BERTIE LEDGER-ADVANCE
APRIL 24,20191 B3
The fabric of Bertie County since 1832
Faith
Special Events
Church announcements are published each week in the
Bertie Ledger-Advance. The deadline to submit news items
for this listing is 10a.m. each Monday. Submissions may
be emailed to twhite@ncweeklies.com.
April 24-25
Youth Revival Continues
HARRELLSVILLE - Youth Revival Services are continuing
April 24-25 at New Bethany Baptist Church.
The guest speaker will be the Rev. Robert Watson, Asso
ciate Minister of Weeping Mary Baptist Church in Lewiston
Woodville.
The Praise Service will begin nightly at 7 p.m. followed
by the Worship Service at 7:30 pm.
The New Bethany Youth Choir and other area choirs will
provide music for the revival.
The Pastor, The Rev. Dr. W.C. Clark, and congregation
invite the public to attend.
April 26
Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser
WILLIANISTON - A Spaghetti dinner fundraiser is planned
for 4-7 p.m. Friday, April 26 at the Scout Flut in William-
ston.
The dinner is to raise funds for Celebrate Recovery, a
Christ-center program for those with hurts, hang-ups and
bad habits.
The dinner will include spaghetti with homemade meat
sauce, salad, garlic bread and a homemade desert.
The price is $7 in advance and $8 at the door.
The Scout Hut is located at 117 South Smithwick Ave. in
Williamston.
For more information call 252-508-1875 or 252-799-
1006.
April 27
Holy Eucharist
ROXOBEL - Holy Eucharist will be observed at 5 p.m. Sat
urday, April 27 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.
Light refreshments will be served following the service.
The church is located at 206 West Church St. in Roxo-
bel.
The Senior Warden, Johnna Browne-Lewis, and congre
gation invite the public to attend.
April 30-May 2
Revival Services
WINDSOR - Revival Services are planned April 30 through
May 2 at St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church.
The services will begin nightly at 7 p.m.
The guest speakers include the Rev. Shawn Robinson of
Gale Street Baptist Church in Edenton (Tuesday), the Rev.
Purcell Whitaker of Peterson Chapel Missionary Baptist
Church in Merry Hill (Wednesday) and the Rev. Samuel
Fields (Thursday).
The Pastor, the Rev. Kennedy L. Barber, and congrega
tion invite the public to attend.
May 5
Deacon, Deaconess and Trustee Day
MERRY HILL - The annual Deacon, Deaconess and Trust
ee Day will be observed at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 5 at Peter
son Chapel Missionary Baptist Church.
The guest speaker will be the Rev. David E. Moore of
Indian Woods Missionary Baptist Church. His congregation
will accompany him.
Singspiration
GOLD POINT - A Singspiration will be held at 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 5 at Gold Point Christian Church.
Carolina Cord Connection will be featured.
Refreshments will be served following the service.
The church is located three miles north of Robersonville
on N.C. 903.
The congregation invites the public to attend.
Ongoing
Women’s Ministry
WINDSOR - The Women’s Ministry meets from 6-8 p.m.
on the second Friday of each month at Cedar Landing Mis
sionary Baptist Church.
The meetings include fun activities, free food, door prizes
and lots of love.
BIBLE WORD SEARCH
by Elie’s Spiritual Treasures
COLOSSIANS 3:1-2
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set
your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated
at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things
above, not on earthly things.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
I N G
C G
Find the holded/underlined words in the diagram.
They run in all directions — forward, backward, up,
down and diagonally.
WWW.SEARCHING-FOR-JESUS.COM
Hoops and hope...
I think 1 may have done sig
nificant damage to my hip. My
back is in knots. My right fore
arm seems to have some kind
of a strain or tear. If 1 had gone
15 rounds with my martial arts
hero, Chuck Norris, I would
probably not be in as bad a
shape as 1 am now.
All because of basketball.
Basketball and the gospel, ac
tually.
For five years at our church,
every Thursday we used to rent
out a local gymnasium, open it
up to the public, and have what
we dubbed the Basketball Out
reach.
We would open in prayer, then
play ball for about an hour, then
I would preach for about 10 to
15 minutes, then we would play
for another hour. We did this up
until eight years ago, when for
a variety of reasons it became
necessary for us to bring it to a
halt.
But 1 never forgot it and never
stopped dreaming of the day we
could start it up again.
And then last year we finished
our own family life center/gym-
nasium on the church property,
complete with a regulation-size
basketball court. As I write this,
we started the basketball out
reach up once again.
Fifteen young men from vari
ous places showed up. Everyone
made introductions, we prayed
to begin, and then we tipped off.
And 1,1 did what 1 had promised
myself I would not do; 1 played
the first three games.
As I think back over eight years
of hiatus, 1 realize that much has
changed. Back then 1 was a lean
180 pounds and quick as a cat.
But for the past seven years of
no basketball (Tittle cardio of
any kind, actually) I have been
Rev. Bo
Wagner
The Word of
His Mouth
power lifting and am now a solid
205.
Back then 1 was 40; now 1 am
48. And 1 have found that, in the
past eight years, humanity has
all apparently got
ten much faster,
and gravity has
apparently gotten
much stronger.
This is to say,
in reality, 1 am
old and well past
basketball prime.
