Poplar Spring Missionary Baptist Church

Pastor Vardry A. Freeman’s 11^th Anniversary Breakfast

Saturday - October 15, 2011

The Pastor’s 11^th Anniversary weekend kicked off on Saturday October 15^th with an Anniversary Breakfast in the church Fellowship Hall. Rev. Thomas Dendy was the Master of ceremonies for the occasion. Rev. Dendy also gave the call to worship and greetings. Bro. Eddie Phillips read the scripture and Rev. Alfred Johnson prayed and graced the bounty.

The purpose of the occasion was read by Deacon Oscar Neely from the Mt. Zion Baptist church in Fountain Inn; SC. Rev. Thomas Dendy introduced the speaker.

Pastor Robert Simpson of the Victory Temple Baptist Church in Greenville, SC took his text from mark 4:35. His topic was “Storm Faith”. He began by stating that faith was the best thing that God’s children could have. Having faith means that your belief in God will always see you through every storm in your life. “Mustard seed” faith can see you through a multitude of trials and tribulations. But the best faith of all to have is storm faith! To have an unusual faith in time of trouble is to have storm faith. This is the kind of faith that can move obstacles that can stand in the way of getting a good job, a nice home, a nice car even when the odds are against you.

Pastor Simpson told Pastor Freeman to ‘hold on” and to have storm faith because change is coming. God’s going to trouble the waters and make all things new again! He told the congregation that storm faith will enable us to be the kind of Christians that God wants us to be. When you have storm faith, he said, you know that God is your provider, your protector and your all and all. Joy in the Lord’s coming will sustain you and your storm faith will cover you. God will hold you in His bosom and shower you with blessings. He will shield you in times of trouble and all you have to do is believe in Him. All you need is storm faith. Faith in God and trust in His love. Hang on Pastor Freeman - hang on to your storm faith!

“Then Jesus told him ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen me, yet believed’.” (John 20:28) NKJNIV

The program closed with a song (“I Need Thee“) and a prayer by Rev. Terry King. Everyone in attendance enjoyed good food and good fellowship. Congratulations to Pastor Freeman on 11 years of teaching and preaching God’s Word!

Mary Sexton

2011 WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATION

Sunday - September 18, 2011

Theme: Women United By the Love of Christ

The final day of celebrating and rejoicing this years Women’s Day was Sunday morning service and it began with devotion and praise by the Women’s Day choir. The Mistress of Ceremonies for the program was Sis. Metia Floyd. Greetings were given by Sis. Mary Watkins and the call to worship by Sis. Constance Thomason. Responsive Reading was done by Sis. Renay Stroud and prayer by Sis. Edwina Perrin. Sis Charlesina Yeargin gave the congregation the purpose and history of why we celebrate Women’s Day and the speaker of the hour was introduced by Sis. Tracey Black.

Minister Elizabeth Seawright of the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Simpsonville, SC opened her message with scripture from Psalm 20. Her topic was “Prayer Changes Things - Hang On, Help Is on the Way”. She began by telling the congregation that NOW is the time to worship in spirit and in truth. She said that we just can’t talk about being saved, but we must trust in God and acknowledge Him so that He will direct our paths. We must also pray for those in authority, especially our President. We need to pray that God gives him wisdom. There is a spirit of hate that is dividing our people. We need to pray for our pastor and all pastors in other churches. We know that we can not make changes, but we do know that prayer can change a lot of things.

“For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down and the mountains trembled before you” (Isaiah 64:3) KJNIV

Minister Seawright said that we need to stand in the truth and continue to pray. If the sisters in the church want the ministries to grow, we need to pray in unity for our leaders. God wants us to fall on our knees and pray. If we want to move in the spirit and vein of God, we need to pray more. In Psalm 20, the scripture tells us that the men came together to pray for their king. Some of us who are Christians thought that once we were saved, everything would be all right. But being saved is a process! God wants us to know that in our weakness, He is made strong. It is time to put on the whole armor of God, so that you can be a warrior for God because we are in the midst of a battle.

Minister Seawright stated that we are depressed, discouraged and disgusted. She told the congregation that when we are praying, we need to do more than just cry. We need to declare the word of God over ourselves and say “May the Lord answer me in time of trouble”. We need to know that God delivers us out of all our troubles! Christ died so that we can have a relationship with God. God is trying to draw us out to a place in Him. His salvation is enough. He will remember how you cried all night long and how you had to minister to someone else. So instead of complaining about situations in your life - learn how to pray! God will allow you to get to the place where you will have no other recourse but to call on Him. This enables Him to do His work on the plan that he has for you. He will hide you in a time of trouble.

We are God’s anointed. He has plans for us. We need to declare the Word of God over ourselves! And when we come to the end of ourselves, we have to let go and let God have His way in our lives. We must ask God for exactly what we want. We don’t have to depend on our own resources, when we have God; there is power, healing, deliverance and love in the name of the Lord.

“Humble yourselves therefore under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6, 7) KJNIV

Mary Sexton

2011 WOMEN’S CONFERENCE

Saturday - September 17, 2011

Theme: It’s Harvest Time for the Heart and Soul

On this second day of the 2011 spectacular annual Women’s Day Conference, the program started with devotion and praise led by Sis. Bonnie Franks. Greetings were given by Sis. Dorothy Franks and a solo by Sis. Liza White. Minister Meriel Keith introduced the speaker for the program.

