A Sign of the Times

Our little country church sits in the S curve on Highway 26 north of Jennings.  We have thirty something people attending on a typical Sunday morning.  Small in number, but big in love.  It is a loving family, not a perfect church, but a church that loves Jesus and one in which the people love each other.  God's Word is studied and believed that its truths are relevant as ever, and we still sing the old hymns.  It was founded in 1981.

In a recent business meeting, we decided that the age of our sign originally erected at the church's founding is in need of some work.  Rust had eaten away at the tubing that makes up the frame and lichen was growing on it.  This called for immediate attention.  On a recent Saturday morning, we arrived with ladders and a grinder and began grinding the entire sign, roughing up the surface for painting.

Then we primed the sign frame, having to climb way up there to get the top portion.  It was a beautiful day to get the work done.

Finally, we put a thick coat of oil based paint on the sign's frame.  The sign really shines now, but we're not done.

We're going to update the lettering on the sign, adding service times for Sunday School and Morning Worship as well as our church website address.  We're also looking at putting the same thing on the back side of the sign so that traffic southbound on Highway 26 will be able to see it.  We may look at a board beneath the sign that would allow us to put up lettering for Scripture verses and special announcements.  Finally, we'll plan on affixing some solar lighting to the sign so that it is lit up in the evening.

If you don't already have a church home, we'd love to have you come worship with us!  If you were looking for a sign, here it is.

Fifth Sunday at Cornerstone

Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.  Psalm 30:4

In months containing five Sundays, we have a tradition in our church called "Fifth Sunday Singing."  Churchgoers are encouraged to sing a hymn or song, recite memorable Scripture, give a testimony, read a poem or any contribution.  Normally, we have it on Sunday evening.  Sometimes we'll have a fellowship meal following the service or homemade ice cream and cookies.

This year because of the caution surrounding Covid-19, we are unable to go caroling at the Nursing Homes and VA Home like we normally do at this time.  This is really disappointing.  We opted to have Fifth Sunday Singing this past Sunday and then have our Thanksgiving/Christmas Feast next Sunday after Morning Worship in lieu of caroling around town.

Congregants prepare and then there are usually some impromptu specials where anyone who would like is invited up to sing old favorites.  Lots of smiles.  We usually have a pianist, a guitar player and a harmonica player, but sometimes songs are done a capella.

Many times songs have lead-ins in which the brother or sister in Christ will tell a story about what the song means to them or memories that the song might bring up or thankfulness to God for blessings.  You are free to share whatever is on your heart.

In impressive fashion, two young men recite an entire chapter of the Bible from memory, inspiring us all and making us wonder how they can do that when my memory is so poor!

As is always the case, we close in prayer and leave feeling better than when we walked in.  Praise God!  In checking the calendar, I see that January 2021 is the next month with five Sundays.  Time to start getting ready.

Church Under the Live Oak Tree

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.  Hebrews 10:25-31 

Since this Coronavirus thing started, we, early on, decided that we weren't going to participate in the pandemic.  Largely, life has gone on as normal.  The major thing that has changed in the last six weeks is the absence of church services.  Oh, our pastor began doing YouTube video services, and we've watched them, but it is just not the same as assembling TOGETHER with the Body of Believers in Christian fellowship to be edified by preaching from the Word of God.  We've really missed that.

Although our State is still under "lockdown" orders, our Attorney General petitioned the Governor, and we were given permission to meet together for church services as long as certain guidelines are followed.  There is a lot in that last sentence that I disagree with, but in Christian charity, I'll refrain from complaining and just be grateful that we met.

At 10:45 am on the Lord's Day, Cornerstone Baptist Church of Jennings met under the shade of a live oak tree under a blue bird sky with a cool breeze blowing.  There were 33 church members in attendance.  We sang hymns including: "He Lives," "God Will Take Care of You," and "Victory in Jesus."  Then our preacher read from the Book of Judges about having character, using the story of Samson to illustrate.  The wind started to blow so briskly, our Pastor had to call his son to come help hold the pages of the Bible down so that he could read the passage!

Our church membership probably has the average age above 70 years old.  For this reason, many of our members are at-risk during this virus outbreak.  It was very hard to meet at a distance and not shake hands or hug one another.  We are social people.  We enjoy each others' company.  Hopefully, we will get back to normal quickly!

