New Year's Eve Service

CCC will celebrate the coming of 2009 with a Candlelight Service beginning tonight at 7:00 p.m. There will be a time of praise and worship, followed by food and fellowship. Also, the youth department will sponsor a New year's Eve lock-in beginning at 9:00 p.m. Come out and join the activities as we ring in the New Year with joy and gladness of heart.

Finish What You Started

The New Year often brings thoughts of New Resolutions to start new diets, projects, relationships, jobs, etc. Why not try something different for a change?

Yesterday's message was entitled, Finish What You Have Started! Every year at this time we look at the New Year with expectations of hope, and perhaps, even some reservations, to commit ourselves to New Resolutions for a better lifestyle. But, this year I want to challenge you to do something different. Rather than making a new resolution to do something new or better, why not finish the resolution that you started last year. Instead of looking at new projects and trying to wipe the slate clean, look at the old plans, the old commitments, the old promises and purpose in your mind that you’re not going to start one more project, one more relationship, one more resolution UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED WHAT YOU STARTED!

Two gas company service men, a senior training Supervisor and a young trainee were out checking meters and parked their truck at the end of the alley and worked there way to the other end. At the last house a woman looking out her kitchen window watched the two men as they checked her gas meter. As they finished the meter check the older supervisor challenged his younger co-worker to a foot race down the alley back to the truck.As they came running up to the truck, they realized that the lady from the last house was huffing and puffing right behind them. They stopped and asked her what was wrong. Gasping for breath she said, "When I see two gas men running full speed away from my house, I figured I had better run too."

The lady wasn’t exactly sure why she was running, but she seemed to think that her life depended on it. Wouldn’t it be truly awesome if every person who claims a relationship with Christ, every individual who desires to be called a Christian, would run the race of faith as if their lives depended on it … because it truly does!

Commit to your dreams and goals. You may start out slowly but as the Lord said to Zechariah ‘do not despise the days of small things’. Take one step at a time and you will see yourself finishing what you started.

Merry Christmas!

Pamela and I would like to extend our Christmas wishes to all of our CCC family, and to everyone who reads this blog on a regular basis. May God bless you with His grace and peace, and may the joy of the Lord fill your heart everyday as you possess new and wonderful manifestations of His love. Merry Christmas to one and all!

Christmas Banquet 2008

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

The annual Christmas program was a huge success. 170 people attended the event, and the Lord blessed us with a great feeling of Christmas joy. We look forward to what the New Year will bring to Cottondale Community Church.

Christmas CARE Day turned out to be very successful as The Care Package distributed food to approximately 100 families, effecting over 300 people. Special thanks to Teresa Crawford, Director and all her volunteer staff for helping in this project. Our cupboards are completely bare, and we are praying that God will provide us with full shelves for our next giveaway on January 24, 2009.

Stuffed Animals Giveaway!

The STUFFED ANIMALS BRIGADE was out in full force today as they visited The Forest Manor Nursing home. What a special blessing to see the smiling, happy faces share in the joy of the Christmas holiday. Thanks to everyone who donated and made this a blessed event.

Stuffed Animals Giveaway!

Christmas Program

We invite you to join us this coming Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. for our annual Christmas program. We are anticipating a capacity crowd for this very special event. Be a part of the spectacular experience of CCC this Sunday. You won't be disappointed!

Nursing Home Visitation

Folks from CCC will, again, visit several Nursing Homes in the Tuscaloosa area and present the patrons with cuddly stuffed animals for the Christmas season. Last year, we presented over 1000 stuffed animals to elderly patients in nursing care, and this year we hope to come close to that goal again. Many of these patients have few families and are often overlooked during the holidays. The smiles on their faces are, indeed, precious as they receive this gift of love from our church family.

Special thanks go to Derry and Rita Meade for helping to make this yearly project a success. If you would like to participate, you can meet at the church on Friday, Dec. 19th at 9:00 a.m. or Saturday, Dec. 20th at 9:30 a.m.

2008 Christmas Banquet

We had a great time at our annual banquet last evening. Our special guest, The Sounds of Joy, brought out the holiday feeling in everyone. We will be posting more pictures from last night's event throughout the week.

2008 Christmas Banquet

Christmas Program

Our Annual Christmas Program will be Sunday, December 21st. The title for the program will be IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS! The choir will be performing a blend of season and traditional carols, as well as, some modern worship songs.

