JESUS IS ALIVE! HE IS RISEN!

Can you say with the soldier at the cross, "truly, this was the son of god!"

Jesus Christ was crucified... he shed His blood and died on a Roman cross in Jerusalem witnessed by hundreds, perhaps thousands. BUT THREE DAYS LATER, HE AROSE FROM THE GRAVE AND WALKED ON THE EARTH FOR FORTY DAYS BEING SEEN BY HUNDREDS. He was the Sacrificial Lamb, making a way for us to be right with God by paying the debt for our sins on that old wooden cross.

That is the distinguishing fact between Christianity and all other world religions - we serve a risen Savior, One who has power even over death. The founders of all other religions have died never to be seen again. But not Jesus! For forty days, He was seen by, was touched by, walked and talked and ate with others, all after He was raised from the dead. Emmanuel - God with us! He also possessed the authority and ability to disappear from their presence and reappear physically in their presence... only God can do that. Then he bodily ascended to heaven as a number of his followers watched. Truly He was and is the Son of God!
Satan had done his worst, BUT God did His best! Satan thought he had defeated God by killing his son, but it was in God's plan all along that Jesus must suffer and die as payment for our sins. We could never hope to be good enough to enter heaven on our own good works - our own goodness and righteousness is like filthy rags. The sin debt we all incurred must be reconciled and only Jesus as the sinless Son of God could pay that debt. Our only hope for eternal life and for heaven is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
That is great news, but the best news is yet to come.

Jesus promised that one day he's coming back! He will come back for you if you will believe in your heart that Jesus Christ came to earth as God in the flesh... taking on the form of a man... that He died a sacrificial, substitute death on the cross for your sins and mine, was raised from the dead, and if you will confess with your mouth that you accept him as Lord of your life. Then on the authority of the Word of God, the Holy Bible, you can avoid the punishment of sin, you can inherit eternal life, and you can begin a new life with God... a life that will never end. You can do that today right where you are. If you truly mean it - and He will know if you are serious about Him - then He will come into your life and give you a new life, a new hope, a new purpose, and a new commitment to live a selfless life, surrendered only to Him.

My dear friend, all my sins are forgiven because I have put my faith and trust in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is preparing a place for me in heaven and for all those who will receive Him as Savior and Lord.
Praise God... Jesus took our place on the cross so we could have a place in heaven!

1) God has never seen a person who has not sinned.

2)God has never seen a sinner he does not love.

3) God has never seen a sinner he cannot save.

Mississippi Baptists Disaster Relief - 2023

EF 4 Tornado hits Rolling Fork, Amory - 25 died; Friday March 24

Alta Woods Baptist Church: You are helping with the disaster relief efforts, cleanup, tree cutting, etc. Part of your tithes and offering go every week into a disaster relief fund through your Mississippi Baptist convention cooperative mission giving. Years ago, several of us attended the Disaster Relief training courses right here at Alta Woods. Courses were offered in Disaster counseling, Cooking and feeding through the portable Feeding Units, Mudding out flooded homes, Chainsaw classes, etc. Updates are required for continued certification.

Mississippi Disaster Relief Update:

Thank you for your continued prayers during this difficult time for many families and communities in our state.

Mississippi Baptist Disaster Relief and our Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief partners are deploying to Rolling Fork and Amory for Chainsaw/Cleanup operations. MS BDR credentialed volunteers are needed at this time.

Please do not conduct “collection” drives for items as the communities are beginning to be overwhelmed with donated materials. Please consider instead the donation of financial gifts that will allow needed items to be purchased in a timely manner and provide efficient handling of needed items. Please do not self-deploy into the areas that are affected.

Sunday, March 26 - Severe thunderstorm damages in Jackson area-Clinton causing flooding, structure destruction and power outages to some of our church members. Call the church if you have needs that your church family can help meet.

Alta Woods Baptist Church Worship Schedule

GOD IS SO GOOD TO US! I WAS GLAD WHEN THEY SAID UNTO ME, LET US GO INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD!

BIBLE STUDY
Sunday School classes meet at 10:00 am.
The Ladies Sunday School class is meeting in the Fellowship Hall.

Del Slone's Class is meeting in the old chapel.

The Men’s class is meeting downstairs in what used to be the conference room near the church office.

WORSHIP
Sunday Morning Worship at 11:00 am.

PRAYER MEETING

Wednesday morning prayer meeting, 11:00 am

When we come to Jesus Christ, He will remove our prejudices.

CHURCH OFFERING ENVELOPES

We have gotten in some offering envelopes for the new year. They are undated; you can have as many as you want. Remember the tithe is the Lord's. Stop by the church office and pick up as many as you need.

March 2023 Mission Emphasis

North American Missions - Annie Armstrong Easter Offering

Southern Baptists have hundreds of missionaries telling people about Jesus in North America and this is the time we collect an offering to support them. We are all familiar with the Annie Armstrong Easter offering. 100% of this offering goes directly to the missionaries. Nothing is kept for administrative uses. We will receive the offering through March until Easter Sunday. We have Annie Armstrong Easter Offering envelopes available if you want one.
This is a great way for us to be a part of sharing Jesus with people all over North America.

Upcoming Church Activities

Sunday School books for March, April, May 2023 are in. They are available in your Sunday School classes. Please sign up when you gets yours. Teachers Materials are available in Sid's Office.

