The
Progress
Church
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Page 9A
Spring revival meeting set Seeing awesome Sunday sites April 24-26 at FBC in TR Contributed information
First Baptist Church, Three Rivers, will host spring revival meeting services April 24-26. On Sunday morning, Bible study for all ages begins at 9:45 a.m., followed by revival meeting services at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. The evening worship services on Monday and Tuesday are scheduled for 7 p.m. Supper will be served in the fellowship hall at 6 o’clock. The noon meal on Sunday will also be served in there and will feature special western style dining. The revival worship team is made up of Victor Haney, who will be the preacher for each of the services. Haney grew up in Corpus Christi, where he attended high school and college. He graduated from Texas A&MCorpus Christi with a bachelor of arts degree and from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a master of divinity degree. He is licensed and ordained to the gospel ministry and has pastored
churches in the Fort Worth, Three Rivers, Corpus Christi, Austin and San Antonio areas, where he served on staff in Universal City as minister of missions. He now serves as an associate pastor of the First Baptist Church in San Antonio. He and his wife, Dawn, have two daughters, two grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. The music for the spring revival meeting will be under the direction of Terry Wilkins. He and his wife, Virginia, serve as house parents with the South Texas Baptist Children’s Home in Beeville. They also are leaders of the choral and music education ministries of the Children’s Home. Wilkins received a bachelor of arts in music from the University of North Texas in 1971. He was ordained by the First Baptist Church in Ingram and today he has more than 40 years of ministry experience. The public is invited to attend all of these gatherings for worship, fellowship and homestyle meals.
Listening to Jesus will lead on right path “And He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the righthand side of the boat and you will find a catch.’ So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.” (John 21:6) When Jesus called the Apostles to follow him, we hear from the Gospel, that they left everything and followed him. Definitely the charisma of Jesus attracted them and they saw definite authority in his voice. They did not think twice before following Jesus. However, with the death of Jesus, things changed. Life did not look as reassuring as before. In fact, things looked quite confusing and they sensed threat. The crucifixion of Jesus really rattled the Apostles. They not only felt leaderless but indeed feared for their lives. It looked as though all their calculations about Jesus went haywire. They had great hopes and expectations of Jesus. They thought that Jesus was the Messiah who would redeem Israel from Roman bondage. Jesus was killed brutally and they lost all hope. Even the experience of Risen Christ could not reassure them fully. It is in this state of mind that they decided to go
St. George Catholic Church Fr. George Johnson
back to their familiar work, fishing. They thought that they were at least assured of a living, because that is what they were used to, prior to encountering Jesus. They go fishing. They fish the whole night but catch nothing. This might look strange, but the Gospel writer has a point. He wants to convey the message that the apostles were wrong in their calculations. We see that very well demonstrated in the words of Jesus and the subsequent unfolding of events. Jesus asks them succinctly, if they had caught any fish. And they have to admit that they had caught none. As though, telling them, their calculations have gone wrong, Jesus asks them to cast the net on the right side of the boat. They do. And they have such a great catch, that they are not able to haul the net ashore with ease. Yes, their calculations were wrong, and they had to take a detour. They had to listen to Jesus, and this paying attention to
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His words changes things for the better. We could be in the shoes of the Apostles many a time. We make our calculations based on our understanding and expectations of things. That is where we have to realize that, listening to Jesus and knowing him deeply will have a positive impact on our lives. We need to set aside our ways and allow ourselves to be guided by Jesus. Faith in Jesus is all about surrendering ourselves to His will. It is about choosing to do the right thing and if we pay heed to the voice of Jesus we will end up doing the right thing all the time. This is challenging, but surely rewarding.
