Church guide

To God be the glory, great things HE hath done!! This day of praise for our church is not only a celebration of the past, but a covenant and purposed heart for the Lord to continue growing in Him. Our church desires to grow in the Lord, to be more like Him, to win souls for Him, to daily, individually have a relationship with Him. ************************** Today was a day of joy and celebration for our church family and friends as we had our charter service! Our sending church, Houston Bible Baptist, came to rejoice with us as we stepped out from under their leadership and authority to become an autonomous, independent Baptist Church. We began as a baby church plant September 2016 and praise the Lord for this step He has given us. Our special services started on Wednesday night with preaching from Pastor John Pritchard of Calvary Baptist Church, Timberlake, NC (where our Pastor John and Miss Mary were saved). Sunday School was preached by Pastor Melvin Williams of Berean Baptist, Springfield, MO (Pastor John's mentor in the ministry). Pastor David Barbee of Houston Bible Baptist, Houston, MO (sending church and pastor) preached our morning Worship Service, and Pastor Caleb Huling (Bro Aaron's brother) preached our afternoon service, the first official service of our chartered church. Thank you, church family, for all the effort you put into helping make this a wonderful day. And thank you to all those who traveled to share this day with us!

We are so thankful to celebrate Josh Kelsoe's graduation from drug court with him today!! The judge commended Josh for being sober/drug free for 19 months. The judge said most officials involved with Drug Court thought it a waste of time when Josh first came to Drug Court, but now they view him as a poster boy for those who wish to be successful in Drug Court and win the fight over drug addiction. We are blessed to have Josh and Jessie as part of our church family, and love this special day for him! Please congratulate him and continue to support him!

Ride Your Bike to Church Day! We had a great fellowship with food after services while the kids rode their bikes and played some games. 🚲 Turned out to be a beautiful day after the rain last night - church friends are such a blessing!

"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her." Proverbs 31:26‭-‬28 KJV

How has your week been going?! We are half-way through the work week, which also means there is a time of rest and refocus - church tonight starts at 7! We would love to have you come out to Bible study. It was a blessing on Sunday that John Beers and one of our youth, Peyton, both saw their need for Jesus as Saviour and accepted Him into their lives. Please pray for them both as they have begun this walk with God, and encourage them. We always want to give praise to the Lord for His sacrifice, mercy and grace to us. He is a good God!

What a wonderful day tomorrow is going to be! Easter is the reason we can have hope...peace...joy. Jesus Christ didn't just die on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins. He rose again!! PROVING that He was and is God! We hope you will plan on joining us for our special services. Church members, our time around the Lord's Supper table will begin at 8:45. Please be there! We will be having breakfast for everyone around 9:15, before Sunday school, with our Worship service starting at 11:00. And don't forget our Easter egg hunt for the kiddos right after the service! We are looking forward to having a great time, and want you with us. Please determine right now that you will be there!! ☺️

On Sunday, three of our young men were awarded a certificate for completing 8 months of lessons/Bible verses. They worked really hard, and as their reward, they were able to go to Fish 'n Pig tonight! Ian and Colt decided to tackle the Holy Cow Burger (one pound of meat - bigger than your head sandwich!) and Hunter chose a rib/catfish/shrimp dinner. As you can see by the pictures, this burger lived up to its reputation!! Colt managed to finish it off, with Ian making sure he scraped the plate clean. Lol Great job on working hard, guys. We are proud of you!! You will never regret memorizing and hiding God's Word in your heart!

What another wonderful day in church! Jessica asked the Lord to be her Saviour this morning! Isn't God good?! Are you still hesitating to walk in the door and be in a service with us? You have another opportunity this Wednesday at 7pm or Sunday morning at 10 and 11. We would love to have you there!!

It's been a good day to be in church, and we are thankful that Tammy and Ethan have joined our church as members. Come join us next Sunday (Wednesday evening also) and see what the Lord is doing here!

