Newsletter
THE EVANGEL
February 2019
From The Pastor,
I love to watch people, and some of my favorite folks to watch is small children. You can learn a lot from those little ones.
The other day I was watching a little girl I would imagine to be about 3 or 4 years old. She was intently working on a puzzle that had about a dozen pieces. As I watched I could not figure out if she was matching the shapes of the pieces, the colors, or the picture itself. She had progressed to the last piece, and I began to swell with pride that this little gal had done such a good job. I was sure she had learned her skills in the nursery and extended session here at church.
As she picked up the last piece, she laid it on the puzzle and it didn't fit. I watched as she tried to force it into place. She tried several times and started to become a bit agitated over her lack of success. Finally I decided to offer her a little help. My suggestion to turn the piece around did not meet with any appreciation. To the contrary the little darling looked at me and announced, " I want it to go this way!" Not willing to deterred, again I offered my advice to just turn the piece around and it would easily fit into place. Her response was a stern, "NO!" Not giving up I offered a final suggestion, "Why don't you try turning the puzzle around." She did not like that idea any better. She pushed the puzzle aside - unfinished. By her expression and actions she was not happy.
I realized that she had learned something else, besides her skill in putting a puzzle together. She had learned that she wanted things her way. That seems to be a lesson kids learn on their own. Our adult response is usually that prayerfully they will grow out of such an attitude.
I wonder, as God watches our lives, if he does not see a lot of the same attitude from us as adults. We should know that God had a plan and a will for our lives. My observation as a pastor is that we are a lot like that little girl. As long as everything fits our life's picture the way we want it to, we are OK. But sometimes God gives us a piece that we want to fit one way and it doesn't work. Instead of adjusting the piece or our life, we try to force God's will to fit or push it aside.
The reason I can make such a dogmatic observation is from biblical examples and personal experience. Perhaps one of the best known examples in the Bible, of someone struggling with the will of God, was Jonah. In the words of one of our youth, going to Nineveh to preach was not on Jonah's 'To Do List'. There has been more than one occasion when God has plainly revealed his will for my life, and I decided it did not fit my plans. That was not a smart plan of action, and proved every time to be a regret. Finally, with the patience and grace that God has shown me, I have grown out of some old attitudes. Don't get me wrong I still have room for improvement, but I have learned that God's will is always best.
The only way for our life's picture to be what God wants it to be it to use the pieces he gives us and to put them in the places where they fit. Paul tells us exactly how to do this. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but by ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:1-2
I can't help but believe that if that sweet little girl had taken my advice she would have been happy with the success of completing her puzzle. I certainly know I would have been. Doesn't it make even more sense that our lives, lived in and by the will of God would bring a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment? To be able to stand before him and hear, "Well done thou good and faithful servant," certainly would be a welcomed epitaph for life.
Bro. Danny
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Miles Pike in Concert
Sunday, February 17th
6:00 p.m.
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FEBRUARY CALENDAR
3 - Deacons' Meeting 7:15 p.m.
9 - Adult Valentine Party 6:00 p.m.
10 - Brotherhood Breakfast 8:30 a.m.
12 - LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY
14 - VALENTINE'S DAY
17 - Miles Pike in Concert 6:00 p.m.
18 - PRESIDENTS' DAY
18 - Association Executive Committee 7:00 p.m.
22 - WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY.
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Adult Valentine Social
Saturday - February 9, 2019
$10.00 per person
Nursery provided for birth - 3 year olds
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Welcome New Members
Derek Taylor
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WHO TO LOVE
February is known as the month of love. It is a month when many people go to special lengths to demonstrate and proclaim their love. The Word of God teaches us the two greatest commandments have to do with love. These commandments instruct us on loving God and our fellow man. I hear people talking about falling in and out of love, but these two commandments indicate that love is very much a choice we make. Read these commandments carefully, let them speak to your heart, and then obey each.
Mark 12:30-31 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
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BIRTHDAYS
1 - Lucy Dickson
Ann Sims
3 - Matthew Chattin
4 - Lori Foster
Kim Whitworth
Amie Atkins
Kristy Crabtree
5 - Lisa Farrow
Kelly Lawler
Jenni Nabors
9 - Alysia Swanson
Katie Adams
10 - Sue Tindall
11 - Stacey Travis
Terry House
Tim Horner
12 - Gene Vess
14 - Amy Jackson
Angie Davis
Logan James
June Bailey
Carol Born
17 - Robert Silvers
Justin Junge
Andy Kinzalow
Sheial Saunders
18 - Kendall Foster
Randall Foster
19 - Donald Powell
Jody Roach
Hayden Adkins
20 - Carol Holloway
21 - Wanda Altman
Cindy Norman
Wanda Horner
Robin Tamewitz
22 - Byron Crump
24 - Ed Runion
Johnny Rae
Helen Majors
25 - Frank Shirley
Sharon Ware
Shirley Perry
Tiffany De La Garza
26 - Marlene Hickey
Cathy Larid
27 - Jason Garrison
29 - Tammy Crumley
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ANNIVERSARIES
2 - Charles & Robin Whitlow
8 - Robby & Lori Coffman
10 - Glenn & Martha Price
12 - Casey & Lacey Brown
14 - Wayman & Ann Sullivan
16 - Melvin & Jean Altman
20 - Clinton & Stacey Travis
21 - Jerry & Linda Elliott
Wade & Lynn Kent
23 - Gary & Debbie Daugherty
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Welcome To New Staff Members
Church Secretary - Laura Hall
Childrens' Director - Jill Lawler
Youth Director - Jeff McGuire
Pray for Laura, Jill, & Jeff in their new roles.
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Just A Thought
"When I have learned to love God better than my earthly dearest,
I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now."
Author Unknown