Rev. Clinton “TC” Edwards, Jr., 7th Pastoral Anniversary

Friendship Baptist Church celebrated Rev. Clinton “TC” Edwards, Jr., 7th Pastoral Anniversary on Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 2:30 p.m.  The Reverend Oscar W. Brown of the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church of Edgefield, SC along with his Church Family was their guest.  Thank you to everyone who came out and celebrated this occasion with the Friendship Baptist Church Family.

Children’s Church Ministry

Mission: To bring children to Christ and train them to walk and minister in the power of the Holy Spirit.

 Preschool-Ages 3-5

ORGANIZATION:
The Children’s Church Ministry Team is divided into sub-teams; each sub- team is responsible for a specific Sunday. For planning purposes, the Children’s Church session is designed for one hour in duration. The children are dismissed from the sanctuary at approximately 10:45 a.m.

CALENDAR:
The 2012 curriculum year began for Children’s Church on Dec. 11, 2011. The elementary/middle school program, More Jesus! is divided into four quarters. The Spring Quarter begins on March 11, 2012. In the Gospel of Mark, the actions of Jesus come to life! The children will discover Jesus the Servant helping others and giving His life to save others. The Preschoolers’ curriculum, Discovering God’s Love, is a 52-week program designed to help 3-5 year old children understand the reality of God’s love and how He works in their daily lives.

ENHANCEMENTS

• A Children/Youth Retreat at a camp facility (educational and fun)
• Trips
• Participation in Operation Christmas Child (Mission)
• Participation in Recruitment Sunday

EQUIPMENT:

• Computer projection for CD-ROM and DVD presentations
• Portable puppet stage and puppets

The Little Rock Nine: In their own Words

What: The Little Rock Nine: In Their Own Words

Where: URS Center for the Performing Arts—-Aiken, SC

When: Feb. 5th 2012

Highlights from the historical Docudrama “The Little Rock Nine: In Their Own Words.” This production,written and produced by Mary Suber, was based on the accurate account published in the book Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Patillo Beal.

 

 

Reverend T.C. Edwards: One Choice, Two Gates, Two Roads, Two Destinations

One Choice, Two Gates, Two Roads, Two Destinations 

Matthew 7:13-14

13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (KJV)

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.(NIV)

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There is one fact about life that no one can dispute: Life is full of choices.  Each and everyday we are confronted with choices.  Just this morning we had to make many choices:

• What time to get up?
• Do we go to church today?
• What do the kids need to wear?
• Which route will we take to church?
• Which car will we drive?
• What will we eat for breakfast? 

Those are just some of the few choices that were made just this morning.  We will make more choices throughout today.  As long as we live, we will always make choices.

However, there is one choice that we all must make and it is the most important choice of our lives.

• It’s not the choice of who we will marry.
• It’s not the choice of where we will go to school.
• It’s not the choice of whether we will have children or not.
• It’s not the choice of what neighborhood we will live in.

No, the most important choice we make will come at a point in our lives where we are standing at the crossroads of life. We will be standing at the crossroads with only one choice, two gates, two roads and two destinations. 

What we must understand is that:

One gate, one road, one destination points to Jesus Christ and eternal life with Him, while the other gate, road and destination points toward a path of destruction.  Each us will have to make our own choice.

Wide Gate

The wide gate is the gate that many will choose according to Christ.  This gate is chosen be many because the entrance is easy and inviting.  This gate attracts many because the gate is wide and they are able to take anything they want with them on the journey once they enter in through this gate.  Through this gate, they can take:

• Lying
• Stealing
• Cheating
• Fornication
• Shacking
• Adultery
• And any sin one can think of with them.

This gate is so appealing because you can keep your old baggage with you.  On this journey called life many folks want to take as much baggage with them as they can, the wide gates allows for that.  The wide gate allows you to do anything, be anything and chase anything in this world.   Jesus says in Matthew 7:13c many enter through it.

When you enter through the wide gate it places you on a wide road.  This road is the most traveled road. This road is a dangerous road. Notice what Jesus said in Matthew 7:13b broad is the road that leads to destruction.  You must be careful in life because once you get on this road you might find yourself:

• Walking down Pride Avenue
• Living in Sexual Sin Estates
• Hate Street
• Substance Abuse Circle
• Materialism Freeway
• Murder Boulevard

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. 

I must warn also warn you that this wide road is the path that most of the people will encourage you to walk down.  You must not be swayed by what the majority see, you must be swayed by what God sees. 

The Wide Gate, Wide Road ends in eternal damnation.  The destination is HELL.  You need to remember that but don’t be led to that because there is another gate, another road and another destination. 

NARROW GATE

This gate is a restricted gate.  This gate is difficult to enter when you still carry the old baggage of the world with you.  Access to this gate is open to everyone and is given through John 3:16.

John 3:16

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.     -KJV 

Access is not denied to people, they keep themselves out when they fail to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Too many folks think and believe that they can enter the narrow gate anyway they want to.  Jesus said in John 14:6

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.   –NIV

When you enter through the narrow gate, you will find yourself on a narrow road. 

This narrow road leads to eternal life with God the Father. 

On this narrow road:

There will be some ups and downs, but Jesus promised Lo I’m with you until the end of the world. 

You may have to cry sometimes, but God’s word says weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning. 

You are never alone, I like what the hymn writer said: He walks with me, He talks with me and tells me I am His own.

But there is an end to this narrow road, the destination of this road is a place called heaven.

