St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church

09/06/2026

09/04/2026

Sharing from Reverend Carolyn Strickland, Pastor of Liberty Hill AME Church, Sharpsburg, GA with deep gratitude:

DO YOU KNOW WHAT COMMUNION REALLY MEANS? ✝️
This Sunday is Holy Communion Sunday, but Communion is more than a church tradition. It is a sacred moment of remembrance, reflection, gratitude, and love.
Before Jesus went to the cross, He shared bread and the cup with His disciples and told them to remember Him.
🍞 The bread reminds us of the body of Jesus Christ, given for us.
🍷 The cup reminds us of His blood, shed for the forgiveness of our sins.
❤️ The table reminds us of His amazing love and the sacrifice He made so that we might have life.
When we come to the Communion table, we are remembering Calvary. We are remembering the price that was paid. We are examining our hearts, giving thanks for His grace, and declaring that Jesus Christ died, Jesus Christ rose, and Jesus Christ is coming again!
Communion is not about pretending that we are perfect. It is a time to come before God with a sincere heart—to reflect, repent, forgive, give thanks, and remember the One who gave everything for us.
Jesus said, “This do in remembrance of me.” — Luke 22:19
So as we prepare for the First Sunday, don’t just take the bread and drink from the cup because it is what we have always done.
Remember what it means.
Remember His body.
Remember His blood.
Remember His sacrifice.
Remember His love.
Remember JESUS. ❤️✝️

Come worship with us this Sunday at St. James AME Church as we gather around the Lord’s table and remember the sacrifice that changed everything.

📍 229 Chapman Road, Macon, GA 31211
🕚 Sunday Worship | 11:00 AM
🙏 Pastor Frederick D. Forsh

There is always room at the table to hear about the love of Jesus.

09/03/2026

All Praise to God and Huge Thanks to the Reverend Brandy Bailey, Pastor of Jones Chapel AMEC-Sparta, GA for delivering a powerful word from the Lord, THE CALL FOR REVIVAL on the fifth and final watch of our 2026 RENEWING STRENGTH FOR THE SOUL Revival Series last night! Our evangelist from last Wednesday, Reverend Jeremiah Hall, returned and blessed us by adding his musical gifts to the worship experience, in support of his fellow pastors. God has blessed His revival, renewing strength for our souls! All Glory, Honor, and Praise to Him!

09/02/2026

Psalm 119:64

New Life Version

The earth is full of Your lovingkindness, O Lord. Teach me Your Law.



In the King James Version, the “original” to many of us, it is “mercy,” while in some versions, it is “unfailing love,” but in the New Life Version, it is “lovingkindness.” And in keeping with my tendency to be intrigued by the differences, I researched two of the three I just mentioned, “mercy” and “lovingkindness.”



And according to my brief research, mercy means showing kindness, compassion, and forgiveness to someone when it is within your power to punish or harm them, while lovingkindness means a deep, tender, and benevolent affection or care that translates love into active kindness. As the reader can see, there is some similarity between the two, but from my humble perspective, it appears that the translations are a matter of focus, and yet, it would be hard to argue that the attributes of God do not include both mercy and lovingkindness, a suitable way of expressing His unfailing love.



One might interpret Psalm 119:64 as somewhat of a bargaining chip. In other words, once I see “Your lovingkindness, O Lord,” then I’m ready for You to “teach me Your law.” However, I think his intention was far from such but, instead, humbly opining, that his recognition that “the earth is full of (God’s) lovingkindness,” readied him to accept God’s law. And perhaps, which makes sense to me, he viewed God’s law as an outgrowth of His lovingkindness, mercy, and unfailing love.



When we recognize that the law of God is an expression of the love of God, we are far more likely to accept both in a “joint package” as one. Of course, Psalm 119:64 was written centuries before Jesus, the Christ walked upon the earth and through His ultimate sacrifice, ultimately fulfilled the law of God.



