B4 THE JOURNAL, Thursday, July 8, 2021
Eden Chapel United Methodist
By Barbara Wells
Eden Chapel UMC welcomes all to join us each Sunday
morning for our services at 9211 S Fairgrounds Road.
Sunday School classes start at 9:30 am, followed by
fellowship time at 10:30 am. Worship Service starts
at 11 am;
On July 4, Jenny Cundiff delivered a timely, mean-
ingful, message entitled, “Independence Day—A Cele-
bration of our Christian Heritage.” Her scripture focus
was 2 Chronicles 7:14. She did a lot of research and
provided excellent handouts to accompany her sermon.
The scripture, combined with Jenny’s message, reminded
us of the importance of praying for our country. A quote
from one of her handouts, sums the gist of her sermon.
“The foundations of our society and our government
rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would
be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings
would cease to be practically universal in our country.”
Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States
from 1923-1929. ,
7 Eden Chapel’s “Drive to Thrive” ministry team was
absent from church on July 4 because they were minis-
tering to Red Bud Assisted Living residents by cooking
for them. In addition Jenny Cundiff shared her sermon
at Red Bud after lunch! Preaching twice in one day
was almost like having a two-point charge! Way to
go, Jenny!
Jenny will continue a similar theme for the next three
weeks. She will be sharing what the scripture says
about Life (July 11), Liberty (July 18), and the Pursuit
.of Happiness (July 25). We are looking forward to each
‘of these messages.
We had two new visitors on July 4 and we hope to
continue attracting new people each week. If you have
questions about Eden Chapel, feel free to email eden—
chapel@hotmail.com or call 405-547-1 179. ‘
Immanuel Baptist Church
By Claudia Andrews
Beautiful day in the Immanuel house on Sunday!
We enjoyed breakfast and fellowship as usual and then
gathered to our Bible study groups.
We enjoyed singing in Sweet harmony as Bob Duke
led our worship. He sang a favorite hymn “What a Day
That Will Be” before the sermon for those who came to
celebrate Jesus as Savior and Lord. \ v
Our Youth Minister Thomas Harders brought the
morning message from I John 1:6-8. He shared his
testimony through sermon as he felt he had not been
truly listening to the Lord since he was a youth, when he
realized God was talking to him and calling him to serve
Him. We can’t say we are a good person and just giving
lip‘service to the Lord; “If we claim we have fellowship
with Him, yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not
live by the truth.” He had been doing this until August
2018 when his heart was opened to receive Christ and
everything changed; if there has been not change, there
has been no action. There is a God-sized hole in our
heart that can only Jesus Christ can fill. Things, people,
ambition, etc. cannot do it. Isaiah 59:1-3 tell us “our
iniquities (sin) have separated us from God” and it comes
down to our decision to make the decision to repent and
come to Jesus for forgiveness; we can’t blame anyone
else any longer. Turn it over to God, our relationship
and fellowship with Him gets better. Only God knows
us better than our moms! If we try to handle it on our
own, everything goes down hill! All we have to do is
ask forgiveness and He gives it! Our earthly life is more
than what we do, i.e. going to church, youth group, or
fellowships. Being a Christ follower is more than that;
our actions, our witness, affects others. Fellowship with
God is impossible when we walk in the darkness: if we
talk the talk we need to walk the walk. Walk in the light,
Ephesians 5:8—1 1. Take every opportunity to share the
gospel, Matthew 18: 19-20.
Tues: 10am S.I.S'.T.E.R.S. meet in the church library;
7pm Men’s Bible Study downtown Perkins.
Wed: 6-8pm Chosen Generation youth group meet in
the youth room - however, they will be gone to camp
July 12-16.
Mon., July 12, 1 1:30am the A—Y’s Senior Adult group
will enjoy a patriotic music program let by Bob Duke.
Come visit us at 2415 E 104, just a mile north of Per-
kins. Info: 405-547- 1222 or Facebook Immanuel Baptist
Church, the “yellow sunrise” one. ‘
Christian Church of Perkins
By Judith Riden
When you worship Me in spirit and truth, you join the
choir of angels who are continually before My throne.
