Woodvillecoc

06/08/2026

https://youtu.be/PVllKy-DCMs?feature=shared

The Alabaster Jarwoodvillecoc.org

05/25/2026

WHAT IS MEMORIAL DAY ALL ABOUT, ANYWAY?
By Keith Bellamy

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their graves. Then in 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday in May.

So, what is it all about, anyway?
I remember the parades and the flags when I was a little boy in West Virginia. Back then, Memorial Day was a very important day.

An acquaintance of mine was visiting the Ukraine several years ago, and he said he did not know how special Memorial Day was until his Ukraine host showered him with gifts, flowers, etc., while he was working there. Like many of us, he had taken for granted how blessed we are to live in the U.S.A. and he had taken for granted those who paid that ultimate price.

We hear so much today about freedom. So, I wonder how many really know the cost of that freedom. Those who go around and condemn our fallen are putting themselves on dangerous ground. They are able to protest because someone shed their blood so they could protest. But Americans tend to take things for granted, don’t they?

It is time to remember those who have gone before us and paid the ultimate price. We are here because FREEDOM IS NOT FREE! It requires the shedding of blood. Freedom has always required that.

I honor all veterans-on-Veterans Day. However, MEMORIAL DAY is the day we honor those who have paid the ultimate price. There are all sorts of stories of those in battle who sacrificed their very lives so their comrades in arms could survive.

If we forget to remember our past we will cease to exist.
Think about this. Our salvation; our freedom we have in Christ is because He shed His blood for you and me (Acts 20:28). If we forget Who paid the ultimate price for all of man - kind what will happen?

05/15/2026

Wake Up!
by Keith Bellamy

What would it take to wake you up? That was the question put to me many years ago. Sadly, it took a while for it to sink into my thick head.

It took open heart surgery to wake me up. I had been in the ministry for years, but I needed that proverbial wake-up call.

So, what is your excuse? Think about it, please. We’re talking about things that have to do with eternal consequences. The decisions you make right now could determine your eternal destiny!

Spiritual Growth does not happen by accident! Parents will take their baby to the doctor if that baby doesn’t grow normally. What about a wake-up call for those who are spiritually asleep?

The doctor I am referring to is The Great Physician, Jesus Christ!

Many of Jesus’ apostles didn’t want to follow Him any longer, because they didn’t like what Jesus said about following Him. Jesus asked them if they wanted to quit following Him. Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:60-68).

Will you wake up?!

05/08/2026

Mothers Are Special
By Keith Bellamy

Abraham Lincoln once said, "All that I am, or can be, I owe to my angel mother." John Gray said, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." Napoleon Bonaparte said, "Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons." And how about this Spanish proverb? -- "An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy."

We notice in 2 Timothy 1:5, “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” Likewise, I can say that I am reminded of my faith which first lived in my great-great-grandmother Susan, my great-grandmother Annie, my grandmother Lois, and my mother Geneva.

However, there comes a time when I must stand on my own faith. My great-great-grandmother, my great-grandmother, my grandmother nor my sainted mother’s faith assure me of a place in Heaven. My faith in Jesus does.

I was very young when my mother was baptized (Acts 3:27). While I didn’t understand then how important that was, I do remember her changing some things in her life. She set a pattern for us to follow. She wanted us to follow Jesus and be a disciple of His. Over 66 years ago I made the same decision she made. I was baptized into Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:3-6).

Mothers are special though! There is hardly a day that goes by that I don’t think of my mother. She’s been with the Lord for over twenty-four years now.
We hope you use this Sunday to celebrate your mother’s life. If she is still living, tell her you love her. And then give God the glory, from Whom all good things come.

05/04/2026

https://youtu.be/w1V3laAdOYI?feature=shared
Tony Fitzgerald preaching

1 like. "Woodville Church of Christ 5-3-2026"

05/04/2026

OUT OF CONTROL
By Keith Bellamy

Let me tell you about a man who was out of control. He was very rich. In fact, he was considered the richest man on earth at the time. He had it all. Wine, women and song were his to have. No one could refuse him. He had been the king’s favorite son and then he was the king. People came from far away to see his great accomplishments and his wealth. They lavished him with praise. No doubt many idolized him.

