Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 26
Luke 2:8 "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." Who are your favorite characters in the account of the birth of Jesus? The shepherds or the three Wise Men, referred to often as Kings? I'm going to say hands down most of us chose the shepherds. Why is that? For me, it is because they represented a part of the more common of society, even the poorer part of society. Jesus said that it is very difficult for a...
Matthew 1:18a "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:" From the time of the tragedy in the Garden of Eden, God began to announce the saving of what was lost. The whole world present and future was suddenly lost in that one act of disobedience, sin. At that moment mankind was cast into a helpless situation. Fully conscious and making decisions, he still could not remedy what he had done to His very soul and the soul of every human born through Him after that. It not...
I Thessalonians 5:19 "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." This is not meant to be a great piece of scholarship, but to rejoice in a great time of the year…Thanksgiving. It should not be a time to first give credence to the turkey and all the trimmings. It is supposed to be a time for a special look at life in and through Christ Jesus. The song "Count Your Blessings" has to come to mind. When we are sitting around the t...
Orange became a settlement about 1852 and the oldest Baptist Church organized in 1857. It is Old First Orange Baptist Church today. Lutcher Memorial Church Building, now the First Presbyterian Church of Orange, Tx, is a historic church at 902 W. Green Avenue in Orange, Texas. It was built in 1912 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The very first New Testament church was established without a building, of course, in Jesus calling out of the 12...
"Thy God whom thou serves continually, He will deliver thee." (Deut. 6:16) Mary Tyler Moore said something that was profound…simple but profound. She said, "No one gets out of here without dying." Obviously, she was right. Even in the rapture that we Christians just hope we are available for will have to go through a death experience…instantaneously, but none the less these bodies are going to have to be dropped behind and we put on a new body fit for heaven. In death for the...
Matthew 19:13-15 "Then were there brought unto him (Jesus) little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.15 And he laid his hands on them..." Part of the reason my wife and I married was to have children and bring them to Jesus. We had already been born again in Christ and desired to be given of the Lord...
The Apostle Paul used his own life to illustrate God's amazing grace. He wrote in Romans 7:24-25 under the inspiration of God, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." In I Timothy 2:15, Paul spoke clearly of his own unworthiness, calling himself the chiefest of sinners. It says, "This is a faithful saying, a...
Luke 8:23-25 "But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even th...
Jonah 2:1 "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly…" This world dishes up some very interesting stuff. Don't misunderstand me, I love life and having a heart created by the Lord in His saving grace, I am always learning how to negotiate all of those interesting problems the devil, or the world throws at me or something of my own doing. As much as we find sweet times in daily life from time to time, so do we encounter problematic ones. Every now and t...
Judges 6 and 7 ...Where is Gideon' s army today? Like in Gideon's day when Israel had been delivered from sin and the world, they became lazy in faithfulness and began to blend into the world...so much that they became comfortable with it and it's ways, even giving attention to what the world thought important. Israel embraced the idols of the Amorites and the world society of the Midianites. God quit blessing Israel and they became impoverished and sunk to living in caves and...
Matthew 7:7-11 "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in...
Mark 2:1 "And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house." Here in this passage we see the phrase, "…it was noised that he was in the house." Capernaum is the town where Jesus resided and ministered out of in His travels. What a great place to live where Jesus the Son of God dwelt. Now what's my point today? Can it be said of your community that there are houses where the resurrected Christ dwells? Oh, it would have to be e...
Romans 10:9 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." On the day they crucified Jesus there was hopes by the religionist and others of that day that they would be finished with Jesus. Satan especially was seeking the end of Jesus, the Son of God. He knows that Jesus is on track to put him in hell someday, but he could only hope that this would resolve that for him....
Oh How God Loves You The Lord's Love And Protection The Lord’s love and protection Are never so far, That he cannot reach us Wherever we are. His arm outstretched Like an eagle’s wing, Ever hovering with the love And care he brings. Enlightened by his strength And comforting power, We may rest and be assured Every day, every hour. By, Teresa C. Hates Hebrews 13:5 "…for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Can we get our hearts around this? If you can,...
John 16:33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." There are some comforting thoughts to be drawn from this awesome passage. First of all, I want you to think about what is happening in this fallen world. We are seeing apocalyptic events all over the world. Nations are coming apart spiritually and morally. The consequences of such reality are devastating to t...
In the Gospel of John 1:4-5 "In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." In the Epistle of First John 1:5,7 "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." In the Gospel of John 8:12 "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall...
When Jesus shows up in your storm, He'll be walking on water. The storm had been raging and had come to a tempest that it appeared all was lost, including the disciples lives. They had done everything to overcome, but nothing was working. It was now to only wait until the end. So, where was God? Why what appeared to be a delay? Where was the concern for their lives? Am I going to die? Have you had these times in your life? Maybe recently with Covid or a loved one with it. So...
Luke 2:1-11 "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espou...
The season produces images of red, white, green, every color of light, family and church, and of course, gifts. Then there is the December dessert table that begins early and stretches far beyond Christmas Day…cookies and candy, pie, and did I say cookies and candy? Then there is cake, and did I mention cookies and candy? We won't forget to mention all the great holiday meals that will be served around that dessert. Although, as a kid, don't you remember sitting down at the ta...
Acts 20:35 "…remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." Who else but Jesus can say such a thing with the clearest of conscience that that is exactly what He did. He gave us creation and our individual lives. He gave Himself as the sacrifice of all from sin and condemnation who would believe. He literally has given and continues to give His all for those in His Kingdom, the true believers. Thanksgiving Day is the time to e...
John 1:29 "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John the Baptist had been talking about Him and preparing a people to follow Him when He came walking on the earth's landscape. Lo and behold, John looks up one day while speaking to a crowd about Him, and there was Jesus. What an awesome sight for John and He was coming to him. Mark tells us that Jesus, after being crucified and rising again...
Matt. 7:24-27 "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the...
John 3:16 " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Let's begin with the heart of God. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." That is the first Verse of the Bible. When He got done, He looked at it all and said, "It is good." He liked it. In all of His holiness He loved it. The crowning point of His creation, as it says in 1:26, was His making of man and...
Our text is II Samuel 9:13 " So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his feet." Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan. He was King Saul's son. King Saul was David's enemy because he knew that God had set David up to replace him as king. Saul had attempted to kill David many times. At one point he chased David all over the countryside of trying to kill him and his men. So, when Saul died it was expected that...
Why I believe more than ever in God... In Acts 14:22 Paul was "Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith..." I quit looking to this world and the human race to fulfill my peace and livelihood along time ago. Being 74 years old has given me, along with others of long life, an understanding of what to believe in and it's not anything we can see. We've learned that anything you can see and touch can't be depended upon. It either gets old...