The Pastor went through the life and times of Samson in his message, detailing his character flaws and mistakes and the pain they caused him.  He closed by making the point that many of us, like Samson, like to do things in our own strength rather than relying on God.  It was thought-provoking and convicting.

God is in control. We need to trust in Him.  In Good Times and in Bad.

Dinner On The Grounds

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Our little country church, Cornerstone Baptist Church, has been without a pastor for a while.  We have been praying and waiting and praying and waiting some more.  Well, good things come to those who pray (and wait).  Our new pastor started at the first of the year.  We are so happy to have him and his family!  One of the first things he requested is that we have...  Dinner on the Grounds!

See, this guy is starting things off on the right foot!  We usually have about 40 people attending morning worship services on Sunday Morning.  As I mentioned, we are a small church, but we are big on our love for the Lord, big on enjoying fellowship with one another, and big on having meals.  Generally, when we eat in our fellowship hall, if it will be light foods, we call it "Finger Foods or snacks."  If we are going to really get serious about eating, we call it "Dinner on the Grounds."

The term has a couple of mis-nomers in it.  It is not Dinner and it is not on the Ground.  We generally call the meal at noon, lunch.  We generally call the meal at night, supper.  But, oh well.  Secondly, we don't eat on the ground.  We all acted like respectable adults and sat in chairs around tables.  Seriously, I think the term means we are eating on the grounds of the church.  And that's what we did.

Dinner on the Grounds is when we ask everyone to just cook a meal with the main dish and ALL the sides like you ordinarily would for your family, but bring it to the church to share with everyone else.  Folks show up before Sunday School with all sorts of pots and pans, trays, and roasting pans, tupperware and aluminum foil wrapped goodies and put them on the table in the fellowship hall.  There are admonitions against sneaking a cookie or a slice of pie before church.  Then we go to Sunday School and "Big" church where we pray, sing hymns of praise, and of course, open the Word.  When the last verse of the Hymn of Invitation is sung, the preacher prays for the congregation and also blesses the food we are about to consume.

We put our "game faces" on and walk across the breezeway into the Fellowship Hall.  The aroma of roast beef, rice & gravy, jambalaya, sausage, fried chicken, and dozens of casseroles!  A few bowls of healthy salad stand in defiance against a table of any manner and sort of dessert.  Why, there are homemade pies and cakes and cookies and puddings.  At the end of the table, there are soft drinks, where you can choose what type of "Coke" you'll have: Dr. Pepper, Sprite, Barq's Root Beer, Pop Rouge, or Orange, oh, and of course, Coke.

Then we sit down and eat and visit with neighbors and eat and talk some more and eat and laugh.  Then, we'll get up and circle the table in search of something that we heard was good that we weren't able to fit on our plates on the first go-round.  Everyone brings their best and no one leaves hungry.  At the end everyone pitches in to clean things up.  We bid each other farewell, but knowing we'll be back at 5 pm for Evening Worship.  We leave the parking lot slow, thinking about going home and taking a big nap.

Church Fellowships like "Dinner on the Grounds" are a good opportunity to break bread with Christian brothers and sisters and truly be nourished both physically and spiritually.  Everyone is always glad they came. 

Cornerstone Christmas Caroling - 2018

Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

We sing that song at this time of year, but truly that song can be sung all throughout the year as we should ALWAYS come and adore Christ the Lord.  This past Sunday afternoon, our little country church - Cornerstone Baptist Church, met for worship and fellowship as we sang Christmas carols at the VA Home and both nursing homes in town.

We walked the halls singing about the Christ Child and the hope and joy that his birth brought. 

Many of the residents that we were singing to joined in as we sang old familiar carols, sung year after year.

We sang both in large, common areas as well as stopping by people's rooms to sing.  Some sat by their doors, singing with tears in their eyes.  Others couldn't get out of bed, but remembered the lyrics and joined us in song.

Our church secretary made Christmas Carol song books for us and by singing the first and last verse, we were able to sing a wide variety of carols that we all love and cherish.  After three hours of caroling, we met back at the church for prayer, fellowship and snacks!  It was nice to sit down and visit with each other and all were definitely glad they came.  We set out to be a blessing to others and by the end of the day, we could honestly say that we were blessed by the opportunity to serve King Jesus by singing to the dear people at the VA Home, Jeff Davis Living Center, and Camelot Brookside.

A carol that I only learned a few years ago, but has become one of my favorites is "O beautiful Star of Bethlehem."  A star led the wise men to Jesus.  Wise men still seek Him!  Jesus gave us a Light to light the way!