He literally discovered the proverbial Genie Out of the Bottle. In 1 Kings 3 God told him because he did not ask for riches, he would be rich. But there was a condition on this man’s fame and fortune. He had to be like his dad. His dad was called a man after God’s own heart. So, if this man followed God like his dad did, he would be blessed beyond his wildest dreams.

However, a very sad commentary of his life is in 1 Kings 11:1-4. “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women who had clearly instructed the people of Israel, ‘You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.’ Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the LORD. In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the LORD his God, as his father, David, had been.”

Are you out of control? What do you do when you are? Where do you go when you are out of control?

Solomon learned the hard way! What about you?

04/17/2026

WORDS… from Woodville
Sunday, April 19, 2026
The Preacher Says

BELIEVING IN GOD OR NOT
By Keith Bellamy

I cannot remember a time when I didn’t believe. And yet, I know many who have a hard time believing in God. I know of many who don’t believe. Even some who attend church don’t believe.

It may be that something terrible has happened to shake a person’s faith. It may be that they did not have faith to begin with. Whatever the reason I want to encourage you to believe!

No, it is not easy to live the Christian life. There are always those ups and downs. There are always those individuals who try to throw the proverbial wet blanket on us.

A friend of mind shared the following. She had lost the love of her life to a terrible crippling illness after 40 years of marriage.

She said, “When we taught high school Sunday School, we had a student whose parents were missionaries in Zimbabwe. He talked about the total lawlessness in the streets and how the police stopped people, judged them and executed them in the streets; and how you could not witness anything or you'd be held for months and years in jail. Someone asked, "Didn't it just make you feel like there was no God?" He said "No. It made me completely believe in God. Because it was so clear that without God there was nothing. I was completely helpless. God was the only hope there was." It really is all a matter of perspective. The cup really is half empty or half full. I'll vote for half full every time.”

And I like what a young cousin of mine wrote, “I am hanging in there. I am so glad God has the answers for everything because I sure feel clueless most of the time.” Amen!

The real question is where else can you go for help and faith. In John 6:60-66, many of Jesus’ disciples were questioning His words and said they were hard and many of His disciples left Him. I like what Peter said in John 6:68 when Jesus asked His apostles if they would leave, too. "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

04/11/2026

WORDS… from Woodville
Sunday, April 12, 2026
The Preacher Says
40 Minutes
By Keith Bellamy

Imagine what you would do if all communication was suddenly cut off from your world. This was the reality for the Artimis II crew when their mission took them to the dark side of the moon. During forty minutes of silence, when all contact was lost, they found that prayer provided comfort and helped them endure those challenging moments.

Consider how you would respond if you experienced a similar loss of communication. Would you turn to prayer? Would you seek God's guidance and support during such a time of struggle?
Reflect on the words from James 4:13-17: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

Forty minutes!

03/16/2026

https://youtu.be/uOOTFkc_6R4?feature=shared

03/09/2026

444 Days
By Keith Bellamy

On November 4, 1979, 66 Americans, including diplomats and other civilian personnel, were taken hostage at the Embassy of the United States in Tehran, with 52 of them being held until January 20, 1981.

52 of them were held as hostages for 444 days. The hostages were not allowed to talk or visit or hear any news. Several years ago, I met a young minister who was doing his internship in one of our northern states when he met a lady who was one of those hostages. He asked her how she dealt with that imprisonment. She responded that she would go over the hymns she learned and the scriptures she was taught as a young person. Every day she would go back over those hymns and scriptures.

Now you may be wondering what this has to do with me?

What would you do if you were confined for 444 days? What would you do without social media for 444 days? What would you do if you were cut off from the news for 444 days?

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)

Thank God Paul didn’t quit! I am thankful I have known of others who didn’t quit!

444 days. Think about it!