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  • 30Mar

    Dear Brothers and Sisters at Ashville Road,

    The lazy months of 2010 are officially over. March and April are full of special events and opportunities, so pay attention. You won’t want to miss out on the action!

    First, some news regarding our sick:
    • Virginia Guthrie was discharged from Saint Vincent’s East last Friday and is now at home
    • Allison Odom was discharged from UAB Monday
    • Millie Layton is slowly coming back from pneumonia
    • Carolyn Braden had her first chemotherapy treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma Monday
    • Floyd Johnston will have an operation on his heart April 14

    Please pray for our sick through the week. If I missed somebody, please email that information to the office so that we can get it in our prayer list for tomorrow night.

    Speaking of Wednesday night, tomorrow night is our Quarterly Singing. We’re trying something new this year with these singings. Instead of taking requests, we are building a service around a theme that employs Scripture reading, prayer, and song. Tomorrow night’s theme is “God’s Love.” I still need some volunteers to make this work, so if you can participate, please send me an email letting me know if you want to read scripture, lead a prayer, or lead a song.

    This weekend is the Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes Convention in Atlanta. Our kids have been working very hard to prepare for this event, and we are very proud of them. Don’t forget that if you’re riding the van, it will leave the church parking lot no later than 6:30 Friday morning. The group plans to come back Sunday morning from the convention to be at Ashville Road in time for Bible class. Please pray for our youngsters as they go on this trip, and be sure to tell them what a good job they are doing.

    Sunday night the teens will have a devotional at Richard and Maliea Box’s house. Listen to the announcements Sunday for more details.

    Our Gospel Meeting starts in less than two weeks (April 11-14). We appreciate everyone who showed up at the work day last Saturday to prepare the building. Our guest is Steve Higginbotham, who preaches for the Karns church in Knoxville, TN. Steve is a great communicator of the gospel, and we are looking forward to his coming. This is a great opportunity to introduce friends to the gospel. Now’s the time to start sending out invitations. Let’s work hard to make this another great gospel meeting.

    On the Sunday of the meeting, April 11, we will have a fellowship meal directly following our morning services and then have an early 1:00 p.m. service in lieu of our usual 6:00 p.m. service. We’ve used this formula several times in the past on Fifth Sundays. Due to this arrangement, there will be no care group meetings for the month of April, nor will there be a Care and Share fellowship that night. We’ll pick back up with our visitation meetings in May. Group leaders, this means you may need to evaluate your group’s needs outside of the meetings. Don’t forget that all meals for those in need are now being coordinated through these groups.

    For Monday through Wednesday night, I’m looking for volunteers who will have Steve into their home for supper prior to the services for each night. Please let me know if you’re interested.

    I have a new set of Truth for Today Commentaries. These are scholarly but accessible commentaries on biblical books written by brethren. This time it’s Job by Don Shackelford. If you are interested in a copy, they are $30 a piece. Make checks payable to the Ashville Rd. Church of Christ.

    I promise I will not ask this again: I’m still looking for folks who will open their homes up to some brethren from Kentucky who will be here April 24-25. Please let me know if you can do this. I still need beds for four guys.

    See you Wednesday night!

    Drew

  • 28Mar

    Wow! I cannot believe how busy these next few weeks for us are here at Ashville Road.  I just wanted to write you guys a reminder of what all we have going on.

    Today we have an Easter egg hunt at the church after p.m. services.  All you need to bring is a basket (If you are 6th grade and under), and a finger food.

    Then, next week, there is this small little trip.  You may not realize that there will be a group going to this, so I wanted to fill you in.  You may have heard of it before, it’s called Lads to Leaders (L2L).  I think we are taking 90% of the congregation to Atlanta, so if you are going be careful and good luck!  Immediately following evening services next Sunday we will be having our monthly devo hosted by Richard and Maliea.  They are some of the coolest people here at Ashville Road, so be sure to make some room in your calendar for the devo/story time with Richard.

    The week following that is the kickoff to our gospel meeting.  We will be having a lunch following morning services, and that’s all I have to say about that.  So get ready for the whirlwind that is Middle Spring 2010!

  • 23Mar

    Dear Brothers and Sisters at Ashville Road,

    This is our second attempt to send out a mid-week update to keep our members informed on the news at Ashville Road. We hope these updates are helpful. Please let us know if you do not want to receive them. Also, help us keep our email list updated by sending new or corrected email addresses to the church office.

