Mount Bethel Christian Church

“In Opinions liberty, in essentials unity, in all things love,”

“Meeting Needs Through Ministry”
NEWS FOR THE FAMILY OF GOD AT MOUNT BETHEL
Volume 31 Issue 4 April 2011

Church Staff

Ron Marvel From the preacher’s desk

Senior Minister

Joe Beal
Youth Minister Sharing God’s Word

Judith Randall I heard a story some time ago of a missionary in Africa who gave a Bible
Secretary
to one of the African men. When it was given to him, the man hugged it
Church Phone close and expressed great appreciation for the precious gift of God’s Word
(423) 257-4314 that the missionary had given him.
Minister Phone:
(423) 895-0124 But when the missionary saw him a few days later he noticed, much to his
dismay, that the Bible looked like it was already falling apart, and that
E-mail Address many of its pages were missing. The missionary asked him, “What
mbminister@
embarqmail.com
happened? What did you do to your Bible? When I gave it to you I thought
you considered it to be a treasured possession.”
E-mail Address
mbsecretary@ The man replied. “ Indeed, it is a very precious possession. It is the finest
embarqmail.com gift I have ever received. It is so precious that when I returned to my
village I very carefully chose a page and tore it out and gave it to my
Website: mother. Then I tore out another page and gave it to my father. And I tore
www.mtbethelcc.com
out another page and gave it to my wife. Finally, I gave a page of God’s
Services Word to everybody who lives in my village.”
Wednesday Night
Services 7:00 PM We may smile at that, but what a testimony! The message of God’s Word
was so wonderful to him that he wanted to share it with everyone he knew!
Sunday March 6
Board Meeting For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God
6:00 PM that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then
March 17 to the Gentile. Romans 1:16
WMS Preacher Ron
7:00 PM
Page 2 News For The Family of God Volume 31 Issue 4

Mt. Bethel Women’s Missionary society

April 21, 2011, 7:00 PM

Ladies, this is the month for the Men’s Fellowship meal at Mt. Bethel. Be sure to have your food ready for April
12th. Anyone that can help with serving be sure to be there about 5:00 – 5:15 pm at the latest. The meal will starts at 6:00
pm. We have the birthday party for John M. Reed Home coming up in May and there will be more on that later on.

Hostess: Phyllis Morris Program: Franceen Crowl Flowers: Betty Barkley

Communion: Phyllis Morris Baptism: Jean Hinkle

April Birthdays
01 Don Crowl 06 AJ Jones 21 Emily Trivetet
03 Dillon Wells 13 Isaac Rozer 22 Mary Lynn Chandley
03 Chad Massey 17 Megan Thornburg 25 Elizabeth Daniels
05 Phil Campbell 20 Jacob Berry 30 Tessa Dean
O5 Patrick Trivette 21 Shirley Campbell 30 Dylan Royston

april ANNIVERSARIES

Bill and Betty Barkley………………………………..……………………….. April 23

Richard and Jill Elliott………………………………………………………… April 27

SHUT-IN COMMUNION

If you are unable to attend church and wish to have communion brought to your home, please contact one of the
Elders at Mt. Bethel Christian Church.

WASHINGTON COUNTY MEN’S FELLOWSHIP

The Washington County Men’s Fellowship will meet on April 12th at Mount Christian Church. Message by Greg Keys
“Spending Personal Time with God’s Word”. The WMS will be serving the meal at 6:00 p.m. and the meeting is at 7:00
p.m.

Congratulations to Donovon and Sara Garland on the birth of their son who was born March
16, 2011, 8 lbs and 7 ozs. His name is Eli Mason Garland and his grandparents are Don and
Franceen Crowl and his great-grandmother Betty Braden.
Page 3 News For The Family of God Volume 33 Issue 4
Events Coming Up!
Board Meeting - April 3rd at 6:00 p.m.

Simple Supper (Wednesday Nights) 6:30 PM

Menu
April 6th - Chicken Nuggets & Fries
April 13th - Sloppy Joes & Chips
April 20th - Spaghetti & Salad
April 27th - Grilled Hamburgers

NOTE: The kitchen crew will be taking a break for the months of May-August. We have enjoyed serving you!

