most beautiful proclamations of praise in the Word of God. Here, as we end today’s devotion, is Jude’s doxology . . .
To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
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