Ann’s Thrift Shop, 1724 Hwy. 80 in Bloomingdale. Open from 10AM to 5PM. Closed on Wednesdays and Sundays. We offer good, used furniture at reasonable prices, very nice clothes, Avon products at discount prices, and much more!

For Sale... HUGE safe, weighs 1000 lbs. $950, call 912-823-3419.

Antique Upright Piano, cherry wood, fully restored, great condition, $900. Call 656-2343.

12-minute turbo tanning bed, 2005 model, $7,000 or best offer, call 728-5605 or 656-5515.

EZ Go Golf cart GT, 2006 model, red, gas, paid $6500, asking $4500. Call 728-7788.

2006 Kubota L2800 tractor, 4 x 4, just $11,500. Call 728-7788.

THE SPIRIT WORKS!

Religion

Godspeaks

“Ya’ll use duct tape to fix everything! ...I did that with just 3 nails.”

-God

Bulletin Board Briefs

• St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at 155 Goshen Road in Rincon will hold its 2nd Annual Fall Festival on Saturday, October 21, from 8 AM until the fun’s all over!! Giant sale of new and used items, baked goods, and raffle drawings for wonderful prizes. Huge fun slide for the kids and a children’s talent show at 2 PM. Food and drinks on sale all day. Come by and visit our church and join the fun!

• Chevis Oaks Baptist Church, located at 102 Sylvania Road in the Ogeechee Farms area will have “The Standridges” in Concert on Sunday night, October 15th at 6 PM. The Standridges are a Southern Gospel Music Group out of Hemingway, South Carolina.

• Olive Branch Baptist Church is having our Annual Fall Festival! It will be held on the church grounds on Saturday, October 28. This event will start at 3 PM followed by supper at 6 PM. At 7 PM, we will have an open air concert. So bring your favorite blanket or lawn chair and enjoy some good Christian music! As always, everything is free and open to the public.

• Family Fun begins with a visit to the Pumpkin Patch at Bethesda United Methodist Church. The “Patch” opens to the public at 10 AM on Tuesday, October 17 and features pumpkins, pumpkin pies, and on weekday mornings, Pumpkin Patch story time. Open daily from 10 AM to 7 PM, October 17th to October 31st. Bethesda UMC is located at 3608 Midland Road, 2 miles north of GA Hwy. 30. Pumpkin Patch Story Time will feature stories, pumpkin hunts, snacks and juice for the children, and a pumpkin to take home ($2 donation for each child). Group reservations accepted. For more information or to reserve a time for you group, contact Tammy Saxon, Youth Coordinator, at 308-5258.

• New Harvest International Ministries is holding a Chicken Dinner Sale & BBQ Pork Dinner Sale at the Pooler Piggly Wiggly on Saturday, October 7, 11 AM until. Proceeds benefit the Church’s Homeless Outreach Fund.

• Sand Hill Baptist Church will be having Homecoming Services on Sunday, October 8th at 11:00 a.m. Everyone is invited to come and help us celebrate our 97th Anniversary! We will be having special music and singing. Rev. Ronald Hasty will be our guest speaker for the service. Bro. Hasty, as he is affectionately known, was pastor at Sand Hill In the Late 1960s and early 1970s. He is currently teaching and pastors a church in South Carolina. We will be having a covered dish "dinner on the grounds" after services. Our pastor, Rev. Royce Hendry, extends a warm welcome to all former members and friends. Everyone is invited to bring some goodies and join us for a wonderful time together in the Lord. Sunday School begins at 9:45 a.m. and we cordially invite all to come and share this time of Bible study. The church is located at 1936 Sand Hill Rd. approximately 4 miles north of U.S. Highway 80 on Sand Hill Rd.

• Come see and hear "The Gospelaires Quartet" from Warner Robins, Georgia on Saturday, October 21, 2006, 6 PM - 8 PM at Trinity Chapel UMC, 10th & Butler, Tybee Island. For more information, please call 786-6377.

• St. Paul’s Episcopal Church to hold annual Fall Fair - On Saturday, October 28th from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (corner of 34th and Abercorn in Savannah) will hold their Annual Fall Fair to raise money for community outreach and overseas missions. The fair will feature numerous booths with a variety of items for sale, a silent auction, a Luncheon Café featuring BBQ plates and take-out Boston butts and chicken, with entertainment provided by the Boomerang Band. The Fair is free and open to the public, with ample and free on-street parking near the church. The Fall Fair will be preceded by a Preview Party on Friday, October 27th at 7 p.m. Attendees will enjoy hors d’oeuvres, music and a live and silent auction. Tickets are only $25/person or $40 per couple. For more information, contact St. Paul’s at 232-0274.

