Dear
Pastor and Praying Friends,
For therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just
shall live by faith. -Romans 1:17
We
are thankful for the change in seasons once again, but we have reason to be
more thankful this season especially.
Recently, severe storms ( complete with tornados, hail, flooding, and
winds blowing up to 60 mph) have swept through our area. Several buildings were damaged. A few had their roofs blown off their
apartments. Telephone poles were snapped
in two along our street. Several
neighborhoods were without power for up to five days. One gentleman just down
the road from our church and home experienced a huge tree branch...and I do
mean HUGE, fall onto and completely total his truck. We praise the Lord that other than a few
panels of siding being blown off, three days without power, and the loss of our
church sign; we suffered minimal damage.
Our Church Family
Some
of our members have been going through storms of their own. Please join me in praying that these storms
will be a source of growth for them. One
of our members, in particular, recently took in his aging mother. She lived with him for about two months or so
and came to church with him regularly. She
passed away in her bed on a Thursday morning. He thoroughly enjoyed caring for
her and we enjoyed her presence in the services. She will be sorely missed.
One
highlight I want to share with you is the success of our Ressurection
service. Several new families and many
children were present. Two visitors in
particular met me at Wal-mart during the week and told me they were coming to
my church for Easter. Well, I've heard
that before, and we live in a small town with many large churches where people
usually attend where their families attend.
I was tremendously blessed when they both showed up with their relatives
in tow! Every Easter we do a pinata
instead of an egg hunt to conclude our services. Everybody loves it! We have my nieces and
nephew here with us and we could tell they had hit a few pinatas during their
short lifetimes; but my oldest girl, Aaliyah, had the pleasure of bursting one
open this year. She was SO excited! I have decided that next year we will have
three pinatas instead of two. One for
the little ones, one for the older kids, and one for the adults! I heard some faint murmuring from the
"grown kids" about not having an opportunity to try and burst a
pinata.
I
trust that you had a wonderful Ressurection Sunday as well. Praise the Lord
that we serve a risen Savior!!!
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are
yet in your sins. 1
Corinthians 15:17
In
His service,
Pastor
Raymond Beckles
Lighthouse
Baptist church
Newport,
Arkansas
