About The Jenkins County times. (Millen, Ga.) 2023-current | View Entire Issue (March 10, 2023)
thej enkinscountytimes .com The Jenkins County Times Friday, March 10, 2023 - Page 3 JCTimes 3-10-23.indd 3 3/9/2023 10:00:24 AM Press, Press, and Press By Rev. Jerlyn Smith-Hudson, Special Contributor for The Times Pastor of Bethel AME of Millen Paul, a persecutor of Christians who had a Damascus Road conversion, became an Apostle of Jesus Christ and writer of a large portion of the New Testament, encouraged believers in Philippians 3:13-14 KJV with these words, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus". The pressing may be in different forms or situations for everyone and for wherever you find yourself in life, but we are encouraged to press on in spite of. We are encouraged to forget those past hurts and disappointments that can hold us captive and to press! The pressing may be uncomfortable and tiring, but press! We are pressing toward someone greater than our circumstances. Someone greater than anything we will encounter! Things, experiences, that cause me to "press" everyday: 1. Met a little girl in Children's Church at my home church, 2007-2009, who said she never heard the name Jesus and never heard the Lord's Prayer prayed. The child was not a regular member and when I looked for her registration fomi to get a better insight into her life, I didn't find one. She only attended that once and I looked for her the next day. I think of her often and pray that she's found who Jesus is. 2. Met a young woman in Macon, GA who, as I was sharing from the Book of Matthew, cried the whole time. I thought I was doing an awful job of sharing the Gospel. Afterwards, the woman came up to me and said "Jerlyn, I have not been in church in over 20 years and had forgotten that God loved me." She thanked me. I thanked God and at that moment my viewpoint regarding ministry changed. 3. A little boy that regularly rode the van to Children's Church was being especially unruly, and someone said to him that he was "bad". His reply, "God still loves me." Tmth, from the mouth of babes! 4. We, Jenifer Eubanks, and I, were about 12-15 minutes off schedule picking kids up for Children's Church. At one stop, a little girl got on and said "we were standing out there in that sun waiting on y'all. Y'all need to be on time." This helped me to be conscious of others' time as they too, may be pressing. Ministry is never about the getting or the glamor, it's about the press! It's not about the branding or publicity, it's about the "pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus". Only what you do for Christ will last! I HOPE HAVE A &OOP TITLE ‘Has It Ever Occurred to You That ^fbu Might Be Wrong? 71 EXCITING WORSHIP Oak Hill Baptist Church 3233 Oak Hilt Church Rd, Ml ten, GA 30442 Download Oak Hill 0SS0 Church | APP Today! Joshua Johnson, Senior Pastor wi , me m rAV-M*?' Words of Encouragement By Joshua Johnson, Special Contributor for The Times Pastor Oak Hill Baptist Church, Millen “Table Time” One of my favorite hymns is “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”. The reason why I love this song is for some phrases in the last verse, “Let Thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander. Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” I love those phrases because they speak of my own heart! What does it mean that my heart is prone to wander, prone to leave the God that I love? Even though I love the Lord God, even though He has saved me and has given me eternal life, my old sin nature that still lives in me tempts me to run away from Him for other things. In the book of Deuteronomy, when God tells Moses that he is about to die and Joshua is going to succeed him as the leader of Israel, God also tells Moses a sad truth - that Israel would turn away from God and suffer for it. In Deuteronomy 31:21 God says, “...I know what they are prone to do, even before I bring them into the land, I swore to give them.” God knew that their hearts were prone to wander before they ever did it. God had delivered them from Egypt, parted the Red Sea, led them through the wilderness while supplying them with water from the rock and manna from Heaven, given them His presence in a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, and blessed them with the leader Moses, who spoke with God like a friend - and still Israel would quickly wander away from the Lord God. Their sin nature, just like mine, tempted them to turn away from the Living God to other things. Here is God’s grace in our wandering - the fetter! Charles Spurgeon told a good story about a fettered horse: “Con cerning a beautiful horse of his friend, which was feeding in the pasture with a weight attached to its leg, a gentleman once asked his friend, ‘Why do you tie down and restrain such a noble animal?’ His friend answered him, ‘I would much sooner confine him than lose him, for that horse is given to leaping hedges.” I’m the horse, and I’m given to leaping hedges. I am prone to leap over the hedges and boundaries that God has placed in my life. So, God in His grace and mercy places a weight on my leg, a fetter to bind me close to Him. I may not be able to run free, but I will experience a greater freedom close to my Master, than far away from Him. The last lines of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” are, “Here’s my heart. Lord, take and seal it, seal it for the courts above.” Would you be willing to pray today and ad mit that you are prone to wander away from the God you love? Do you need to ask the Lord to, in His goodness and for your good, bind your wandering heart to Him? Help visitors find you! List your church in the directory for six months $60 or one year $120 Call: (912) 451-NEWS or 478-401- 5007 M-T-F This section is a complimentary service for Jenkins County and surrounding area churches listed in the Church Directory. We will run your church news for two weeks. Email announcements to jenkinscountytimes@gmail. com or drop them off at our office Tuesday, Thurday or Friday at 425 Hwy 25 S., Millen, GA. Our deadline is noon on Fridays for the following week East Burke Baptist Church Sunday Services 11am. Pastor: Jordan Clayton Hwy 24 Sardis, GA Please call 706-526-1733 for more information. Millen Baptist Church Come join us!! Morning Worship 8:30AM & 11AM Sunday School 10 am. 219 N. Gray St, Millen, GA 478-982-5411 Pastor Brad Asbury pastorbradasbury@gmail.com Oak Hill Baptist Church Sunday School: 9 am. Sunday Morning: 10 am. Wednesday: 7 pm. Choir practice - Bible Study Youth Group - Kids Mission Group 3233 Oak Hill Church Rd., Millen, GA 30442 Pastor: Joshua Johnson 478-982-1616 www.oakhillmillen.com Trinity Episcopal Church 4401 Country Club Rd, Statesboro, GA Sunday Eucharist 8:15 a.m. and 10:30a m. Father Charles Todd, Rector Jonathan Murphy, Music Director. 912-489-4208 www facebook com/TrinityEpiscopalStatesboro (C) 476-401-0495 f Lf 0 513 Cotton Ave W M Millen, Go BRINSON £ shona Brinson ImomAtf/ity, m. ~ ihuimi tud« Iotcm Kayla Shuman 0 Auto Insurance 0 Home Insurance 0 Life Insurance 0 Health insurance n. Commercial gj Medicare w insurance Supplements 0 Title Bonds 0 AFLAC Products @ www.brinsoninsurance.net Scan with Camera 11 Bill ■ Bonded Leather - Genuine Leather ■ Cowhide 125 North Main Street, Sylvania, Georgia 3046