My son, the dis
respectful whelp,
ran circles around
me all night long
and laughed
about it. He even
outscored me... and out-re-
bounded me... and, well, 1 think
you get the point. Jonathan, his
100 percent cowboy buddy from
our youth group, also outplayed
me.
And to add insult to injury,
all of them left walking just as
quickly and smoothly as they
arrived. I literally hobbled to my
vehicle, after hobbling into the
office looking for pain reliever.
Then 1 winced my way home
with every gear 1 changed and
hobbled to the Jacuzzi tub to try
and soak the pain away.
A lot has changed in eight
years.
But what has not changed,
except to perhaps grow more
pronounced, is the need for
churches to do this kind of thing
to begin with.
When last we did this, a trou
bled young man came out week
after week, played ball and lis
tened to the preaching. Many of
his friends came with him, and
some of them truly began to
follow the Lord. But the young
man, 1 still remember him viv
idly, ended up getting shot and
killed in a bar brawl.
I often wonder if we could have
done more. But 1 also rejoice in
those we were clearly able to
help set on a different path.
The hope the gospel gives
ought to be preached in church
services, yes. But not only
should it be preached in church,
it should be preached outside of
church as well. Jesus preached
from a boat to those on the'sea
shore, Phillip preached in the
desert to a crovvd of one, Paul
preached to some women by
the river, and Stephen preached
at his own execution.
Simply put, not all sinners can
be reached “in the rut.” Most of
the young men in our gymna
sium hearing me preach have
not yet ever been to one of our
church services. While never
being sinful and while never be
coming like the lost to try and
win the lost, it is incumbent on
believers to use what tools we
have at our disposal to get the
gospel to those who need to
hear it.
And so we play basketball.
When you think of us, pray for
this relaunched ministry And
whenever you have an ache or
a pain and reach for the Tylenol,
think of me and pray for me as
well; my life’s verse is now the
first part of Psalm 37:25, “I have
been young, and now am old...”
Bo Wagner is pastor of the
Cornerstone Baptist Church of
Mooresboro, NC, a widely trav
eled evangelist, and the author
of several books. His books are
available on Amazon and at
www.wordofhismouth.com. Pas
tor Wagner can be contacted by
email at 2knowhim@cbc-web.org
In all things...
) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
It’s 10 p.m. Joy and 1 were trav
eling from a late night meeting
after a nursing home visit. She
said, “Honey, the car is knock
ing!” We turned off the AC to
make sure it was not associated
with the recent addition of freon
to our AC system. The knocking
continued.
Being the mechanical person
that 1 am not, Joy makes a call to
our son, Josh. He’s on the West
Coast this week ministering at a
church and visiting family.
She describes what we have
seen as we raised the hood to
examine this knocking of the en
gine. We had seen that the ser
pentine belt had slipped over
about a quarter of an inch. Josh
tells her what we need to do and
tells her to go to the nearest
store and purchase a 14 mm box
wrench.
On my way down the aisle of
the local WalMart, I’m swiftly
heading to the hardware depart
ment while Joy looks over the
Easter markdowns and “spring
and summer arrivals” filling the
emptied Easter sales spaces. I
noticed the T-shirt the man that
was directly in front of me was
wearing. It read, “Sawyers Re
pair” and noted that it was a die
sel repair shop.
Da Wallace
Phillips
Carpenter’s
Tools
When I summoned him my
intention was to confirm that I
was looking for the right thing
as I told him my
story and what
my son had en
couraged us to
do. He quickly
said, “That’s ex
actly right, but
you don’t need
to purchase a
wrench. I’ve got
a 14 mm in my
truck.”
We made our
way to the parking
lot and he was parked a couple
of spaces over from our “knock
ing Mazda.” I raised the hood,
held the trusty cell phone LED
light for him to adjust the ten
sioner pulley and it was over in
a matter of minutes - the knock
ing ceased.
During our conversation, I had
told him that I wasn’t very good
with mechanical things; that I
worked with people and was
a pastor. We exchanged a few
more words and I made my way
to the ATM. I pulled out some
cash and found him catching-up
with his wife in the store. I pre
sented him the money. He tried
to reject it, but I insisted.
He expressed thanks and said,
“Did you say you are a Pas
tor?” I affirmed and then he
said, “Would you please remem
ber me? We have some prob
lems in our family.”
In a matter of moments 1 was
speaking healing over Crohn’s
Disease, calling for financial pro
vision, and ministering Christ to
this unchurched man. The Holy
Spirit settled in and we were
both blessed immensely I then
recommended a local church for
him to consider next Sunday
I caught up with Joy and we
made our way to the car thank
ing God for our car trouble. Paul
said that’s exactly what we
should do. “In all things give
thanks, for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus concerning
you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
A little car trouble resulted in
an opportunity for me to shine
the light of Christ and spread
a little love. Remember to give
thanks... in all things.
Dr. Wallace Phillips is Senior Pas
tor at Carpenter’s Shop Internation
al Church in Ahoskie. Join them
for worship this Sunday at 10 a.m.
at 903 South CC Road in Ahoskie,
or join them on the web at csicminis-
tries.com for a live stream event.
THE ILLUSTRATED BIBLE
I beseech fou therefore,
u mercies
brethren,
of Goi that pu present
^sacnhce,
pur bodies I
hofy, acceptable to God,
which ispur
reasonable service.
©2019t)y King Features Syndicate. Inc. World righfe reserved.
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