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Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard | Tim Perkins
Faith
July 22, 2023 - North Jericho Homecoming with dinner on the ground will be the first Sunday in August, August 6th. Please come join us at 12 noon for food and fellowship!
July 22, 2023 - The House of Refuge Apostolic Ministries presents September 16, 2023 a Women’s Empowerment Brunch - Grounded in Good Soil - Matthew 13:3-23.
The brunch is at 10am on Saturday, September 16 at Pineywoods Outreach Center, 255 Haley Dr., Center, Texas 75935.
Speakers are First Lady Pearl Nash, First Lady Donna Martin, First Lady Juanita Yarbrough, and First Lady Natasha Jones.
Tickets for this event are $40 and can be purchased from House of Refuge Apostolic Ministries, Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Center, or Bennett Chapel Baptist Church in Shelbyville. Ticket cost includes entry, buffet, drinks, and raffles.
For more information, they can contact Afrikina Dotson, Church Administrator, at 936-657-8172 or afrikinadotson@yahoo.com.
July 20, 2023 - Sorrow is a universal experience, it comes to the rich and poor, to the powerful and the weak. So much of the sorrow in our world is unseen, often it is hidden from view purposely. Many times it is known only to the individual and to God. It can be buried beneath a cheerful countenance and earthly baubles. Yet, even the most cheerful often have troubled hearts.
Our hearts can be troubled by sins, either our own or the sins of others. Hearts can be heavy because of the departure of a loved one or the deep waters of serious illness. There are times that our hearts are distressed due to the unfaithfulness of a friend or feelings of insecurity.
Jesus did not shun sorrow. To be sure, He was often found among people with heavy hearts, people who were distressed and uneasy. To these He was sympathetic. Jesus suffered with people and shared their sorrows. His mission was to “heal the brokenhearted” (Luke 4:18)
Jesus’ remedy for broken and troubled hearts was faith. He said “believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1). A few sentences later we read, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh into the Father but by me.” When our faith is in Jesus Christ, when we live life His way, our troubled hearts will find relief.
It’s something to think about. . . TBP
Join Us for Worship this coming Lord’s Day
Center Church of Christ
www.centerchurchofchrist.com
July 19, 2023 - Brother Jamie Lindley and East Hamilton Church of Shelbyville would like to invite you to a three-night Revival August 3rd, 4th, and 5th at 6pm nightly. A special message brought to you by Brandon Digilormo of Insane Ministries. Food and fellowship to follow on Saturday night, bring a dish to share.
East Hamilton Missionary Baptist Church is located at 7325 FM 2261 or 7.2 miles from Hwy 87 South, turn onto FM 2261 at the old Patroon Store, now known as Boondox Steakhouse.
“Salvation is the gift of God… not of works, lest any man should boast…” Ephesians 2:8
July 17, 2023 - When I was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Mauriceville, Texas, Deacon Leroy Neel and I often hunted and fished together. He called me one day to tell me about a binocular sale he’d seen in the Field and Stream Magazine. The ad described them as “8X precision optics with Old World craftsmanship” for the amazing price of $4.95!! We got our orders off that day and could hardly wait to get them.
After meeting for the formal opening of our new possessions, we raced outside to test them. But as we held them to our eyes, we only saw haze and rainbows. As Leroy grinned at me sheepishly, I asked, “Well, what do you think?” “I think we got what we paid for,” he laughed.
Most of us know that things too good to be true usually aren’t true. Many of my bargain buys --- a router for $19.95, a camera lens for $14.95 and a host of other “unbelievable” bargains have convinced me that getting what we pay for is a general truth.
But there’s a wonderful exception to this rule. Nothing we have can buy us a ticket to heaven. If we receive eternal life, it won’t be because we paid for it…
… but because Jesus did.
July 17, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, July 17.
On this day, in 2009, Walter Cronkite died. He was the anchorman of the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981. That was a time before 24-hour cable and the Internet, a time when people watched the same TV program at the same time. And most of America watched "Uncle Walter" deliver the news of the day.