Though you cannot hear their voices, your praise and
thanksgiving are distinctly audible in heaven. Your
petitions are also heard, but it is your gratitude that clears
the way to My Heart. With the way between us wide
open, My blessings fall upon you in rich abundance. The
greatest blessing is neamess to Me — abundant Joy and
Peace in My Presence. Practice praising and thanking
Me continually throughout this day. John 4:23-24,
Psalm 100:4
Our sermon for July 11 will be “Concerns a Christian
Should Have “ from 2 Corinthians 6:1-18 by Pastor
Howard Faerber.
“In all ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your
paths straight.” Proverbs 3:6
Christian Church of Perkins, 121‘ E. Stumbo, (405)
547-2004. Bible Study 9:30 a.m., Sunday service 10:30
a.m., Wednesday Bible Study 6 pm. with light refresh-
ments at 5:45 pm.
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church
By Fr. Robert Duck
You can say that one of life’s most annoying and
important truths is that God’s power is made perfect
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in weakness and his grace is sufficient for everything.
St. Paul obviously was a very blessed man. He could
boast of many things: an extraordinary family, the great-
est teacher in all of Israel was his teacher, a man named
Gamaliel. About his moral life he could boast, “I am
blameless with regards to observing the law.” He had a
vision of the risen Jesus. He was taken up, he tells us in
Second Corinthians, into heaven where he saw things that
he could not speak about simply because there were no
words to describe what he had seen. He is the Apostle
to the Gentiles; half of the New Testament is written by
him. But that is not what made him blessed. With all this,
Paulwould say that he was blessed because God gave,
or pounded into him, a thorn.
As with Paul so with us. If you do not yet have a thorn,
be patient.'You will. God in his extraordinary love gives
us these thorns. They are serious and ongoing annoy—
ances. They are given to us out of love so as to whittle
away pride, which regardless of what we may hear in
the culture around us is the most serious of all sins. For
pride is that mentality which thinks “I need nothing. I
lack nothing. I am self-sufficient.” For all things, that
is an illusion.
So God in his mercy will allow anything and everything
to come our way to shatter that illusion. The converse of
pride is humility. Humility just means to know who you
really are and who I really am. And who I really am is a
creature, entirely dependent on the creator for everything.
If he does not give me breath right now, I don’t have it.
I don’t know about you but I think it’s safe to say
that we despise weakness. I find few things as grating
as the ongoing awareness of how inadequate I am, how
insufficient I am, how easily I can fall, whatever the
case might be.
And yet, when we get to the end of our lives,I suspect
we will all look back and understand that the greatest of
all gifts that God has given to us were our thorns. Because
the thorns wake us up. They lead us to cry out for his
help. And unless we cry out for his help and know our
need, he can’t be there.
What do we do with a reading like this? Well, strange
as it might sound and perhaps abstract as it might sound,
might I suggest one thing: let’s resolve to thank God for
our weaknesses, whatever they might be. Some of us,
it’s our health declining. For some of us, it’s financial
concerns. For some of us, it’s ongoing battles with seri-
ous temptations. Maybe even sin.
God does not send sin or delight in sin but God can
use sin. God can handle sin. Let’s thank him for those
things that he allows to come our way that remind us
how much we need him. Let’s thank him that his grace
is sufficient for whatever it is that’s on our plate. And
let’s thank him for his faithfulness and his power which
is made perfect in our weakness.
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church is located at 71 l
N. Country Club Rd., Stillwater. Mass Times: Saturday
5 p.m.; Sunday 8:30 a.m., 11:15 am. (Nursery available
during 11:15 am. Mass); 1 pm. Spanish Mass. More
info online at sfxstillwater.org
{F (405)547-2436 {F
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Open Mon.-Fri. 7:30-5:30 pm.
Sat. 8-Noon
Sadler Road & Hwy. 33-Perkins
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