And as such, we, IN A COMPANY OF BELIEVERS, having been “taught” both the law of Moses and the love of God in Christ Jesus, with opened eyes, consistently see that “the earth is full of (God’s) lovingkindness,” and we gladly endeavor to fulfill the requirements of the law of love given us by Christ Jesus to, along with the “old” law of loving God with all our hearts, minds, and souls, to “love (our) neighbors as (we) love (ourselves).”



Be Inspired, Encouraged, and Motivated by the Mercy, Lovingkindness, and Unfailing Love of God Made Manifest in His Law! It’s Love O’clock!

09/02/2026

Proverbs 22:6

King James Version

Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Teach a youth about the way he should go;
even when he is old, he will not depart from it.



My first instinct, if that’s the correct word, was to post only the Holman Christian Standard Bible translation, but then I thought, though most readers are probably familiar with it, also post the King James Version because I am intrigued that “train” in one is replaced by “teach” in the other.



I imagine that many would consider both words to be synonymous, but to be clear, if so, they are not equal in meaning, only similar. On the Quora online blog site, the following was posted as an answer to a question seeking the distinction between the two: “Teaching focuses on imparting abstract knowledge and developing critical thinking, while training focuses on practicing specific, hands-on skills for immediate tasks.” My oldest brother once explained to me that training paves the way for teaching. Quora’s answer gives what he said credence.



With that, humbly opining, another translation is in order which, possibly already exists, that combines the two shown above, something like, “train up and teach children the way they should go, and when they’re old, they won’t depart from them.”



Be Inspired, Encouraged, and Motivated by the Divine Task and Opportunity to Train and Teach Our Youth! It’s Love O’clock!

08/31/2026

Psalm 95:6-7
New Life Version
Come, let us bow down in worship. Let us get down on our knees before the Lord Who made us. For He is our God. And we are the people of His field, and the sheep of His hand. If you hear His voice today,

I am intrigued at how the editors for today’s passage stopped at mid-sentence. And as such, I thought of how doing so opens the door to interpret the preceding clauses of the verses as possibilities solely dependent upon it

In other words, humbly opining, considering us, IN A COMPANY OF BELIEVERS, “if (we) hear His voice today,” or since we hear His voice each day, our response should be to “bow down in worship…on our knees before the Lord Who made us. For He is our God. And we are the people of His field, and the sheep of His hand.”

I feel confident that, as BELIEVERS, indeed, we “hear” His voice each day, so as a song the Holy Spirit inspired me to compose, and sung by my home church Youth Choir, and later recorded by Rev. Willie Heard, expresses, ”when morning comes through sleepy eyes, I look to God and I realize that He has kept me through the night to see another morning light. And each dawn before I rise, I think of how He gives me life. Then, I bow my head to pray; to thank Him for another day; another day, thankful! I’m another day thankful!”

“Come, let us bow down in worship. Let us get down on our knees before the Lord Who made us. For He is our God. And we are the people of His field, and the sheep of His hand.” Yes, we hear His voice today! Another Day Thankful!

Be Inspired, Encouraged, and Motivated by the Sound of His Voice! It’s Love O’clock!

08/29/2026

Galatians 3:28

Legacy Standard Bible

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.



“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is no male and female, for WE are all ONE in Christ Jesus.” There! Fixed it!



Seriously, though, COMPANY OF BELIEVERS, may we never forget that who we are before coming to Christ is still intact, but is superseded by our identity in Him. The Jew is still the Jew. The Greek is still the Greek. The slave is still a slave. The free person is still free. The male is still the male, and the female is still female.



And, humbly opining, before any of us get it twisted, a physical alteration has no impact upon our oneness in Christ unless we consider it to be so. But I praise God today, and each day, that His love, expressed in and through Jesus Christ, has no limits, which include any disdain we might develop or already have toward others.



Christ, by dining and dying with sinners should, at least to my thinking, prove that His love, grace, and mercy, are far more valuable than any of our petty differences, and as such, glory to His Name, overcomes them. For “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is no male and female, for WE are all ONE in Christ Jesus.” There! Jesus Fixed it!



Be Inspired, Encouraged, and Motivated by Our Oneness in Jesus Christ! It’s Love O’clock!