Brother Steve preaching series...

Easter series is the 3 wise men of Easter.
(Brother Steve's surgery March 14)

He is having OP surgery Tuesday, March 28. Plans to be at church Sunday. Okay

April 2 - Longinus(Centurion) , Matthew 27:27-54 Palm Sunday

April 9 - Easter - The Rest of the Story, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

We began receiving the Annie Armstrong Easter offering for North American Missions Sunday, March 5 and will continue to receive it through Easter. Ask the Lord what He would have you give to spread the good news about Jesus!

We have the 2023 Alta Woods Baptist Church Resource Book ready. We will continue to try to update everything. Committees, directory, telephone Prayer Chains. You may pick yours up from Pat Dendy.

Soup and Cornbread to Homebound Members - March 8, 2023

Huge Thank You

Than k you to all who made soup, cornbread, brownies for our homebound members last week.

AND to all who helped deliver it to them. They are always most appreciative of anything anybody does for them. It is a simple reminder to them that they are still significant members of Alta Woods and it is our way of saying "Thank you" to them for their years of loyal service to our wonderful Lord at Alta Woods. It is their commitment to the Lord through the years that have supported the church's mission and work and helped the church remain faithful to the Lord.

Port/Seamans Ministry- New Orleans

April 2023 Mission Emphasis

Some of the greatest needs that seafarers have is basic personal hygiene items. For years Alta Woods has ministered to the New Orleans center in various ways. This year we are going to help with toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors and deodorant. They are very short of these items. They also use prepackaged snacks when they visit on the ships in port. You can bring any of these to Sid’s office for the next several weeks.
We will make a trip to New Orleans after we have completed our collections.

REVIVAL - God’s Spirit is Moving

Asbury university Revival, Kentucky is spreading - prayer, worship, repentance

God's Spirit is moving at Asbury University in Kentucky. Located not far from the life-sized replica of the Ark, God is stirring people to turn their hearts and attention to Him. The revival has been going on 24/7 for about two weeks. Thousands of people are traveling from all over the US and other nations to experience this genuine outpouring of God's Spirit.

Similar to what I experienced in the Jesus Movement in the 70's, people, particularly young people... college students, became more bold in speaking about God's love and forgiveness for all men and women...so He sent His Son, Jesus to save us from eternal punishment and show us what real living should be like.

While there was always worship taking place in our churches, just as today, there was a shallowness and inconsistency of genuine individual and personal worship taking place. Yes, God was and always is present in our corporate worship but personal heart to God encounters from the individual were missing. This is what I see this generation hungering for. One person said that "generation Z ers“ are looking for something other than what the world is giving them right now. That generation has suffered so much in recent years and they are spiritually hungry for genuine truth and honesty. I believe that they are fed up with the dishonesty of our government, the weakness of our Christian witness, the seeming fear of law enforcement, and the fearlessness of criminals. These things cause our children and grandchildren to lose hope and trust and become fearful and terrified of the future - even of tomorrow. We need to unashamedly tell them that the hope and trust and security that they are seeking are only found in a genuine personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

This event is receiving the same response we did in the 70's. A lost world cannot explain it and is seeking to downplay the activity of God's Spirit. It is simply because they are not indwelt by the Spirit of the One True God that they cannot understand it. The Bible tells us that.

It is a genuine movement of God and cannot be stopped by the lost. Other schools are experiencing the same boldness of speaking the good news about Jesus, expressing repentance and forgiveness - Cedarville University in Ohio; Samford University in Birmingham; Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee; and Belmont University in Nashville.

Praise the Lord!!!

I heard that several churches in our area were experiencing the outpouring of God’s Spirit and many have trusted in Jesus for their salvation and been baptized. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

January 25 - Business Meeting Report

Del Slone, Moderator, called the meeting to order and led in prayer.

November business meeting minutes were approved as printed.

Budget Committee Report for November and December given by Billy Roberts, Chairman.
Brief discussion followed. Voted on and passed.

Discussion on sale of Church Van no official report.
Sid reported 2023 Church Resource book is being worked on.
January mission project - collection food items for parents and children, Children's Hospital of Mississippi (formerly Blair Batson)
February Mission Project - New Jerusalem's Neighborhood Food and Clothing ministry, Shortage of men's t-shirts; help with Mississippi Food Network costs

Adjourned

God is good, all the time!

What have you learned from the Lord in 2022, that will make you more like Jesus in 2023?

I AM LEADING YOU along a way that is uniquely right for you. The closer to Me you grow, the more fully you become your true self—the one I designed you to be. Because you are one of a kind, the path you are traveling with Me diverges increasingly from that of other people. However, in My mysterious wisdom and ways, I enable you to follow this solitary path while staying in close contact with others. In fact, the more completely you devote yourself to Me, the more freely you can love people.

Marvel at the beauty of a life intertwined with My Presence. Rejoice as we journey together in intimate communion. Enjoy the adventure of finding yourself through losing yourself in Me.

Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us every day.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! —2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. —EPHESIANS 2:10

"I am only one, but I am one.

I cannot do everything, but I can do something.

What I can do, I ought to do,

And what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I WILL DO."

Alta Woods Baptist Church

Welcome to Alta Woods Baptist Church - updated on March 27, 2023