Christ Fellowship of Wise County

We at Christ Fellowship want to say how thrilled we are to hear that Randy – Trina’s son – has asked Halle to marry him and she said “yes!” Randy has played a big part in our church for some time now helping Morris with the audio/visual stuff and has been a huge help there! Thank you, Randy, and we are excited for you and Halle! No date has been set yet but they are working on that.

Also, David Hart just informed me that he and his family have to be out of their house by April 4 so he is going to rent a truck tomorrow, Saturday, March 29, to load up some stuff and take it to storage in Decatur starting at about 8 am. If you are able to help, you will be greatly appreciated. You know the drill. Bring pickups, dollies, straps, muscles, etc. If you don’t know where he lives here in Chico on Sherman Street, just contact me and we will meet there. Treasures in Heaven for ya!

I’ll see you Sunday when we will discuss God’s majesty as Isaiah saw it in Isaiah 6. I can’t wait! I love you all! — Todd

Merriam-Webster dictionary says: “Sovereign: absolute power—that is, power that cannot be checked by anyone or anything.” If a president or king is absolutely sovereign, that would be a miserable country in which to live. Nobody wants to be ruled by a sovereign person. But, at the same time, the knowledge of God’s absolute, infinite, irresistible and unconditional sovereignty should give the Christian great peace.

Let’s talk about that at Christ Fellowship this Sunday at 10 and 6. There is something special about Sunday nights at Christ Fellowship so I really hope you’ll be there! If you aren’t, you will be missed! I love you all! — Todd

Do you ever read something in the Bible and wonder if it could possibly be true? Did God really speak the universe into existence? Did God really flood the whole earth? Did Daniel really survive being thrown into the lion’s den? Did Jesus really die on a cross to pay for my sins? Some of that is pretty hard to believe.

I want to challenge you this weekend to read Genesis chapters 6, 7, and 8. It’s the story of Noah’s ark. I bet you have read it before but have you read it lately? Go back and read it thinking about why God did it, how He did it and could it really be possible? Then we will talk about it again Sunday morning at Christ Fellowship.

I can’t wait to see you! I love you all! — Todd

I love a good story. And nobody could tell a story like Jesus. He used stories or what we call parables to help illustrate truths He was telling. And sometimes He used them to conceal some truth from people He knew wouldn’t accept it. So, we at Christ Fellowship spent 6-7 weeks studying those parables but this Sunday we will start a new study. This Sunday, we will start to look at the attributes of God through the big, fun stories of the scripture. And this Sunday we will see the creativity of God in Genesis chapter 1. 

Do you want to have all your questions answered about how and why God created everything including dinosaurs and cavemen and the “leviathan”? Yea, that’s not gonna happen. But you will hopefully come away with a new appreciation of the creativity that God has and how we, made in His image, also are given creativity.

Don’t forget to set your clocks forward this Saturday night and I will see you at 10 am Sunday morning and 6 pm that evening. I love you all! — Todd

If you have seen any news lately, you have seen there is a renewed interest in eating and living healthy. We (I sure do) need to be reminded that what goes in our mouths has a direct effect on how we look and feel. And it’s the same with what goes in our eyes and into our brains. What we see and take in has a direct effect on how we look, feel and act.

David said in Psalm 101, “I will be careful to lead a blameless life—I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart. I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.”

Let’s all be careful what we watch and listen to on TV, radio and the computer. Our mental, physical and spiritual health depends on it! And we can do better. I love you all and can’t wait to see you this Sunday at Christ Fellowship! — Todd

PS We are signed up for the Chico Spring Fling and we have our usual good spot. But we need some prizes to give away. What do y’all have in mind? We have some time. It will be on Saturday, May 17th. Thanks y’all!

In Spanish the word “sin” means “without.” That seems pretty appropriate for the passage we are going to look at this coming Sunday at Christ Fellowship. The parable of the prodigal son is a study of what the son lost because of his sin. Because of his sin he was without the father’s rules but he was also without the father’s love and without the father’s care, without the father’s protection and ultimately…without the father.

