Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday.
“Spring forward.” Set your clocks ahead and lose an hour of sleep.

Already I miss it.

Personally, I could use some sleep right now. Physical therapy day always wears me out. But I can tell it is helping. The treadmill helps too. Getting there—slowly but surely.

This Sunday

The sermon is titled “The System Is Working.”

Most people believe we are part of a broken system. God made the world, something went wrong, and now we are stuck living in the mess. But that is not what Jesus says. His message is far more hopeful. Life, it turns out, is better than we often think. Come and be uplifted.

The choir will also share something special. What did church music sound like in the time of Shakespeare? We will find out as the choir performs an anthem by Orlando Gibbons, who died in 1625. Beautiful—and fascinating.

Pastor’s Class

We will be talking about the purpose of life.

And yes—we believe we actually know what it is.

Class begins at 9:45 AM.

Breakfast

It is a “We-Bring Sunday.”

Which means the breakfast comes from all of us. Good food and good fellowship.

Breakfast begins at 10:30 AM, before worship.

This is a great season in the life of the church.

See you Sunday.

God Bless,
Max
revmaxb@tx.rr.com

Last Sunday, I shared two powerful conversion stories. One was Patrick Glynn, once an agnostic, who encountered Raymond Moody’s book Life After Life and suddenly realized he “had been wrong about everything.” The second was David Rolfe, a filmmaker from the UK who set out to debunk the Shroud of Turin. Instead, after examining the evidence, he became convinced—and joined the church.

We’re not doing play-like. Jesus is the real thing. We have a Savior, and life goes on forever.

As we walk with our Lord toward the cross this Lenten season, we are reminded each Sunday that even though life can be hard, it comes with a promise. We will make it. Nothing can stop us. Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

Pastor’s Class

We’re having a good time in Pastor’s Class—it’s worth getting to church a little earlier. Every week, life looks a little better—and a lot more mysterious. Join us in our quest to better understand who God is, what God is doing in our lives, and who we are becoming. We meet at 9:45 a.m.

Breakfast

This Sunday is a “Winston Sunday.” Feel free to lend a hand. Breakfast begins at 10:30 a.m., just before worship.

This Sunday — Lent Two

Mary will be preaching, and the choir will offer a beautiful anthem: Arise, My Soul, Arise.

One More Thing

In one month—on Palm Sunday, March 29—we’ll gather for dinner to mark the beginning of Holy Week. We’ll also celebrate Keith Butterfield’s 99th birthday, making up for the dinner that had to be canceled when Keith became ill. So yes—let’s order that birthday cake again.

This is a great season in the church.

See you Sunday.
God bless

ASH WEDNESDAY—6:00 p.m. tonight—if you are reading this the day it arrives—begins “the journey to the cross.”

Why come to worship tonight?

Lent is about giving our time and attention to Jesus Christ in a sacrificial way for 40 days. Is it convenient to come to church on a Wednesday evening? No. Of course not.

That’s the point.
That’s where the sacrifice comes in.

Brief message tonight: “No Pain, No Gain.”

We will receive the ashes of repentance and kneel at the altar for prayer.

Our journey in the footsteps of Jesus, as he moves toward the cross, begins.

Ash Wednesday—6:00 p.m.

This Sunday

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

Mary was scheduled to preach, but her 100-year-old uncle passed away, and she will be traveling to West Texas for the funeral. Our love goes with her. She will be with us tonight for Ash Wednesday.

My sermon on Sunday will ask the question: Why doesn’t God do it the easy way?

God could make Himself known to everyone in the world in an instant.
One shout from heaven and a great light display would do it.

But God does not do that.

Why?

Sermon Sunday: Why Not the Easy Way?

The choir will begin Lent with a bit of Mozart.

Pastor’s Class

At 9:45, we will consider the most challenging experience we have discussed yet. If this happened, the world simply does not work the way we think it does.

Breakfast

It’s another “We-Bring Sunday.”
Help make it a good time of food and fellowship.
Thank you for helping.