• Central Baptist Church at 4010 Old Louisville Road would like to invite everyone, this Sunday, October 8th to celebrate the many years God has blessed our Church in Garden City. Sunday School 9:45, Praise and Worship 11:00. Brad Proudfoot will be preaching. Covered dish lunch after service. Gospel sing by David and Curtis following lunch.

• Ellabell United Methodist Church, Hwy 204 in Ellabell, will be having their Barbecue Dinner sale on October 21, 2006, 11 AM - 2 PM. Chicken or pork dinner only $6. Plus, UMW Bake Sale and Silent Auction! Come join us for good food and great fellowship.

• Gospel Sing...at Cokesbury United Methodist Church at 5411 Skidaway Road on October 14, 2006, at 7 PM, with Glory Land Singers from Brunswick, GA and Gospel 4 from Statesboro, GA. Call 748-6174 and ask for Claude, for more information.

• Homecoming is a time of special remembrance and spiritual renewal. Woodlawn Baptist Church will be experiencing its 62nd Homecoming Celebration on Sunday, October 8, 2006. Worship services will begin at 10:30 AM and a covered-dish dinner will be served at noon in the church gym. Rev. Bill Black will be the featured guest pastor and Bro. Ted Jones will be leading the music during our time of worship.

After dinner, the dynamic Praise and Worship Band, “Souled Out”, will provide special music. All current members, former members, friends, and family members are invited to join in this fellowship. Woodlawn Baptist Church is located at 407 Talmadge Avenue in Garden City. For additional information, please contact the church office at 964-8676.

• Chapel-in-the-Gardens Presbyterian Church in Garden City will be having their 71st Annual Homecoming and Revival Services starting Sunday, October 8 through Wednesday, October 11. Dr. Wilson Smith from Dallas, Georgia, will be our featured speaker. The Sunday service begins at 11 AM and is followed by dinner on the grounds – everyone is welcome! All evening services, Sunday through Wednesday, will begin at 7 PM. For more information call the church at 964-5734.

• Proclaimers, a Southern Gospel Quartet based out of Rincon, Georgia, will be hosting their 9th Annual Homecoming Sing on Saturday, October 7, 2006, at 7 p.m. This event will be held at First Baptist Church Rincon. There will be two groups featured that night in addition to the Proclaimers Quartet. The Down East Boys from Reidsville, North Carolina, will be joining us, as well as the Gloryland Trio. Both of these talented groups are well known in the Gospel music industry, and we are excited that they have set aside this time to join us here in Rincon, Georgia.

• Barbecue ~ UMW Bake Sale ~ Silent Auction! Ellabell United Methodist Church will host a Barbecue Dinner sale on Saturday, October 21st, 11 AM - 2 PM, chicken dinner or pork dinner for $6. Come join us for good food and great fellowship! The church is located at 3079 Hwy 204 in Ellabell.

• St. Boniface Catholic Church will have their annual chicken dinner October 21st beginning at 10:00 am. Tickets are $6.50 and are now on sale. Delivery will be available when 10 or more dinners are purchased. Please all 754-7473 for more information.

• Alpha United Methodist Church will host their 3rd Annual Silent Auction on Saturday, October 7th, 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. We have many quality items in all price ranges. Enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres as you browse our selections. We are also offering Pooler and Bloomingdale Shelia House Sets (including a House, Tree and Sign), $25.00 each or $45.00 for both. Alpha United Methodist Church, 5 Highway 80, E., Bloomingdale. 748-4062, for more information.

• The Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance, Inc. presents Fall Youth Crusade 2006 held at Bible and Prayer Ministries, 1905 Waters Avenue, in Savannah with Pastor Verlene Warnock, Host Pastor. October 6 at 7:30PM - Crusade Service with invited guest speaker Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, Ph.D., Senior Pastor of the Historical Ebenezer Baptist Church (the spiritual home of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) in Atlanta. October 7, 11AM to 2:30PM – Bible Bowl and Talent Show, ages 6-18 years. Doors are opened to everyone! You are welcome to be a part of this great crusade experience!

• The Annual Congregation Mickve Israel Shalom Y'all Jewish Food Festival is coming! Sunday, October 29th at Forsyth Park, from 11am til 4pm. For more information, call 1-800-728-6610.

