Bike Ride Rest Stop

Earlier this year, our youth hosted a rest stop for the Azalea City Bike Ride.  The bicyclists stopped at areas along their ride to rest and receive refreshments.  Our youth hosted this rest stop and ministered to the bicyclists with food and encouragement.  Turns out, the bikers rated our stop the best one along the way and our youth received a check for $100.00!  Way to go youth!  Here are some pictures of the day:

Urgent Prayer Request

Please remember Kortney A.  She is Lisa L's niece and she is back in the hospital once again and  experiencing severe health issues. She has cerebral palsy and these health issues are related to her disabilities.

Her health problems are getting more than the family can take care of on their own and some very difficult decisions are ahead. Her family has asked everyone to PLEASE pray for God to bring about the healing that Kortney so desperately needs.

Guess Who Stopped By???

A special visitor came to the Children’s Easter Activity!  “She” was a big hit with young and older alike!
 


Thank you Easter Bunny!  We appreciate your visit and gifts!

Children’s Easter Celebration

Our children (and adults!) had a fantastic time at the Children’s Easter Celebration held on Saturday.  It was only through the generosity and willingness to help out in various ways can an event like this take place.  A special thank you goes out to those who hosted the event, brought food, donated toward the bounce house and helped out in so many ways.  Thank you!!! 

Here are a few scenes from the day:

Easter Activities

Happy Easter!!  There are several activities going on this weekend that offer the opportunity for you and your family to celebrate with the church family this sacred holiday.

Saturday beginning at 10:00 AM, there will be a Children's Easter Activity at the home of Margaret T. There will be short devotion sharing the true meaning of Easter, followed by an egg hunt, lunch and some play time in the bounce house!  Bring the kids and enjoy a day of fun and celebration.

Sunday morning at 7:30 AM, we will gather in the courtyard to celebrate Easter as the sun rises.  There will be a short service that will include singing praises and hearing from God's Word. Following the service, there will be a light breakfast served.  You are encouraged to stay for Sunday School which will begin at 9:45 AM, followed by traditional morning worship at 11:00 AM. 

There will be no evening service.  May you be encouraged to spend your Easter, putting God first and giving Him glory and praise and enjoy the rest of the day with loved ones which are one of our Lord's blessings to us. 

New Church Sign

Antioch is working towards a new church sign. Our sign by the road is very old and hard to read.  Since the church sign is often the first visual of the church, we would like to improve our sign. 

 A fund has been set up to receive donations to go toward the cost of the sign.  To use wise stewardship, we would like to have as much of the cost available before ordering the sign. We are working toward the goal of the new sign in place by Homecoming (which is in October).  To fulfill this goal, the finances need to be settled by August 1. 

The total cost of the sign is $8,500.00 and we are now almost half way with approximately $4,000.00 being given toward the sign.  We are thankful for those who diligently give and support our church through their gifts and also their time and abilities.

Here is a picture from the sign company showing close to what the new sign would look like:

Thank you again for your prayers, support and giving.

Historical Events of Easter Week

Here is an interesting look at the events of Easter week:

Sunday ~ Jews traveled to Jerusalem for Passover, a religious event commemorating the "passing over" of the Hebrews' first-born sons during the death plague in Egypt centuries earlier. Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, and a large crowd of people placed their cloaks and palm branches on the road as a royal carpet (hence the name "Palm Sunday").

Monday ~ Jesus visited the Temple in Jerusalem and became enraged by the money changers' presence and practices, which involved usury in their exchange rates. He overturned their tables and told them they were making his house of prayer into a den of robbers.

Tuesday ~ Jesus went to the Temple again, to teach and preach. The religious leaders of the day (the chief priests, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees) challenged Jesus with questions designed to create political evidence they could use against Him. They were unsuccessful due to Jesus' wise answers. They withdrew to plot his death.

Wednesday ~ The story now focuses on Judas, one of the Twelve Disciples of Jesus. He went to the chief priests who paid him 30 silver coins to betray Jesus to them.

