Mt. Carmel No. 1 Baptist Church

Our morning service began by recognizing all members of the congregation who serve or have served in any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. We owe them and all other veterans our sincere thanks for the sacrifices they made to help us have the freedoms we enjoy today, including the freedom to worship as we choose.

Bro. Terry Smith used scripture from Psalms 150 to bring us a message titled “Worship.” He asked a couple of questions that really should make us think about what we call worship: What is worship, and are you truly worshipping?

Our God is alive, and our actions should reflect this. Worship is to be done with our whole being. Deadness is not worship. There are ways that we can outwardly worship God. We show our acceptance of Christ through baptism and partaking of communion.

A sign of honor and submission to God is our willingness to bow down before him as Paul states in Ephesians 3:14. Clapping of hands is another outward form of worship. In Psalms 47:1, David instructed the people to clap their hands, and in Psalms 134:2, David tells the people to lift up their hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord. This is also a sign of our surrendering to God. These actions are loved by those that are truly worshipping the one and only living God. To those who are lost and those Christians who are away from God, these actions don’t mean the same.

On Sunday evening, we enjoyed a time of food, fun and fellowship. Thanks to Wallace and Trudy Bates, along with their son, for providing us with an abundance of barbequed ribs and chicken. The ladies prepared a variety of side dishes and desserts, and we had a great time of visiting with our Christian brothers and sisters.

Upcoming events:

A VBS kick-off event will take place on June 26 at 2 p.m.

VBS will be held June 28-July 2 from 6 until 8:30 p.m. each night. There will be classes for all ages, even adults. Please make your plans to join us.

The youth of the church are planning a trip to Atlanta, and adults are needed for that trip. If you would like to be a part of this trip, please contact Geoffrey Lockhart.

At the time of this writing, Mrs. Gladys Franklin is at Shelby Baptist Medical Center. We ask that you pray especially for her as well as all the others on our prayer list. Elladene Mims, Kay Franklin, Jacob Jones, Jenny Hayes, Tammy Harmon, Donald Liveoak, Faye Franklin, the graduates and Leona Liveoak are some of those who have special needs.

If you don’t have a church home, you are always welcome to join us for worship at Mt. Carmel No. 1.

Submitted by Louise Liveoak

Samaria Baptist Church

We salute the veterans of our land and thank all who served both past and present. As part of our pre-Memorial Day service, Darrell Willis sang “God Bless the USA.” We always enjoy Darrell’s beautiful voice.  Jerry Greer read the poem, “The Ragged Ole Flag,” which blessed us immensely.

Our prayer concerns are for Betty McCary, Walter and Drusilla Hudgins, the Kelley family, Ray and Phyllis Hardee, Ms. Silas, Bobby Patterson, Kathy Farris, Ms. Nita Smith, Hanna Bolton and her mission group, Andrew Cox’s family, and the family of Ms. Dorothy Moore.

Our pastor Shane Wyatt used Proverbs 3:1-21 as the text for his sermon.

There is nothing new about the lessons we heard on Sunday; however, when we fail to heed and apply those lessons to our own personal lives, we must reevaluate our spiritual health. Taking inventory on our service to our Savior is needed quite often.

If we are to say ‘Yes’ to God’s will in our lives, we must be ready to cast Satan aside. We must love God and seek to live in the center of his will; we must say ‘Yes’ to God’s way. To acknowledge him as Lord is to be ready to say ‘No’ to the world.

The world doesn’t want us to stay close to God. If we stay faithful and devoted to the ways of Christ, Satan has to work even harder to overthrow us on the journey of life.

We must be ready to say ‘Yes’ to God’s work. Serving him is vainglory if we do it for our own pride or with whining and complaining. It’s not up to us to say, “Why can’t someone else do this job?” God wants to bless our work for him, and he will direct us if we are submissive to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We must say ‘Yes’ to God’s Word. We are commanded to study to show ourselves approved. We will be guided to understanding if we seek the face of Jesus as we study the Book of Life. Everything we need to know about life and how to live is contained within the pages of God’s amazing word.

Join us at Samaria for a wonderful time with Jesus. God bless you.

Submitted by Diane Fisher