Calvary Independent Baptist Church

God is good, and it was great to have the freedom and opportunity to be in church this weekend.

Sunday morning services included a message from Psalms 107:1-10 titled, “He Is Good, He Is Guiding, He Is God and He Is Glorified.” It would be very hard for people to realize the goodness of God and not want to worship and serve him. It is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance according to Romans 2:4. When we realize the goodness of God, it causes us to love him more than we love our sin. When we love God, we also love his people, and the process begins where we realize the truth of Hebrews 10:25, and we do not want to forsake the assembling together as the manner of some is. When we do that, we learn how we all fit together in the body of Christ and want to meet in an assembly to worship God and to exhort one another.

Sunday night services included a message from Psalms 46:1-11 and other passages about “Getting to Know God.” We can know God through Christ, through his church, through his creation,and through his communication. God was manifest in the flesh. He was made known unto the world through Christ. The Church today is his ambassador, representing him unto the world. All men everywhere are without excuse because of his creation, and all men can be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth by being born again by that incorruptible seed that is the written word of God. Can people reject the written word in unbelief? Yes. Can people reject the Lord Jesus Christ and go about to worship another god? Yes. But one day it is at the name of Jesus that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord!

We hope you are saved and growing in Christ with a great bunch of folks in the family of God. If you are looking for a church to visit with this Sunday, we would love to see you at Calvary.

Bethany Baptist Church

We met and sang “There Is Power in the Blood,” were led in prayer by Bro. Aubry and went to our classes. We began the worship service singing, “To the Regions Beyond,” “Lead Me Savior,” “Blessed Assurance” and “Lead Me to Some Soul Today,” along with “Sweeter than the Day Before.” Bro. Aubry brought the message in his series “Can God Really Use Me?” Saul was probably the most unlikely person to serve the Lord, but while on the road to Damascus, God reached down in his grace to use him to reach the world. The event of Saul’s conversion is being read today. The Lord changed his name to Paul. Before being saved, he was doing all he could to destroy the Lord’s people. We as Paul, after being saved, must be willing to be used of the Lord. He can use us wherever we are if we will make ourselves available to him.

Like the Apostle Paul, God can use us regardless of our past. Religiously, Saul was envied before being saved. After being saved, we should try our best to serve the Lord. Saul’s life was changed forever after he was saved on the road to Damascus. Regardless of our past, after accepting Jesus as our Savior, we must work for the Lord, not only because it is our duty but we are building rewards in heaven as we serve here on this earth. Our present circumstances are no obstacle to our serving God. Arrogance and pride can keep us from serving, but God can take us and use us. God knows where we are right now. It is all up to us because God can!

Services closed with a prayer and the hymn “I Surrender All.” Evening services began with a hymn, “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken.” Bro. Aubry continued his morning message. There is nothing you cannot do if you allow God to work through you. Your own personal characteristics are no obstacle to God. The Apostle Paul was a man whom the young church of Jerusalem feared. They did not know he had really changed. God had changed the Apostle Paul at the point of his conversion. We do not need to compare ourselves to other people. We need to be ourselves and allow God to lead us. Do not try to be someone we are not. Proof of this great truth is found in the Bible. Moses, Abraham, Noah, Daniel and Esther are some examples. David was the greatest king Israel ever had. Like God used these and many more including Lazarus when he died and went to heaven, had been a witness to the rich man. In Acts 17:6 we see where the apostles were used to set the world on fire for God. They turned the world upside down for God. Jesus is an example. He was born in the city of Nazareth, a wicked place. No one good thing has done what Jesus did to change world. Regardless of who we are, or where we come from, God can and will use us if we will make ourselves available to him.

Paul’s weakness in 2 Corinthians 12:10 gave him greater strength to serve the Lord. God needs us weak to be totally dependent on him. Have faith in God. Hannah only wanted a child, and she prayed constantly for a baby boy until God answered her prayer. No one is inadequate to work for the Lord. Our problems have nothing to the Lord. We must be totally surrendered to the Lord by first being saved. Ask yourself, “Have I truly accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord?” Do I know for sure that you have accepted Jesus in your heart? Be fully surrendered, be fully available to him and be ready to serve. We ended services with a prayer and the hymn “Jesus Is Calling.”

Our prayer list includes: Charlotte Kelley, Bro. Aubry, Shirly, Phyllis, Billie, Jackie, Elwyn, Grace, Debbie, Jeanette, Mr. J.C., Colyn, Sherry, Kayleen, Kemper, Wilma, Journey Baptist and other missions and missionaries, John R., Lisa R., Glenda, Wayne S, Jenny H., Earnestine, and most of all the unsaved and unchurched.