FAMILY NEWS AND NOTES
Volume 10 04 JANUARY 2009 Issue No. 45
Service Arrangements
COMMUNION FOR JANUARY 2009
SOUTH SIDE NORTH SIDE
AM
Bob Hedges
Gene Campbell
David Neal Roger Grimes
Sid Charlton Daniel McCary
PM
Grady Duncan Darrell Cooper
ANNOUNCEMENTS …………...… Jerry Freeman
(Sunday and Wednesday)
SONG LEADER (AM)……………… Rance Robison
(PM) ……….……. Rance Robison
Wednesday Nite …….. Grady Duncan
PRAYERS —– Sunday
AM First Prayer ….../…........Wayne Pickrel
Closing………..…….........Grady Duncan
PM First Prayer…....…........Gene Campbell
Closing……….......………..…..Tim Jones
PRAYERS — Wednesday Nite
First Prayer…………….…............... Brian Ferrell
Closing…………..……................ Ronnie Stewart
PRAYER LIST:
Betty Abbey, Justin Barker, Rachel Barker, Louis & Nona Bell, Doris Bell, Billye Campbell, Suzanne Charlton, Steele Cooper, Irene Duncan, Amber Kimbrough, Ben McCain,
Wade Miller, Elna O’Neal, Thelma Reed, Bud Roach
ALSO: Beth Adams, Roy Coats, Wesley DuBose., Wayne Lineberger,
Yvonne Waldrup, Charlie Whitney, Linda Wysinger
And now for … FAMILY NEWS AND NOTES
Today we have Kris Groda from San Angelo, Texas, trying out for the minister position here at North Jefferson. Kris, his wife Lena and their children Joseph (3 years old) and Kelly (18 months old) are scheduled to be here for the AM and PM services. He will teach the AM Auditorium Bible Class and will also teach the Ladies Bible Class on Tuesday morning.
Following the AM service we will have a Get Acquainted Covered Dish Luncheon for everyone to get to fellowship with Kris and his family. There will be an opportunity for you to ask Kris any questions you may have. If you would like give your questions to one of the elders and we will ask them for you, or you may ask them yourself.
Mark your calendar, also, for a luncheon on Sunday, January 11.
The Men’s Business Meeting scheduled for the 2nd Sunday has been postponed until Sunday evening, January 18, following evening services. All men are encouraged to attend as your input is important.
Hallie Lang has been suffering from acute bronchitis last week, but says she is feeling much better.
Linda Jones has been ill at home this past week with pneumonia, but is feeling a little better.
Remember, this is the season for upper respiratory problems, so take care of your health.
When you offer up your prayers for the sick please include those in the nursing homes. We often forget about them. Please remember the following:
Louis and Nona Bell
Georgia Lide
Annah Ruth Brown
Ruby Pipkin
Did You Know?
Hawn Freeway church of Christ
Dallas, TX—Bulletin Digest
That the bible nowhere says “Accept Jesus as your personal Savior?”
That “The Rapture” is not once mentioned in the Bible?
That no one was ever told to “Ask Jesus into your heart” in answer to the question “What must I do to be saved?”
That every verse in the New Testament in which baptism and salvation appear together lists baptism prior to salvation?
That nowhere in the Bible is there a command or example for a baby to be baptized?
That “faith only” is mentioned just once in the Bible, and that it is in a condemnatory fashion (James 2:24)?
That Peter was not a pope and that he had a wife (Matthew 8:14)?
That it is against God to call any man “Father?”
That there is no example or command in the Bible for preachers to wear special robes, clothes, etc?
That everyone that has put on Christ in baptism is a “saint” (Ephesians 3:8; 4:12; 5:3; 6:16; Philippians 1:1; 4:22)?
That there is nothing in the Bible mentioning or even suggesting that you can be brought out of or prayed out of a purgatory?
CAN A PERSON CHANGE?
-Floyd Kaiser
[The Southwesterner—Southwest church of Christ—Ada, OK]
Fundamental to Christianity and the power of the gospel is the understanding that each rationally capable person can change. If this were not true, then all the works of evangelism and the very invitation of the Lord would be pointless.
However, there are certain necessary steps a person must make before change happens.
The first of these is knowledge of what changes need to be made.
If one does not know where he wants to go, then he will arrive back at the point of his departure with amazing consistency. He will travel in circles.
To change there has to be a sense of what one wants to become.
When Jesus called his first disciples who were fishermen, he defined for them a new destination. He said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). Although they likely did not understand the full implications of what Jesus was saying, they nonetheless understood that a change was about to take place. They immediately responded to their new course by leaving their nets and following Him (verse 20). They changed.
In Romans 10:9, it is written that for a person to be saved there must first be the acknowledgement of a profound commitment to Jesus as Lord, i.e. Master and absolute Ruler of one’s life. By such a rational commitment one chooses to turn from sin (see Romans 6:12-14) as the guiding influence and redirect oneself to Jesus.
By means of a new (or renewed) commitment to Jesus numerous “sub-changes” follow. For instance, we will change where we are used to being on Sunday morning and will start to assemble with the church (see Acts 20:7 & Heb. 10:25). We will change our manner of speech as we are re-educated by Jesus to say “only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment” (Eph. 4:29). We will repent—another word for “change” - of our sins and pursue righteousness as defined by God.
After better than three decades in the ministry, I am convinced that if Christians are not sincere about their confession of Jesus as Lord in the initial stage of Christianity, then there will inevitably be a gradual turning around and journeying back from where they came. If there is to be a sure and sustained change, there has to be the choice of a new destination. For the saved, that new destination has to be Jesus.
