News

She said yes! In April, Sophie Goolsby will become Mrs. Brett Kernodle. We know that, “he who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord,” but it’s always a special privilege and joy to see two young people in the congregation find God’s calling for their lives together. The church is, after all, the place God calls us all together and there’s no better place to find a spouse to walk the path God calls us to than among the assembly of the saints.

And it is also now both our duty and privilege to lift them up in prayer as they prepare to embark upon their life together. As they join paths and prepare to serve the Lord as one flesh, we can pray for God’s favor and blessing upon them in all manner of ways: for Brett as she transitions to the head of a household, for Sophie as she steps into the role of his helper and confidant, and of course, for all the little details and plans and the things that go into making a wedding.

God created marriage and he delights in it when it is entered into and faithful kept by his children. God loves to give his children good gifts and this is one of them. Praise the Lord for his goodness and faithfulness!

In the last week of October, our regional presbytery, Athanasius Presbytery, held its yearly presbytery meeting which took place in Monroe, LA. Pastor Thacker attended as St. Mark’s minister and representative. The general report is that things went well and there are no major issues — always a good thing. Given that Athanasius Presbytery’s presiding minister, Pastor Rob Hadding, has accepted a call in a church in another regional presbytery, a new presiding minister was chosen: Dr. Uri Brito on Providence Church in Pensacola, Fl.

The CREC also held its triennial General Council. One of the main topics of discussion was anticipated growth of the CREC, given that there has been a notable recent increase in the number of congregations enquiring about membership. In particular, many Reformed Baptist congregations desire to enter the CREC, so that topic is being discussed. While the CREC has had Reformed Baptist congregations in the past, at present it’s been a little while since we’ve had Baptist congregations. So, the minsters are giving consideration to that dynamic in particular. We continue to pray for wisdom for the ministers and elders God has called to lead

His Church.

This coming Saturday, we’ll have the opportunity to gather with other saints in our denomination in Huntsville for an All Saint’s Celebration. All Saints’ Day is a commemoration of all the faithful saints of the church both known and unknown. It therefore seemed fitting this year to gather with the saints still living for these festivities. Here are the details:

When: Saturday, November 6th, 2-5 pm
Where: Riverside Event Venue; 100 Old River Rd, Laceys Spring, AL 35754
Who: All ages are welcome!
To Bring: Please bring a sweet or savory finger food to share (nothing requiring forks). Please LABEL your dishes! Drinks will be provided. (see link in email to add your dish to the planner)
Attire: Dressy church. Guys - if you are a jeans at church kinda guy, kick it up a notch. Ladies - Skirts, dresses - dressy pants are fine, but not as fun for dancing. (We’re not doing costumes).
Suggested Donation: $5/person or $25/family (to help cover cost of venue, caller, etc.)
Who: Trinity Reformed Church is hosting this event, but you’re all free to invite friends and family.

Next Lord’s Day, October 31, we will gather together with the saints of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship to celebrate the great work God wrought through the Reformers and the Reformation.

October 31 is known by most of us as Halloween, which we associate with trick or treating, costumes, and the like. This actually has a path directly from the Christian holiday known as All Saint’s Day, or All Hallow’s Day. This is a day for commemorating all Christian martyrs. Halloween comes from “All Hallow’s Eve.” Some, in superstition, thought that devils roamed around on the eve of the holy day. But we now rightly make fun of these silly superstitions by dressing up in silly costumes.

Luther posted his 95 Theses on October 31st, 1517, which included much to say about and against the superstitious practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Halloween is a fitting day for such a thing and is a wonderful coinciding with our now fun holiday. As we celebrate, let us remember to thank God for breaking down the superstitious practices of the Roman church through Reformers like Martin Luther.

Please be in prayer for members of our sister congregation at Christ Church Branch Cove (Alabama): Janet Vest, her six children, and their many grandchildren as they mourn the death of Richard Vest. He sustained injuries due to a biking accident on Saturday, October 10. The result was severe spinal cord damage and a heart attack.

They initially put him on a ventilator to keep him alive but the decision was made this past Tuesday to take him off of that life support and he went to be with the Lord.

Richard served as an elder for many years at Christ Church and was a founding member of the congregation there. He was a faithful believer in Christ and his absence will be deeply felt not only by his family, but also his friends there at Branch Cove.

Pray for God’s comfort for this family and congregation.

On October 3rd, we will receive new members into the ranks of St. Mark. This is a joyous occasion as we formally recognize co-laborers for the cause of Christ and formally join with them and welcome them to our midst.

What does membership mean at St. Mark? Among other things, it means the members joining have formally asked the elders to be recognized as under their care. It is the formalization of a relationship with the local manifestation of the body of Christ. While you won’t find the words “church membership” in the Bible (though 1 Corinthians does say we are members of the body of Christ), nevertheless you’ll certainly find the principle there. In 1 Peter 5, we are told that elders are to “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you.” When one formally joins in membership at St. Mark, it is a formalization of being “among” the oversight of the elders. And in Hebrews 13 we read about being submissive to the elders who watch out for our souls.

As we all go about the work God has called us to, the local manifestation of the Christ’s body is of great benefit to us and we rejoice to receive these members.

