Christmas Celebrations

The Family of Peacock Baptist celebrated the birth of our Saviour November 29th all day. After our morning Sunday School and worship service, we shared a meal together. Then we all decorated the building, inside and out. We climbed ladders and precariously straddled the stair case in order to hang the garland and glittery Christmas wishes inside and the guys got to play with their hammers, drills, and other tools as they constructed the Nativity scene outside. The outside air was cold but we were all warmed with fellowship and laughter. Then... the Chinese Christmas Exchange. This is always fun. We bring things we'd like to receive ourselves and then scheme and conive, trying to take home the ones that caught our fancy. Finally, we eat again. We had another great day.

The joint Stonewall County Christmas Celebration was December 13th at Peacock Baptist Church. Shiloh presented a tremendous Christmas concert after our pastors read the Christmas account from Luke. The building was packed. We hope to have Shiloh back any time we can get them. They lead us in worship of our Lord and He is glorified in our hearts as we listen and participate in the beautiful music. We enjoyed delicious treats brought by the ladies after the service.

Please go to the Picasa Web Album page to see pictures of both of these events.

(Brian scraped his head on the low hanging air duct and had a napkin on the wound. This helps you understand the sympathizing men in the picture who are wearing napkins on their heads...)

Peacock Family Weekend

Peacock was a busy place last weekend. Saturday night, FBC hosted The Gloryland Boys for a night of gospel singing followed by a sandwich fellowship. Our annual outdoor service and meal was Sunday morning, a cool fall day. We had an abbreviated Sunday School class before the worship service. George brought his guitar to accompany our congregational worship, led by Joe, and for his special. Brian preached from several books, finishing in John 17. God's Word is always so good. Bill and Billy Kirk cooked lots and lots of steaks and our ladies prepared all the side dishes for a meal that couldn't be topped in any restaurant in Texas. Now that's just the truth. We were thankful for the Word, the food, and all our guests. We took the remaining food to the kitchen at our building and had another meal together Sunday evening following the next special service, the second Peacock Family Theatre. We watched Escape From Hell. It is a very good movie with a happy ending for most of the characters and a bleak ending for others, a result of clear choices made. Scenes from the movie are being played out every day in real life. That is why we are here, to be used by God building His kingdom, proving in one way or the other that His Word is true, that He love us all, and He is in control. Few pictures were made but can be seen at the Picasa site. (Click on the Picasa Web Albums at the top of the right column and then click on the Peacock Family Weekend Album and then Slideshow.)

A Busy Day

Our congregation was busy and blessed Sunday, June 27th. We worshipped at our usual time Sunday morning in our sanctuary which is decorated for celebrating the season of Independence Day. Our message addressed the state of our union. Brian sang a medley of patriotic songs and then we said the pledge to the flag. Some of us enjoyed a wonderful lunch together. We had the service at the Rest Home mid afternoon where Brian spoke of the sacrifices of the founding fathers of our country after we all sang to the Lord together. Next, some of us practiced for the evening service.

Several had the job of decorating the transportation of their choice for the Parade. We gathered at the parking lot of FBC and traveled across the highway and then south toward Central Baptist Church. The Ministerial Alliance sponsors our Fourth of July Celebration every year, a joint worship service featuring patriotic music and a call to remember our origins. This year we celebrated the truth of "who" America is. We start with the parade, which consists of American citizens and their decorated vehicles. We always have lawn mowers, golf carts, cars, pickups, horses, bikes, floats, etc. We meet in one of the sanctuaries for the praise and worship service. Then, we enjoy the dishes folks bring and alllllll the watermelon we can eat.

How blessed we are to be the benefactors of so many sacrifices in years past. We were humbled as we recounted the tales of commitment and loss suffered by the men and women who founded this country. We are brought to our knees before a merciful God who desires to plant in our hearts the same vision for liberty and freedom our forefathers received. May our commitment to truth be as deep and real as theirs.

Enjoy a few pictures from the day.