Thursday ~ The first day of Passover, celebrated with a special meal called the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was the night of the famous "Last Supper" of Jesus with the twelve disciples. Later that night, Jesus led them to the Garden of Gethsamane to pray. Jesus grew increasingly burdened, aware of what was coming. Judas arrived with soldiers, and identified Jesus by greeting him with a brotherly kiss on the cheek. Jesus was immediately arrested. The disciples fled.

Friday ~ Through the wee hours of the early morning hours, Jesus was beaten and put under trial before religious and political leaders. By sunrise, Jesus was declared guilty of political crimes (being called "King of the Jews"). Penalty was death by Roman crucifixion. At 9am, Jesus was nailed to the cross. From noon to 3pm, the sun went dark for three hours. At 3pm, Jesus died. A tremendous earthquake broke open graves and tore the heavy curtain in the Temple signifying we can enter the Holy of Holies (God's presence) directly. After Jesus died, His body was wrapped in a linen cloth and sealed in a tomb with a large stone.

Saturday ~ The friends and disciples of Jesus grieved over Jesus' death. After urging by the religious leaders, Pilate gave them authority to place his seal upon the stone and assigned guards to the spot to prevent anyone from stealing the body.

Sunday ~ The third day of Jesus' death. At dawn, two of Jesus' followers, women, went to the tomb. An angel appeared, causing such great fear among the soldiers they "fell as dead men." The angel rolled back the huge stone from the tomb. Jesus' body was gone, and the angel announced, "He is risen." For the next forty days, Jesus was seen by hundreds of people, all documented in the Bible (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

Men’s Wild Game Day–Part II

Prayer Request This Week

It's a new week!  But this week is traditionally known as Holy Week - the week before Easter.  May we be challenged to reflect on our Lord and Savior this week and His great sacrifice for our sin and the victory of the resurrection that enables us as Christians to live a victorious life in Him.

Some prayer needs you are encouraged to keep near in your heart and prayers are as follows:

 

• Caroline's parents - her father had a heart attack and will undergo a heart cath. today
• Eva H. is in the hospital battling congestive heart failure
• Garrett (Bo) - his father is facing some medical testing, please pray for good results
• Harry S. - underwent extensive surgery for mouth and throat cancer recently. Received a report that the cancer is back, it is aggressive kind and is in numerous places in his body.  Please keep Harry and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
• Bridget M. - battling an infection and back in the hospital
• Joe R.'s brother - undergoing a colonoscopy today
• Doug M. - had some changes in his medication and is suffering some ill effects.
• Liz H.'s father - completed chemo and radiation treatments, but has been diagnosed with pneumonia and is in the hospital receiving aggressive treatment for it.  Please keep him and the family in your prayers.
• A couple families have important doctor visits and tests this week.  Please pray for wisdom for treatment.

 May this week be blessed for you and may you seek to go out and be a blessing!

Men’s Gathering

Recently our men met for a day of sport, fellowship, devotion and a meal of wild game.  Here are a few photos from the day:

Youth News!

The youth group has had some exciting news recently!  A few months ago, a rest stop was provided for the Azalea City Bike Ride at our church.  The stop was designed to give bike riders a place to stop and find rest and refreshment.  There are several stops along the bike route and our stop was voted best by the bikers!  For this honor, the youth were presented a prize check for $150.00!  Way to go!!  Thank you to the youth and the adult helpers who participated in this ministry outreach.

There also is a box in the foyer to collect used printer cartridges.  Because of your donations of ink cartridges, the youth received $71.25 from this project!  Thank you!!  This project is continuing and still accepting your ink cartridges.  Thanks for your continued support.

The youth will be participating in a service project April 20 at the home of one of our own church family.  They will be doing some yard clean up.  Youth will leave the church around 4:00 PM and return in time for mid week service.  Mark the date!

Antioch Youth ‘Show Off’ At the Fair

Several of Antioch's young people showed animals at the county fair last week.  The animals were purchased, fed and cared for at their homes for a few months before the fair.  This is a great thing for our young people to be involved in and we are proud of them!
Jimmy:
 
Jimmy's hog placed in the top of his class:
 
Dale and his hog:
 
Josh:
 
Mahlon:
 
Hanna:
 
Hanna smiling at her family after her hog got chosen as  one of the top four in her class!
  
Jaben:

Way to go Antioch youth.  We are proud of you!