John in the Book of Revelation describes the destination this way: 

Revelation 21:1-4

21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”    -NIV 

We all have one choice to make, two gates, two roads and two destinations.  Since the beginning of time, man has always had to make a choice:

NAACP: Many challenges despite Obama presidency

Trust God, not government, Baptist convention told

BY NIRAJ WARIKOO • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

FromThe Detroit Free Press

Despite the election of President Barack Obama, African-Americans and others still have not achieved equality, the president of the NAACP told an audience of Baptists Thursday night in Detroit.

“We’re not the National Association for the Advancement of a Colored Person,” said Ben Jealous, the youngest president in the history of the 100-year-old civil rights organization called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “Until all of them are OK, we’ll be fighting hard.”

Speaking at the Detroit Marriott in the Renaissance Center, Jealous said many in the U.S. suffer from extreme poverty, racial profiling, poor schools, and a criminal justice system that he said unfairly targets minorities. And so while the election of Obama was a great event, on Jan. 21 — the day after his inauguration — “to be honest, not much had changed” for many Americans, he said.

“Dads were still out of work,” Jealous said. And it was still harder for black men to get employed than white men.

Jealous made his remarks on the fourth day of the Congress of Christian Education of the National Baptist Convention USA, the biggest African-American religious group in the U.S. His speech was notably different in tone from other speakers during the convention, which stressed religious education and personal morality rather than social justice issues.

Jealous didn’t talk about Christianity in his remarks, instead focusing on the struggle for human rights in the U.S. Jealous was once director of the U.S. Human Rights Program at Amnesty International.

While praising Obama for being an excellent role model for blacks, he cautioned against saying the fight for freedom is over.

“It’s not enough to have great examples,” Jealous said. “We got to have a plan.” He said there should be efforts to make sure “all kids go to a good school.” And he assailed racial profiling, saying that not only is it immoral, “it also doesn’t work.”

Jealous’ speech was different in tone from an earlier address Thursday by a National Baptist leader. Speaking to thousands of Baptists inside Cobo Arena , the head of the educational branch of the nation’s biggest African-American religious group called upon people to trust in God, not the government, during difficult times.

“I know General Motors is in bankruptcy. I know Chrysler” is facing problems,” said the Rev. R.B. Holmes Jr., of Tallahassee, Fla., president of the Congress of Christian Education of the National Baptist Convention USA. “But when you put your faith in his hands…when you do this, you will find victory over fear, over doubt, over demons, over depression.”

His afternoon address in Detroit focused on the importance of faith. The National Baptist group has millions of members across the U.S., many of whom gathered in Detroit this week for a five-day conference that was to draw up to 40,000 Baptists.

Holmes said: “You have nothing to lose…Take a chance on the Lord. Call on the Lord. Seek the Lord…turn to the Lord.”

“The Lord, the Lord,” he stressed, waving his finger at the audience. “Not the government.”

Holmes’ talk was preceded by several gospel musical performances that brought the crowd to its feet.

Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO: nwarikoo@freepress.com.

Baptist teens take closer look at hip-hop

BY NIRAJ WARIKOO • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

After showing a music video by T-Pain with suggestive lyrics, the pastor posed a question to the group of Baptist teenagers:

“Is it all right to be a Christian and listen to this?” asked the Rev. Tracy Samuel from South Carolina.

The response was varied, reflecting the lively discussion Tuesday on the second day of the annual Congress of Christian Education of the National Baptist Convention USA, the oldest and biggest black religious group in the nation.

The workshop, Hip-Hop Culture and Christianity, was among the forums held Tuesday in Detroit’s Cobo Center aimed at young Baptists. They’re an attempt, say organizers, to keep youngsters in the church and to deal with the influence of pop culture.

In Samuel’s session, the group discussed a wide range of issues, from how to dress in church to how to spread the gospel.

“You and I got to get out and be real” in order to spread the Christian message, Samuel said.

Kedryck James, an 18-year-old Baptist from Charleston, S.C., who attended the session, said he is an active member of his church; this is the sixth Baptist convention he’s been to.

But because he has dreadlocks, he said he sometimes gets looks inside his church from some parishioners who don’t think his hair is appropriate. Still, he said that didn’t prevent him from being part of his church choir.

“I dare you to keep me from praising the Lord,” James said.

Noelle Washington, 16, also of Charleston, goes to a Baptist church but says she likes nondenominational churches because they focus more on the youth.

With Baptist churches, “they’re like tradition, tradition” and not as willing to try new things, Washington said. Still, she and other teens said they liked the closeness of Baptist churches.

“It’s like you’re with family,” said John Miller, 16, of Charleston.

Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO: 313-223-4792 or warikoo@freepress.com

Children’s Church Retreat

Friendship Baptist Church
Children’s Church
Christian Trail Blazers Retreat
Camp Kinard, Batesburg, SC 

 

The Children’s Church Christian Trail Blazer’s Retreat was held April 3-4, 2009 at Camp Kinard in Batesburg, South Carolina. The retreat had an attendance of 22 children and 23 adults. Our Boy Scout troop participated and some children from other churches. 

Our schedule on Friday evening included a campfire activity with scripture, prayer and singing; dinner, an icebreaker, talent show and movie. 

Saturday’s program began with morning prayer, a nature walk and breakfast. The three workshop sessions were on Self-Control, Patience and Joy/Attitude. The children enjoyed horseback riding, sack races, games, fishing and crafts. After lunch, God’s Puppeteer Crew from St. John’s Baptist Church in Columbia provided a very entertaining bible story puppet show.

 We hardly had time to get it all in before returning to Friendship.

2009 Pastor’s Appreciation

On…

Easter 2009!

Pictures from the Easter program.