A Busy Sunday

A Busy Sunday

It was a busy day for us here at the Cottage Hill Church.

AM

The morning service was our special once a year Friend Day.

(image from Wispy Willow Wanderings Facebook page)

This was a time to invite our friends and family to church for a special rally day.  Everyone was encouraged to get in contact with family and friends and those who haven’t been to church in a while and invite them to come.  We wanted as many as possible here on this one Sunday.

 

The church was very full, in fact, if you came late, it was hard to find a place to sit.  Folding chairs were even brought out to sit in the back.  Of course, the back pews are the favorite of many, and they filled up first.  One mother and daughter who comes regularly, and usually sit in the back, had to come all the way to the front. They sat by me, and the mother laughingly told me that the last time she sat in the front pew was when she was a child and got in trouble in church and was made to sit in the front!

The whole order of the morning service was changed from the usual, with special music planned and a special speaker.

Our talented song leader, Matt Clyde, leading the congregational singing, choosing very uplifting spiritual songs.

Sitting on the platform is senior pastor, Rev. Daniel Clyde, on the left, and assistant pastor, Rev, Gabriel Clyde, on the right.

 

The special song,  “The Light House”, was sung by (L to R) Aaron Clyde, Gabriel Clyde and Josh Hosey.

Maria Lawrence on the piano.

They did a beautiful job!

The special speaker was Matthew Blankenship, from Westfield, Indiana.  He gave his powerful testimony of God’s saving Grace in his life.  I don’t believe that there was a dry eye in the place when he was done.  His testimony was a great blessing to the saved, and a challenge to the unsaved.  We pray that God will use his testimony to speak to hearts.

The toke board in the back kept growing in number-the first photo I took it said 148, then jumped to 150, and finally stopped here, at 153.

 

We are so thankful for such a wonderful service.

After the service, many of the folks headed over to the new school building to share a meal together and get to know Mr. Blankenship better.

PM

Then, back to church in the evening for a special service featuring Gideon’s International.  The Gideon’s are a group of evangelical Christian business and professional men whose purpose is to distribute Bibles free to everyone.  They operate in 200 countries around the world, giving out Bibles in the native languages of the people.  They distribute Bibles to school and college students, military personnel, those in the medical profession-where ever they are allowed to hand out literature.  The Bible that you find in most hotel rooms is placed there by the Gideon’s.  ( When ever we are in a motel room, we always find the Gideon’s Bible, if there is one,  and leave it open on the night stand to let the staff know that we appreciate that there is a Bible there for all to read who will.)

The special song for evening was from 4 of our young people.  They did a great job singing.  Melinda Hosey on the piano.

Mr. Dennis Smith was the speaker sent to us that evening.  He shared with us many stories of how God’s Word was working and changing the lives of people the world over.  How encouraging to hear and know that God is still at work in the hearts of men.  By the way, that is Mr. Smith’s grand-kids tie!  Very cute.

One of the main reasons that I love the Gideon’s is that all of the monies given in offerings goes to the printing and distributing of Bibles. They give out millions of Bibles every year, mostly through the offerings from the local evangelical churches.  The business men that make up the Gideon’s all pay their own way-dues, printing of Bibles, travel expenses, etc.  There are no well paid top officials.  We are invited as pastors every year to the local annual Gideon’s dinner, and the local members pay for our meal. We are glad for the part that our church can play in the work that they are doing.

I trust that you had a blessed Sunday also!

*

Isaiah 55:11

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth,

it shall not return unto me void,

but it shall accomplish that which I please,

and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.