Minister Vanita Bonner of the Liberation Christian Ministries International in Valley, AL began her message with Psalm 51. As she went through the passages, she educated the congregation with her version of the meaning of each one. It goes as follows;

Psalm 51

Verse 1: Have mercy on me O god according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. We have to be real with others. Don’t go along to get along, be yourself!

Verse 2: Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Bare your soul - let sin go and let God claim your heart.

Verse 3: For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Harvest means to lay yourself at the altar before God.

Verse 4: Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Love people enough to get them back to their place in God.

Verse 5: Surely, I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Have something positive in our own lives so that we can bring others back to God’s grace.

Verse 6: Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. We have to stay away from things that trip us up.

Verse 7: Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. We have to let others know that God is the only one who can clean us up.

Verse 8: Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Know that you can never do anything that is so bad that God can’t clean us up!

Verse 9: Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. We should repent daily of all our wrongdoing.

Verse 10: Create in me a pure heart O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Create a clean heart, God wants to make you whole today!

Minister Bonner said that women everywhere must take on the task of loving ourselves first and be honest with ourselves first. This honesty will open doors to the soul and bring forth a harvest of friends, family, love and trust! The challenges that we face refine us and make us more like Christ. If you want to change your life, you must change the choices and actions that you make.

“Create in me a clean heart, God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10) NKJ NIV

Mary Sexton

Poplar Springs Missionary Baptist Church Annual Men’s Day Celebration

Theme: “Unified Brethren That have Taken The Step Of Faith”

Sunday - March 27, 2011

Written by: Mary Sexton

The guest lecturer for the Men’s Day Sunday Church School was Rev. Levi Perrin who spoke on the lesson “This is My Beloved” in which he retold the story of Jesus’ transfiguration, reiterated that Jesus is truly the son of God and gave explanations on how we can worship Jesus as God’s son.

WORSHIP -

The Men’s Day All Male Choir led devotion with songs of praise and worship. Deacon Ted McNeil brought greetings to the congregation and the call to worship was given by Deacon Joe Price while the Responsive Reading was led by Bro. Eddie Phillips and the invocation was done by Bro. B. Wayne Brady. Deacon James Gardner introduced the speaker of the hour, Rev. Sam Cureton of the Reedy River Baptist Church.

Rev. Cure ton’s text was taken from Psalms 46:1-10 and his topic was “When Trouble Comes”. Rev. Cureton began his sermon by stating to the congregation that it was not a matter of “if”, but “when” trouble comes. He asked the congregation if there had ever been a safe place, a safe Harbor in a world such as ours? He reminded us that as Christians God is our refuge, a safe place when trouble comes and that as Christians we should know this and expect it from God who is our savior and our hiding place. He is our safety net in a time of need. Rev. Cureton also asked the congregation to consider that when you send your child to school - will there be a safe environment for them when they are away from the safety of their home? He goes on to say that there is no safe place other than under God’s power. Sometimes we may look strong on the outside, but God has to give us strength on the inside. But the most important thing to remember is to depend on God who is there for us in times of fear, in times of trouble, and in times of turmoil. When our lives are falling apart, God gives us refuge, when our jobs are lost, when our homes are in foreclosure, when our children have gone astray, when we think that we can’t handle one more trial, God is there to bring us back to Him, to be our refuge in a time of storms, to be our mainstay when life has turned our world upside down. When life as we know it is crumbling, God is our refuge, a very present help in a time of sorrow, in a time of grief and despair. God is our safe haven because He makes Himself available and accessible to us. He lets us know that if we just trust in Him, everything will be all right!

“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.” (Psalm 91:2) KJNIV

Rev. Cureton stated that nothing and no one can compare to the goodness of God! We need to put God first in everything we do. We need to keep God in our minds to be in perfect peace. He asked the men in the congregation to go out into their communities and teach the young men about Gods’ love. Teach them that calling on God is the only way to handle your trouble when it comes. Rev. Cureton told the congregation that sometimes we sit back and let others pull us into their troubles when we have troubles of our own. But he said that when we step out of our troubles to help someone else, OUR troubles become very small and insignificant. He said to the congregation to be still and let God work. We need to pray and trust in His holy name and teach our children to go out and act like Christians. But we have to be an example for them. His Word says that we all have sinned and fallen short of His glory, but God has forgiven us and delivered us so many times that they can not be counted. He truly is our refuge. He promised that He would be there for us if we would just follow him! Rev. Cureton then asked the congregation “How are you going to handle trouble when it comes?” His answer was “When trouble shows up, tell trouble about God, tell trouble about a God who shows up and changes your life for the better and gives you a reason to go on from day to day. Tell trouble about a God who is able to do all things, except fail!” Steal away to your secret closet and call on Him. Call on the God who said that He would never leave you nor forsake you. Trust in Him who sent His son who came, bled and died on an old rugged cross. Who in three days arose with all power and made a way for us to have eternal life. And you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, are the only ones who can claim eternal life by confessing Jesus Christ to be your Lord and savior. Some of us have the personality trait of wanting things NOW! But we must be still, praise God and look to the hills for help from the Lord. Know that nothing is too hard for God. Worship Him, trust in Him and praise him! And he will deliver you out of your trouble!

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving us for an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4: 17) KJNIV

At the end of the worship service, Bro. Darric Sewell and Bro. Otis Driver presented gifts to the young members of the Man UP Mentoring Program. This program has proven to be beneficial to the young men of the church and surrounding community who is learning how to be a Christian man in this world that we have created for them. Kudos to the mentors of this ministry!! May God continue to show you the way!

“Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’.” 1 Peter 5:5 (KJNIV)

Our prayers and thanks to Rev. Cureton and all participants in the Men’s Day worship service.