Marietta First Church of the Nazarene

I Want to Change But: Pt 1 There are many people knowing full well that if they don’t make some changes in their life they will soon be facing major consequences. Are you one of these people? What needs to change? Do you have a problem controlling your temper? Do you tend to be a negative person and consequently make others in a room uncomfortable? Is there something in the past that haunts you with guilt and while you thought you could handle it, it often controls y...our thoughts and there’s a looming question in your mind, What IF I hadn’t done that? Of course there are other serious things individuals battle such as an addiction. The first step toward change is realizing changes need to be made and what needs to change. The second step is acknowledging the fact you can’t change on your own you need help. The third step is believing help is available and putting your trust in that help. Lest you think you are being picked on, let’s clear the playing field. There has not been one person (outside of Jesus) that didn’t need to make changes in their life. It’s also important you understand I’m not talking about religion, turning over a new leaf, or making a resolution to start over. I am talking about taking a long look deep inside and admitting some changes in my life need to take place. Our attitude and thoughts control our behavior. If behavioral change is what’s necessary, then change must begin by changing our mind habits. If we can control the thoughts consumed in our mind, our behavior will follow. That’s why the Bible states, Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). If you needed a load of rocks delivered to your house, you’d hire or find a friend with a truck and seek assistance. If you were going to carry a heavy object into your house, you’d request the aid of a friend or neighbor. Our Lord told us, We would have trouble in this world (John 16:33). Before ascending into heaven and His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples, It is for your benefit I go away. I must go away so the helper (Comforter, counselor, intercessor) can come (Jn 16:7). This Helper is the Holy Spirit. We must keep in mind, God didn’t create and bring us into this world to be flops or failures. But He also knows we ALL need His help to live the way He wants us to live. We are not smart enough, strong enough or have the stamina to defeat our enemy Satan. WE NEED HELP and God provides this help to us on a moment by moment basis. SO are there changes you need to make in your life? What are they? If you are serious about change, check in tomorrow for some steps to follow. Pastor Carnes

Courage to Stand Pt 10: Today we’ll draw to a close the story of Daniel and his dedicated life to the God he loved. There’s so much more to tell, but my desire has been to gain insight on how a young teenager had the wherewithal to become such a spiritual giant despite all kinds of adversity. Hopefully you have received encouragement and inspiration as well. In chapter six of the book bearing his name, Daniel has had his public and personal life investigated. The satra...Continue reading

Marietta First Church of the Nazarene - 5/9/2021 - AM Service

Marietta First Church of the Nazarene - 5/9/2021 - Sunday School

I Need You Stories From The Patch (Pt 7): After selling the Victory Drive church property, there were lots of things too good to throw away, yet many of them we had no use for. The property we purchased on Barrett had two houses. One was the office and the other used for staff personnel. The basement of the office and a garage behind the second house provided space for lots of storage. The Church of the Nazarene was celebrating its 100th Anniversary October 5, 2008. ...Continue reading

Word has been received that Mary Nell Boling is nearing her death here and heading to her eternal home soon. Please pray this is an easy transition for her and remember Mike as well. I’m making arrangements at this time to go see her. Pastor Carnes

Prayer Circles Stories From The Patch (Pt 6): There were two reasonable things that came out of Chris and my breakfast meeting Monday February 27th in 2012. One, the Real Estate salesman drove from his office in Orlando and met us at the Cracked Egg in Ormond Beach. The other thing was he paid for the meal. From the moment he sat down though, the wheels came off the wagon. He started the conversation by saying, I know you want to buy the property on Dallas Highway in...Continue reading

Stories From The Patch (Cont’ Pt 5): Driving up the long curvy drive at 4341 Dallas Highway on that cool January day, I was merely going to keep my word to a real estate agent. I had looked at this unimpressive property so many times. I parked the car and a gentleman I’d only conversed with on the phone showed up. His name was Ed Green. To get him off my back the previous October, I agreed to look at this property one more time. As we entered the building, something ...Continue reading

NOTE: The next few devotionals have been requested. In 2009 we launched our first Pumpkin Patch. The Patch has continued for 11 consecutive years with the last one ending last month. Some tremendous stories have been made over these years. Lives have been changed and it was an acquaintance at the Patch that actually was instrumental in helping our church relocate to it’s present campus. These stories From the Patch remind us of God’s grace and His power to change impos...Continue reading

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Join us for worship IN PERSON orONLINE on Sunday at 11:00 am. This Sunday, Pastor Matt Waldrep will be speaking to us from the Word. Sunday School will be ONLINE ONLY at 9:30 am.