Care Package

The Care Package Food Pantry will have another food distribution on Saturday, December 20th from 8 - 10 a.m. Over $1100 was donated during our Community Thanksgiving Service for this event. We express our appreciation to everyone who has given to bless this ministry.

The Lord has blessed us to be able to distribute 200 hams and chickens for the Christmas holiday season.

Annual Christmas Banquet

Our Annual Christmas Banquet will take place this Sunday, December 14th at 6:00 p.m. You invited to bring you friends and family and join us at CCC for this wonderful celebration of our church family. Our special guests will be the Joyful Sounds who be sharing their unique blend of Christmas music.

If God Be For Us - Realizing Your Full Potential

Sunday's message will be a continuation of last week's series, "If God Be For Us?"

We must continally grow in grace and press toward the mark, if we are to realize the full potential that God has empowered us with for His glory. The mediocre men of Manasseh ( Joshua 17) did not fully possess their land because of their pride and incomplete obedience to God's will. God's answer to them was that if they wanted more from Him they would have to:

1. Clear the trees - which stands for the clutter (Our busy lives and important schedules);

2. Get rid of the corruption, the Canaanites (The sin and wickedness in our lives).

When we acknowledge our total dependency and trust in God, and serve Him humbly and obediently, we will Realize Our Full Potential and possess the promises of God.

Interesting Video

Funny Video that tells a lot of truth!

Kingdom Players to be at CCC this Sunday.

We are extremely delighted to be able to host The Kingdom Players from Lee University this Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. The touring drama group has ministered to us before, and we are excited to welcome new director, Jay Critz and this year's group, to CCC! Come and join us this Sunday as we worship the Lord together!

Living the Good Life!

Wouldn't it be great to just cruise through life with no worries or cares at all. Pictured above is one of Ron & Pamela's cats, Taz (short for Tazmanian Devil), just kickn' back and relaxing. Just eating, sleeping and doing what most house cats do, NOTHING! Of course, our lives are not that easy. They are often filled with trials and tribulations. But, God tells us to Cast, all our care upon Him, for He cares for Us!

What a joy it is to know that we can find peace and rest in the realm of God's grace and glory. In Him there is a life that is truly, Joy Unspeakable And Full Of Glory!

JOY Club!

The J.O.Y. (Just Over Youth) Club meeting today at 11:30 p.m. We were blessed to have Robbie & Laura O'Bryant as our special guest. Robbie shared his testimony, and everyone was blessed by his beautiful rendition of the old song,"He Touched Me!" Gene Dockery (one of our JOY Club extended family member) introduced the O'Bryants to our meeting. We pray that God will bless and anoint the ministry for many years to come.

JOY Club Meeting

CARE Day a Huge Success!

CARE Day turned out to be a huge success for CCC's Food Pantry and the University of Alabama School of Social Works. Through God's help we were able to serve 147 families for a grand total of 459 people. This was completely beyond expectations, and we thank God for allowing us to meet the needs of many in our community.

We are looking forward to next month's distribution. Anyone wishing to donate to the Care Package Food Pantry may do so by contacting us at Cottondale Community Church, POB 192, Cottondale, AL 35453, or by calling (205) 553-9413.

