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Vol. 45 September 29, 2020 Number 38
LEARNING TO COPE
Barry Kennedy
“Time is filled with swift transitions” are the words in the first verse of the song
“Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand.” Those swift transitions will come (if they haven’t
already) and try our faith. How do we cope with the hardships that befall us? It may not
be the case that we ever “get over” some hardships, i.e. death of a loved one, etc., but
there is hope to “get through” them and that is what learning to cope is all about. So how
do we accomplish coping?
First, “Build your hopes on things eternal.” It is easy to get overwhelmed in the
affairs of this life if all of our focus is on this life alone. The church in Colossae was
given this formula long before the above song was written. “If ye then be risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:1-2). We cannot
truly find peace looking to just another day here on this earth. “If in this life only we
have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Cor. 15:19). When we learn
to focus on the blessings beyond this life (i.e. eternal), then we can better appreciate the
blessings of this life. It is up to us to build our hopes on things eternal and hold to
God’s unchanging hand.
Then, “Trust in Him who will not leave you.” Trust is a very valuable commodity.
We give trust once and when it is broken, then it must be earned. With God there has never
been any reason not to trust. Scripture teaches that God is more trustworthy than the word
trustworthy itself. “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the
world began;” (Tit. 1:2). Therefore, we can trust what He says and find hope. “That by two
immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope
we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that
within the veil;” (Heb. 6:18-19). Knowing that God is with us brings a peace of mind that
helps us to cope with whatever life has to offer. We just need to learn to hold to God’s
unchanging hand. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such
things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5).
Finally, “When your journey is completed, If to God you have been true, Fair
and bright the home in glory Your enraptured soul will view.” This final verse
brings us to the point of it all. Life eventually comes to an end. “And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” (Heb. 9:27). Judgment is not to be
feared if one is ever going to truly learn how to cope in this life. God has done His part
to make our hope secure and to give our lives value. In His kingdom we all have a place
and a value beyond measure. After all, Jesus died for every one of us (John 3:16;
Hebrews 2:9). That level of love must be returned in kind; therefore, if God so loved us,
we ought also to love Him and one another (1 John 4:11, 19). Knowing God is on our
side is really all that we need to know in the process of learning to cope. “What shall
we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). He
most certainly is for us, are we holing to God’s unchanging hand?
h t t p : / / l i b r a r y . t i m e l e s s t r u t h s . o r g / m u s i c /Hold_to_Gods_Unchanging_Hand/
ELDERS
Mike Childers..............397-6453
Dennis Hallmark..........255-5557
Mark Hitt.....................322-0917
Bobby Lindley.............260-9193
DEACONS
Wade Bryan.................419-5552
William Harris.............416-8149
Ricky Lindsey..............255-8136
Jeff Mansel ..................871-0357
Jimmy Spearman .........840-8957
Michael Wilson ...........891-0891
MINISTERS
Barry Kennedy....(931)787-7108
Alex Blackwelder (731)879-9196
SECRETARY
Renee Childers
Office...........................842-6116
Fax...............................842-7091
E-MAIL
eastmaincoc38804@gmail.com
WEB PAGE
eastmaincoc.com
SUNDAY SERVICES
Worship .......................9:00 a.m.
Bible Classes .............10:15 a.m.
Worship .....................11:15 a.m.
Singing or Devotional
Last Sunday of the Month
MID-WEEK
SERVICES
Wednesday Classes .....7:00 p.m.
1606 East Main Street
P. O. Box 1761
Tupelo, Mississippi 38802
“Thou shalt observe to do all that they inform thee”
(Deut. 17:10)

Wednesday Bible Classes
This Wednesday, September
23, the elders have decided to
resume Wednesday night
Bible classes at 7:00 p.m. at
the East Main building. We
will NOT meet in the
auditorium as a whole but go directly to our
Bible classes so as not to congregate in the
hallways. Barry Kennedy will teach an adult
class in the auditorium. The young married
class taught by Mark Hitt will meet in Room 10
(downstairs). Roger Sanderson & Tim Davis
will teach the college class in their regular
room upstairs. Alex Blackwelder will teach the
7th-12th grades in the big classroom upstairs.
Several ladies (Missy Nichols, Ashley Davis,
Kristie Webb, Renee Childers) will teach the 3-
year-olds through 6th grade in the
multipurpose room. Sherry Kingsley will teach
the 2-year-olds and under in the nursery.
Everyone will be dismissed to the parking lot
following class. We are asking everyone school
age and up to wear a mask, if possible. We are
looking forward to being able to meet again in
Wednesday for Bible class.
Sympathy
Our sympathy is extended to Hunter & Haley
Underwood in the loss of their grandmother, Wilma
Underwood, on Sept. 20. Funeral services were held
Sept. 22 at 1:00 p.m. at Kessler Funeral Home in
Baldwyn.
Pine Vale
Fall Pantry Drive
East Main will be collecting items for Pine Vale’s
fall pantry drive for the next couple of weeks. They
will send a truck by sometime during the week of
October 19 to pick these items up. Our assigned items
are:
Batteries (AA or 9-volt)
Salad dressing (Ranch/Thousand Island)
Light bulbs (40w, 60w, 100w)
Pine Vale Children’s Home would like to thank
you for helping with the restocking of their panty and
for all the ways you help support their children.
Thank You Notes
Dear Brethren,
We thank our Heavenly Father for your
fellowship in the soul saving work. The response
from your preacher, elders, and members was
uplifting. We look forward to partnering with you
as you move forward to develop the evangelism
principles you learned. We love you all and are
praying for many souls to be saved. May God be
glorified, and the borders of His Kingdom
expanded. In His Service,
Rob, Nicole, Hannah & Jared Whitacre
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Fellow Christians,
We appreciate your continuing support for our
work at World Evangelism. We continue to try to
give the Christians overseas as much help as we can
with TV, literature and the “Voice of Truth”
magazine. We hope to see you next year and we
pray that all of you will stay in good health.
In Christian love,
Jerry & Paula Bates
John Duke stationed in Gulfport, MS
Caleb Williams stationed in Quantico, VA
Rob Cross & family stationed in South Korea
Ty Nichols stationed in Germany
October 2020
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1
Dundee Donald
Matthew 1-4
2
Lexie Dickinson
Robert Parker
Matthew 5-7
3
Matthew 8-9
4
Matthew 10-11
5
Glenda Barnette
Matthew 12-13
6
Sandra Simmons
Matthew 14-15
7
Matthew 16-17
8
Matthew 18-20
9
Ken Pearson
Matthew 21-22
10
Jon & Ainsley
Millard
Matthew 23-24
11
Matthew 25-26
12
Tyler Barnette
Beth Reed
Matthew 27-28
13
Mark 1-3
14
Ian Reed
Mark 4-5
15
Mark 6-7
16
Nancy Haywood
Mark 8-9
17
Mary Ann
Wallace
Mark 10-11
18
Brenda Spearman
Mark 12-13
19
Chad Willis
Mark 14-16
20
Mary Robbins
Bowlin
Will Davis
Luke 1
21
Judy & Pat
Jones
Luke 2-3
22
Luke 4-5
23
James Simmons
Luke 6-7
24
Mark Gilliland
Luke 8-9
25
Evelyn Willis
David & Katie
Bates
Luke 10-11
26
Ethan Benefield
Luke 12-13
27
Luke 14-16
28
Luke 17-18
29
Luke 19-21
30
Olivia Blansett
James Burney
Dean Webb
Chad & Susan
Willis
Luke 22-23
31
Luke 24

