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Contributing Writers: David Mathis | Tim Perkins
Past Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard
Faith
March 14, 2022 - Good Morning. It’s Monday, March 14.
Today my subject is family. During our lives we may have several families - spouses, children, second marriages, step kids, grand kids, etc. But my focus this morning is on the family we grew up with - mom, dad, brother, sisters.
That first family features a unique connection for most of us. Our siblings know us in a way that no one else does. And brothers and sisters know their parents in a unique way as well.
Change impacts the relationships in our first families, as it does everything. Our interactions may diminish, but our connections remain. After our parents pass away we may not see our brothers and sisters as much as we once did - but they are still a part of us.
And so, today, we celebrate siblings. Those people in the world who remember us from “way back when”, who know some of our secrets, who trust us with some of theirs. The people who fill a place in our lives that only they can fill, pieces of our puzzle, characters in our story.
Today we celebrate siblings. We thank God for them. We pray for them. We remember them.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
March 10, 2022 - Harmonia Baptist Church in Nacogdoches, Texas is hosting its 127th Church Anniversary Service on Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 3pm with guest speaker Pastor Mario Osby, Smith Chapel Baptist Church, Timpson, Texas.
March 10, 2022 - It was one night a few weeks ago, my wife was watching Hallmark Movies and I just wasn’t in the mood for a Hallmark Movie. I was more in the mood for an old World War II Movie. Well, I started searching Amazon Prime and found an old movie I had only seen once before. I had watched it on the “Late Show” with my dad in the mid 1960’s. So I tuned in and watched the movie.
As I watched that movie, as I got lost in the action, I was a young boy once again, I was laying on the couch, my dad was sitting in his recliner, the fire was crackling in the fireplace and I relished the memories brought back. It was almost like daddy was in the room with me again, though he has been gone over a quarter of a century. I also saw the movie in color this time because in the mid 1960’s we only had a black and white television.
Yet, thinking about the memories that movie brought back, also made me think about the Lord’s Supper. The memorial feast we observe each Lord’s Day in memory of our suffering savior. When Jesus gave those emblems to his disciples he told them, “this do in remembrance of me”. Those warm feelings I felt watching that old movie are the kind of feelings we should have every Lord’s Day when we remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us. I hope you are planning to assemble with the saints of God this coming Lord’s Day and that taking the Lord’s Supper will be part of that assembly. The Lord will be there.
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.
March 9, 2022 - Huxley Helping Hands Drive Thru food pantry will be Saturday, March 12 at 9am at Hillcrest Baptist Church. Must provide photo ID and be in line by 9:30am. Only one box per household will be given.
“God will supply your needs…...” Eph. 4:19
March 8, 2022 - An empty stomach and a place to play hooky made Weaver’s Pond “the place” for my brothers and me. With a few hooks and a can of worms we often caught a needed meal for our family of eight children.
At eighteen, I hitch-hiked to Springfield, Missouri to enter The Baptist Bible College. With the help of some kind motorists and roadside apple orchards, I arrived there with my three dollars still in my pocket. Our dishwashing jobs at the Colonial Hotel guaranteed peanut butter and crackers for me and several other lean preachers.
A picture of Weaver’s Pond always flashes thru my mind when I return thanks. Maybe it’s God’s reminding me that while He hasn’t always granted my wants…
He has faithfully supplied my needs.
March 7, 2022 - Grace and peace from our brother Jesus, Amen. We have entered the forty days of Lent. This period of time prepares us for the coming of that last terrible week in the life of Jesus—but also the promise of Easter. Lent is often a time of contemplation and sacrifice.
March has come in “like a lamb,” being pretty warm. But I think Mother Nature has a few cold snaps left to bestow on us. I have started watermelon and cantaloupe seeds, but in my greenhouse. We still need rain: I hope I remember that the next rainy day, and especially during those damp dog walks.
I took a couple of checks and a back seat full of soap and shampoo to Community Christian Services. As always, it is nice to see friends and to observe all the good they do for folks in our area. During the month of March we are collecting cans of chili for CCS.
Uppermost in our hearts this week has been the brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia. It is heartbreaking to see every day the savagery of the invaders and the suffering of ordinary people, whose lives will never be the same again. I hope that the Western democracies and their people will keep up their resolve, continuing to put pressure on Russia, while supporting and supplying the people of Ukraine.
