Mars Hill Baptist Church

All of us at Mars Hill pray you and your family had a blessed Easter. We had over 100 people in attendance for our Sonrise service; Praise the Lord, and thank you to everyone who made the effort to put Jesus first in your life.

Bro. William Short took our first message of the day from Mark 16:1-8: So many words are spoken about our Lord, but these three words are most precious: He is risen. He is not in a tomb; we do not worship a dead entity, but a living Lord, who is sitting at the right hand of the Father this very day, interceding for you and me. People wonder why we have a sunrise service on Easter Sunday. It is not because we love getting up at 5 a.m.! Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, rose early that first Easter morning to anoint the body of Jesus. They put him first, before their own comfort. It did not matter that it was still dark, whether it was hot or cold, or even raining; they thought only of Jesus. This is why a sunrise service is important to us: to put Jesus first, before anything else.

The women, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, didn’t know how they were going to move the stone from the door of the tomb. It had been sealed with a very large, heavy stone, but they were determined to anoint the body of the Lord. When they got there, the stone had already been moved. How many times have we faced hardship, disappointment and trials, only to discover that Jesus was already there, making a way where there seemed to be no way? If it’s in your heart to do something for Jesus, he will make a way for you to do it. Jesus will remove all obstacles from your life; you need only to pray. No, Jesus is not in a borrowed tomb; he is in heaven. He paved the way for us with his tears, his blood and his very life. Yes, he is risen for evermore! If there is something you are looking for, you will find it in the living Jesus. Let him speak to your heart. He is Lord, and he rose on the third day just as he said he would.

Yes, the two Mary’s went looking for the body of Jesus, but they found so much more: They discovered that Jesus was more alive than ever before! Praise his name!

Before the next message of the morning was presented, we celebrated with a baptism service. Another precious soul is on the way to heaven. We thank you, Lord, for this man and his family, and what they mean to our church. We pray that you continue to add to your church daily. God is great, all the time.

Please continue to pray for our church, our pastor and his family, the sick, the lost, the hurting, our country, our troops, our government and our schools.

Please come and visit us at Mars Hill. We preach about Jesus, crucified and raised from the dead. Amen.

Cedar Grove Church

We had a packed house today. Showers of blessings were had by all following our Easter drama, “Watch the Lamb,” combined with “Arise My Love,” depicting

the crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

A lot of people choose not to believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, and that he paid the ultimate sacrifice on the cross at Calvary, taking on the sins of the world to give us a chance at everlasting life with him in heaven. We are not asking, telling, or trying to force you to believe, but it does not change the fact that, as children of God, we are compelled to warn you that if you do not repent of your sins, ask forgiveness for those sins, become cleansed by the blood of Jesus, accept him into your heart as your Lord and Savior, and have a close relationship with God, the Father, you will die and go to a devil›s hell.

Our pastor, Bro. Jeff, our assistant pastor, Heath Vines, and our youth pastor, Clay Collins shared communion with us. It was such a reverent, honorable service. Praise the Lord for his mercy and his grace.

I am happy to announce there were several decisions made this week. The Holy Spirit was on the move again at Cedar Grove. What an awesome God we serve. Jesus Christ, the Lord of lords and King of kings, is worthy of all our praise.

If you do not have a home church, we would be honored and thankful to have you come and worship with us at Cedar Grove, located in Thorsby. Sunday school is at 9:45 a.m., worship at 10:45 a.m., and evening service at 5:30 p.m.

Announcements: Homecoming will be on August 18, the third Sunday of the month, instead of the fourth. Our guest will be Randy Perry, with revival Aug. 19-21.

Prayer concerns: Roger Cleckler, spoken and unspoken requests. Bro. Jeff›s surgery was postponed until Tuesday.

God Bless and have a great week!