Mt. Jackson Live

I have been truly blessed.  Our Church Family at Mt. Jackson had a wonderful Celebration of Jesus last night.   The children did a fantastic job performing a skit while reading the Christmas Story from Luke.  The Ladies Choir sounded great and you could feel that they meant every word of the song.    Communion blessed my heart as I am sure it did many others.   We then had a wonderful time together in the Gym socializing with our Family and enjoying the Goodies.  

I am looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us in 2008.   Merry Christmas.

Prayer request:  Please pray for safety for our Pastor and his family as they travel on Christmas Eve.  They are going to SC and back in one day.  

We were especially blessed yesterday to have the guys from Teen Challenge with us for the Sunday morning service. Everyone commented about what a blessing it was to hear the testimonies of how God had spared the lives of these young men and delivered them from a life of addiction.

Thanks to all the ladies who had a part in the meal afterward. As always, the food was the best.

What a blessing to have the former assistant pastor John Houghton with us yesterday. He had a great message and did some singing for us too. We even through in a last minute song.
The music was a blessing as well.

And as usual our ladies came through with a wonderful meal. Many who were there for the first time commented on how good the food was. We do have some great cooks.

Julia took a few pictures for us and you can see those here.

Yesterday was awesome. We had a wonderful service from Beginning to end. Kenny started us off with some wonderful hymns. Pastor Harmon did a church favorite with the choir. Pam and Angie helped Kenny with a special and then Kenny did a great special too. Pastor Rice again preached about the adulterous woman and elaborated on what our attitude should be to those like her. Hint… it was the same attitude Jesus had. Then we ended the the service with a special “It’s different Now”. because we realized that it is only by God’s grace that we are not in the circumstance. But then so many of us have that pride thing going on and we don’t even realize it. Something for us all to think about this week.

First, let me say that I walked away from yesterday’s service saying that that was one of our best yet. God truly was with us and made His presence known.
Kenny started us out with 2 great songs about the Blood. Then a special from Brenda (I can’t even Walk) was beautiful.
Pastor Charley’s message about the attitude of our Lord when He encountered the woman caught in adultery. A good reminder to us about our attitudes.
Last night the children had a lesson on how we should give God the credit for the good things we do. When we don’t, pride is the result and that is not a pretty attribute for a Christian.
Please begin to pray early this week for the next Sunday service. If everyone in our church did so, imagine what could happen. Also remember the kids this Saturday as they travel to Carowinds.

That’s what we heard in Sunday’s sermon yesterday. Just a little more about what it will be like when we get there. It’s hard not to get excited when we think about it. The choir sang “Won’t it be Wonderful there?”. Congregations were “Mansion over the Hilltop” and “Sweet By and By”. Angie did a great job on “Jesus take the wheel”. How many of us have been there where we throw our hand up and give it to Jesus. The good thing is, that is what He wants us to do. Summer sang her first solo with Tender Heart”. I believe she meant every word.

We had several visitors again this week. Remember to do your share in inviting those who don’t have a church home or don’t know the Lord.

We had a day of assurance songs and the message yesterday. How to know we have been saved. It is so good to know that we can know. Specials were done by Kenny, Brenda, and Julia with the help of a few others.

Our ladies talked about the importance of studying God’s word. The CC last night learned about being an encourager and how much damage discouragement can do.

The Association meetings went well too. Thanks to all the ladies who help with the food. I am having computer problems but will have the pictures up as soon as possible. Have a great week.

That’s the challenge we heard in yesterday’s message. Are we preoccupied with those who don’t know God? Or are we totally preoccupied with ourselves and what we want? Hopefully we can say that we are mostly concerned about others and reaching others in the community.
We also had some great music from Neva, Kenny and a few others. They did a wonderful job.
In SS the ladies talked about pursuing God’s will day by day.

The new CC series got off to a great start last night too. We met 2 new characters named Aaron and Jaimie who are brother and sister and they are stranded on an island after being shipwrecked. Last night they learned to work together and give each other a second chance.
The kids really seem to be enjoying this program and I am so glad we found it.

I hope everyone gets to take advantage of the day off today and be with family and friends. I pray you all have a wonderful day.

Psalm 37:4  Delight thyself also in the Lord: and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

How many times have we heard this verse and not focus on the meaning.   On Sunday in our ladies SS school class, we talked about this verse and how the desires of our heart  should be deeper than what we think (usually materialistic viewpoints).  We talked about how God will put the desires to serve him when we delight in him.  Not that I don’t delight now, but I often wish that I could have the desire to serve that I once had when I was first saved.  It was an innocent, humbling time.  Although now I am much more mature in my walk with the Lord but it is important to not forget that feeling of newness that excites us and gives of those humbling desires to serve Him.  Let’s tell others about Jesus and work for Him anyway that we can and He will give us the desire to be a servant.

It excites me when God reveals deeper meanings in the scriptures.  You know, the light bulb goes off and WOW what a feeling.