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Relio-ion The Perquimans Weekly, August 6, 2003 5 II va ail I I 111 MICHAEL ALEXANDER Central Newspaper Services Joel 2:1-29; Acts 2:14-21 Today’s lesson is from the Book of Joel, but is cen tered more on the Book of Acts. The last verses of the scripture for today are recounted by Peter in his wonderful sermon on the Day of Pentecost shortly after Jesus had ascended to be with God, the Father. This is a wonderful mes sage of hope and gladness for all people in our day Isn’t it amazing that God foresaw this great period and told about it through His prophet so many years Call for repentance before it happened? God is truly amazing and His grace is abundant. A CALL TO REPENT Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weep ing, and with mourning. And rend your heart, and not your garments. And turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Joel 2:12,13. Notice that the prophet said that now was the time to repent. For the hearers of this prophecy in the day of Joel, it was to repent and seek God’s forgiveness looking forward to the great day of the Lord’s cru cifixion and resmrrection. In our time, the caU is just as urgent. The time to repent is now! So many peo ple want to delay their response to God’s caU. There are things to do first or there are situations that need to change first or there are sins that need attention first. The call to the people hearing Joel was urgent. God’s hand of judgment was swiftly coming and to delay wovild be disastrous. Who knows when God will close the door of opportunity? Even then, they were unsure of how long He would allow them the possibility of repent ing. Note that He required a repentance of the heart. For centuries, God’s people had shown their remorse by renting (tearing) their garments. This was a sign of their contrite condition. However, it is obvious that the act had become ritualis tic and not genuine. Many people today are trusting on the outward acts seeped in ritual wor ship rather than the heart broken sorrow of a person truly sorry for their sins. His call was to repent now and to offer true repen tance. A PROMISE TO RECEIVE REPENTERS And it shall come to pass. that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2:21. On the day mentioned in Acts 2, a great beginning occurred. Joel’s words of prophesy were becoming realized and a time of acceptance and forgiveness were ushered in. Peter preached a strong message and many people were saved that day God poured out His spirit on the gatherers, but more-impor tant, on the world. Jesus had promised His followers that when He returned to heaven. He would send His spirit back. Here was the fulfillment of that promise. We caU this the begin ning of the grace period. During this time, the Holy Spirit wUl convict people of sin, wUl draw them to Jesus as Savior and wUl seal sal vation on those who repent and claim Jesus. This time of forgiveness and salvation is limited. No one knows when Jesus wUl return and the day of grace be closed. No one knows when his physical life may end, thus remov ing his opportunity to par take of this grace. Therefore, it is imperative that those needing the for giveness of Jesus make their decision now. It could soon be too late. Lessons based on International Sunday School lessons Great Hope Great Hope Baptist Church will hold revival Aug. 10 -13. Guest speaker was Dr. Steve Roy, pastor of Benvenue Baptist Church, Rocky Mount. Service begins at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 10 and at 8 p.m. Aug. 11-13. Good Shepherd The Rev. Phil Thonneson, Assistant Bishop of the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will instaU the Rev. Dr. Gary A. Vogelpohl as the first fuU time pastor of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Elizabeth City on Sunday, Aug. 10 at the 11 a.m. worship service. A reception and lun cheon wiU foUow the ser vice. Bagleys Chapel FamUy and Friends Day at Bagleys Chapel Baptist Church WinfaU, Saturday evening at 4 p.m., August 9. Dinner will be served. Come one, come aU, join us in singing and feast togeth er. Saunders Grove The Saunders Grove Missionary Baptist Chimch will celebrate its Annual Fall Revival beginning on Sunday, Aug. 10 at 3 p.m. Dr. William Sawyer and the New Bethel Church Family of Hertford wiU be the spe cial guests. Aug. 11-15, Prayer and Praise Service wUl begin at 7:30 p.m. with various choirs and praise teams each night. The evangelist for the week wiU be Bishop Larry Aiken and Pastor Olivia Aiken from Memorial Missionary Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo. On Saturday, Aug. 16 at 3 p.m., the church wUl cele brate its Annual Homecoming. Elder Sylvester Welch Jr. of Dunn will be the Homecoming preacher. Pastor Mason will close the Revival Services on Sunday morn ing at 11 a.m. Oxley HiU Oxley Hill Missionary Baptist Church wUl host a spectacular Rainbow Service on Aug. 10 at 4 p.m. Rev. Vanessa Byrd of Paradise Ministry of Washington along with her choir wUl render this ser vice. The church will sponsor its Youth Academic Recognition & Scholarship Banquet on Aug. 16 at 6 p.m. For more information, con tact the church at 482-8277. And on Sunday, Aug. 17 at 11 a.m. The Youth Ministry wiU celebrate its Annual Youth Day Deacon WUliam Peels, assistant superinten dent of Bertie County Schools, wUl be the guest speaker. Items for this column should be submitted in writ ing by Friday. Bird house heaven I finally foimd her bird- house avian zoo and wildlife rehab center located in Gates County along highway 37 between the towns of