CARE Day

Tuscaloosa News covers CARE DAY

By Tommy Stevenson Associate Editor
Published: Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 4:50 p.m. Last Modified: Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 4:50 p.m.
COTTONDALE: After the single largest purchase from the West Alabama Food Bank in its history, students from the University of Alabama and volunteers at Cottondale Community Church have been working frantically nearly all week for the first “CARE Day” at the church Saturday.
For the graduate students in the UA School of Social Work who conceived the “Cottondale Area Resident Enrichment Day,” the distribution of some 6,500 pounds of food actually comes with class credit.
“But that’s not the main goal,” said Julie Holden, of Birmingham, who is working on her masters in social work. She spoke Thursday as she took a break from sorting cans of food at the church gym. “The main goal is to help the food pantry at the church expand and really serve the community.”
The class is Social Work 542, taught by J.K. and Joanne Terrell Holden said the class concentrates on “micro-social work, where you really get out in the community and concentrate on a single need.”
Denise Cleveland, the research administrator for the UA social work school, a graduate student herself and also a native of the unincorporated Cottondale area east of Tuscaloosa, said the university’s Center for Community Based Partnership provided a grant for several teams of grad students to initiate projects in various parts of Tuscaloosa County.
“So we had about $500 in seed money this semester to help us get local businesses involved,” she said. “That was enough to get us started, but we then need to decide on a project.”
Before the class settled on the food drive, the class organized a community meeting attended by State Rep. Gerald Allen, a Cottondale member of the Alabama House of Representatives, County Commissioner Gary Youngblood and representatives from area churches and businesses.
“We went over a lot of problems that the community has, like roads and sewers,” Holden said. “But we knew there was nothing we could do about sewers, so we settled on partnering with the Cottondale Community Food Pantry.”
The two-month old food pantry, a project of Rev. Ron Martin’s Cottondale Community Church, had just gotten off the ground, he said, and has served about 20 families.
“But we knew the need was much greater,” he said. “And the social work class was a perfect fit.”
By the time the students had fanned out in the community, getting donations from businesses and churches as diverse as Food World, Catfish County restaurant, Cottondale First Methodist Church, the local VFW post and even the Oasis bar, $3,500 had been raised. Most of it went to purchase discount food from the West Alabama Food Bank.
The food distribution will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday. Cottondale-area residents who come to receive free food items will be required to show proof of residency, which can be anything from a drivers license to a utility bill, and fill out a form detailing the family size and other data that will be collected by the students.
“We are expecting at least 100 families and people to show up, based on what the church has told us and the flyers we have put up all over the Cottondale area as well as the outreach the churches and social agencies have done,” Cleveland said. “For some of the families who have young children, we also have ‘CARE packages’ that include things like diapers, toothbrushes and toiletry items.”
CARE Day will end at noon, but since it is anticipated that only a fraction of the food items will be dispersed, the church’s food pantry should find its shelves well stocked for the future when people in the community find themselves in need.
“Part of our class assignment was to help create something sustainable,” Holden said. “Not to just do something and not come back. And we think getting all these various business, churches and agencies involved with the project will do that.”
Martin, whose church has about 120 members, agrees.
“This is really going to be a tremendous boost,” he said. “We started out our food pantry real small, mostly because our church is not that large,” he said. “So when the students came to us with the offer to help it was something we just couldn’t pass up.
“This will probably quadruple what we had on hand even after Saturday and it will certainly help us to continue our pantry and even expand the number of people we can serve.”

The Parable of the Sower

Sunday's message will be a continuation of the series Stirred, But Not Changed! We will be looking at The Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13. This wonderful story encourages us to allow our hearts and minds to be cultivated into good soil so that we may reap the bountiful harvest of God's truth. Prepare your minds to receive the seed of God's Word this Sunday.

Relationship Study

Dr. Don Brock, and his lovely wife Yvonne, have been conducting a wonderful study on Relationships during our Wednesday night adult Bible Study. The Brocks will be with us during the month of November. Join us for this very important study from the Word of God.

Kingdom Players to visit CCC!

The Kingdom Players from Lee University will visit CCC on Sunday, November 23rd at 10:30 a.m. This dynamic drama group has blessed us in ministry before, and we are looking forward to this very special day. There will be a dinner to follow the morning service. We invite you to join us as we worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth!

Care Day!

The Care Package, in conjunction with the University of Alabama School of Social Works, will be having a special food distribution day Saturday, November 15th from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. The event, known as CARE Day, will help provide needy families with food and supplies to make their holiday celebration a special event. UA has raised close to $3000 for the event, while CCC has contributed almost $1500 to buy 125 turkeys and supplies for this very special day.

Creative Arts Course Begins!

CCC is pleased to announce the first session of a Computer Class designed to help new beginners navigate their way through modern-day technology. The instructor for the class is Angela Boatwright. A special thanks to computer guru P. J. Behan for the time and effort he has put into getting the donated computers functional for the class. The class will last for 4 sessions. We hope to be able to add more classes in the future, and with the help of more donated computers, add more students to our program.

Computer Class

Philippians Study Continues

Former Pastor Tony Ledbetter did an excellent job this past Wednesday evening dealing with the 2nd Chapter of Philippians. If you would like to obtain a copy of the CD please contact the church and we will provide you with one. Pastor Tony will be teaching from Philippians 3 next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Don't miss it.