    Several folks have been under the weather this week. Vivian Ledingham went home from UAB yesterday. Millie Layton had a brief stay at Brookwood Hospital due to pneumonia, but we’re thankful to report that she was able to go home today. Also, Virginia Guthrie remains in Saint Vincent’s East, room 538. Carolyn Braden begins chemotherapy next week for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Teri Dunn and Allison Odom are also suffering from health problems. Please keep these in your prayers.

    Tomorrow night is our last normal Wednesday of the quarter. Next week will be singing night, but we’re breaking from the tradition we have normally followed. In the past, singing night has been a night when we begin by taking requests and then our song leaders take turns leading us in the songs that have been requesting. We’re going to try something new, starting next Wednesday, by engaging in an orderly service that combines singing, Scripture, and prayer. The theme will be “God’s Love.” The service will be modeled after the services we customarily conduct on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. If any of you men would like to help in this service by leading singing, reading a scripture, or saying a prayer, you can volunteer by responding to this email or just seeing me at services.

    This Saturday the teens will treat our congregation to breakfast at 8 a.m. Following that we will have a workday to clean up our building, inside and out. Be here if you can. It is important for us to keep our facilities looking nice.

    The Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes Convention is fast approaching: April 2-3. Our young people have been working hard at song leading, speech, Bible Bowl, and other events designed to train them to be spiritual leaders. Next Sunday there are two very important meetings for those involved in this program. Young people are asked to come at 4 p.m. to work on the Banner. Everyone needs to bring a picture of himself or herself, preferably a head shot. At 5 p.m. we’ll have our final meeting before convention. We’re very proud of the work they are doing.

    Our gospel meeting is just a few weeks away. Brother Steve Higginbotham from Knoxville, TN, will be our speaker on April 11-14. Mark your calendars, and invite a friend!

    Sunday evening following our services our young people, sixth grade and below, will enjoy fingers foods (provided by the parents) and an Easter egg hunt. We are asking our members to donate plastic eggs filled with treats for the egg hunt. Please place your donations in the box in the foyer. If you have any questions, please speak to Neil Hillis or Sara Dockery.

    In the last update I sent, I mentioned a request made by some brethren in Kentucky who will be in town April 24-25 for the races at Talladega. They are looking for Christians who will give them a place to sleep while they are in town. If you can do this, let me know. We’re expecting eight men.

    That’s all for now. See you Wednesday!

    Drew

  • 21Mar
    by Drew in Sermon Encore.

    Sunday night we discussed “Commonly Misused Passages.”  These are Scriptures that well-meaning brethren have used out of context.  The conclusions backed up by these passages may be true, but the end doesn’t justify the means.  As Christians, we must handle the word of truth “rightly” (2 Tim. 2:15).

    Here’s a list of the ten Scriptures we discussed:

    “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away” (Ps. 90:10).

    “Holy and reverend is thy name” (Ps. 111:9, KJV).

    “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 118:24).

    “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” (Is. 14:12).

    “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov. 29:18, KJV).

    “Prepare to meet your God” (Amos 4:12).

    “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Mt. 18:20).

    “For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself” (Rom. 14:7).

    “Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thes. 5:22, KJV).

    “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (Jas. 4:17).

    Sunday night I misspoke, saying you could add your own thoughts in a comment with this post.  At the time I didn’t realize that comments have been permanently disabled on our website.  Sorry for the confusion!

  • 21Mar
    by Neil in Articles, Neil’s Niche.

    So ends my weekly installments of the Psalms.  As you sit in the building which houses the Lord’s Kingdom, dwell on the fact of WHO we come to worship; what that One stands for; what that One means.

    This is Psalm 150.  This is labeled as the “Crescendo of Praise”.  The book of Psalms works up to this point: worship the Lord.  Praise the Lord for He is good, sing His name whenever you have the chance.  So often we come to church just to run through the motions.  To check our names on some imaginary role that we think God keeps.  No, the idea of worship is to build up our praise to a veritable forte of honor.  We build up this crescendo every week when we come together.  Think about why and how we need to worship before reading this passage, and before we begin this morning.  Enjoy the worship, such as how God does.

    Praise the LORD.

    Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.

    Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.

    Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.

    Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

    Praise the LORD.

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