Calvary Independent Baptist Church

We would like to thank everyone who came to services this past week.

Sunday morning services included a message from 2 Peter 2:1-4 about getting back to the basics. Sometimes when things do not work as they should or as they once did, the best thing to do is get back to what we know works.

Is something missing from the churches in our area? Maybe we need to consider what we have been saved from and compare ourselves with what God has called us to. We need to compromise with the world instead of with the Word, and then we can compete in doing the work that God has set before us.

We definitely do not need to be barren and unfruitful in a land full of opportunity to serve when the harvest is plentiful, yet we see the workers are still few.

If you are saved, we hope you are growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are faithfully serving him in a local church near you.

Sunday night services included a message from Isaiah 42:1-3 titled “Damaged but Not Destroyed.”

We looked at how the world is like a field ripe unto harvest, and it is made up of people who can be likened to the bruised reed and the smoking flax in these verses.

According to Romans 3 and many other places in the Bible, man has been damaged by sin since the time of Adam. We are altogether lost and unprofitable unto God; yet Jesus Christ is the prophesied Messiah who is not ready to break the bruised reed.

Many who have had a fire for God and been that light are now no more than a smoking flax, and they are in need of being ministered to rather than being the ministers—but the Messiah is not willing to quench them either.

God’s amazing grace lets us know that he is not through with us yet. The lost have an opportunity to be saved; the back-slider has an opportunity to come and reason with an awesome and amazing God.

If you are saved and not seeing souls saved and lives changed, let Jesus get your fire going by getting into a Bible-teaching and preaching church. Take the opportunity to make a difference in the world around you in a positive way while there still is time. Make yourself available to be used for the purpose and glory of Jesus Christ.

If you are looking for a church to visit, we would love for you to visit with us this Sunday at Calvary. For services and events, check us out on Facebook, Twitter or visit our website at www.cibc-clanton.com.

Submitted by Oscar Mims

Mountain Springs Church

On Sunday morning, the congregation sang the following hymns: “Victory in Jesus,” “Power in the Blood” and “Heaven’s Jubilee.”

Roger Cleckler brought a devotion from Acts 3:1-6. We should thank God for what he’s blessed us with. Even if we have been blessed with a small gift, we should use it with a thankful heart.

Wayne Barnett then sang “I Know My God is Able.”

Bro. Heath Vines preached from Colossians 3:1. We can have peace when we set our desires on things above. We need to cling to God, not the world. You have to choose which one you will serve: the devil or God.

We need to live outside the church, the same way we do in the church. God sees everything that is going on in your life.

We don’t have to walk in darkness anymore; we can now live in the light. When we are saved, we are dead to the world and we become alive in God. We also need to be dead to ourselves. When we do things that are wrong, that is “self.” We have to get self out of the way. We must be dead to self in order to serve God.

To begin our Sunday night service, the congregation sang the hymns “Jesus is Coming Soon,” “I Want to be Ready to Meet Him” and “Come and Dine.”

Bro. Kenneth Moates brought a devotion from Psalms 9:17. There are many definitions for the word “turn;” one of them is to “pervert, change or turn someone against.” If America keeps going the way it is going, it will surely become a hell within itself.

Bro. Heath Vines preached from Ezra 7:10. Make a commitment to learn God’s Word. The situation you are in now could be because you are committed to God’s Word, or because you’re not committed to God’s Word.

We should study and prepare our hearts. You could have a famine on your spiritual life because of a lack of the Word of God. We need to practice and apply God’s Word to our lives and to our hearts. Don’t be just a hearer of the Word; be a doer of the Word.

Submitted by Savannah Parrish