I s s ue 13 Vol um e 46

2201 Rainbow Drive Gadsden, AL 35901 Phone: 256-547-3731 rainbowchurchofchrist.org Times of Service: Sunday Bible Class: 9:30 am Morning Worship: 10:30 am Hispanic Service: 3:00 pm Evening Worship: 5:00 pm Wednesday: 7:00 pm

April 13th, 2014 “Where strangers become friends, and friends become family.”

Blake Jones Norman Flynn Dave Lasseter Jessica Lasseter

Minister Associate Minister

Youth Minister Secretary

256.504.5080 256.413.1688 256.393.6405 256.547.3731

blakesemailaddress@yahoo.com lasseter.dave@gmail.com j.lasseter@comcast.net

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rainbow welcome to

The ____________ centers around the cross (Ephesians 1:22-23; I Timothy 3:15)

________________ centers around the cross (I John 1:7; Romans 6:3-4)

The _________________________ centers around the cross (Colossians 2:14) ______________ centers around the cross (I Corinthians 15:3; Romans 6:17-18; Hebrews 10:4, 9:15)

_____________ centers around the cross (Galatians 6:14)

Joint Worship

The old saying is true, “All good things must come to an end” and TONIGHT Sunday, April 13th, after almost 30 years the last joint worship service of the Gadsden area congregations will be held. The service will take place at 5:00 p.m. at the Gadsden church of Christ. Our Elders have decided that we should all be a part of this final worship service, so there will be no evening worship service at our building. We’ll see you there at 5 pm!

But may it never be

that I should boast,

except in the cross of

our Lord Jesus

Christ, through

which the world has

been crucified to me,

and I to the world.

(Galatians 6:14)

Pew Packers will be meeting tonight following our evening worship

service. This is always a great time of singing, learning, and laughing for

the children of our congregation.

Sunday, April 27th, following our evening worship service everyone who ’s last name begins with the letter I, J, K, or L is invited over to Blake and Rebekah Jones’ house for dinner.

The evening is more about fellowship than food and if you can come, they would be honored by your presence. But if you can’t make it, they completely understand. Directions to the Jones’ are on the bookcase outside of the church office.

BIBLE STUDY 84

McGUFFY’S BIBLE CLASS 22

SUNDAY MORNING 219

HISPANIC SERVICE n/a

SUNDAY EVENING 125

MIDWEEK STUDY 113

LOCAL BAPTISMS 1

OTHER RESPONSES 7

HISPANIC BAPTISMS -

HISPANIC RESPONSES -

WBS/JAIL BAPTISMS 56

ZIMBABWE BAPTISMS 41

CONTRIBUTION 8,423

Let’s be praying for God’s blessings on all of our upcoming events!

We Look Forward to Seeing YOU

this evening at 5 p.m.

10 June 22-29, 2014

On Friday, April 25th, the 39th annual Gadsden Area Singing will be held at the

Gadsden church of Christ building. The singing will begin at 7:00 p.m. and last

until ???? This is always an uplifting evening of worshipping God in song.

On Saturday, April 26th we will be participating in the Rainbow City Clean Up Day. This is the fifth year in a row we have helped out with this community event. The clean up will be from 8-11 that Saturday morning and will conclude with a free lunch. What a wonderful way for us to show a servant’s heart to our community. If you would like to help with this event see Chris Mikle.

Worship at the Falls!

We will be having our annual Worship at the Falls on Sunday, May 4th! We will be having our evening worship service and a fellowship meal, so be making your plans on being with us and invite your friends and family to come worship with us that night too! If you have any questions about this event see Tim Parker.

Our iDisciplettes will be having their next devotional on Saturday, April 26th. The location and time is yet to be determined but Sherrie Barbaree will be the host. If you have any further questions see Kelli East.

Saturday, May 3rd, will be our annual S.I.S Day. This is a day of worship and fellow-ship for the women of our congregation. It will begin at 10:00 a.m. and conclude with a pot-luck fellowship. This year’s theme is “True Beauty.” If you have any questions see Jessica Lasseter.

