McMillian and LIFE
For those interested in learning more about McMillian and Life they should Google them. There is a ton of information for you to have fun reviewing. May God bless you.
Water Into Wine — John 2 1-11
I enjoy searching out old books and gleaning truths from them. Some of the books I have found are “THE CARPENTER’S SON” by Julia Wells Wallace and “GREAT LION OF GOD” by Taylor Caldwell. Most recently I found another book entitled “THEN CAME JESUS” which I have given to our Pastor. These have all been books which have been around for some time. Now I turn to a book of more recent vintage. Kelly Minter has written a book titled “WATER INTO WINE.” You recall Jesus’ first miracle, don’t you? When at the wedding at Cana he turned large stone jars brim full of water into wine.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus was sitting around with his disciples when he was told about the wedding. Because it was family, he chose to attend the event. And he told the guys around him, “OK, Let’s go.” Food, drink and good companionship were all to be had. A good time was to be enjoyed. And we find ourselves enjoying the tale that begins to unfold before our eyes.
But look again at that wedding tale. We find such things as the blessings of servanthood, the risks of trust and the struggle of faith. It was absolutely amazing to those who obeyed the Master. They carried water to fill the jars, and then they carried wine from the jars to fill the cups of the wedding guests. Today, more than two thousand years later, on a different continent, in another era, as members of a different culture, we still find ourselves carrying water, and encountering miracles. As in days gone by we also question Jesus, and like those of an earlier age find him faithful to the end.
Among other things, the story of the wedding at Cana teaches us obedience. Mary told the servants to do whatever Jesus wanted. They did so with no back talk. When Jesus told them to fill the jars with water the servants might have thought it to be a waste of time but they did it. They obeyed. Scripture tells us that they filled the jars “to the brim.” We aren’t told what the servants thought when they drew the “water” from the jars. I imagine they were pretty amazed. They had to wonder what had taken place. They knew that they had just filled those jars with water. From these huge jars came the finest wine anyone had ever tasted. So good that people exclaimed how good the wine was. But the point here is the servants had obeyed Jesus. And that’s the important thing.
The question asked of you and me isn’t, “Is this water or wine?” but “Are we filling the jars to the brim?” That’s how much is asked of us. When Jesus asks us to walk with him, like a child, we must place our whole trust in him. We may walk with a limp but if we step out in faith we walk nonetheless. If we leave the end results to God, we will have obeyed and the water will be as wine.
November’s Get-a-Way
TIME TO MAKE RESERVATIONS FOR NOVEMBER WOMEN’S GET AWAY.
Details announced when available
WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE NAME OF JESUS?
You continue to provide:
Non-perishable food items for the food pantry
Transportation for Doctor’s appointments, grocery shopping and other needs are being met
Baskets of Love are still bringing joy to the recipients
Busy hands are crocheting/knitting prayer shawls
Sponsoring a child through the Door of Hope in South Africa
Collecting funds for Operation Smile
Donating through a Diaper Bag Ministry to assist work in Appalachia
Our Youth are sponsoring a child in Africa
During the year we have many opportunities to participate in missions and ministry activities. You are never asked to fulfill all the needs, just let God guide you to the ones that touch your heart. If you are unable to do hands on missions, we encourage you to Become a Prayer Warrior: Pray for one another. Encourage one another in the faith.
ON-GOING MISSIONS AND MINISTRIES:
USED EYEGLASSES FOR LIONS CLUB
CAMPBELL’S PRODUCT LABELS
BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION
COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY
BSU FOOD LION SHARE PROGRAM
BOOK SHARE MINISTRY
Jesus said, “When you have ministered to the least of these, you have ministered unto me.” (Paraphrased)
McMillian and Life
In Concert
7:00 p.m. Saturday, July 11, 2009
How blessed we are to have McMillan and Life returning to Azalea for another concert. Jimmy McMillan has been traveling full time in Southern Gospel Music for the last ten years. He has been on the main stage at the National Quartet Convention; he has taped several Gaither videos and participated in five Jubilees at Sea cruises. However, the local church is his favorite place to minister up close and personal where he can see the Lord working in real time. He is also a prolific song writer and numerous gospel artists have recorded his songs.
Liz McMillan is part of one of the greatest legacies in Southern Gospel. Her Grandfather – Alden Toney – was one of the founding members of the Toney Brothers in 1955. She has recorded with numerous inspirational artists and sang on the main stage at the National Quartet Convention.
