Monthly Messenger

Matthews

Church of God

Monthly

Messenger

March 2019 - In This Issue:

THE WINDS OF CHANGE

FEBRUARY FUN

CARTOONS

COMING THIS MONTH

GUEST SPEAKERS

WIDOW CARE

THE WINDS OF CHANGE

The winds of change are blowing and change is inevitable.

Everything around us is constantly changing.

Seasons Change
Time Changes
Weather Changes
Fashions Change
Hairstyles Change

There was a man that decided to change his hair style; h e started parting his hair from ear to ear and combed his hair forward and backward. Someone asked him how he liked his new hairstyle and he said, "I like it all right except for the people who keep coming up and whispering in my nose"

We often have a hard time with change; we get comfortable and complacent. But God uses change for our good; He doesn't want us to get too comfortable or adjusted to this world. He doesn't want us to settle for a life of mediocrity or the status quo. President Ronald Reagan said, "Status quo is Latin for the mess that we're in". Sometimes change comes to get us out of a mess! God appoints times and seasons of change; even places of position change. There is a season for everything; the Bible talks about:

Night Seasons
Due Season
In Season
Out of Season
His Season
Long Season
Certain Season
Fruitful Season
Little Season
Convenient Season

It is God that changes the times and the seasons!

Psalm 31:15 a

15 My times are in thy hand:

Some feel like the Duke of Cambridge, who said in the late 1800's, "Any change, at any time, for any reason, is to be deplored." It has been said, "The only person who likes change is a baby with a dirty diaper."

Whether we like it or not, we live in a rapidly changing world; everything we are familiar with is changing and it's changing rapidly.

But aren't you glad that in a changing world that we serve a God that never changes?

The song writer so aptly penned the words: "Change and decay in all around I see: O thou who changest not, abide with me!" God does not change; He is unchangeable, immutable and absolute. You can count on God always being the same.

Malachi 3:6 a

6 For I am the LORD, I change not.

When you think about change; one of the greatest changes took place when we were saved. Old things passed away; all things became new. We were blind but now we see; we were lost but now we are found; we were dead but now we are alive.

What a change in my life since I met Jesus!

FEBRUARY FUN

February was fun and exciting as we celebrated our first annual

cross-cultural weekend. We are so blessed to have a multi-cultural congregation that brings sugar and spice and everything nice to our church.

We enjoyed a cross-cultural meal on Saturday with foods representative of: Jamaica, Africa, Cuba, Asia, Italy, Indian, Ecuador and good old American food. The aroma of these foods were tantalizing and just as tasty. It was by far one of the most enjoyable times of fellowship we've had in a long time.

Then the worship on Sunday was blessed as we featured a cross-cultural choir with our Jamaicans, African Americans, Hispanics and Indians.

The message was entitled: "The Fields Are Ripe and Ready to Harvest", taken from John 4:35. Red, Yellow, Black, White & Brown are all precious in His sight!

COMING THIS MONTH

Sunday (3) Communion in the 11 am service.
Sunday (3) Dr. David West, who is an exceptional chalk artist, will be with us for the evening service at 6:30.
Sunday (10) it's time to spring forward and set your clocks ahead one hour.
Tuesday (12) Women's Ministries Meeting in the fellowship hall at 7:00 pm.
Sunday (17) Dr. Ron Martin will be with us for the evening service at 6:30 to promote YWEA.
Thursday 21 thru Saturday 23 are the dates for our youth retreat at Myrtle Beach, S.C.

GUEST SPEAKERS

We enjoyed having as our guest speakers in the month of February: Dr. Tom Tatum & Pastor Bill Phipps.

Dr. Tatum preached on the subject: "I Am, I Have & I Will"; the people are still talking about what a blessing this message was to them.

Pastor Phipps preached on the subject: "The Church Jesus Said He Would Build"; the people were blessed and encouraged by this stirring message.

WIDOW CARE

Something that our church believes in doing, is caring for widows and orphans. We have given thousands of dollars over the years in support to Jyothi Reddi and the orphanage work he is doing in India. In the year 2018 we gave $ 21,809.00.

We faithfully support our Home for Children in Concord; last year we gave $ 7,411.00 plus hundreds of dollars in Christmas gifts.

The Lord has blessed us recently to where we have been able to bless our widows and widowers with monetary gifts as well.

In February, our Women's Ministries sponsored their annual "Widow's Sweetheart Brunch" in which a great time was had by all as you can tell from the pictures below.