Daily Bible Reading
September 30.............................................Malachi 3-4
October 1..................................................Matthew 1-4
October 2..................................................Matthew 5-7
October 3..................................................Matthew 8-9
October 4..............................................Matthew 10-11
October 5..............................................Matthew 12-13
October 6..............................................Matthew 14-15
Birthdays &
Anniversaries
Birthdays: Dundee Donald (Oct. 1), Lexie
Dickinson (Oct. 2), Robert Parker (Oct. 2),
Glenda Barnette (Oct. 5), Sandra Simmons (Oct.
6). Anniversaries: None this week.
Our Sick
Jean Mounce came home from UAB yesterday.
Andy Baldwyn will undergo rotator cuff surgery Oct.
14 in Germantown. Mary Lou Walden continues
therapy at Cedars. Pete Barber & Jill Rice (Debbie
Vines’ mother) continue at Sanctuary Hospice House.
Brent, Codi & Liam Hallmark have tested positive for
Covid-19. Linda Hand has developed cellulitis in her
leg. Judy Bates has a fractured vertebra. Linda Bryan,
Wade’s mother, had a PET scan to determine if a spot
on her lung is cancer. Hazel Stutts, Missy Nichols’
18-month great niece, is in UAB with a staph
infection in her trachea. Brian Carver & Sean Koehn,
former members of East Main, are both battling
cancer. Brenda Dawson, Marlon Geno & Shirley Lyons’
cousin, is undergoing therapy at NMMC following
surgery. Prayers have been requested for David
Rushing, Pat Putt’s son, who will be undergoing
surgery Thursday in Birmingham.
On-Going Illnesses
Steve Kelly, Bettye Davis, Frankie Estes, Jennie Cox,
Donny Dulaney, Adam McCurley, James Goddard, Bill
Goff, Leroy Brown, Jadon Parish, Jerry Smith, Mitch
Maclean, Mary Starz, Sheba Tuggers, Homer Smith,
Shirley Roberts, Merlene Johnson, Thomas Lloyd, Steve
Higginbotham, Tommy Goff, Betty Westmoreland
Nursing Homes
Evelyn Willis, Nancy Haywood, Randy Attaway,
Shirley McCarthy, Veona Harris, Bob & Clara McClure
EMYG News
Room 10 Adult Class
The adult class that normally meets in Room 10 on
Sunday will resume their class this Sunday, Oct. 4
immediately after the 8:30 worship service in the
multipurpose room. They will continue in the same book
they were using when in person services were stopped in
the middle of March due to the pandemic. Call Mike
Ratliff if you have any questions.

Men to Serve Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020 a.m.
Announcements...........................Bobby Joe Lindley
Bible Reading.......................................Britton Smith
Opening Prayer ...................................Mike Childers
Lord’s Supper
Jalon Mansel
Lead Singing.................................Alex Blackwelder
Closing Prayer...................................... Kent Nichols
Ushers .................................Tim Davis & Joe Minor
The elders kindly request that men leading in public
worship wear the best dress clothes they have.
Contact the church office (842-6116) if unable
to serve.
Bible Classes (streamed each week)
Adult class................Jeff Mansel (Facebook/YouTube)
Adult class.......... Barry Kennedy (Facebook/YouTube)
College class.....Roger Sanderson/Tim Davis (Facebook)
Young married class............................ Mark Hitt (Zoom)
High School class ................... Alex Blackwelder (Zoom)
Attendance & Contribution
Mid-Week, 9-23-20 .................................................. 115*
Sunday 1st
Worship, 9-27-20 ........................................ 30
Sunday Bible Class.................................................... N/A
Sunday 2nd
Worship.................................................. 147*
Contribution (budget $7,900) .............................. $11,076
*This does not include the livestreamed views.
Pantry item............................................ Canned fruit
Mark Your Calendars!
Fall Family Retreat – November 13th--14th
Services will be livestreamed this Sunday at
10:00 a.m. if you do not feel safe attending the
service in person.