Mount Carmel No. 1

Christmas time, we read and re-read The Christmas Story, Jesus our Immanuel, eternal father, prince of peace, thank you Lord that you are with us regardless of the circumstances of life every day of the year, not just Christmas time.

Bro. Derrell gathered the little children around this Sunday morning to teach the story of the “Candy Cane.” The shape of the cane turned one way looks like a “j” that stands for Jesus; turned another way it looks like the shepherd’s staff. The candy cane can be eaten and it can be used to help decorate the Christmas tree. Bro. Derrell explained what the colors of red and white stands for regarding our salvation.

“Waiting on Christmas” Luke 2:25-38, was our message for this Sunday morning. Two people who had waited all their lives for this special day, Simeon and Anna a prophetess. Simeon waited for the day Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple to be dedicated. Simeon took the Christ child in his arms and blessed him and said, “Lord, now lettest though thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word.”

Mary and Joseph marveled at those things which were spoken of him. Anna was great in age, she was a widow which departed not from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers night and day. When she saw the Christ child she instantly gave thanks unto the Lord. Anna asked and saw her forgiveness in the face of the Christ child, forgiveness for the sins of the world. Only Jesus can provide your needs this Christmas season, take time to think about what Jesus has done for you and your family. Slow down and reflect on the fact that “Jesus is the reason for the season.”

Sunday night we saw the play, “The Charlie Brown Christmas Story.” The children of our church presented a great little play for our congregation and did a very good job. After the program, “ole Santa” came through the doors and saw all of the little children. We enjoyed a fellowship hour and refreshments after the program.

The family of Mt. Carmel No. 1 would like to extend our heart felt sympathy to the Campbell, Childress and Littleton families in the loss of their loved ones. May God bless and strengthen your families. It is so good to have Bro. Winston Liveoak back home. Please remember them in your prayers.

Remember the change of date for Christmas caroling for the WMU and children will be Dec. 29. Meet at the church at 1 p.m.

We give this address a very good friend of our church family you may send a card: Mary Sue Poore, Remarkable Health Care, 6649 No. Riverside Drive, FT. Worth, Texas 76137.

May God bless you and your families this Christmas and we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Mars Hill Baptist Church News

We welcome our visitors today, we are thankful you chose Mars Hill to worship our Lord and Savior and hope you will come visit again or make us a permanent place of worship!

Our pastor, Bro. William Short, will bless your heart with a message straight from the word of God. Our sermon today was taken from 2 Timothy 3:1-5, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people, stay away.”

These are strong words to describe our society today, but they are also true words.

Look around you, this world is exactly as described in 2 Timothy.

God never changes and his word is always the same. And to think, most people are worried about going over the fiscal cliff! We should be concerned about going over the spiritual cliff. These are indeed perilous times, every day there is a new tragedy, there is evil in this world and its growing stronger. You and I can do nothing about the fiscal cliff that is for those in Washington to decide. So don’t worry about things you have no control over, just let go and let God handle what we cannot. But, there is something we can do about the spiritual cliff, we can get on our knees and pray to Almighty God, ask forgiveness for our sins and turn back to God.

Our backs have been turned from God because we have allowed the sin of disobedience to take control of our life. We go to God with our problems only when all else has failed, when we should go to God first. Concern yourself with the things of God, not the things of the world. Only then will we see a change for the better in our society. Believe God, trust him, put your hope in him for he is the only one who will never leave you nor forsake you.

There is another cliff we are facing that is vitally important to a spiritual walk with God and that is the prayer cliff. How long and how often do you pray?

Jesus prayed drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane. He was praying for you and me and for our sins. Do we even pray for those on our church prayer list?

God forbid that we allow prayer to fade from our daily lives. We need to humble ourselves before God, ask for his direction to give purpose to our lives.

It tears the heart of God for his people to have unforgiveness in our life. Please don’t fall off the spiritual cliff, only you can make that decision, no one else can make it for you.

When we ask God for forgiveness, he delivers every time. But, we have to take the first step. There are many cliffs in life but none is as important as making the step toward God and his son, Jesus. If your feet are slipping toward the edge of the cliff, fall on your knees, seek the face of God and ask him to bring you to the safety of his loving arms today.

Please pray for our schools, the children, teachers and administrators as they return to the classrooms that God would send his angles to provide a hedge of protection around our precious ones to keep them safe.

Continue to pray for our church, the sick, the lost, the hurting, our troops, our government and our country. God is great, all the time! Amen.