Josh Arnett is a songwriter and no stranger to Gospel Music having been a part of several regional groups based out of Indiana. Josh is a native Hoosier and still lives in Ingalls, IN with his wife, Alica, and their four children.
Their primary goal is to share a message of hope, restoration and the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. They want people to know that no matter who they are; what they’ve done; or where they’ve been – Jesus is waiting with love, compassion and forgiveness.
Bring friends – come to the concert and be blessed. A love offering will be received for the group. I ask that you prayerfully consider how much you can give as you remember not only the enormous expenses involved in ministry but also that this is their full time job and how they provide for their families.
Thank you and may God bless you for supporting the Concert Outreach Ministry.
Liz Carter
Concert Coordinator
757-639-8088
FROM THE GEMS
What have those GEMS been up to?
Their hands have been busy wrapping 100 shoe boxes, collecting and delivering diapers to 93 Teen Moms, putting together gift items for 20 of those young girls who were graduating, helping out with a picnic for them all and holding some of their babies of course. For June the ladies took a break and went out for a nice dinner to socialize, laugh, make new friends, celebrate as they praise God for giving them such an opportunity to share the love of God through missions. And guess what, they will be spending the summer working on several more projects, so be on the look out for those wonderful God loving GEMS!
It’s time to fill those shoe boxes for the children in our local community. Please take a box or two and fill them with lots of items for a child. Be sure to pray for the child who will receive that box from you. You can even include a little note to the child. A list of items to fill them with is available. The filled shoe boxes will need to be returned by Sunday July 26th
While you are out there shopping or cleaning out your child’s toy boxes, why not start putting items to the side for the Angel Tree now. You can hold onto the items until fall or drop off into the specially marked Mission’s box. Used items MUST be in clean and in excellent condition. We don’t want to give items that are in need of repair or simply ungiftable.
Don’t forget there is a box located outside the women’s restroom by the Mission box for the collection of:
- Twin size Flat sheets only (any color)
- bags of Stuffing or from old pillows
- Twin size blankets only (any color)
- Any used flannel: ex shirts, sheets
- Children sized sweat pants (the larger the better) up to adult small
- coats, gloves/mittens, hats
- school supplies
The GEMS meet next on July 28 at 7:00 PM.
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SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS
How important is our Sunday School? Surely one measure of how important it is, is given by how deeply Sunday School events imprint themselves on someone’s mind and heart.
Some of my happiest childhood memories are of Sunday School and Vacation Bible School.
I loved hearing and learning the Bible stories. One year our Sunday School goal was to memorize the first chapter of Psalms. Although I can no longer repeat it word-for-word, I do remember several of the verses. Growing up we did not have a car; therefore, we walked to church each Sunday, holding to my dad’s little finger and trying to keep up with his long strides. We never questioned if we were going to church – it was a given and we loved going. We were challenged to read our Sunday School lessons and be ready for a lesson quiz.
I remember one particular week that I wanted so much to impress my teacher, Mary Lisle Tucker, that I read my lesson over a dozen times so that I could memorize it and get my gold star. Yes, wonderful memories of my life in a little country church that is still very active today.
Yes, I can vouch for it – Sunday School is very important, for all ages. And, Azalea teachers are some of the best!
Richard and Dana
DEACON’S BEACON
Meditation from the Swimming Pool
It’s summer, one of a teacher’s favorite times of the year. We used to have a swimming pool which I enjoyed quite a bit. You wouldn’t expect to see God’s hand very much in a swimming pool but sometimes you do.
When we first bought our house, it had been empty for awhile and the pool decidedly neglected except by hundreds of frogs. Knowing that we wanted to use the pool, we began to clean it out. The frogs had no idea of the coming catastrophe. We took pool nets and captured as many frogs as we could that had been happily living on the pool cover. We put them in empty five-gallon paint buckets and hauled them to the stream down the next block where we exiled them, hopefully to safe and comfortable homes. Then we took the cover off. A few frogs spilled into the pool, so out came the nets and again we caught as many as we could. These also went into exile down the stream. Finally, only six frogs remained in the pool and it was time to pour in the chemicals which would change the pool from a slimy green habitat to a lovely blue pool. This would also kill the frogs. We were concerned for the frogs and wished that we could change ourselves into frogs for just a few minutes. Then we could hop into the pool, let the frogs know that we did not want to hurt them but that life as they knew it was about to end.
It was at that moment that we realized that was very much what Jesus had done. He had become one of us for a while, coming to live with us to tell us about God’s love for us in words and actions that we would understand. He wanted to let us know how God wished for us to live and give us the opportunity to accept God’s love and grace.
