Category: General

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. —Phiip

It is fall, autumn; the air is crisp, the leaves are turning, the harvest is in, hurricane season is over, and shortly the national holiday of Thanksgiving will be here. But, for Christians, every day is thanksgiving! God has brought us to this season, that for many is the favorite season of the year. For all the blessings that the Lord has given us, this is a good time to fall on our knees with thanksgiving! Thank the Lord for Jesus and His gift of grace! Do so as we approach the advent season. Don’t wait until Thanksgiving to fall on your knees and pray; now is the time, as is any time; and now is the season, as is any season. Fall! On your knees!

 

 

Universal Church Directories has added a photo session date for Bethany. After completing the schedule for our first photo session date, November 5, UCD added a second date, Monday, November 18.

Bethany Communications (BethCom) will begin October 27 signing up people for the new date. If you are one of the Bethany people who has not signed up to get your directory photo taken, please stop in the narthex Sunday and schedule your photo appointment. You also may call the church office, 249-0266, and schedule your photo appointment.

Photos will be taken every 10 minutes beginning at 2 PM, Monday, November 18, up to 8:30 PM.  The directory photo is free, and you will receive a free 8″ x 10″ print along with your copy of the new directory. So sign up as soon as possible! If you cannot get your photo taken November 18, for $10.00, you may submit a directory photo to UCD.

For our directory to be complete and useful to all in the congregation, we want everyone’s photo in the directory!

 

While the seasons of earth—While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. (Genesis 8:22 ESV) and the seasons of life—Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV)—change, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 ESV).

The seasons of earth change and constantly surprise us with hurricanes, heat waves and periods of extreme cold, along with the pleasant weather we expect in each season. The seasons of life are no different: Whether in our youth we find a new love or experience an illness , or in our mature years enjoy our retirement or lose a loved one, life is always changing. We will experience good and bad. But with the changes of the earth and the changes in our lives, there is stability in Christ, for He is unchanging. If you are looking for an anchor in your life, follow Jesus!

 

We are sad to report the death of one our church family, Gene Thomas Stilley. We express our condolences to his family, we share their grief and we pray for the Lord to comfort them. His obituary, as printed in the New Bern Sun Journal, is printed below.

ARAPAHOE – Gene Thomas Stilley of Arapahoe, NC died suddenly September 28, 2019. A native of New Bern, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy after graduation from New Bern High School in 1971. After his military service, he continued his work as a Helicopter Mechanic at Cherry Point Marine Corp Air Station until his retirement in 2008. His retirement was filled with his unique gift of taxidermy, residential construction, and special time with his family, children, and grandchildren. He attended Bethany Christian Church for many years. He was preceded in death by his son, Jeremy Gene Stilley. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Pat Polzin Stilley; daughter, Emily Harper and husband Eric Harper; daughter-in-law, Marie Stilley; grandchildren, Casey Harper, Miko Stilley, Diana Harper, Jilly Stilley, and Davis Harper, all of Arapahoe; parents, L. Graham and Lovie Thomas Stilley of New Bern; brothers, Richard Stilley and wife Cathy of Roswell, GA; Dennis Stilley and wife Kriston of Rockmart, GA; and Gary Stilley and wife Kim of New Bern; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Sue and Mike Manning of Arapahoe. A celebration of his life will be Saturday, October 5, 2019 at Bethany Christian Church, Arapahoe, NC with the Rev. Franklin Osgood and the Rev. Merritt Watson officiating. The family will receive friends prior to the service starting at 2 p.m. with the service to follow at 4 p.m. Those desiring may make memorial contributions to Bethany Christian Church, 8126 NC Hwy. 306, Arapahoe, NC 28510.

CWF Group 5 and BethCom are putting on a yard sale Saturday, 14 Sep, from 7 AM to noon. Furniture, household and miscellaneous items, as well as books and pocketbooks will be available.