Gates and GatesviUe, almost within sight of Buckland School. The huge yeUow let ters that speUed “birds” welcomed my truck into her drive, and a friendly Emu named Rusty and col lie caUed Saber greeted me at the gate. The back lawn was a huge series of taU wire pens fiUed with the chatter of colorful parrots, cockatoos, lovebirds and every conceivable species of tropical plumage you can imagine. Over 700 birds and a variety of other wUdlife fiUed this woman’s yard and life, including strutting peacocks, doves, pigeons and Lord knows what else, as weU as a cat peacefuUy reclining in the NATURE IN A NUTSHELL You're invited to worship with us at the UNITED PENTECOSTAL CHURCH Our services are: Sunday at 10 am Children Sunday School at 10 am Sunday Night Worship and Preaching 6 pm Wednesday Bibie Study at 7 pm [ jf*- - ■ . . EXPERIENCE PENTECOST! i , 1676 Virginia Road , i ; 'ft-j ■ 'Edenton, NC 27932 ‘ i (252)482-8280 J ^ The Place You've Been Looking For* SOME HAVE BRANCHES, WE HAVE ROOTS 80 Years Of Service Mortgages Savings Certificates Checking HERTFORD SAVINGS BANK, SSB 121N Church St., Hertford, NC 426-5403 1^ ^ ▲ MCMINtf* if’X wia midst of it all. I immedi ately won dered how in the world she paid the vet and food biUs. Jackie Phillips, more com- m 0 n 1 y known as the bird lady, does without a lot of her life’s own necessities in order to be able to care for the birds that have only her to count on. Feeding time takes from dawn until early afternoon. A barn is also filled with cages of smaller birds, not to mention those Gail Roberson she must hand feed from birth or lovingly rehabili tate that have sxiffered ter rible physical and emotion al wounds. Among the other wildlife she cares for was a beautiful barred Continued on page 6 On Your Side’ in North Carolina for 75 Years. For seventy-five years Nationwide* has been proudly serving North Carolina. From expert advice to superior claim service, we are the single source for all of your insurance needs. •Auto 'Home 'Financial Products 'Business Call us... Stop by... Log on - it’s your choice! Steven L. Bembridge 115 Market St. Hertford, NC 27944 426-5457 Nationwide* Insurance & Financial Services oerowvHfrr Nationwide Is On YiturSIdeT Life insurance underwritten by Nationwide Life Insurance Company. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and affiliated Companies Home Office: Columbus, OH 4321S-2220 The Carpenter’s Tools “Times of Refreshing” 302047 Yesterday my wife and I went to a friend’s home and “took a dip’ in their pool. It was a hot afternoon in July and the water was just right. Ohhh! What a feeling when you slide in and the freshness of the cool water goes all over your body. It is indeed a refreshing. We swam. We played. We grabbed a float and took a reclining position in the waters of refreshing. The same can be true of our spiritual lives. As a matter of fact, we had just completed lunch prior to our swimming excursion. Prior to lunch, we had gone through our two Sunday worship services. The Spirit was high. It seemed that God’s people were just hungry „ to worship Him. It’s such a blessing as a Christian leader when the"^ P* people of God long to be in the presence of God. It seemed as though the Saints of God just wanted to linger in the house of the Lord. The altar was full as folk rededicated their lives to Him. I had given the altar call; a hand raised here and then another. One in the back and then two more. I finally concluded by saying.. .’’Why don’t we all just make our way to the altar and just get into His presence. 1 We can often be moved by the Holy Spirit to a place of refreshing and “ohh” it feels so good. But let me remind /you that God’s Word gives us a spiritual directive concern ing this refreshing that I speak of. Acts 3:19 states that there is something that must take place if we are going to experi ence “the times of refreshing that come from the presence of the Lord”. That something is repentance. Anytime you and I repent we can expect the glorious presence of God to bless us. The Lord is pleased when we humble ourselves before Him and open our hearts in genuine repentance. Are you looking for a refreshing in the Spirit? If you are... .search your heart and be willing to repent of anything that the Lord reveals to you. He is faithfiil and you will feel His touch. Are you looking for a refreshing in the natural? If you are then ask the Lord to give you a friend that has a pool. It’s cheaper than owning one. Ha! Ha! Have an awesome week and be refreshed! Visit us on the web at www.carpentersshopchurch.com. This Weekly JSTessage is brought to you by these merchants The Perquimans Weekly 426-5728 Your Hometown Newspaper FAMILY CARE PHARMACY -Drive Thru Service- diabetes & convalescent supplies 426-2214 606 S. Church St., Hertford Alexander Electrical Contractor, inc. Of Edenton 482-2400 •Industrial'Commercial'Residential ’ “Servinq All Your Hectrical Needs’’ VIDEO BIZ 426-1500 Home of the 5 Movies 5 Days for $5 Moii-Thur 12-9, Fri & Sat 12-10 Sun 1-8 HOLLOWELL OIL CO. 426-5745 SUPPLIERS OF PROPANE GAS & OIL PRODUCTS Dozier’s Florist 426-5721 'e!efior-' 102 Berry Street Hertford, NC WOODARD'2 PHARMACY For All Your Pharmaceutical Needs! Third Party Insurance 426-5527 lnteilf¥^i 426-4600 Your Local Internet Service Provider 103 North Church Street • Hertford REED OIL CO. LP GAS LP GAS • Cylinder & Bulk LP Gas r>ICQ • Quality Gas Appliances 4X0-34 JQ
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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Aug. 6, 2003, edition 1
5
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