Peacock Family Theatre

Last night, we had our first Peacock Family Theatre. We enjoyed hot dogs and desserts downstairs before the presentation. I forgot to take any pictures of the meal but it was good and lots of fun. We had a very good turn-out, though we were hoping we could interest some of the folks who haven't been a part of our church to come fellowship with us. We will continue to pray they will have a desire to join us. We watched the movie Evan Almighty which teaches good values on our priorities. God tells Evan Baxter to build an ark and he obeys this seemingly ridiculous instruction. One of the statements God makes is, "What I do, I do because I love you." I don't know if the writer and producer realize there is truth in the message of the movie. It isn't a perfect sermon but it was good for our first Theatre Night. If you haven't seen it, you might want to rent it for your own theatre night.

It is such an honor and blessing for Brian and me to be at Peacock where the folks are so genuine, generous toward God's work, and love God's Word. How we hope and pray that God will bring people to worship with us. We want to be used to love His creation and bring His Word to the hearts of people who won't want to leave this earth without it.

Here are a couple of pictures I took as people began to come upstairs for the movie.

Rebekah Mullen

Sunday, April 19, 2009 was a day of celebrating the baptism of Rebekah Mullen. She accepted the Lord earlier and a host of family and friends rejoiced with her when she was baptized in our Sunday morning worship service. Here are a couple of pictures.

Wendell and Diane are back!!

We were tremendously blessed to have Wendell and Diane in our worship services Sunday, February 8th. They came home on Monday after being in the hospital since Christmas Eve. Wendell is getting stronger every day. We praise God who has demonstrated His great love and power by restoring Wendell's health and reuniting our Church family. I didn't get pictures of everyone Sunday, but here are a few pictures from the morning.

Ordination of Jason Rupp

Jason Rupp was ordained to the ministry Sunday afternoon, January 25th, 2009. Jason has been the Pastor of Swenson Baptist Church for a year and is a student at Logsdon School of Theology, Abilene, Texas. Those attending the ceremony heard Jason's testimony to the work of the Lord in his life. Jason gave himself completely to the Lord while in the Air Force and he hopes to return as a Chaplain. After hearing Jason's testimony and their time of questions, the council recommended Jason's ordination and the Church voted in agreement. Dr. Heflin of Hardin Simmons' Logsdon School of Theology was the moderator and Dr. Omer Hancock brought the ordination sermon. The service was followed with food and fellowship. Enjoy pictures of the ceremony and fellowship.

De-decorating, Wendell Update, and Proverbs

Our congregation gathered for our evening service at 4:00 for a special time. The news of Wendell squeezing Diane's hand with his Left hand was an answer to prayers. Previously, he had not been moving his left side. He was awake for a bit Saturday. We continue to call on God to bring healing to his body and to strengthen Diane and his family.
It didn't take as long to pack the Christmas decorations in their boxes and store in the basement as it did to get them all out and in place. Another Christmas has come and gone.
The next exciting announcement was the total amount of money given to the Lottie Moon International Mission Offering. Our goal was $2500 and our church then triples the amount given. Our congregation gave over $2500 and we sent $8685 to help build the Kingdom of God. Praise The Lord!
To start 2009 seeking God's direction, we decided to read aloud the book of Proverbs. Volunteers were assigned their chapters early in the week to read and pray over. Tonight, we read the first 16 chapters and then broke for a meal. We ate and visited and then returned to the sanctuary to read the rest of this book of wisdom. We were blessed to hear these words read aloud, submitting ourselves to God's Word.
We are blessed beyond words as God loves and blesses the part of His body that worships at Peacock, Texas. We are in His hands the year of our Lord, 2009.

Pray For Wendell

Please be in prayer for our dear brother, Wendell Morgan. He is in ICU at Covenant Hospital in Lubbock. Early on Christmas Eve morning, Wendell fell backwards and hit the back of his head on their sidewalk. He has a concussion and his brain is bleeding. His wife, Diane is by his side. She is able to rest at the home of their daughter nearby. Wendell is a strong man who has never been in the hospital before. We are crying out to God for his healing. God is able.