Well, we could not become frogs and we could not forgo the chemicals. So we added the chemicals and stood by with nets. Within a few seconds of adding the chemicals, frogs began floating to the top of the pool. With our nets we caught three and washed them quickly under running water. They survived and joined their friends in the stream. Three other frogs however, kept swimming away from the nets into deeper water until they died. Just as some people choose to reject Jesus, heading deeper and deeper into sin, unwilling to accept the help of a loving Savior.
This event has stayed with me, a reminder of what we needed and what Jesus was willing to do for us. Submitted by Julia Harrod, Deacon
YOUTH – FUGE 2009
The Azalea Youth Group will be leaving for Centrifuge early in the morning of July 13th and returning late in the evening of July 18th.
We will be traveling to Carson Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee.
We are very grateful for the support of Azalea in the growth of this ministry and ask for your continued prayers before, during, and after our mission trip.
We hope that you will be able to be in attendance on Sunday, July 26th at the 11:00 am service as the Youth will lead and share their experiences and testimonies with the congregation.
If you would like to correspond with anyone going to Fuge we ask that you mail your letters or cards no later than July 10th so that they will be received while we are there. Below is a list of those going to Fuge and the address:
Carson Newman College
ATTENTION: CENTRIFUGE
1646 Russell Avenue
Jefferson City, TN 37760
Azalea Baptist / (Camper’s Name)
Raven Brady Aaron Dillon
Lauren Dillon Travis Emerson
Katelynn Fehnel Lauren Gardner
Jacob George Nathan George
Malena Gibson Shelby Groleau
Wes Hallman Madisen Jewell
Steven Lemay Blake McMahon
Ashley Rendon Monica Rendon
Taylor Sausser Rebecca Soliday
Latrissia Torres Marissa Torres
David Turnbull
Youth Leaders:
Brian Barnes Tammy Jewell
Archie Parks Melinda Saunder
From the Pastor’s Heart
“If your gospel isn’t touching others, it hasn’t touched you.”
The following is a true account:
What I saw years ago still breaks my heart. I was preaching for a small church. The volunteer receptionist told me bluntly, “Young man, you’d better do a good job preaching, because we have a visitor coming to church.” Evidently that was unusual. She explained how a lady had just called and asked for directions to the church. “Our church has been declining for several years,” the receptionist said sadly, “and we need members to help pay the bills.”
Before the service started, I stood outside with a church elder greeting people. That’s when I saw the visitor. The reason I knew this lady wasn’t a member of the church was…well, because she didn’t look like anyone else there. All the members were dressed in nice suits and pretty dresses. This young lady looked like she’d slept in what she was wearing. It wasn’t that she didn’t care for herself; it was just obvious that she’d had a tough life. As she slowly approached the church, her eyes and body language communicated that she was nervous and intimidated. I admired her courage to visit a new church all by herself. What had triggered her to come? Had she been abused? Was she at the end of her rope and in desperate need of Christ and his people?
The elder stepped in front of the young lady and blocked her path into the sanctuary. “Miss,” the man said in an intimidating tone, “at our church, we wear our best for God.”
My jaw dropped in shock. No! You didn’t just say that to her. Unfortunately, he had. This young woman’s eyes filled with tears as she dashed to her car to make her getaway.
Heartbreaking. I’d argue that people today aren’t rejecting Christ so much as they’re rejecting the church. Once, I asked a guy why he didn’t go to church. He responded without hesitation, “Because I’ve already been.”
…Churches that appear to be unfriendly to outsiders can be full of the friendliest people in the world. If you’re an insider….Jesus came for outsiders. He came for those who were lost. Broken. Hurting. Disenfranchised. Alone. Overlooked. Poor. Jesus came for those who religion rejected. Many churches unwittingly focus inward and forget those who are the very purpose for Jesus’ coming, the very purpose for our being here on earth. These churches are like a hospital which no longer accepts patients. Or a soup kitchen which no longer feeds hungry people…
Across the board, almost every with-it church I’ve observed is virtually obsessed with reaching those who don’t know Christ. A passion to share Christ consumes them in a beautiful way. Without-it ministries can be filled with very sincere Bible believing Christians; unfortunately, they’re simply more concerned about themselves than the lost.
(Adapted with permission from the book “It: How churches and leaders can get it and keep it” by Craig Croeschel. If you like to read during the summer, this is a fun, inspiring read. You’ll be blessed!)
See you at “the Sunday morning place to be”…touching others for Christ’s sake!
Pastor John