Satan is a liar and he makes sin seem like it is what we need to be fulfilled in this life but it really just leaves us without everything we need, including being without our Heavenly Father because sin puts a barrier between us and God (Isaiah 59:2). But the good news that we find in this parable and in our lives is found in the Father’s response when we come back.

It’s going to be a beautiful day Sunday inside and out of the church building so I hope you will come worship with the rest of your family. When you aren’t there, you are missed! I love you all! — Todd

I’m hearing from lots of people that tomorrow’s chili cook-off at Christ Fellowship is going to be the contest of the year! We should have numerous entries in all three categories. The highly acclaimed Bent Spoon Awards are completed, delivered and under lock and key in their display case. Now, if the competition is too much for you, which is understandable, please remember that we also need extras of cheese, crackers, Fritos, onions, sour cream, squid, etc. We have tables set up at the back of the building for you to put your chili and accessories when you get there. There should be plenty of power strips to keep your crockpots warm. And the tables we will eat on will be set up after the service. The 2025 Christ Fellowship Annual Chili cook-off is a go, ladies and gentlemen!

Ah, Valentine’s Day and love is in the air! Guys, I know you want to show your spouse you still love her after all these years. You might lovingly tell her that even though the wrapper is wrinkled, the candy is still sweet. Or maybe you want to be biblical and compliment her like Solomon did. The old, “teeth like a flock of sheep” and “temples like pomegranates” lines work every time. Take it from me. 🙂

But I’ll tell you what my mind turns to on Valentine’s weekend – CHILI! Right? It’s finally here. The Christ Fellowship 24th Annual (I don’t really know) Chili Cook-off! Yay! And, as always, there will be the ever-coveted Bent Spoon Awards for the Spiciest, the Best Tasting and the Most Exotic. These award-winning awards are made from solid gold spoons set on imported gopher wood from Israel and are hand-crafted by the master craftsmen of Nepal specifically for our chili winners this Sunday after the morning service. So, bring a crockpot full of your favorite chili and maybe you can take home one of these worthless, I mean priceless awards!

There will be no evening service so the winners can recover mentally and physically from their overwhelming good fortune and glee.

I can’t wait to see you all! We will be continuing our study of the parables of Jesus. I promise this part of this email is factual. No guarantees on most of the rest. But I do love you and will miss you if you aren’t there! — Todd

Life’s not fair. That’s no great revelation, is it? We can all see that. And yet, we all want it to be fair. We complain when it’s not and we can’t believe it when it shows to be that way. But at least God is fair, right? Are you sure? In fact, there aren’t many examples of God being truly fair in all of scripture. Unfairness is far more common. Truthfully, if God were really fair, we’d all be bound for Hell. So, I’m grateful He’s not fair. The true measure of a person, though, is how they react to that unfairness.

It’s not fair that so many of us have been sick here lately. It’s not fair that I had to ask Timmy and Brian to fill in for me last week with less than 24 hours’ notice. But neither one complained (that I know of) and both allowed God to use them and speak through them in a powerful way. And I’m grateful to them and to God for that.

It’s also not fair that our dear Anna Campbell is back in the hospital. Would you please pray for her? The doctors still don’t know what the problem is and continue to run all kinds of tests. Right now, she’s not in a lot of pain but she’s not well and that’s what we pray for. But she’s in good spirits and she said she doesn’t need anything. But there’s no telling what Joe is eating when he gets home, know what I mean?

I love you all and I can’t wait to see you this Sunday at Christ Fellowship! Thank you all for checking on me and giving me good stuff to eat while I was sick. I’m 100% now though and I can’t wait to worship with my church family! (Except you sick folks. Y’all stay home.) 🙂 — Todd

Karl Menninger, the famed psychiatrist, once said that if he could convince the patients in psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven, 75 percent of them could walk out the next day!

Forgiveness. It’s huge. It’s painful. It’s difficult. It’s oftentimes undeserved but it’s always critical. But we learned last week why we are to forgive others. We forgive because we have been forgiven. And we forgive because it is a command. We forgive or we won’t be forgiven. So, we learned why we forgive. Join us this week at Christ Fellowship to see how we are to forgive. 

I can’t wait to see you! If you missed last week, you missed a powerful time of worship and praise. It was just fun! Let’s do it again this Sunday. I love you all! — Todd