Marietta First Church of the Nazarene - 11/8/2020 - AM Service

Marietta First Church of the Nazarene - 11/8/2020 - Sunday School

I trust you’ve had a wonderful week. The weather has been great and hopefully you can get out and enjoy it Saturday. Some wonderful things are planned for Sunday morning and we hope you will be a part of the online Sunday School Class with Rocky Joyner and the In-Person or online Worship Service. See the schedule below for times and instructions to our website for Livestreaming. SUNDAY 9:30am:... Rocky Joyner’s Sunday School Class LIVESTREAM ONLY go to www.mariettanaz.com and follow prompts. Rocky is an excellent Bible teacher and this weeks’ lesson is titled, THE HIGH COST OF THEFT from Exodus 20:15; 22:1-4; and Ephesians 4:28. Be sure to be online by 9:30 as you don’t want to miss Rocky’s opening remarks. They will often make you laugh, but always thought provoking. Invite your family and friends to join in. Keep solid Bible teaching a regular part of your Sunday activities. His class runs about 35 minutes or less. SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE 11:00am: IN-PERSON or LIVESTREAM (see go to website above): Ann Joyner and the Praise Team will be leading the music and this Sunday you’ll have the privilege of hearing our Youth Pastor, Matt Waldrep speak. It’ll be a great morning and you’ll be glad you were a part of it. It’s been a while, but I want to personally thank so many of our weekly Devotional Members and those who watch our services on Livestream for the financial support you give our church. This means more than you know and I promise you that your tithes, offerings and special donations are put to good use. If you watch our services or receive the devotionals and have wanted to contribute to the ministry of our Church, you can do so by going to www.mariettanaz.com . Several options are listed there on how to give. You can do it online or send a check to the church (address online). Thanksgiving is a big deal in our Church as each year we provide a complete Thanksgiving dinner to families in need. A gift of $30 will pretty much provide a great meal for a family of 4. If you are interested in doing so, please send in your gift (any amount appreciated) marked Thanksgiving. Should there be money left over from Thanksgiving, it will be used to help families for Christmas. Thanks for your consideration. Have a great weekend and stay safe. Pastor Carnes

The Patch And Beyond (PT 3): The Koby and Heather Fletcher family were a great addition to our church. Koby was in the heating/AC - plumbing business and did a lot of work on our units. They eventually moved out of the area and we lost contact for some time. In a couple years they came back to Georgia and we reconnected. They lived a distance from the church so attending was our services was difficult. Heather did begin to reach out to me on a regular basis. She had a...Continue reading

Stories From The Patch (Pt 2): As mentioned yesterday our first Pumpkin Patch was in October 2009 and in all honesty, we learned day by day. That first year was difficult because no one had done it before, plus we had many rainy days making it necessary to roll the pumpkins every single day. Prior to the delivery truck arriving I had been quite strong on No Sunday Sales. No one said anything so I assumed everyone was on board with that decision. Remember, we were ho...Continue reading

Birth Of The Patch In 2008 the Church of the Nazarene had their General Assembly in Orlando, Florida. We had good representation from our church attend as several of our children had qualified for the National Bible Quizzing tournament. Stephanie Carnes, a member of our church had also been elected to represent the Georgia District at the Convention as a delegate. Stephanie attended several ministry workshops, one emphasizing Outreach. She was quite excited when sharing... about a Pumpkin Patch Ministry. Never one to push, but she did give a very subtle suggestion, This might be something you should check into. I trusted her assessment and followed up on the suggestion. The Pumpkin Patch became a reality in October 2009. In those days we were holding our services at Lovinggood Middle School, but we owned property on Barrett Parkway where our offices were located. The front of the office building became a sea of Orange as the front yard was filled with pumpkins. This was a whole new experience for me and everyone else. When the semi-truck bringing the pumpkins arrived on a very dark and rainy night, everyone was shocked. No one had ever seen that many pumpkins in one place. But the people of Marietta First are real troopers. Getting soaked from the rain and walking sometimes in mud, one by one the several hundred pumpkins were laid to rest on the grass. Although no one said anything, I couldn’t help but wonder how many people went home that night wondering, What in the world are we going to do with all those pumpkins! I know I did, but at the same time my prayer was, God, I don’t know anything about this and I’m not driven to make a profit, but help us to meet families from the community and make a difference in people’s lives. A few people stopped by through the week purchasing pumpkins and it didn’t take long before I knew this was something quite unique. As cars drove in the driveway it was quickly noticed how happy everyone was. The driver was smiling, the passenger was smiling and little ones in the back seat couldn’t contain themselves. The car stopped, the doors flew open and here come the kids, running, laughing and zig zagging through the maze of orange. Since our first Pumpkin Patch season, I still tell our workers, the Patch is a great place to spend time. The Patch is where you see people at their best and it’s an easy and fun environment to talk with complete strangers. Working with people was the easy part, but the first Patch was our hardest. We were learning as we went, but lots of rain fell during those weeks requiring wood pallets be found to set the pumpkins on. This required a lot of extra work, but again, our people stepped up to the challenge. Tomorrow an explanation on why and how we started selling on Sundays and the difference the Patch made in one family’s life. Pastor