The second Fight. Laugh. Feast. conference held in Nashville is now in the rear-view mirror. It was a great time of meeting up with Christians, both old friends and new, and had a general sense of camaraderie in our common fight for the good of the Kingdom of Christ — which work we are called to. This camaraderie was apparent even in the midst of the differences of lifestyles and cultures represented in the attendees of the conference. And this is true diversity such as can be had in the freedom Christ gives us. A diversity that stirs us into love and good works as we seek to identify ourselves by the common thing that unites brothers and sisters in Christ: and that is our new life in Christ as we put off the old man and all its evil deeds.

The theme of the conference as well, is timely as we consider the sexual confusion of our day. The Politics of Sex is a relevant way of addressing the way in which our culture has infused rebellion against the created order into every aspect of modern western society. Mainline liberals would have us believe not only do we not need to address this issue, but that even to believe it is an issue, is unloving and unkind. But the truth is that we are to be salt and light in this evil world. We cannot affirm evil while being about what we are called to. May God grant us courage.

Please keep Jamie Hays father, Carol Carman, in your prayers. For our newer friends and members, the Hayses were members of St. Mark for many years before moving their church membership closer to home. They, of course, remain dear and close friends.

Earlier this year Carol Carman was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but the doctors believed at the time that it was a slow growing cancer and would not become a major concern during the course of the remainder of his life. This was good news.

Last week, however, that diagnoses was revised as the doctors have discovered that the cancer is actually quite aggressive. He will now need intensive radiation lasting 38 days. This treatment is scheduled to start very soon.

Pray for wisdom for the doctors, for the effectiveness of the radiation, and that our Lord Jesus, the great healer, would see fit to intervene on his behalf that the Hayses and other friends and family might enjoy many years still of the company of their beloved friend, father, and grandfather.

And pray for the Hayses as they walk, yet again, through the valley of the shadow of death. Pray that they might rest in the comfort and love of the Lord.

Fight. Laugh. Feast. is this week, September 9–11, and St. Mark will have a strong presence at the conference through volunteers and our folks that are attending the conference. We hope it will be an encouraging and edifying time, and we also hope to bring awareness to people in the area of St. Mark who might be looking for a good, solid, reformed church. Therefore, your prayers to that end will be appreciated.

One of the things we’re keenly aware of is the chicken and egg problem regarding our growth, and facility. We are thankful to be meeting at TCA as an interim location, but we also need a more permanent solution. And while God has blessed us financially, there’s a lot of ground to cover to go before a facility could be purchased. And as we consider other, larger interim worship locations, they call come with steeper rent than we pay at TCA, which would cut down on our ability to grow the building fund.

These are things to be praying for as we consider the growth that we hope and pray God brings us (through, Fight. Laugh. Feast. and other means). And when you pray, also remember to thank God that we do, in fact, have a welcoming place to meet. Praise the Lord!

This past week severe flash flooding came to Waverly TN and the surrounding area of Humphreys County. People who track such things noted that the rainfall was measured at 17 inches in a 24 hour period. The result was devastating flooding. The death toll as of the writing of this newsletter stands at 22 and many still unaccounted for. The flooding came very fast and caught people unawares. Many were caught in their homes, where the lower levels flooded and they had to move to higher levels. Others still, in modular homes, actually floated away due to flooding where water had never been before. It was a truly devastating event and those who live in the area estimate that it will take many, many years to recover from this incident.

As our fairly near neighbor county, we invite you to pray for this community. Some in our congregation have friends in the area, and even historic familial ties. And while ties of friends and family aren’t necessary to pray for a place, it certainly makes it a more present need. Pray that God would comfort those who have lost loved ones, or property. And pray for mercy, that those still unaccounted for might be found. And pray for the rebuilding and healing of the community.

Afghanistan: You may have heard some things this week. And regardless of where you are on the political opinion side of things, we can all agree that what the people there are facing, particularly our brothers and sisters in Christ, is gut-wrenching. There are several things going on that we won’t be able to cover easily here in this one or two paragraphs, but here’s a couple things:

The Taliban are now going door-to-door taking women and children. The specifics and the rest of what’s going on are perhaps too grizzly for this newsletter. Suffice it to say that they are suffering horrendously at this Taliban resurgence.

And the Taliban has a hit list of known Christians they are pursuing and killing. And with no U.S. Embassy there now, there is no good place for them to flee to.

God often uses these types of things, paradoxically, to grow the church. This is a hard thing for us to grasp, understand, or even, in our flesh, to agree with God about. We can and should pray for God’s mercy. But we should also pray for the strength of these Christians — these martyrs and potential martyrs — as they live out the gospel in a very real, gritty way.

As pressure continues to mount from both our government and employers to require people to put things in their bodies that they do not believe they should — in this case it’s vaccines — be praying for:

1) Those in our congregation whose livelihoods are either in question or directly threatened.

2) Those among our leaders who believe these authoritarian measures are good and proper: that God would change their hearts or strike down their evil intentions.

3) Those among our friends or colleagues who are cheering on the authoritarianism that God would change their hearts.

4) Much wisdom as we navigate these matters and that our Christian witness would be strong as we seek to love our neighbors, our families, our church, and so on.

5) Pastor Thacker as he serves on the CREC committee dealing with this issue as they seek to come up with a denomination-wide statement and response.

6). The peace of the church and our congregation.