Also, muffins, juice and coffee will be available for purchase! So come early, have your coffee and a muffin for breakfast, and find good deals!

Click here for the poster.

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling— if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked.  For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.  He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. —2 Corinthians 5:1-5

We all have experienced moving into a home—unloading boxes, taking off our shoes so as not to scratch the floor. Most of us have places to live that we call “home.” Most of them are comfortable and familiar to us, and we feel “at home” in them.

But we all are travelers and what we think of as our homes really are just rest stops along the way. As believers in Jesus Christ, we travel through this life toward our real home, with Him. When we arrive, there will be no boxes to unload and unpack, no shoes to take off and probably no floors to scratch. But we will know, at last, that we are Home, Sweet Home!

 

The WordPress user agreement allows WordPress to insert ads in blogs and websites. We cannot change that. We would have to use another platform that would not be free, and would, in fact, involve a substantial expense. Communications is considering another option, however.

But for the time being, do not click on a highlighted word, like the ones highlighted in this post in blue. If your cursor hovers over the word, an ad will pop up. Do not click on that ad! Some ads will insert malware into your computer, and it will be hard to clean it, or eliminate it, if you do not have good anti-virus/anti-malware protection on your computer.

The best protection against any malware attack on your computer is a good anti-virus/anti-malware protection program. There are many available, some for free, like Malwarebytes.

The editor recommends Trend Micro Maximum Security, which, if you buy online from Trend Micro (you can purchase in stores, but the price for doing so is about 20% higher),  costs $49.95 for one year . Renewals each year are discounted. Trend Micro operates in the cloud, and doesn’t slow your computer.

Here is the link to Trend Micro.

http://bestantivirusoftware.com/trendmicro-antivirus.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwqNnqBRATEiwAkHm2BFdjKlOJGWbt6jnNnk2RAqiMXDbtBnQzR3gTs_1igxdhrlejET2ZPxoCMSAQAvD_BwE

But there are other good programs as well; just do something to protect your computer, if you do not currently have protection. And don’t click on ads.

Franklin Graham writes:

“As a North Carolina native, I’m troubled that secularism has spread across our state like it has across our country. Many in North Carolina are doing everything in their power to remove God’s truth and His Name from our government, our schools, our businesses—all parts of public life. Meanwhile, the number of people across the state who profess faith in Jesus Christ has dropped significant.y. What North Carolina—and America as a whole—needs is the transformation that comes when individuals surrender their lives to Jesus Christ. He is our only Hope.

The Lord has given me the opportunity to join with believers like you at free, one-night evangelistic events across our state this October. I want to tell our neighbors about the hope they can find through repentance and faith in Christ. Will you encourage your church members to bring their friends and family who need to hear about His love to the Decision America Tar Heel State Tour? Let’s come together to proclaim ‘the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God’ (2 Corinthians 4:4, NKJV).

Each event on the eight-city tour will also feature live music and prayer for our state and nation. Will you and your church join this life-changing outreach?

May God bless you—and may God bless America!”

After the concert, as I exited the sanctuary and listened to people’s comments, I heard several say, “This was even better than the concert last year!”

I agree with those comments, and look forward to next year’s performance. As the members of the orchestra were leaving, I asked them to come back next year, and they responded that they would, and that they looked forward to the performance as well.

Events like the performance of the NC Baroque Orchestra are enriching both to our congregation and to the community, and we are privileged to host such uplifting events that we can share with our community.

—Editor

The North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, Frances Blaker and Barbara Blaker Krumdieck, directors, will perform in concert Thursday, August 8, in the Bethany sanctuary.

The public is invited to the concert, The Enchanted Baroque, music of Vivaldi, Telemann, Rameau and others. It begins at 7 PM. Bethany is located at the crossroads in Arapahoe, 8126 NC Hwy 306 S.

This concert is a rare cultural event in rural Pamlico County. Those who have attended the performance in either of the two previous years will attest that it is worthy of any major orchestral venue.