Apr 4th Ladies' Banquet Apr 12th Easter Sunday April 22-26 Missions Conference May 2nd Men's Prayer Breakfast 8:00 amJune 6th Men's Prayer Breakfast 8:00 amJune 22-26 Teen Camp June 29 - July 3 Junior Camp

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4/4 Ladies Banquet4/12 Easter4/22-26 Missions Conference

6/22-26 Teen Camp6/29-7/3 Junior Camp7/12-16 VBS

John W. Godfrey, Jr - PastorDan Hefner - Assistant Pastor

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Cover art: Ålesund, Norway at sunset

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Kristin Kristin

In Ezekiel 22, the Lord shows the prophet all the sins of the nation of Israel. The Lord continues this unveil-ing of sin by even pointing out the sins of the priest, princes and prophets of the land. In verse 30 you can

hear the heart of God breaking as He declares that He sought for a man among the people that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap. The Lord then gives the reason that He is looking for this faithful man: “that I should not destroy it.” God did not want to destroy Israel, but because He could not find a man that would stand for righteousness He was forced to pour out His indignation upon them.

Here we see the principle to which Abraham appealed when pleading for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham asked God if He would spare the cities if there were ten righteous people living there. Sometimes we feel like we are losing the battle of morality in our world. We feel as though sin is abounding on every side. There is the pressure to conform to the world as many have done, but understand that in the eyes of God we are the reason that judgment has not come yet. Our job is to stand in the gap and point men to Christ. We have been commissioned by our Savior to be the salt and light that this world desperately needs. The day of God’s patience and long-suffering is coming to and end. We must be the hedge that holds back the tide of judgment and gives man the only answer for eternity – Jesus Christ.

Immanuel Baptist Church2819 Douthat Rd, Clifton Forge, VA 24422Phone: 540-862-1011www.ibccf.org

10 AM11 AM

6 PM7 PM

Sunday SchoolSunday Morning WorshipSunday Evening Worship

Wednesday Bible Study

April 1st Teen FellowshipApril 18th Escape RoomMay 6th Teen Fellowship

Singing in the RainAnnual Ladies' Banquet | April 4th, 12 PMPlease pick up a voucher for each person attending, mark your preferred entree, and turn in with pay-ment to Barbara Morgan. $5 per adult, $3 per child.

Mattresses and Bedding neededOur prophet's chamber has a new bunk bed, and it still needs new mattresses, sheets, pil-lows, and comforters. If you would like to give towards this project, designate the funds as "Prophet's Chamber" on the "Other" line on your offering envelope, or see Barbara Morgan to give in person.

Resurrection SundayDinner

After our Easter morning service, we will have a special dinner in the gym for all of our families and guests! A sign-up sheet is posted in the hall for selected dishes. Please bring a dessert and sign up to bring a large ham or side dish to share!

Evangelist Mike ClarkWe are pleased to have Evangelist Mike Clark back with us today! Bro. Mike is the director of Greenbrier Christian Retreat in Crawley, WV. Greenbrier Christian Retreat began as a dream for founders Don Huber and Jon-athan Comer in 2005. Through continu-ous prayer, bountiful donations, faith and hard work, they were able to inspire pas-

sion in many, to realize what we now know as Greenbrier Christian Retreat. Construction began in 2014, and by the summer of 2016 they held their first youth summer camp. Today Greenbrier offers retreats, camps, and special event space to churches in the surrounding area.

Multiple Blessings from Trees

Proclaiming Evidence for Truth

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. (Genesis 1:11)

Genesis uses only a few words and simple language to describe the cre-ation of trees. That hardly seems fair,

considering the importance, variety and complexity of the largest and longest-living things on Earth.

The largest Sequoias in northern California weigh more than six blue whales. The tallest Australian eucalyptus trees and redwoods tower as high as a 30-story building. Some of the Bristlecone pines in America are 4,000 years old.

Trees do more than provide us with building materials, food and medicine. Like other green plants, trees take the waste carbon diox-ide produced by animals and humans and turn it into oxygen. As a bonus, trees produce sugar. The cellulose fiber we call wood is actu-ally only thousands of sugar molecules linked into long chains. In re-cent years, scientists have also learned that trees communicate with each other. They cool the air and pump enough moisture into the air to transform a dry, desert-like climate. If it were not for the mycorrhiza fungi, trees would battle through their roots for control of moisture and soil resources. However, when this fungus is present in the root systems, trees will link roots with each other and share water and nu-trients.

Scripture's simple statement that God created trees expands into volumes of information as we learn more about them. This is how sci-ence done in faith – that is, as our search for knowledge about what God has made – serves to glorify our Creator!

Ref: Ponte, Lowell. "What good is a tree?" Reader's Digest. Photo: Giant Sequoia. (Pixabay)

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Mark Leidtke - Belize

- Missionary of the Week -

MISSIONS GIVING THIS YEAR

$32,218.80

SUNDAY BULLETIN March 15, 2020