• Obsessive Compulsive Anonymous meets every Monday, 7:00 p.m. at New Faith Community Church, Pooler Georgia. No cost to attend. Call 748-9051 or 844-6967 www.ocapoolerga.com.

Fun Fundraiser Benefits St. Boniface Catholic Church Building Fund

Over $3,000 was raised for St. Boniface Catholic Church for the third annual “Fun Fundraiser Cruise”. Shown from left to right: Yvette Carr of Burns World Travel (Springfield Office) presenting the check to Fr. Wes Lamb, Pastor and Sr. Nuala Mulleady, Pastoral Associate.

Q: Sometimes I feel so depressed in the morning that I can hardly get up. My husband keeps telling me I need to see a doctor, but a friend of mine says that if I just have enough faith in God I'll get better. Which one is right? What should I do? - Mrs. M.C.

A: Even when the days seem dark for you, I want to assure you that God cares about you and wants what is best for you. He loves you (whether you feel it or not), and the Bible's promise is still true: "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. ... The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid" (Hebrews 13:5-6).

Whenever we face a problem (no matter what it is), God wants us to turn to Him and commit it to Him. But prayer and professional medical help are not opposed to each other, and often God answers our prayers by guiding us to the medical help we need. The Bible doesn't look down on medical help, nor does it encourage us to turn away from it. Remember that the writer of two of the books in the New Testament was called "our dear friend Luke, the doctor" (Colossians 4:14).

I strongly urge you to see your doctor or another qualified health professional about this problem. Depression, I am told, may have many different causes, including biochemical imbalances in our bodies that can be corrected with proper medication.

Most of all, I pray that you may discover in a fresh way Christ's love for you, and learn to trust Him even when the way seems dark. The psalmist's words are true: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1).

(Send your queries to "My Answer," c/o Billy Graham, P.O. Box 1270, Charlotte, N.C., 28201; call 1-(877) 2-GRAHAM, or visit the Web site for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: www.billygraham.org.)

Pastor’s Message

The Family of God

By Nicholas A. Kennicott

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV

The great preacher Charles Spurgeon once commented on Christians who fail to join and actively participate in a local church. Truthfully, and only half-jokingly, he compared these disobedient followers of Christ to bricks: “I know there are some who say, ‘Well, I have given myself to the Lord, but I do not intend to give myself to the church.’ Now why not” “Because I can be a Christian without it.” Are you quite clear about that? You can be as good a Christian by disobedience to your Lord’s commands as by being obedient?

“What is a brick made for? To help build a house. It is of no use for that brick to tell you that it is just as good a brick while it is kicking about on the ground as it would be in the house. It is a good-for-nothing brick. So you rolling-stone Christians, I do not believe that you are answering your purpose. You are living contrary to the life which Christ would have you live, and you are much to blame for the injury you do.”

Christians must do everything the can to avoid “kicking about on the ground” and the only way to do that is by joining and being active in a local church. Only then can we reach out with the hand of Christ in connection to the world around us. If Christians everywhere took seriously their obedience to God in being a committed member of a local church, imagine the increased impact we could have all across the globe.

The writer of Hebrews was addressing those who decided that being a part of the local body of Christ was not that important. In the New Testament, there is a combination of a global mindset with a local focus. Many people claim to be part of the “Universal body of Christ,” and while that may be true, the Apostles saw things differently. They were busy building and caring for individual, local churches.

Did you know most of the letters in the New Testament are written to specific churches in cities like Galatia, Ephesus, Corinth, and Philippi to name a few? Almost every time the word church is written in the New Testament it refers to a specific gathering of Christians.

Christ established the Church (Matthew 16:18) and has chosen to work most effectively through the Church. We can’t live out our Christian lives and obligations on our own. When Jesus saves us from our sin and God’s wrath, we become a member of something bigger than ourselves... we are members of a family with one Father.

Through the Church around the world, God is at work glorifying Himself and transforming lives. It will triumph in spite of human failure and demonic attacks... it will never end. Become a member of the family of God and get active. You have a short life to live, make it count for the glory of Him who made all things. Christ loves His church - how could we ever want to avoid that?

Editor’s Note: Nicholas Kennicott and his wife Felicia attend Woodlawn Baptist Church where he is the new Associate Pastor of Youth and Education. Questions, comments, or prayer requests? You can e-mail Nicholas at kennicon@comcast.net or read his blog at http://kennicon.squarespace.com.