from the heart of the pastor - s3.amazonaws.com · (if your birthday is not here contact the office...

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Church Family, I would like to share a quiet time that I had this past week with you. It is titled “Are You Spiritual?” by Charles Stanley. I be- lieve it goes perfectly with the theme I have been preaching on the last several weeks. What does it mean to be a spiritual person? If you ask the average American, you'll get a potpourri of answers; some would say it means going to church, others chant- ing a mantra, while still others would de- fine spirituality as a warm, fuzzy feeling. But God's Word de- scribes spirituality as belief in the one true God. The overflow of this belief is a life gov- erned by the Holy Spirit. If we walk in the Spirit it will be evident to the world around us because we produce spiritual fruit. Spiritual fruit demon- strates spiritual life. But how do we pro- duce fruit in our lives? Jesus said "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for with- out Me you can do nothing" (John 15:4- 5). We can only bear fruit by abiding in Christ. Abide means to maintain living com- munion or keep close contact with, as with a close friend. Jesus tells us that we must abide in Him, keep- ing close communion with Him by talking with Him, listening to Him, and seeking Him. Spiritual fruit in our lives is the overflow of that inti- mate relationship. The Bible encourages us to produce fruit that indicates that we are attached to Jesus Christ, the vine: sharing our faith, holy living, giv- ing to others of our time and resources, doing good works, and praising Him. The fruits of the Spir- it all reflect the char- acter of Jesus Christ: "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kind- ness, goodness, faith- fulness, gentleness, self- control" (Galatians 5:22-23). Don't you want to reflect those characteristics to the world? Living spiritually is more than being in- volved in spiritual ide- as or having a vague belief in a universal spirit. It's even more than being involved in spiritual activity. It is a commitment to the Holy Spirit's leading. Don't be confused by the many spiritual ide- ologies that are preva- lent in our culture. Instead, purpose to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus by abiding in Him and producing fruit that will last. The question was asked, “Are you Spir- itual?”, but also “Are you producing fruit?” Seeking and Serving, Bro. Cody Luke 19:10 From From From The The The Heart Heart Heart of of of The The The Pastor Pastor Pastor I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES JOHN 15:5 Jan-March 2011 SEVENTH & MAIN BAPTIST CHURCH

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Page 1: From The Heart of The Pastor - s3.amazonaws.com · (If your birthday is not here contact the office for our records.) January 4th-Pat Woolsey Birthday 25th-Mike & Cheri Keene Anniversary

Church Family,

I would like to share a

quiet time that I had

this past week with

you. It is titled “Are

You Spiritual?” by

Charles Stanley. I be-

lieve it goes

perfectly with the

theme I have been

preaching on the last

several weeks.

What does it mean to

be a spiritual

person? If you ask the

average American,

you'll get a

potpourri of answers;

some would say it

means going to

church, others chant-

ing a mantra, while

still others would de-

fine spirituality as a

warm, fuzzy feeling.

But God's Word de-

scribes spirituality as

belief in the one true

God. The overflow of

this belief is a life gov-

erned by the Holy

Spirit. If we walk in

the Spirit it will be

evident to the world

around us because we

produce spiritual

fruit.

Spiritual fruit demon-

strates spiritual life.

But how do we pro-

duce fruit in our lives?

Jesus said "Abide in

Me, and I in you. As

the branch cannot

bear fruit of itself,

unless it abides in

the vine, neither can

you, unless you abide

in Me. I am the vine,

you are the branches.

He who abides in Me,

and I in him, bears

much fruit; for with-

out Me you can do

nothing" (John 15:4-

5). We can only bear

fruit by abiding in

Christ.

Abide means to

maintain living com-

munion or keep close

contact with, as with

a close friend. Jesus

tells us that we must

abide in Him, keep-

ing close communion

with Him by talking

with Him, listening

to Him, and seeking

Him. Spiritual fruit

in our lives is the

overflow of that inti-

mate relationship.

The Bible encourages

us to produce fruit

that indicates that

we are attached to

Jesus Christ, the

vine: sharing our

faith, holy living, giv-

ing to others of our

time and resources,

doing good works,

and praising Him.

The fruits of the Spir-

it all reflect the char-

acter of Jesus Christ:

"love, joy, peace,

longsuffering, kind-

ness, goodness, faith-

fulness, gentleness,

self-

control" (Galatians

5:22-23). Don't you

want to reflect those

characteristics to the

world?

Living spiritually is

more than being in-

volved in spiritual ide-

as or having a vague

belief in a universal

spirit. It's even more

than being involved in

spiritual activity. It is

a commitment to the

Holy Spirit's leading.

Don't be confused by

the many spiritual ide-

ologies that are preva-

lent in our culture.

Instead, purpose to

grow in the grace and

knowledge of our Lord

Jesus by abiding in

Him and producing

fruit that will last.

The question was

asked, “Are you Spir-

itual?”, but also “Are

you producing fruit?”

Seeking and Serving,

Bro. Cody

Luke 19:10

FromFromFrom TheTheThe HeartHeartHeart ofofof TheTheThe PastorPastorPastor

I

AM

T

HE

V

IN

E;

Y

OU

A

RE

T

HE

B

RA

NC

HE

S

JO

HN

1

5:

5

Jan-March 2011

SE

VE

NT

H &

MA

IN

BA

PT

IS

T

CH

UR

CH

Page 2: From The Heart of The Pastor - s3.amazonaws.com · (If your birthday is not here contact the office for our records.) January 4th-Pat Woolsey Birthday 25th-Mike & Cheri Keene Anniversary

Birthdays & Anniversaries (If your birthday is not here contact the office for our records.)