We were delighted to have Carolyn back with us at Sunday School. She has been gone for most of the last 16 months lovingly looking after her sister. Our Sunday School lesson focused on Mark 8: 27-38, when Jesus asks his disciples “Who do people say I am?” He then asks the same question of the disciples. Peter is quick to answer for the twelve, saying Jesus is the Messiah. But when Jesus explains what that entailed, Peter is shocked and unbelieving. We all admit not understanding why Jesus had to suffer as terribly as he did.
Our first hymn, “Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed” speaks of Jesus’ suffering on the cross. “Standing on the Promises,” our second song, reminds us to stand firm and not to give up hope. We had two quotes in the bulletin Sunday: “When you follow your dreams, you encourage other people to follow theirs,” from American actress Nafessa Williams. Also an illustration from the music legend Duke Ellington: “I don’t believe in the generation gap. I believe in regeneration gaps. Each day you regenerate—or else you’re not living.” Ellington said this back in the 70s when people talked plenty about the generation gap.
I used the Old Testament lesson, Deuteronomy 26: 1-11 which is the liturgy for the celebration of first fruits. It is important to remember difficulties in our past past as well as celebrate the goodness that God brings to the people. Lent is also meant to keep alive the hopes, dreams, and promise of living in God’s Kingdom, which we do every day.
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 10am. 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.
March 5, 2022 - On March 5,1946, a strange thing happened. Winston Churchill, the famed British leader, arrived in the small Missouri town of Fulton. He had been invited there by Missouri’s Favorite Son, President Harry Truman. Churchill was to speak at the little Westminster College.
The speech that Churchill gave that day, 76 years ago, introduced a new term to the world. In his legendary voice he proclaimed, "an iron curtain has descended over Eastern Europe." It was the first time that term had been used, and it marked the beginning of The Cold War between the US and the USSR.
Most of you are old enough to remember the falling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the break-up of the Soviet Union. But now, with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, some predict that a new Iron Curtain may be falling.
We pause this morning to remember the people of Ukraine. And to pray for the missionaries, the pastors, the churches, and our brothers and sisters in Christ there.
Meet you back here on Monday,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
March 4, 2022 - The McWilliams-Rather Cemetery Association invite you to attend and participate in our Fundraising and Annual Meeting to be held on Sunday, March 27th at 3:00 pm at Todd Spring Baptist Church in Shelbyville.
March 4, 2022 - Tomorrow our church is having its annual Women's Conference. For over two decades women from all across our region have been coming to First Baptist Center on a Saturday in spring for good fellowship, good food, and good teaching. It's a day to celebrate women and their spiritual journeys.
The Bible was written during a male dominated age and so it's not surprising that most Bible characters are men. But that doesn't mean that the Word of God has no stories about women. From Eve to Esther, from Rahab to Ruth, from Miriam to Mary, the Bible boasts many great women of the faith. One of these is found in the fourth chapter of the book of Judges. Her name was Deborah.
Deborah was one of the judges of Israel. That word "judge" is used in the same way we use it here in Shelby County. Our county judge, who, by the way, is a woman, isn't a court official. She's the leader of our county. And for 60 years, Deborah led the nation of Israel. She was a prophet, a military general, a counselor - she was even a songwriter! And Deborah was an amazing leader. She was a faithful woman of faith.
My youngest sister is named after this amazing woman of the Bible. She's pretty amazing, too. She's a mother, a pastor's wife, a teacher. She loves her family, loves her church, loves her Savior. And just like the Deborah of old, she is a faithful woman of faith.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
March 3, 2022 - I got a phone call this week informing me of the sudden passing of an old friend, someone I had known for more than 60 years. To be truthful, he was more family than friend and though I had not seen him in more than 10 years, I thought of him often. It made me think of a poem by Leigh Hodges, one I first read many years ago.
Closed eyes can’t see the white roses,
Cold hands can’t hold them, you know;
Breath that is stilled cannot gather
The fragrance that sweet from them blows.
Death, with a peace beyond dreaming,
Its children of earth doth endow;
Life is the time we can help them,
So give them the flowers now!
Here are the struggles and striving,
Here are the cares and the tears;
Now is the time to be smoothing
The frowns and the furrows and fears.
What to closed eyes are kind sayings?
What to hushed heart is deep vow?
Naught can avail after parting,
So give them the flowers now!
If you have an old friend you haven’t reached out to in some time, let them hear from you, tell them you love and appreciate them.
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.
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