31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:31-32 (ESV)

Pastor John Scripture Reference: II Samuel 11 & 12

Jesus said that the poor are always with us, but the rich are almost always with us too. We may often admire them and want to live like they do, but at times (human nature being what it is) we don’t much like them, particularly if we think they are responsible for our own misfortune. Something like that is going on in Britain right now. Bankers who got rich through peddling sub-prime mortgages and other dodgy investments or hedge-fund managers who have made a killing on the stock market by shorting shares are blamed for plunging the country into deep […]

   Vance Havner grew up in the hills of North Carolina in the early twentieth century. Licensed to preach at the age of twelve and ordained at fifteen, this “backwoods” Baptist preacher spent his life calling people to true repentance. Boldly proclaiming the Word of God for seventy-three years, Havner came to be loved and known for his exacting style and ingenious wordplay. In the passage below, he draws pointed parallels between the people of God during Elijah’s times—the Mt. Carmel confrontation (1 Kings 18:30-39)—and the Church of his times. As Havner observes, fire from heaven falls on faithful prophets […]

   Researchers from Newcastle University announced in 2008 that they had created the first human-animal hybrids in Great Britain. By fusing human DNA with cow ova (eggs), they produced what have become known as cytoplasmic hybrids, or “cybrids.” Declared to be 99.9% human and .1% animal, the first cybrids grew for three days and consisted of 32 cells.1 The British Parliament backed the research by refusing to ban it. Prime Minister Gordon Brown even called the study an “inherently moral endeavour” and a “profound opportunity” to save millions of lives.2 Still, the cybrids were not allowed to grow beyond 14 […]

   The children and youth of the First Baptist Church of Perryville will present their Christmas musical recital at 6:30 PM, Sunday December 6. The recital will be held on the second floor in the main auditorium of the church. Use the double doors around the right side of the church building.

Pastor John Scripture Reference: II Samuel 7:1-29

   On May 16-17, 1966, five hundred delegates from Baptist churches all over the Soviet Union converged on Moscow’s Old Square to demand an end to the state’s persecution of Christians. With cold efficiency, the government ordered soldiers and KGB officials to surround the demonstrators (thus hiding the scene from passers-by), attack them, herd them onto a fleet of waiting buses, and haul them away for “interrogation.” Two days later one of the organizers of the demonstration, Georgi Vins, pastor of a small Baptist church in Kiev, showed up at the Communist Party’s office building asking what had happened to […]

   13:24 Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. 23:13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. 14 If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. Proverbs 13:24; 23:13-14 (ESV)

   7 “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, 8 but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. 9 Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, […]