This week has been exceedingly busy, as usual. Some of our sick folks are improving, and that is a blessing. One of our precious ladies was promoted to glory on Sunday, and that is a blessing as well. She had suffered for a long time with Alzheimer’s and complications from a broken hip. Her funeral is today at 2:00 PM. I want to do well for the Lord’s sake and for her family’s too. Please remember her family. They are special people.

We have moved our Wednesday evening service to West Lenoir Baptist Church to get in on their annual Bible Conference. It is going well, and it continues through tomorrow evening. If you are in this area, please try to come. The morning services begin at 9:00 AM and the evening services take up at 7:00 PM. Lord willing, our folks will be there this evening.

Well, my pastoral duties call me away from the keyboard this morning. Thanks for your prayers and thanks for stopping by The Sermon Notebook from time to time.

Alan Carr

I am looking forward to getting back to church this morning. Here lately, you never know what the Lord is going to do at Calvary. I shared with you what He did last week and I am looking for Him to do some big things for us today. I praise HIm for His faithfulness and for His blessings. Pray for us as we gather at His house for worship today.

These past three weeks have been exceedingly busy. We have had a number of sick folks in the hospital along with a few that went home to be with the Lord. So, this preacher has been running and running and running and … Well, you get the idea. But, again I say what I have said before, it is a privilege to be allowed into people’s lives to minister to them in their hour of need. Besides, seeing people hurt can be used of the Lord to help the preacher be more compassionate, and that is a trait we could all use. In my estimation we are never more like Jesus than when we are ministering to others in genuine love and compassion.

The Bible conference at West Lenoir Baptist Church begins tomorrow evening at 7:00 PM. The main preachers for the week will be Tony Finney from Conastee, SC; Tommy Steele from Concord, NC and Brian McBride from Michigan. The meeting will continue through Thursday evening. Morning services will begin on Tuesday at 9:00 AM. Preachers for the morning services will be called from the floor. Please pray for this great meeting and attend if you can. You will not be disappointed!

Have a great day in the Lord today. Go to house looking for Him and He will manifest Himself to you.

Alan Carr

We met for our Sunday morning worship this morning but it was not business as usual. The Lord manifested Himself in a great way this morning. We had a great crowd in attendance, and as the choir sang, people began to use the altar. Many people came before the Lord for help, and some seven people came for salvation! Praise the name of the Lord! One after the other they came and gave their hearts to the Lord. There was no preaching, just the glorious power of the Almighty saving souls and changing lives. Then, at the close of the service, 13 people came forward to unite with our church. It was a great morning. We do not deserve such blessings as that, but He gives them and I am thankful for it. Pray for us. There are many more that need to be saved.

Alan Carr

This has been a very busy week with several of our members in the hospital and two deaths. Thus, I have been away from the keyboard. At any rate, the sick are improving and things look a little better for the next few days. We do have a funeral tomorrow, and that will occupy the afternoon. I could sure use your prayers as we move through these hectic days.

If you are a Baptist Pastor you will not achieve fame, glory or riches. If those things are your goals in life, you would be better off heading in a different direction. If, however, you are interested being involved with people, you are in the right place. If you want to make a difference in people’s life day by day, you are in the right place. If you want to give your life to a worthy cause, you are in the right place. If you want to be a blessing to the hurting; the fragrance of life to those dead in sin; and if you want to go to your grave feeling like your life mattered, you are in the right place. Preacher, the days get long and the nights very short sometimes, but from one who is in the trenches with you, let me encourage you to carry on. The people you serve, God’s precious children, they need you. The Kingdom of God needs you. Your work is relevant, important and timeless. The people around may not tell you that your ministry is a blessing, but if you listen close, you might hear the Father in Heaven as He whispers in your heart, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That after all, is why we ought to serve anyway. It’s all about Him! Carry on Preacher, you are making a difference.

Alan Carr

Well, it’s Sunday afternoon and I am getting ready to go back to church and preach again tonight. We had a good service this morning, but it could have been better. I thought my message was terrible! It didn’t seem to come together for me and I struggled from start to finish. When I got done, some of the folks, and my wife, told me how much they enjoyed the preaching. Go figure! It’s better when the Lord gets the glory for all that we do. I would have loved to have seen some people saved. There were several lost people in the service, but the salvation of souls is in the hand of the Lord.

