Cedar Grove Church

Jesus is alive and well!

Announcements: There will be an Easter drama on April 20 in the morning service.

Prayer concerns: Bobbie and Earl Giles, Sandra Carroll, Dale Carroll, Norma Bean, Dolly Price, Douglas Scott, Wanda Bullard, Alton Russell, Stony Barbee, Janet Wyatt, Mary McGuire, Nanett Fricke, those in hospitals and nursing homes, spoken and unspoken requests.

Pastor Bro. Jeff Carroll’s text comes from 1 Corinthians 5:1-8. His sermon title was” The Lamb and the Leaven.”

We see Paul tells us here that playing church and claiming to serve God while leading an immoral lifestyle is not and should not be tolerated. There has to be action taken against this person or persons if they do not heed the warning of discipline and refuse to acknowledge Christ. The word commands with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ deliver such a one (turn out of the church) to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Do you not know that if you tolerate this sin in the body of Christ, it will destroy the body of Christ (the church) for which Christ our Passover was sacrificed? The first Passover was when the Israelites were captive in Egypt. God was going to send the hand of death on all of Egypt to kill the firstborn of Egypt so Pharaoh would let God’s people go. In order for this not to include the Jews, each household had to kill a lamb or goat without blemish and apply the blood above the door. When the hand of death came and saw that the blood of the lamb had been applied, he would spare that household. This was a representation of Christ on Calvary so that we could claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Unleavened bread marks purity, not corruption like leavened bread that has to sit, become sour and ferment. Sin corrupts the heart and causes us to become wicked in the eyes of God. The sin in our lives contaminates the body of Christ. In communion, unleavened bread is the body of Christ, and wine is the blood of Christ.

God has called us to be holy. What is the lump in your life today? Jesus died on the cross to deliver us from our sins. Today there are a lot of people who want to play church. If a person says he or she cannot get out of certain sin, but that is not true. With Jesus all things are possible. What do you tolerate in your life today? The sacrifice has been made; the blood has been shed. How has the Lamb and the leaven affected you and your life? The more you walk away from sin, the closer to God you can be. You can be more like Jesus, the One who died for you so that when the hand of death comes over you, if it sees the blood of the Lamb applied, it will pass you by and you will have eternal life through Jesus Christ our Savior. Has the blood been applied on you?

Love to all and have a blessed week! Come join us at Cedar Grove.

Mars Hill Baptist Church

It was a beautiful Sunday to be in the house of the Lord. It’s time to celebrate Jesus—not just on Sunday, but every day of the week! Going to church is a decision you make, like what clothes to wear, where to eat lunch, etc. If you put Christ first in your life every day, then the decision to attend church on Sunday is an easy one; just get up, get dressed and go. Come and see what God has in store for you!

Our guest speaker was Bro. Tyson McClean. His message was taken from Joshua 24:15 “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!

You have to serve God on purpose. It is the single most important decision that you will make in this life and the one to come. It is up to you and you alone to ask Jesus into your heart and life. Do you study God’s Word and make it a part of your everyday life? Only you can decide who or what is in charge of your life. Is it God, or someone else? Trust God. Have faith in him and let him control your life and your decisions.

As a Christian, discipline is an important part of our walk with Christ. Do you have enough discipline to do the right thing? We may not always see immediate results for doing good, but patience is discipline. Have patience and have faith in God. There will be a payday someday down the road. Heaven is our reward for following Jesus, for doing his work and relying on his word.

Work cannot save our souls but you can’t have a payday without working for it, and you can’t work for something if you have no idea who you are working for. Does that make sense? Once we are saved by the grace of God, we then want to work for Christ. We don’t go to heaven based on how good we are or what we do, but solely upon the knowledge that we have asked Jesus into our hearts.

God is our creator. In Genesis 1:26, we are told that God created man in his image. We are created in the likeness of our Father, God and his Son Jesus Christ. Choose this day whom you will serve.

Don’t work for recognition or reward on earth. Store up your treasures in heaven. When we become so concerned about receiving credit for what we do for Christ, then we have lost the real reason to work, we have become like the Pharisees in Jesus’ time. They often prayed on street corners, in loud voices, making sure that everyone knew who they were and what they were about. Do your work in secret, and God will reward you in ways far better than you can ever imagine.

This world is full of leaders and followers. A leader affects others for the benefit of their lives in a positive way. A manipulator affects people for the benefit of themselves. A follower goes whichever way the wind blows. You can be a leader even if you think of yourself as a “pew sitter.” Other people look at your life and see things in you that they admire and wish to emulate. Be careful what you say, where you go and what you do. Be sure that others are looking, listening and following. Follow Christ, and others will follow him too.

Upcoming events:

April 19: Easter festivities for children at 11:30 a.m. Lunch will be provided.

April 20: Easter sunrise service at 6 a.m., breakfast at 7 a.m., Sunday school at 8 a.m. and worship at 9. There will be no evening services.

April 24: Relay for life survivors breakfast at 7 a.m. at Clanton First Baptist Church.

April 26: Relay for Life starts at noon at the Clanton Dixie Youth Football field.

April 29: Senior Celebration at Union Grove Baptist Church at 10 a.m. until noon.

Please pray for our church, our pastor, the sick, the lost, the hurting, our children, our schools, our troops, our country and our government.

God is good, all the time! Amen.