Family Day (Sunday evening)

Fall Festival

The 3rd Annual CCC Fall Festival will take place Friday, October 31, 2008 from 6 - 8:00 p.m. There will be plenty of prizes, games, slides, candy and food for children of all ages. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Movie Historically Inaccurate

'The Express' Posted by John Antonik on Thursday, October 9, 2008 (4:50 pm)

Go to Campus Connection page to comment

‘The Express,’ depicting the life of Syracuse Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis, is both entertaining and moving. It is also completely fictitious, at least the movie’s characterization of West Virginia.
‘The Express’ chronicles African-American football player Ernie Davis’ triumph over the racial injustices of the 1950s. Woven into the story were the real-life protests that ultimately led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The movie takes Davis from his early years in Uniontown, Pa., to Elmira, N.Y., and then to Syracuse University where he is one of three African-Americans on the 1959 Orange team that captures the national championship. Davis follows the footsteps of the great Jim Brown, an African-American who endured similar hardships and who becomes a sort of father figure to Davis.

Later when he is dying of cancer, Davis is shown in one final scene passing the baton to Floyd Little.
In addition to Brown, another key figure in the movie is Coach Ben Schwartzwalder, played by Dennis Quaid. Schwartzwalder was a Captain in the 82nd Airborne during World War II who earned distinction during the invasion of Normandy and the battles that followed. The movie uncovers the hard-scrabble Schwartzwalder’s complex relationship with the intelligent and sensitive Davis.

In one scene Schwartzwalder notices Davis glancing at a white cheerleader during practice. Later in his office, Schwartzwalder advises Davis that he should give his old girlfriend from home a call. The coach's message is clear: it is not proper for a black man to socialize with a white woman.
Another practice scene shows Davis being roughed up by a white player to which Schwartzwalder shows indifference, remarking to Davis that he will encounter much worse during games.

Then Syracuse arrives at West Virginia. Schwartzwalder is shown in the visiting locker room preparing his team for what they are about to encounter when they play the Mountaineers.
“They play by a different set of rules,” the coach says in the movie. “It will be hostile. Their fans are unruly, especially when they’re playing against a team that looks a little different than they do.”
Next comes a riveting scene when the Syracuse team is about to walk out onto Mountaineer Field underneath the haze of flying beer bottles, garbage and other debris in almost complete darkness.
“Everyone is to keep their helmets on at all times whether you are in the game or not,” Schwarztwalder says. “I don’t want anyone hurt by flying bottles. Davis, you stay in the middle of the pack and keep your head down.”

“It must be Halloween because here come the spooks!” yells one crazed West Virginia fan.
West Virginia players are shown giving cheap shots to Davis while he is on the ground. After a long Davis run that comes up just short of the goal line, Schwartzwalder removes Davis from the game because he is fearful that if he scores a touchdown he could be harmed.
It is all very compelling and dramatic. It also never happened.
Ernie Davis played just once at West Virginia in 1960, not 1959. The game that year was played during the day, not at night. And at no time do any of the participants on either side recall the unfortunate racial incidents portrayed in the movie.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, recruited to play football at West Virginia University in the mid-1960s, voiced his outrage Thursday morning.
“It’s labeled a true story but to have so much falsehood is just ridiculous,” Manchin told the Charleston Daily Mail. “I mean there is no truth to it.”
Syracuse quarterback Dick Easterly concurs, saying what was depicted at West Virginia University simply did not happen.
“What the director tried to accomplish is showing the conditions of those times," Easterly was quoted in Thursday’s St. Petersburg Times. “A lot of things in the movie didn't happen at that time at Syracuse but did happen in the country.
“I see a lot of things that never were done to Ernie but maybe happened to (Syracuse great) Jim Brown (in the 1950s). The movie's more about him than Ernie. And they made Ben look like a racist, to me.”
There are also connections to West Virginia the movie ignores. Schwartzwalder was born in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, attended West Virginia University and briefly coached high school football in the Mountain State before going to Muhlenberg College and then on to Syracuse.
The early part of Davis’ life took place in Uniontown, just a ½ hour drive from Morgantown. The West Virginia game was essentially a homecoming for Davis.