10:30—before worship.

Prayer List

Please add Judy Reeves to our prayer list. Joe and Joe Christian Adams took John Reeves to a doctor’s appointment on Monday. While there, Judy developed a heart issue. As of Monday evening, she is at Medical City Arlington awaiting test results.

John and Judy have had more than their share lately. Please keep them in your prayers.

God Bless,
revmaxb@tx.rr.com

See you tonight?
Sunday?
This is a beautiful season in which we center our lives on the Center of our lives.

It’s a big day—this Sunday.
An important day.
Transfiguration Sunday.

Jesus on the mountain—glowing in glory.
One of the most important scriptures in the Bible.
But very few people listen to what it says.
Especially “fundamentalists.”
Let’s talk about it on Sunday.

And the choir will sing that great anthem we had in the bulletin prematurely last week—with oboe and flute.
Big music for a big day.

Transfiguration Sunday is always the last Sunday before Lent.
Lent—the “time of the Cross” leading to Easter.
That means next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday!!!

I need an Ash Wednesday.
I am ready for this year’s journey to the cross.
And Ash Wednesday is when it begins.
Wednesday worship will be at 6:00.

Last Sunday

We had the joy last Sunday of welcoming Judy Cornish as a member. She was already very much a part of our church family.

We also had all kinds of disappointments. Keith Butterfield was ill, so there was no 99th birthday party. Doug and Sue Kelcey were out with COVID. Judy Reaves’ husband, John, is in the ICU. His daughter, Michelle, was in church with Judy. Keep the prayers going.

Got word that Beverly Tye’s second hip surgery has been very painful, and the pain is not clearing yet. Linda Anderson has not been back to church since her fall. (We miss her.) Charlotte Holder is recovering, but not back yet. Other folks are out sick.

But the Lord is always with us.
That’s what I said in my sermon.
Thanks be to God.

Pastor’s Class

Researchers have discovered that dogs often know when their master decides to return home and will go to the door and wait—even if the master is many miles away. What has this got to do with God and faith? Find out Sunday—class at 9:45.

Breakfast

It’s a “We Bring It” Sunday.
Please bring breakfast items to share if you are able.
At 10:30.

By the time you read this, I will have seen my eye doctor for a procedure to correct the blurred vision after cataract surgery.
I may see you better this Sunday.
Plan to be there so I can see you!

God Bless
revmaxb@tx.rr.com

Keith Butterfield turns 99 this Sunday.

Yes, we are having a party—right after worship.

A chicken dinner. The church provides the chicken.

We bring the other stuff. (Sign-up was last week. Feel free to bring something even if you did not sign up.)

But do come. We will not have another one of these until Blake turns 99.

Happy Birthday—our beloved Kieth!

No Breakfast

Sorry—no breakfast on dinner days.

We need preparation time for dinner.

Pastor’s Class—You Bet!

Yes—at 9:45, as usual. We just have to starve afterwards. So get a bite of breakfast before you come. It will be a long wait for chicken and birthday cake.

Last Week and This Week

We had good attendance for such a cold day.

Our one new visitor, Paul Champion, said he enjoyed the service, and we enjoyed having him with us.

The five-year-old child, held in ice detention for two weeks with his father, referenced in the sermon, has been released along with his father, after a court decision.

Our courts are holding. They, alone, are preserving our democracy. Every other agency of our government has been corrupted.

Who would have thought it possible?

+++

THIS SUNDAY—There’s something I really want us to know: We are, at all times, watched over, cared for, and loved. I want us to know how literally Jesus spoke when he said, “I am with you always.”

Sermon title: Someone to Watch over Me

The choral anthem will be My Shepherd Will Supply My Need, featuring our own Julian on flute and
a guest, Hyobin Kim, on oboe.

And the weather—70 degrees.

A great day to be in church.

I’ll see you there.

God Bless
revmaxb@tx.rr.com