Newsletter  June 28th

GREETINGS FROM BARBEE’S GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH

Thanks to all who participated in the Work Days, at the church the last 2 Saturdays. Your efforts have been a blessing. Thanks also to the team who came to decorate the church for Vacation Bible School. Great job!!
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We extend our love and sympathy to Mrs. Karen Linker and family upon the death of her father, Mr. Stoney Ray Hatley. May the comfort and peace of Jesus surround you at this time.
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After I sent out the Newsletter last week on “Shrinkflation” in our Christian life, I began to think, “How many modern Church Members would question my thoughts? How many would think I was unfair? How many feel like people today have more to do than our ancestors?” Before you get on your soapbox and complain too loudly, answer the following questions. Everything I mention, I, my family, or our neighbors on the Mill Hill in Albemarle experienced during my early years. Rural folks had it even worse.

   …BEFORE BREAKFAST TODAY—-Did you go to the barn, milk the cow, strain the milk, and make butter with the cream? Did you stop by the Chicken House and gather the eggs? Was there a stop by the well to draw several buckets of water for the needs of the day? Did you put wood in the old woodstove and wait for it to heat enough to cook? Did you get out the flour, lard, and buttermilk and make a pan of biscuits? Did you slice country ham, fatback, or side meat for the morning meal?

AFTER BREAKFAST—–Did you wash the dishes, pack school and work lunches and walk a mile or more to work or school? After school or work, did you repeat many of the chores you did in the morning? Did it include shoveling out the stables and putting down fresh straw?

SUNDAY—— Was it a repeat of weekly mornings? Did someone go to the Chicken House and capture a chicken, then make the necessary preparations so that the family could have chicken for Sunday dinner? Did you put on your Sunday best and walk 30 minutes or more to the church of your choice?

WASH DAY—-Did you go to the well and draw many buckets of water to fill the large cast iron pots? Did you build a fire under those pots to heat the water? Did you skin your knuckles using a scrub board, hang those clothes on a line, take them down when they were dry, and iron them?

FOOD—–Did most of your food come from a garden you plowed with a horse or mule? Did you use a hoe to remove weeds? Did you pick your crop, eat some during the summer, and can the remainder for your winter meals?

I will stop, but I can think of so many other chores our ancestors had that most of us do not have today. I can’t help but wonder—–“If those Old Timers had been able to have what we have—-electric hot water heaters, indoor plumbing, electric or gas cook stoves. Dishwashers, washing machines, clothes dryers—-would they have gone to church even more than they did in their day”?

We are a busy people. That is so true. But how much of that activity is by choice and how much is mandated? We each can choose spiritual pursuits or we can choose worldly things, Sports, excessive trips, video games, scrolling on our phones, clubs, and so many  other choices scream to be chosen. Our choices show where our loyalties really lie. 

Jesus knew our day was coming. He warned us:
   …”Be ye therefore ready also for the Son of Man cometh in an hour when you think not.” Luke 12:40
Jesus encourages us with this challenge:
   …”And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we will reap, if we faint not”. Galatians 6:9

Every person, in every life, has 24/7. Work, sleep, family, take much of that time. What we choose to do with our other hours rest solely on our shoulders. How important is Jesus to you? What does your weekly schedule of activities reveal?

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS 

1. Sunday School is at 9:00 am
2. Morning Worship and Children’s Church are at 10:00 am. Also available in the parking lot at 10 on 99.1 FM and on the website after 12:30 pm
3. Prayer and Bible Study are at 6:30 pm on Wednesday in the Fellowship Hall

Every generation faces its own challenge to put Jesus first or to put Him last!
Pastor Ed and Deacons of Barbee’s Grove Baptist Church