January

4th-Pat Woolsey Birthday

25th-Mike & Cheri Keene

Anniversary

28th– Jered Hudson 3yr

church anniversary

February

1st-Sarah Pelfrey Birthday

9th-Don Phillips & David

Crain Birthday

15th-Barbara Cox

!6th-Rhonda Kholes Birthday

March

5th-Landon Nelson Birthday

12th-Lela Hembree Birthday

13th-Jean Ridley Birthday

There will be many outreach oppor-tunities at 7th and Main in the com-ing months. We will have our annu-al Cookout and Easter Egg Hunt Saturday, April 16th. Invite all your friends with kids to come…there will be plenty of food and Easter Eggs! We are also working on some mis-sion projects we can do right here in

our own community. If you’re in town during Spring Break, we’d love to have your help! We’ll get more

details for you in the future. Re-member…we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Are you ready to get your hands dirty?

-Colby

Page 2

Beyond The Building

sic. This past Wednesday,

kids enjoyed coming to

AWANA in their pajamas. In

February, we will have hat

night, and then in March we

will take a week off for

Spring Break and come back

for camo night the following

week. If you know any chil-

dren in your neighborhood

or family, it’s never too late

to invite them to AWANA!

AWANA is in full swing, and

we are excited about all that

is happening with our kids.

As of now, we have 76 chil-

dren registered with an av-

erage of 50 kids attending

each week. We are thankful

for over 25 adult helpers that

come each week to work

with all of the kids in learn-

ing their scriptures, teaching

them Bible stories, and lead-

ing them in games and mu-

Events

Hat Night-Feb.23rd

Camo Night-March 30th

Crazy Sock night-April 27th

Ice Cream Sundaes-May 4th

Awana Store-May 18th

Awards & Pizza Dinner-

May 25th

All your children will be taught by the

LORD, and great will be their

peace.Isaiah 54:12-14

Page 3: From The Heart of The Pastor - s3.amazonaws.com · (If your birthday is not here contact the office for our records.) January 4th-Pat Woolsey Birthday 25th-Mike & Cheri Keene Anniversary

Happy 2011 church!!! I hope everyone has had an

amazing beginning to this new year. We as a staff believe

great things are going to hap-pen this year if we put in the

work for God! So we're going to hit the ground running this

year and not slow down until Christmas! The youth are going

to be participating in a Disci-pleship Now weekend Feb. 11-

13 and we will be serving a Val-entine's Day lunch on Feb. 13

that is open to everyone, so come out and join us! Also, we

have 5 students that will be attending a leadership camp( Super Summer) and we are

taking our kids to youth camp

in Wichita Falls this summer. If you would like to help a stu-

dent financially for camps this summer please contact me.

Thank you, church, for being awesome to myself and the rest of the staff...we greatly

appreciate it.

God Bless, Jered

The choir started back on January

12, 2011. Practice now starts at

6:30. This allows the Awana group

to use the sanctuary for the opening

assembly. We are starting to work

on Easter. This year the choir will

present “The King Is Coming”, a

new Easter musical from Brent-

wood Music Publishing arranged by

Russell Mauldin and Sue C. Smith.

We are very excited about this mu-

sical that we will present Easter

Sunday Morning, April 24, 2011.

Please be in prayer that God may

richly bless our efforts this Easter

season as the choir prepares and

presents “The King Is Coming”.

Wow! What

a beautiful

Christmas

Cantata. I

would like to

thank all of

the choir

members for the many hours of

practice toward the musical, “O

Holy Night”. The musical was truly

a blessing to sing, to listen to, and

to watch. I would also like to thank

Leldon Cox for running the sound

system. And lastly, above all,

“Praise to our Heavenly Father” for

bringing it all together. He is the

reason for doing all of this.

Lastly, I would like to thank the

choir for the Christmas gift as well

as the Church for the Christmas

bonus. It was very nice and I have

already spent it wisely.

Be in prayer for our church on

Sunday mornings as we

sing to the glory of God.

Keep Singing,

David Eaton

Page 3

Jered’s Corner

Choir Notes

worship time at 830.

Breakfast is at 8am

on Saturday the

Dinner starts at

7pm on the 11th

with an opening

12th. Lunch is at

12 Saturday.

D-NOW

Friday Night

ADVERTISEMENT HEADING

March 20th & 27th

Expiration Date: 00/00/00

Friday & Saturday

March 20th & 27th

Expiration Date: 00/00/00 Lockin

Sunday, February 13th at Noon

in the fellowship Hall.

Valentines Banquet

All Invited to attend:

Consume

Page 4: From The Heart of The Pastor - s3.amazonaws.com · (If your birthday is not here contact the office for our records.) January 4th-Pat Woolsey Birthday 25th-Mike & Cheri Keene Anniversary

Sunday, January 30th-Lord’s Supper

Friday & Saturday, February 11th-12th -DNOW

Sunday, February 13th-Valentines Banquet at 12pm

Sunday, March 20th-Fellowship Meal at 5pm

Colby Rich-Outreach Minister

[email protected] 903-227-2243

Cody Nelson- Pastor [email protected] 903-227-4452

Office Hours

& Contact

Tara Woodlee

903-583-8679

E-mail:

[email protected]

Hours:

Monday-Thursday

8:30am-1:30pm

Reminders

David Eaton Minister of Music

[email protected] 903-640-3388

Jered Hudson- Family Associate

[email protected] 903-227-3457

We are on the Web

www.7thandmain.com

Contacting Staff

Mark Your Calendars For these Events...

Trades Day

Feb. & March 12th

BUDGET MEETINGS

Feb. & March 13th at 2pm

Feb. & March 6th

at 4pm

Deacon & Yokefellow Meetings

Church Directory

During the above dates for a Portrait.

We will be working on a new directory this year.

Sign Up

MARCH 20TH & 27TH

Schedule Your Appointment

Mark

Your

Calendars