Each month our Elders take a turn sharing the responsibility of “Elder of the Month”. During that month,

that Elder is the contact person for our flock for any needs that they might have. During the month of

April, Mike Bowdoin is the “Elder of the Month” you can reach him at (256) 442-0389 (James 5:14)

We always experience inexplicable joy each time a lost sinner surrenders his or her life to Christ. Some two years ago, Billy Ferro a WBS student taught by brother Robert Ledford who lives in Alabama in USA, obeyed the Lord and was bap-tized. Billy later encouraged his mother to come to the worship service and last week she surrendered her life to the Lord and was baptized. We were all happy to experience this. We are sure brother Ledford will also rejoice exceedingly! We know that all overseas WBS teachers wish for their students in Zimbabwe to obey the gospel truth. We urge all of you not to give up or despair but continue planting the eternal seed in the hearts of your students. God will someday give growth at the right time.

Baptisms During the month in review, 11 souls obeyed the Gospel and were baptized. We give glory to God! New congregation planted A new congregation has been planted in the center of Bulawayo. This will enable people of all walks of life from within and adjacent areas to attend. The preacher at this congregation is Hailey John. Please remember this congregation in your prayers. Preachers Refresher Course Brother Dorian Flynn and Partners in Africa sponsored this year's refresher course for preachers from urban and rural are-as. 91 church leaders attended. Brother Dick Van Dyk from South Africa and Harold Kelly from USA presented excel-lent lessons on leadership and eldership. Brother Marty Ellis also from the States and Dorian presented certificates and T-shirts to all participants. It was suggested that the WBS together with Partners in Africa should work together in coming up with a preacher training program which will sharpen the knowledge of all men who are preaching in various congrega-tions but without proper training. The program will run for nine months but spread into three sessions of five days each. When these men graduate, they will not seek any financial support from elsewhere but will return to their areas or districts and continue preaching through subsistence farming. Ideas were thrown around that if funds are available, they may be assisted in starting income-generating projects in order to sustain their families while doing full time preaching in their areas. We pray that the brethren will support this noble idea. We all need to continue moving forward through biblical ways of growing the church. WBS Support We thank all our brothers and sisters in Canada and the United States who continue to support the WBS work in Zimba-bwe. The Missions sent us tracts and we collected them at Benoni Church of Christ in South Africa. Rainbow sent us WBS Courses and tracts including money to repair our machines and for buying truck tires. Christine and Ron Bailey contin-ue supporting us in extending our house so it can accommodate local and overseas visitors who come for the outreach preaching program. They are also helping us in our travel expenses to South Africa for medical check up time and again. Concord has also been very supportive of the evangelism work done by brother Jacob and his son. We appreciate all these efforts wholeheartedly. Concord is also taking care of sister Bheki who lost her hard working husband, the late brother Edmore Moyo whom we are missing very much. As you can see, we are all one God's family striving to fulfill the Lord's great commission, that of reaching out to the lost with the Gospel truth. May our unity of purpose continue to grow from strength to strength! In His Service, Velaphi, Stella, and the entire World Bible School Team

Zimbabwe Mission Report For March

Please, be mindful of all those on the back of the Beacon in your prayers this week. We have two requests that we wanted to share with you. We ask that you offer your prayers of thanks and praise this week for our brother Wilson Jones. He had a cancer check up and everything looks great. We also ask that you continue to be mindful of Barbara Brown as she has be-gun chemotherapy once a week for the next three weeks. At the conclusion of that they will run a scan to check on the size of the tumor. Gene tells us that the next three weeks are critical for her. Let’s all keep this precious family in our prayers.

Prayer is a powerful thing. One that is often times underused and misunder-stood. John Bowling is teaching a class on prayer on Wednesday night in the auditorium.