I always had a special interest in Cronkite, because he was a "Houston boy", like me. But he connected with all of us. It was impossible to remember the day that John F. Kennedy was killed, without also remembering Cronkite removing his glasses and delivering the fateful bulletin in a choking voice. Cronkite was there when man stepped on the moon. And when he declared that the Vietnam war was unwinnable, President Johnson said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost the country".
Year after year, polls pronounced Walter Cronkite "the most trusted man in America". When he closed his broadcast with the words, "and that's the way it is" - we believed him. Who do we have in America like that today? Whose voice carries that kind of weight? Who can we truly trust? Tough questions. I won't try to answer them. Instead, I'll leave you with these thoughts.
Psalm 9:10 - Those who know Your name trust in You, Lord, for You have never forsaken those who seek You.
Isaiah 26:3 - You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are set on You, because they trust in You.
Psalm 56:14 - In God I trust, and am not afraid.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
July 13, 2023 - James would write for us, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” If you want to make God laugh, really laugh, tell Him what you are going to do tomorrow.
The Bible is filled with examples of those who had great plans for tomorrow, and yet, tomorrow never came. When Felix heard Paul preach, he trembled upon hearing the word of God. He told Paul to go his way and he would call for him at a more convenient time. He told Paul he would wait until tomorrow and for Governor Felix, tomorrow never came.
Jesus tells us of a rich farmer who had an abundant harvest in Luke chapter 12. He was planning to tear down his old barns and build greater barns to have a place to store all his abundance. He had great plans for tomorrow, but God had other plans. God called that man a fool and told him his soul was required that very night. Tomorrow never came for that farmer.
Paul would write to the church in Corinth, “now is the day of salvation” (II Corinthians 6:2) Do not put off serving the Lord until tomorrow, but begin today, right now, to serve the Lord and live His kind of life, His way.
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
July 12, 2023 - Blount Chapel Missionary Baptist Church cordially invites all area churches to our 9th Annual Pastor and Wife's Anniversary honoring Pastor Byron Coutee, Jr. and First Lady Sis. Larissa Coutee on Sunday, July 16, 2023 at 3pm.
"Preach the word of God; Be ready in season and out of season." 2 Timothy 4:2
Guest speaker is Pastor Derrick White with Bethesda Baptist Church, Lufkin, Texas. Dinner will be served.
Blount Chapel Missionary Baptist Church is located at 298 County Road 3760, Center, Texas.
July 10, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, July 10.
Yesterday, at First Baptist Center, we featured our pipe organ in the worship service. It had been silent for a year. Our beloved organist is no longer physically able to join us. We miss her. And we've missed the organ.
The Old Testament (at least in the King James Version) mentions organs several times. But, at that time in history, the instrument, as we know it today, did not exist. The reference is most probably to a flute. The prototype for the modern organ appeared in the 700's, the pipes fed by human-powered bellows. By the 1700's, the instrument looked, and sounded, pretty much as it does now, and was the single most complex machine of its time.
The largest organ in the world is in, of all places, Atlantic City, New Jersey. It has over 33,000 pipes. The largest is 64 feet long, the smallest barely an inch. This monster hasn't been fully operational since the 1940's. A 16-million-dollar renovation project is currently underway, a reminder that an organ is expensive to build and expensive to maintain.
Our church is blessed to have our pipe organ. I hope you've been blessed to have the opportunity to hear one. It is a unique experience. The sound, literally, gets inside of you. It has the power to inspire. And, in a place of praise, in a cathedral of worship, it has the power to lift our spirits . . . to God.
Psalm 150 - "Praise Him with stringed instruments and organs . . . Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord!"
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
July 06, 2023 - The House of Refuge presents an evening with Lady Pearl Nash on July 9, 2023 at 3pm. Special guest speaker - Senior Pastor Carol Beard of New Birth Reconciliation Ministry Moss Point, MS. Everyone is invited and lunch will be served.
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