Here are the lyrics:

O beautiful star of Bethlehem
Shining far through shadows dim
Giving the light for those who long have gone
Guiding the wise men on their way
Unto the place where Jesus lay
O beautiful star of Bethlehem
Shine on

O beautiful star of Bethlehem
Shine upon us until the glory dawns
Give us a light to light the way
Unto the land of perfect day
O beautiful star of Bethlehem
Shine on

O beautiful star the hope of life
Guiding the pilgrims through the night
Over the mountains 'til the break of dawn
Into the light of perfect day
It will give out a lovely ray
O beautiful star of Bethlehem
Shine on

O beautiful star of Bethlehem
Shine upon us until the glory dawns
Give us a light to light the way
Unto the land of perfect day
O beautiful star of Bethlehem
Shine on

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

We attend Cornerstone Baptist Church located outside of Jennings, Louisiana.  We're a loving little church with people who love to serve.  During Hurricane Harvey this year, as everyone knows, the storm sat over southeast Texas and dumped torrential rains over our neighbors to the west.  We were spared much of the damage over in our neck of the woods, but the effects of storms are not foreign to us.  Our pastor, for example, lost his home to the flooding in Denham Springs, Louisiana in August 2016.  The rain had barely stopped falling when our pastor mobilized a response team from our church.  One team went to Orange, Texas several weeks ago and a second group of nine people went last weekend.

We left before daylight and signed in a little more than an hour later at North Orange Baptist Church where we were assigned a home and given breakfast and coffee.  Our work orders showed that the home received floodwaters and the original team cut out 18 inches of sheetrock and insulation.  Our job was to go ahead and remove 4 feet of sheetrock and insulation, pull nails out of the studs, remove cabinets in the kitchen and remove two showers, a vanity and toilet.  We also pulled the flooring from the master bedroom.

The weather was crisp and cool - perfect for demolition.  We called the homeowner and introduced ourselves.  Mrs. Judy showed up with two coffeepots that she promptly brewed strong coffee to fuel us.  She was a really nice lady who worked alongside us with a big smile the whole day.  Her husband, L.G., was a Viet Nam veteran who will be having heart surgery next week.  We circled and held hands and prayed for this family and then we started to work.  The youth began pulling the cabinets in the kitchen.  In the photo below you can see how the original crew cut out 18 inches of sheetrock.  You'll see how we pulled 4 feet in later photos.

The work went well.  Some of us pulled the sheetrock, some removed nails, others cut the insulation with a utility knife, while others swept and picked up debris.  We worked room by room, working hard, but smiling and joking and enjoying working with one another and getting to know Mrs. Judy better.  Despite the damage to her home and her husband's health, she had the biggest smile on her face the whole day. 

Once the sheetrock was removed and insulation cut out, the house "opened up."  We wore masks as the sheetrock dust from all of the demolition got very thick.  We had two wheelbarrows that were constantly moving, carrying debris to the roadside where it will be picked up by the city.

As the nails were pulled from the studs, they were dropped on the floor.  One of our team stuck one in his boot but fortunately, it did not go all the way through and into his foot.  We had a magnet that we swept back and forth from then on to gather all loose nails.

The pile by the roadside grew and grew.  We noticed a next door neighbor across the street was flying the flag of Israel.  We all thought that was pretty neat.

Despite one slight problem with a water leak that slowed us down a little bit, we got a lot of work done and cleaned up the work area and took pictures and hugged Mrs. Judy and prayed with her again.  Here she is with me and my two boys.

Here is a photo of the crew in front of Mrs. Judy's home.

And here is another photo of the Cornerstone Hurricane Relief Team in front of the home.  We were tired, but it felt good to serve a sister in Christ in her time of need.

As we packed up the trucks and trailer for the journey back home, we were amazed by the amount of work we were able to accomplish.  The pile of construction debris was a testimony to the work day.

We pulled out of the driveway and Mrs. Judy got our contact information as she wants to invite us to a house-warming party when she moves back in.  We met a new friend and had a fantastic day.  As we drove off I thought about Acts 20:35 that says:

In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.

It is so true.  Mrs. Judy was SO grateful, but as we left, I felt that WE got the bigger blessing.  In fact, we can't wait to go back and help out again.  We held a meeting before church Sunday evening and are planning a return trip to Orange, Texas on November 11th.