A busy week lies before me. I have a class at 8:30 AM here in Lenoir, a funeral at 11:00 AM in Wilkesboro NC and an 83-year-old church member is having triple by-pass surgery tomorrow; plus we have another lady in intensive care. I am tired just thinking about it. Pray that the Lord will be with these sick and grieving folks for His glory.

I don’t have much time, so I am going to go and get ready for church. Keep this preacher in your prayers. Thanks and God bless!

Alan Carr

The Lord helped this preacher in the Wednesday evening service and I praise His name! We had a good crowd and the Lord spoke to hearts through His Word. We should never take that for granted! Something supernatural takes place when a mere man opens the Bible and preaches its truths. That truth is set aflame by the Spirit of God and the Lord uses it to speak to the hearts of other mere men. That truth is declared, received and lived out. A life is changed, a family is altered, a community is touched and God is glorified. Yes, I would say that it is a supernatural thing; a God thing! Isn’t He good to meet with us like He does?

Here’s a bit of web site news for you. I have added a Ministry Resources page. I am making available some of my sermon series and some single sermons as well. I am not interested in making a lot of money, but several people have asked for CDs and I have acquired the equipment necessary to produce the disks, so I am making them available. Each series will be sent out in a 2-ring binder on good quality CDs. I only have three series available at the moment, but more will be posted soon.

So, I am looking at a busy day today. I am leaving here in about 15 minutes to go to the hospital. One of our men is having surgery. After that, I need to do some preparation for Sunday’s sermons. Then, I have a meeting tonight with a young man in our church. Excellent! Today is the best kind of day for it is a day filled with His business.

God bless you as you live out your day!

Alan Carr

Praise the Lord! One of our precious little girls was saved in her home this morning. She told her mother that she needed to talk to the preacher. Her mother asked why and the girl responded that she was a lost sinner and did not want to go to Hell. The Mom called me and my wife and I went to their home. Before we arrived, the mother led her daughter to Jesus and she was wonderfully saved by God’s grace. Praise His name! God is so faithful!

There are times when you get your eyes off the things that really matter. What matters more than anything is the glory of God; and nothing glorifies Him more than souls being saved. That is the main thing! All the other stuff we get hung up on like our little power trips, issues related to money, positions and opinion, simply do not matter in the end. What matters most is carrying out our Lord’s command to share the Gospel with a lost world. When we do that, we can be sure that God will save souls and that HE will be glorified. Praise the Lord for His grace in salvation!

Alan Carr

All right, I am back at the keyboard after a long absence. I could plead a busy schedule. I could make up a thousand excuses. Or, I could just let by gones be by gones and do better from here on out. Anyway, it is Monday morning and the Lord is still a wonderful Lord.

We had a good day at the Lord’s house yesterday. I preached in the AM service and the Lord gave great liberty to do that. Yet, there at least six lost souls in the service, (I am sure there were many, many more), but none came forward to receive Jesus. Help me pray for these folks. The Lord is speaking to their hearts and I would like to see them saved by His grace. Last night we had a missionary name Tom Shuford. Brother Tom has a powerful testimony that will stir your soul and make you grateful for the Lord’s blessings on your life. God has called Brother Tom to a unique ministry. He has a burden to minister to people who suffer from chronic and terminal illness. He is well qualified for such a ministry. Please pray for Brother Tom and his wife Terrie as thy seek the Lord’s will for their ministry and as they try to raise the necessary support.

I am getting ready to head out into the cold (It is 11 degrees here right now, brrrrrr!) to go teach my classes. After that I have a busy afternoon filled with several visits that I need to make. Later this evening, I will join a group of our men as we gather for our Monday prayer meeting. God bless you all as you seek the Lord’s will for your day today. Please keep this preacher in your prayers.

Brother Alan

Once again I have been slack in posting to this blog. I apologize. It seems that lately, I have lacked the zeal and the time necessary to make one of these things successful. At any rate, I am preaching this week at Hibriten Baptist Church here in Lenoir and I covet your prayers for the meeting. The Lord truly met with us and helped us last night and I praise Him for His touch. Keep checking back here from time to time and I will try to do better. I have to go now because I have two classes to teach this morning. God bless.

Alan Carr