Jeff Birchmore 547-3718

Tony Cleveland 538-5295

Prison Ministry

Charles Clifton 549-1422

Involvement

Steve Lorren 442-8192

Building & Grounds

Doyle McCarver 390-0770

New Member/Visitation

Chris Mikle 413-1038

Community Outreach

Tim Parker 490-2053

Fellowships

Mark Westcott 441-0667

iDisciple Ministry

Janet East 5

Joyce Flynn 24

Kelli East 9

Gene & Barbara Brown 21

Ann Mikle 18

Craig King 3

Milton McArthur 15

Kathy Overbey 15

Tony & Jane Cleveland 22

Total: 132

Serve the Family

Brandon Hollis/Tim Barbaree Jeff Birchmore/Don Dover

Donnie Keener/Mike Simmons Tim Barnard/Bobby Lasseter

Ushers

Communion Preparation Blake & Rebekah Jones

Lock Up the Building

Tim Parker

Deacons Mike Bowdoin 442-0389

John Bowling 328-4727

Eugene Brown 390-1527

Norman Flynn 413-1688

David Wallace 390-2273

John Wallace 442-5887

April 13th

35 Years Ago: Jennifer Gentry was Coronation Queen at Gadsden High 30 Years Ago: The annual area wide singing was to be held at Convention Hall 25 Years Ago: The teens hosted a dinner in honor of Steve Worley for his mission work in Nigeria. 10 Years Ago: Loy Mitchell conducted our spring Gospel Meeting

Memories

Elders

Apirl World Bible School This Week’s Servants

Connie (a friend of James & Melanie Kennedy) at hospital recovering from stroke Edna Cranford had a bad fall, but is now home recovering Bob Kennedy (husband of Joyce Kennedy) is in need of our prayers Vangi Baker is having trouble with her legs Barbara Brown has begun chemotherapy treatments. Rita Bowdoin had her surgery and everything went well, she’s home recovering Jordan Rode (son of Kevin & Debby Rode) is at home recovering Wanda Logan Yolanda White is recovering from her neck surgery Todd & Brandi Nelson are in need of our prayers Sharra Clifton is scheduled to see a kidney doctor Lisa Cook had cancer surgery and has begun chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Please Continue to Remember These Also: Helen Cloud, Dewey & Janet East, Roy Helms, Butch Jones, Wilson Jones, Lilly Messenger, Malburt Murphree, Susan Mullins, Kim Naler, Ron Patterson, Gordon Smith, Pam Thompson, Shanna Barnard, Austin Elliott, Bill Brothers, Betty Jones, Beulah Sylvis, Louise Butler, Mack Scoggin, Sarah Foote, Mary Williams, Tina Quar-rels, Don Dover, Karen Cook, Jennifer Davis, Patricia Campbell, Susan Mullinax, Sue Birchmore, Harriet Wade, Doug Brown, Betty Hale, Cheryl Owens, Stan Cook, Na-talie Garner, Connie Barabalce, Jill Gardner, Paul Colbert, Jason & Arthel Hig-ginbotham, Nellie Ruth Teal, Brenda Lorren,, Kesha Waldron, Joyce Gilmore, Melva Noble, Alton & Eloise Miller, Bill Cooley, Ray Holman, Mike Thompson, Betty Yancey

If we have inadvertently left anyone off, we are truly sorry.

Please forgive the oversight and let us know so that we can make the additions next week

Remembering in Prayer

Nancy Wallace - April 14 Dakota Duncan - April 15 Joyce Flynn - April 16 Jane Naler - April 16 Amanda Vice - April 18 Blake Jones - April 18

Birthdays/Anniversaries

Opening Prayer: A.M. Berry Shirley

P.M. Mike Wallen

Scripture Reading: Joseph Wallace

Preside Lord’s Supper: Stanley Stroup

Closing Prayer: A.M. Ben Akins

P.M. Robert Lasseter

Greeters: Jim & June McKleroy

Communion Cup Pick Up: Barbaree Family

McGuffey’s Group #2 Mark Westcott