Good News Celebrated

Good News! Good News! Good News! Christ, the Son of God, came to earth. He was tempted in every way, just like we are. He suffered, but learned obedience. He prayed continually. He hid the word in His heart. He knew He was equal with God but chose to live this life as a man, not calling on His God powers. He did only what the Father led Him to do. He never yielded to even one temptation. He endured the suffering for the joy set before Him! Aren't we glad? Being perfect, He was able to sacrifice Himself on our behalf. Our Holy God could not accept us as His children because we are so sinful, so wicked. But Jesus took all our sins and gave His perfection to all who are willing to call on Him for salvation. We bow on our knees and cry Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lamb that was slain! We celebrated the birth of this Saviour all day last Sunday.

Our church hosted Shiloh Sunday morning. There were numerous and hearty amens and hallelujahs! Their music was wonderful. I intended to take lots of pictures but was so caught up in the service that I forgot. We had several visitors and many stayed for our pot-blessed meal after the worship. This opportunity to praise God together will be a highlight of this Christmas season.

We had our "evening" service at the care home. Again, we sang carols and heard God's Word. We were able to visit the people and share a Christmas gift with them. It was a blessing for us all.

And Sunday at 6:00 pm, the churches joined in the Methodist building to remember the Christmas events through music and readings. We had communion and then concluded by singing Silent Night as we held our candles. We had food and fellowship afterward.


I have a few pictures from the care home and the fellowship in this slideshow.

Decorating for Christmas

Sunday afternoon we decorated our building inside and out for Christmas. We had a great day. After decorating, we had a meal together and then we exchanged gifts, Chinese (Why do they call it that?) Christmas style. There were a few tears and a few smears but we all left for our homes without any major rifts.

November 30, 2008

We sometimes have Bible tests, even the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  This was our test last Sunday.

1.  When a person dies without Jesus, where do they go?

2.  What is their future?

3.  Where is Hades?

4.  When the just people, such as Job, Abraham, Moses, Daniel or John the Baptist died, where did they go?

5.  Who was the first person in Hades?

6.  What was their future?

7.  Now, when a person in Christ dies, where does he go?

8.  What is their future?

Go to the picture of the white Bible for answers.

Sunday Morning, November 23,2008

Ours was not the usual Thanksgiving sermon but centered on the scriptural references to Hell as a physical place with real suffering for eternity.  Brian mentioned an article from Newsmax (Nov 2008) magazine which quoted famous people describing their beliefs about God. 

With his fortune of $57 Billion,  Bill Gates is often named the wealthiest man in America.  "The specific elements of Christianity are not something I'm a large believer in."  He told Time magazine that there is no evidence of "anything divine" about the human soul. 

Woody Allen told Readers Digest, "If you actually have faith, if you believe that there's more to life in a positive sense, then of course it's a wonderful thing."  He added, "I can't bring myself to do it.  If I'm sitting next to a guy and he has true belief, I look at him and think, 'poor thing, you really are deluded.' "

Angelina Jolie was asked in an interview with The Onion whether God exists and said, "For the people who believe in it, I hope so.  There doesn't need to be a God for me."

Bill Maher, on Larry King Live said that "all religious people have a neurological disorder" and that religion is "insanity by consensus."

in 1998, Bruce Willis told George magazine that organized religions "are dying forms" and that "modern religion is the end trail of modern mythology."

These are just a few of the quotes from unbelievers unafraid and unembarrassed to share their thoughts on God.  May we be as enthusiastic about sharing what we've learned of God.

We can be confident in the Good News we've been given.  Romans 1 says that man has no excuse for not recognizing God, that what may be known of God is manifest in them, "For God Hath Shown It To Them."    

Saturday morning, November 22, volunteers from the Men of Steel helped roof a home in Aspermont.  Work  was finished soon after lunch and without any serious injuries.

Psalm 14:1

We have heard many sermons on Creation at Peacock.  Though they are dwindling, the butterflies have been prolific on my orange cosmos the last few weeks.   I have rehearsed Brian's account of the butterfly's  reckoning of the creative glory of our Maker as well as posted a  video of the busy butterflies.  If you wish to view, you can click on the link on the left column, just below the stat counter, to my personal blog. 

(sit-n-chat.blogspot.com)

Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary

Ann and Bill Meador celebrated their Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary with family and friends Sunday afternoon at Peacock Baptist Church.  It was a blessing for our church to join in this special day.  Below are pictures of some of the folks who attended.

November 16, am Message

Sunday, November 9, 2008