Corinth Missionary Baptist Church

This past Sunday we had a wonderful service. It was great to see everyone at church despite the dreary weather.

Our annual cleaning of the grounds will take place on May 9.

Homecoming will be held on May 17. We will have special singing and dinner on the grounds. Feel free to come out, bring a covered dish and celebrate with us.

My son loves playing dress up. He has numerous costumes and masks. Sometimes he’ll be one specific character, other times he’ll be multiple ones all at once. He always wants me to dress up with him, saying, “Mama, you be Thor and I’ll be Hulk.”

It’s always fun to wear costumes and play. Often times, however, we put on our Sunday costumes and play church. I’m not talking about wearing frilly dresses; I’m talking about those who put on masks and pretend they are perfect on Sundays. They agree with the preacher or other members on taboo topics, condemn those who sin, but come Monday, they do the very things they condemned on Sunday.

There’s no reason to change who you are. We are all flawed, but if you have Jesus in your heart, you are who you are, and that’s perfect in God’s eyes.

When we accept Jesus’ offer of eternal salvation, we immediately become a better person. Our lives should be modeled after the way he lived. If you have to wear a mask on Sundays, then maybe it’s time you took a step back and re-evaluate some things. Take a long look in that mirror. Ask yourself that tried and true quote, “What would Jesus do?” Ask yourself, “How would Jesus act?”

Once you start to live as Jesus taught, you’ll no longer need that mask. After all, not all heroes wear masks. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

Until next time, may God bless you and keep you. We hope to see you soon.

Submitted by K.J. Bowen

Bethany Baptist Church

Service opened with the song “Rescue the Perishing.” We then had a devotion titled “Righteousness by Faith” from Philippians 3:4-9.

In this passage, Paul is using the example of his life before salvation when he put his hope in what he was doing to gain righteousness. He was a Pharisee who followed the law of the Pharisees. He thought he was doing God’s will, but the law of the Pharisees was not God’s will. The law only pointed out the sins of the people.

After being saved, Paul realized that all the things he had done were rubbish. Paul was diligent in what he did in the name of religion. If he could not be made right before God through his works, then on one could. We can only be righteous through faith in Christ Jesus. Nothing we do can save us except repenting of our sins and trusting Jesus Christ as Savior.  After a prayer and Sunday School, we began worship service by singing “Like a Lamb Who Needs a Shepherd,” “I Love to Tell the Story,” “Set My Soul Afire” and “Lead Me to Calvary.”

Bro. Aubry asked for prayer requests and made these announcements:

Vacation Bible School will be held on June 17 (time will be announced later).

The Associational meeting will be held at Bethany at 10 a.m. on April 25.

Bro. Aubry then brought the morning message from John 5:1-16. His sermon was titled “The Third Miracle of Jesus, a Picture of Salvation by Faith.”

Verses 1-5 of this passage recount the story of a man who had not been able to walk since birth. He lay near a pool of water that had healing properties. When the water in the pool moved, the first one in the pool was healed, but this man could not get in the pool by himself.

On the day in which this story takes place, Jesus was in town for a feast (possibly for Passover). This is a picture of a person coming to Christ. Jesus came, knowing the man would be there and he could heal him.

We as lost persons have no help to know Jesus Christ as Savior, except from the preaching of the gospel and the Holy Spirit working in our lives when we are lost.

Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to become whole?” The Holy Spirit asks the lost, “Do you want to be made whole through salvation?” The simplicity of the plan of salvation is so simple that people miss it. We all need cleansing because of our sins (Isaiah 64:6).

In 1 Corinthians 3:4, Paul is telling about his experience of salvation. We need to do the same and tell others.

Jesus will deliver us from our sins, a promise that came when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that Christ will save you if you will put your trust in Jesus.

We who are saved need to spread the truth of Jesus and his salvation to others. People are drowning in sin, and we could help. People will always make excuses for not being saved.

We cannot be saved through our works, and we do not stay saved through our works. God who is all-powerful is able to keep us saved forever.

In verse 14, Jesus went to the temple. We as saved people should want to go to church. Being once saved, always saved doesn’t mean you can do everything you want if it is not something Jesus would want you to do. The unsaved sinner must believe Jesus through faith, that he can and will do what he said he would do (Acts 10:31). 2 Corinthians 5:17, 6:11: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, and is justified by the Spirit of God.”

A lost person doesn’t have to be saved on a Sunday; he or she can be saved any day of the week. If we do not move when the Holy Spirit is dealing with us, the Spirit may leave and not come back to us. Today is the day to be saved.

We closed the morning services with the hymn “Wherever He Leads, I’ll Go.”

In the evening service, we sang “Tell Me the Old, Old Story,” and Bro. Aubry brought the message he titled “Am I a True Disciple of Jesus Christ” from John 12:24-26.

In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” In John 3:36, he says, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

1 John 5:11: “And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” If you do not know that you are saved, then you are not saved. These scriptures show us that if we believe on Jesus Christ, we will have eternal life, and we will know it. If you are saved, you should be a disciple of Jesus Christ; if not, something is missing.

Only we can know if we are a disciple. To know for sure, ask yourself these questions: Have you died to the life of sin (John 12:24), have you been saved and have you been crucified with Jesus (Luke 14:27)?

We must put Jesus first in our lives. We must love the Lord more than family and more than self if we are to be a true disciple. Ask yourself the question, “Am I a true disciple of Jesus Christ?”

We closed with a prayer and the hymn “I Surrender All.”

Our prayer list includes our church, those who have visited with us, the missions, missionaries, Journey in Calera and its pastor and family, Debbie R., Frankie, Jeanette, J.C., Elwyn, Grace, Billie, Jackie, Mary K., Lisa R., Jenny, Colyn, Barbara T. W., R. Allen D., Vikii, Helen, Glenda, Ralph W. and many more including the unsaved.

Submitted by Jane Vines