This last week I was thinking back on some of the awe-inspiring views from Sundays’ past and thinking reliving those blessed moments. I started with the view I often experienced when I first started preaching on a regular basis. I was 17 years old and preaching 57 miles from our home in Springfield, Missouri. The fastest and easiest route took me west from Springfield on a relatively straight and flat road to a point where I would turn south and that road too started flat and straight but quickly began its twists and turns and dives and rises noted in the Ozark Mountains. I would often drive down out of the clouds only minutes later to appear above Three them again and seeing the tops of other mountains Rivers and the sun rising to my Church left. I truly felt that I had of one of the most religious experiences I could possiChrist bly have for the day. By Kevin I would arrive at the Mackey rural country church where the attendance was normally around 80, with many visitors but rising to a capacity crowd of more than 120 when a bus of kids passing through dropped in, and as low as a total of 13, with no visitors and the locals mostly gone for the weekend too. I would stay the day and preach again that night before driving the 59 miles back home on the same narrow winding and rising roads in the dark. That experience would always remind me of the fragile nature of life, especially as I encountered fishermen pulling their bass boats crossing into my lane on some of those curves. I gave thanks then when I reached the straight way. More awe-inspiring Sunday mornings were ones that I spent going to worship in Hawaii. First, I attended the Honolulu Church of Christ and would take a bus to one stop and then had the choice of waiting for another bus or hike the road up the side of the mountain where the church building was. My day would start aboard ship in Pearl Harbor. I would live for a couple of years of Sundays with the morning experience of Dec. 7, 1941, only without the Japanese attack. Then to hike up Keeaumoku Street with the tropical green foliage and flowers of
Church Shorts FBC city revival
First Baptist Church, George West, will host “Seek God for the City Revival” starting tomorrow, Thursday, April 14, through Sunday, April 17. Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be held at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 10:50 a.m. followed by a potluck luncheon after the morning worship service.
the gym on Saturday, April 23, from 8 to 10:30 a.m. for anyone needing assistance. A current ID and utility bill will be required. Participants are asked to bring a bag to carry their groceries in. For information about the food bank, contact the local churches in the TR Pastors Fellowship, Jeanelle Darling, Good Hope Baptist Church, 361-7864673 or Linda Culpepper at River of Life, 361-563-8169.
361-449-1350
and a covered dish supper will be held Thursday, April 28, at 6:30 p.m. All ladies are welcomed to come by Haven of Rest Community Mission, located at 309 Dibrell in Three Rivers, for a time of fellowship. For information contact Tammy Martinez, 361-362-4000 or Lucy Darling, 361-449-7720.
Women’s Bible study
Whitsett Baptist Church is hosting a weekly women’s Bible study Food will be distributed at First Ladies’ social at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays. For inforA time for prayer and renewal mation, call 830-570-5514. Baptist Church in Three Rivers at
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the mountain in the background inspire those moments of disbelief that I was actually there. Over time, I discovered the Pearl Harbor congregation was just around the corner from the Pearl Harbor Naval Base and a 15-minute walk from my ship and finding they could use my talents just as well as the Honolulu congregation I started attending there and working with that congregation. It was a little different walk but the inspiring views soon became an every other Sunday thing. The congregation had a half ownership in a Cessna aircraft and used it to fly someone to one of the other islands every other Sunday to preach. There is something awesome about flying over any of the Hawaiian Islands, each holding its own beauty. I preached on “the big island,” Maui and Kauai, but would fly over Molokai on our way to Maui. It was on Molokai that the water fall filmed for the “Fantasy Island” TV show was filmed and we flew by it when we crossed the island. Not only the views from the air was awe-inspiring but even the locations of the building were, with Kauai being in a mountain rainforest setting, and the Maui building with a large picture window behind the pulpit looking off the ocean cliff with ships, planes, and at times, whales to distract the audience from the sermon. Getting to the Three Rivers Church of Christ services doesn’t compare to the view of those two locations but it does compare in another awe-inspiring way. The love of the brethren. We start out Sunday by picking up two elderly riders, one who does not let the fact that she is in the nursing home stand in her way of coming, and not just Sunday mornings, but Sunday nights and on Wednesdays, too. Next there is the beautiful sight to the drive when we arrive to see the family of God arriving for worship services. The love and joy of being a part of God’s family in this place is obvious among our members. And one site is inspiring – the welcome for each of our visitors. If you would like to experience the welcome yourself, come join us in class and worship this week.
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MON - SAT 6am - 9pm SUNDAY 7am-2pm
361-447-2956 100 S. Nueces St. George West, TX