Youth
The Puppet Ministry will meet each Sunday night at 6:30 pm and each Wednesday night at 6:00 pm. Contact
Dianna Haynes at 638-5430 for more details.

Please note this is a change in time. Invite a Friend/Youth Fund-Raiser Breakfast Sunday, April 10th at 8:45 am – 9:45
am. (**Sunday School will start at 9:45 am**) Come out invite a friend to church and support our youth.

Calling all kids 5th grade and under!!!

We need you to help with a special part in our Worship Services for Palm Sunday April 17th and Easter Sunday April 24th.
There is no practice required. You will need to be at church by 10:15 am in the downstairs fellowship hall to get your
instructions. Hopefully, we will see you in Sunday School at 9:30 am!

The Community Good Friday Service will be held at Limestone Methodist Church on Friday, April 22nd at 7:00 pm.
Churches in our community will come together and worship. This is sponsored by the Ruritan Club. Make plans to
attend with your family.

Mt. Bethel will be hosting a Community Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 23rd from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm. Lunch will
be served. Bring your basket and your friends! If you would like to help with the food, please see Beth Berry.

An Easter Sunrise Service will be held at the Limestone Ruritan Building at am on April 24th . Breakfast will be served
immediately following the service.

Graduation Sunday is set for Sunday, May 22nd

Please place in my mailbox the names of those who will be graduating from Kindergarten, 8th grade, High School, &
College. I need any other information about them such as the name of the school they will be attending, what school they
graduated from, what degree they have earned or future plans. This information will be placed in next month’s
newsletter. Please do not assume that I already have a name on the list! Thank you! Beth Berry

A 10 week Bible Study is continuing. God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself ---when you are
wildly in love with someone, it changes everything! Meet in the College Sunday School Room.

Stay connected to our youth programs through the net!! www.mtbethelcc.com/mbcc/youth

Mount Bethel Christian Church

361 Clear Springs Road
Limestone, TN 37681

Sunday
Sunday School 9:30 AM
Morning Worship 10:30 AM
Evening Worship 7:00 PM

Wednesday Night
Services 6:00 PM
Youth & Adult 7:00 PM
Elective Classes

april Newsletter

GETTING READY FOR COMPANY

This past month I had company coming to see us. I suppose most of you would do what I did. I started to clean
up each room and make sure that things looked presentable. No one wants family or friends to come by, to see
the house in disarray, or with dust on everything. We usually make sure that everything has been put in its
place, floors cleaned and shelves dusted. It is natural to want things looking their best when company comes.

While doing all my cleaning, I thought about how we have company coming back for us at any minute. True
the Lord is with us all the time, but He will physically return and take us to His house in Heaven. When He
comes I want to make sure my life is in order. Do I have sin in my life that is making me look dirty to Him. I
would not want Him to find books, music or videos that were not top quality placed around the house. Is my
spiritual life in order? Maybe there are things I need to do to get ready for His appearing. Have I neglected
praying, reading the Scripture or studying for my Sunday School Class? Cleaning out my spiritual house is
more important than the physical one. No one will probably notice a little dust here or there, but Jesus will take
note of what is in my heart. He is above all and knows the thoughts and deep secrets of each person’s heart.

Sin creeps up on us and oftentimes we don’t even know it is there. Just like the messy house that we notice
when company is due, so sin can be in our lives and we just live with it. We don’t take the time to remove it
completely so that we are ready when Jesus returns. I don’t want Him to find my life with sin in it, so I need to
remove it now. I need to clean out my life, replace the sin with things that Jesus would want me to have in my
life. Don’t just push things in a closet and leave them there to come out later on. Sin, oftentimes, tries to hide
in sections of our heart. We think no one will notice and besides it is none of their business. But Jesus is
coming and all those closets will be opened and every thought and motive will be laid bare. If you don’t want
Jesus to see sin inside all those closets of your heart then rid yourself of it now, before it is too late and he
appears without warning.

Franceen