Will you join us this coming Friday?!!? Have a wonderful Valentine's Day with your sweetheart, then join us for a Friday night date night! 💖

Our sign is up on the end of our building!! Now we are clearly marked from across the railroad tracks. We are thankful for all the visitors the Lord has sent our way, but we are still waiting for YOU!! Please join us tomorrow for Sunday school and church, 10 and 11am, and for our fellowship dinner afterward!

We wanted to share some pictures from our Dedication services with you. What a blessing to see so many of our church family make it out even on such a snowy/icy day!! And we were thrilled to have the visiting preachers and their families with us, as well as some visitors also! Why did we have a dedication service? What does that mean?? There is actually a 2-part answer: 1. We dedicated this new building to God - we recognize that the finances and help for the whole process could only happen THROUGH Him, and we want to use this gift FOR Him. We want to honor Jesus Christ in everything that goes on inside this building. 2. But more importantly than that - we are encouraged to dedicate OURSELVES to the Lord. We recognize that without Him, we don't have assurance of Heaven, we don't have joy and peace, and we don't have a Heavenly Father Who walks with us through our lives. He has done so much for us that our REASONABLE service to Him should be to live for Him and have a testimony of Him. We are seeing God work in and through the lives of our church family, and we invite you to be a part of it with us. We are just a bunch of sinners, saved by God's grace, that are able to grow in Him and learn more of what His wonderful plans are for our lives. Won't you join is this coming Sunday?!?

Our church sidewalk is clear, and the building is nice and warm. We have coffee and donuts waiting for you! ☕🍩 If you are able to make it, bring your Bible and let's worship the Lord together! If anyone would like a ride, just call and we will come pick you up!

We are having Dedication Services tomorrow, dedicating our new building for the Lord's work, and if the roads are clear enough for you to get out, we would love for you to come join us!! We have special services all day, and a luncheon right after our morning worship service. Whether you have visited with us before, or this would be the first time, we would love to make you feel welcome!! Sunday School 10am Worship Service 11am Evening Service 6pm

So often as Christians, we "play it safe". We hear God calling us to build an ark, step into the Red Sea, lead an army, dip seven times in a muddy river, battle the enemy with praise, stand up to Pharaoh, sacrifice that which is most dear to us, leave our homeland, birth a Holy Spirit conceived plan, speak boldy about what we have seen God do, and we choose not to. Unreasonable. Unable. Unwilling. We hear God calling us out into the deep, beyond our logic, our ability, our will, and instead of placing ourself in a place where God can move, we stand fearfully and stubbornly still. We play it safe without ever stopping to realize the only safe place is the very place God is calling us to. We hold back without ever stopping to realize the only way to see a move of God is to boldly move where God is calling. We say "not now" and "not me" without every stopping to realize, the only way our miracle will come is to trust God enough to say "Yes Lord". God is still a God of miracles. Maybe the only thing holding back the hands of God, is us. Maybe the only thing that is stopping a move of God, is us. Maybe the only thing God is waiting on, is us. Maybe the only thing standing between our miracle and us, is us.~💜

Merry Christmas from Black River Bible Baptist!! Sunday was our first day in our new church, and what a joy it was! Bro. Williams was a blessing as our special Sunday School preacher, our youth pastor Aaron Huling preached in the worship hour, and our Pastor John England preached the afternoon service. We had an incredible meal provided by our ladies and the younger kids made gifts for their mothers. Thank you in a huge way to all those who worked hard to help us be in our building this past weekend. We hope you all have a blessed day with your families, and we would love to see you in church with us this coming Sunday!!

A big thank you to Willis & Nancy, our newest members, for working hard tonight to prepare our new building for this Sunday, praise the Lord! Several others also worked throughout the day cleaning and preparing to move from our current building to our new building. We would love to have you join us this Sunday! Sunday school 10am Worship Service 11am Afternoon Service 1:30pm

Are we thankful for what the Lord has done for us? Or have we become "used to" the thought of what He did on the cross for us? Looking forward to seeing you in church today!!