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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
October 30, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, October 30.
The weather has turned cold here today! And so, just on the threshold of Halloween and the month of November, we're getting in the holiday spirit! First Baptist Center is busy preparing our holiday event, Journey to Bethlehem, and you can find out more about it on Shelby County Today website.
This morning, however, we focus on a different Bethlehem. It's located just five miles from Jerusalem, but has the feel of an entirely different place. Modern Bethlehem is part of the West Bank, that area where three million Palestinians live, fifty thousand of them Christians.
Bethlehem, today, is surrounded by walls, fences, gates, check-points. It is something of an armed camp, filled with soldiers, filled with danger, filled with despair. In typical years, thousands of pilgrim-tourists journey to Bethlehem during the holidays. But this year, at Christmas, the hotels may very well be empty.
Pray for Israel. Pray for Bethlehem.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
October 27, 2023 - Come join us tomorrow night, October 28, at 6:30pm for our Annual Family Fall Fun at the First Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ in Center Texas. There will be bounces house; volleyball; snow cones; hayride; lots of food, fellowship, and fun; and pumpkin painting. Hope to see you there!
October 26, 2023 - It was in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:9 that Jesus said, “blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” For more than 20 centuries this great word has been knocking at the closed door of the hearts of men and women, largely in vain. We have said yes with our lips. Yet, in our hearts, we have said, “blessed are the sowers of discord.” Blessed are the war makers and blessed are the fomenters of strife. We see it every day in our land and in our world.
We must understand that to make peace is to do far more than merely abolish strife. It is to do more than cause folks to be peaceable. It is quite possible that we may keep the peace without having peace. We may bring about the cessation of strife without in any real sense being peacemakers.
The peacemaker Jesus speaks of does a positive work. This individual puts an end to strife by bringing in the opposite of strife. This person does not pull up the noxious weeds of discord and enmity and hate only by one and leave the garden bare. Rather, this person sows and cultivates such a luxuriant crop of love, joy, peace and long-suffering that the disturbing weeds are all crowded out.
We live in a world that is filled with and characterized by fighting. It affects every level of our society. In this continual strife, God calls His people to be peacemakers. However, to be a peacemaker, it involves first making peace with God through Jesus Christ.
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 23, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, October 23.
Yesterday, we welcomed a guest teacher to our church. He was an expert in the area of Apologetics. That's a term that, perhaps, isn't widely known or well understood. The word comes from the Greek "apologia." That sounds like our word "apology," but has more in common with the legal term, defense.
In Acts 26, when we see the Apostle Paul in court, defending himself before the Roman governor, Felix, and the Jewish king, Agrippa, the word apologia is used. And the Apostle Peter uses it in I Peter 3:15 - "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."
In our world today, an era that some have called "Post Christian," it becomes more and more important that believers be able to give a reasoned and thoughtful argument (another legal term) concerning what we believe.
Titus 1:9 - "We must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that we can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it".
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
October 19, 2023 - Scare Tactics is an annual production by New Life Church now in its 12th year. The production includes live action drama, video scenes, costumes, make-up, lights, sound effects, interaction with the audience, and a short gospel message. Scare Tactics presents an all-new production each year to keep the experience exciting and fresh. So, if you’ve seen Scare Tactics before you haven’t seen this one! This presentation is based on a TV show by the same name, in which participants wish to scare friends or family. In our version they are trying to scare others about the importance of our decisions concerning eternity (Heaven or Hell).
- Sunday, October 29 from 6pm to 8pm
- Monday, October 30 from 7pm to 9pm
- Tuesday, October 31 from 7pm to 9pm
- Wednesday, November 1 from 7pm to 9pm
- Thursday, November 2 7pm to 9pm
October 19, 2023 - The St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church will be celebrating 114 years of praising God on Sunday, November 5, 2023 at 10am. Pastor Freddie D. Wilson is the Pastor. Please come and celebrate this special occasion with Pastor Freddie D. Wilson and the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church family.
The church is located at 617 Hopkins St, Center, TX 75935.
October 19, 2023 - When we have a covered dish luncheon at church, I always eat dessert first. After all, life is uncertain. I usually tell people it is a quality control issue. I want to make sure that the various desserts are good and so I always sample several of them. Often, when Norma is making a cake or cookies for Mason and Hudson, I try to sell her on the fact that I should taste them for quality control purposes. I am always unsuccessful.
There is a passage of scripture in Psalms 34:8 which speaks to this where David says, “O taste and see that the Lord is Good.” David, you see, invites us to taste and make sure the Lord is Good. He invites us to be “quality control inspectors.”
The entire spirit of Christianity is, “The Lord is good.” But how do we know this? Not by hearing what someone has said. Not by believing the words of others. We are to know by making trial ourselves.
Notice, David does not say, “Taste and see IF the Lord is good.” He rather says, “Taste and see THAT the Lord is good.” There is no doubt, there is no question mark. It is a settled fact that the Lord is god. The story of the cross is the ultimate example of God’s love, in that He sent His only Son to die for me to cleanse me from sin.
When we taste and see that the Lord is good, we can then live with the confidence of Paul, when he said, “and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” (Romans 8:28)
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 18, 2023 - Sunday, October 29 is the date for Fifth Sunday Singing in Joaquin area and this month it will be hosted by the Methodist Church. Please come with your talent and a sandwich tray or chips and dip at 6pm. We really want your talent but any snack item will do for the fellowship time to follow our singing. Dress is casual and all are invited.
October 18, 2023 - Pastor Marlin Cloudy Sr., First Lady Felecia Cloudy and the Abundant Love Ministries family would like to invite you to join us in our Annual Pastor's and Wife Appreciation Services, Sunday, October 22, 2023 at 2:30pm.
Bishop Howard Cloudy, Triumph the Church and Kingdom of God in Christ, 3rd District, is our guest minister. Our regular morning services are cancelled. You are welcomed and invited.
Abundant Love Ministries is located at 1426 Shelbyville St., Center TX 75935.
October 17, 2023 - Everyone is invited to First Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ for Fall Family Fun Night on Saturday, October 28, 2023 at 6:30pm.
Come enjoy good food, games, and a hayride. Everyone is welcome.
First Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ is located at 480 FM 2026, Center, Texas.
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