Also, West Virginia’s coach the year Davis played in Morgantown was Gene Corum - the man responsible for integrating football at West Virginia University in 1962. To depict Corum and his West Virginia University team as bigoted is utterly appalling.
Of course West Virginia is an easy target. It always has been. Young people watching this movie are going to form an opinion of West Virginia that is completely false.
This is sad because West Virginia became a state because it seceded from Confederate Virginia during the Civil War.

Unfortunately, that fact is lost to history.

(From MSNsportsNET.com)

Family Emphasis Day

We are delighted to announce that Larry & Susan Duncan will be with us on Sunday, October 12, 2008. Our focus will be Family Emphasis. The morning service will deal with the effects of crisis management and how we can better equip ourselves in God's grace. The evening service will focus on emotional healing and the importance of building stronger family relationships. Join us Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m and Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. for this special Family Emphasis Day.

Larry has been ministering full-time in the Church of God of Prophecy since 1973. During that time he has served in a wide variety of positions at the local, state, and international levels. His deep passion for relational ministry is expressed in efforts to strengthen families, encourage pastoral couples, and equip church leaders through retreats, relational ministry courses, and personal ministry.

A Study of Philippians

From beatings to imprisonment, Paul endured an enormous amount of suffering for the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ. Overwhelming trials had taught the Apostle to be content in whatever circumstance he found himself. Through his experiences he was able to encourage the Philippians to cultivate a similar lifestyle. His letter to the Philippian church is a testimony to his courageous attitude. Even though he was in prison, facing an uncertain future, Paul wrote this letter of gratitude expressing an abundant joy in what God was accomplishing through the Philippians.

Join us every Wednesday night at CCC in the month of October as we explore the depth of God's grace from the book of Philippians. Our guest lecturer for this month will be former pastor Tony Ledbetter. Bible study begins at 6:30 p.m.

Ezekiel's Vision

Sunday's message dealt with the vision of Ezekiel and what he learned when God showed up in his life. The first chapter of this wonderful prophetic book is extremely informative about the revelation of God in our human experience.

The Lord moved in our presence in a very wonderful way. Thank God for His awesome presence and power in our lives.

True Repentance

The third chapter of Jonah gives us 2 great examples of repentance:

1. Repentance is making a U-turn.

2. Repentance involves confession, conviction and commitment.

Tonight we will continue our study from the Book of Jonah. We will learn about the principles of repentance and what God expects from each one of us. Join us as we continue our journey through the Book of Jonah.

Special Tribute

Dr. M. E. Barnett was honored during our recent homecoming celebration. Dr. Barnett pastored CCC from 1975 to 1995. He indelibly left a lasting impression on the character and personality of this church. His wisdom and leadership will be felt for generations to come.

Building Bridges - 56th Anniversary

We were extremely honored to have General Overseer Randy Howard and his family as our guest at the 56th Anniversary of CCC!. It was a great day with over 225 people in attendance. The days activities included visits from our State Representative Gerald Allen, County Commissioners Bobby Miller and Gary Youngblood. Our special musical guest was Kim Dunn, who did an outstanding job leading us into the presence of God's grace. We spent the day honoring our friends and church family. Special tribute was given to former pastors, Dr. M. E. Barnett and Tony Ledbetter. God has inspired us to build a bridge from the past to the present and on into the future by laying out the welcome mat to everyone who will join us on the journey to God's eternal kingdom.

A special thanks to Rita & Derry Meade, Brenda Francisco, P. J. & Valyn Behan, Teresa Crawford, Yvonne Dewberry, Harold Terry, Jerry and Angela Boatwright, Linda Griffith and everyone else who made this a special day

56th Anniversary Celebration

Praying In The Belly Of A Fish

Three ministers were talking about prayer in general and the appropriate positions for prayer. As they were talking, a telephone repariman was working nearby. One minster shared that he felt the key was folding your hands in a pointed upward position. The second suggested that real prayer was conducted on your knees. The third suggested that the only way to reach God was from a prostrate position, flat on your face. By this time the phone man couldn't stay out of the conversation. He chimed in, "I found that the most powerful praying I ever done was while I was dangling upside down by my heels from a power pole, suspended forty feet above the ground.

The most powerful prayer that Jonah ever prayed was from the belly of a fish. Join us Wednesday evening as we continue our study in the Book of Jonah.