Family News and Notes
BUSINESS MEETING .. Men, remember the Business Meeting following services this evening. All men of the congregation are encouraged to attend.
LADIES: Don't forget the Ladies Bible Class on Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM here at the building.
2006 Youth Activities Planning Meeting: Attention all parents, youth, and others interested in our youth. On Sunday, January 15, we will have a meeting after the evening service to try to plan our monthly youth activities for 2006. We will have a finger food supper (sandwiches, chips, dips, etc.) and then discuss the monthly activities and try to fill the calendar with hosts and chaperones who will help with at least one activity/devotional per month for all age groups. If you would like to host an activity but can't attend the meeting, please let David McCain know before the meeting so you can be added to the calendar of events.
VBS Interest and Planning Meeting:
We will have our first of several meetings to begin thinking and planning for our summer VBS, on Sunday evening January 29, after the evening service. All teachers and helpers who can possibly participate are encouraged to attend. We are considering the theme of : "The Christian Soldier's Armor," but will discuss other ideas, and try to firm up dates, times, and teachers. We will strive to keep the meeting to 30 minutes duration.
Ladies Day is coming in April: April 01 has been selected as the date for our Annual Ladies Day Seminar. Iris Ramsey has agreed to be the speaker. Ladies, please mark this on your calendar and reserve this for a special day of edification and fellowship!
Lee Moses has experienced a couple of passing out "spells" recently and is currently undergoing a battery of neurological tests at Jonesboro, AR on an out-patient basis, to try to determine the cause and a cure. Please keep him, and Kelley and the boys, in your prayers. He promised David, who talked to him by phone Thursday, to keep us posted on his progress. He also said "Hi!" to everyone and sent their love to North Jefferson. His mailing address is:
Lee & Kelley Moses
c/o of Church of Christ
P O Box 251
Mammoth Spring, AR 72554
Phone:
Home: 870-625-7682
Office: 870-625-3217
Ola Mae Simpson fell Thursday of last week and broke her hip. She is in Titus Regional Medical Center and was scheduled for surgery this past Saturday morning. No update at the printing of this bulletin. She is in Room 533.
Irene Duncan fell Christmas Eve and cracked her right shoulder blade and has some fluid on her shoulder. She has been in pain but is back at home. She saw her doctor Friday.
Patsy Duncan got a good report on her eyes last week and will return in six weeks for more treatments. As for the pins in her toes, the doctor decided to leave them in for a couple more weeks before removing them. She is doing good.
Julia Terrell was dismissed from the hospital Friday and is at home. She is feeling much better.
Cristell Cato is in Titus Regional Medical Center with pneumonia. She is in Room 416.
Letha Fomby is back at home. She was dismissed from the hospital on Wednesday. They removed the tumor and a small amount of lung tissue, and feel they got it early enough for her to not need radiation or chemo. Cards may be sent to:Letha Fomby
Mount Pleasant, Texas 75455
Juanita DuBose, (of Longview) mother of Judy Freeman, was taken to Good Shepherd Hospital Friday evening with breathing difficulties and tightness in her chest. Please remember her in your prayers.
THANK YOU "Dear North Jefferson Congregation: My family and I would like to say Thank You for all your prayers during our loss. Thank you so much for all the food that was prepared for my family. Thank you for all the cards that were sent. All your kind thoughts have been greatly appreciated. God bless you all!
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PRAYER LIST
Betty Abbey, Justin Barker, Rachel Barker, Louis Bell, Winell Blackard,
Annah Brown, Billye Campbell, Perry Cooper, Irene Duncan, Patsy Duncan,
Betty Ferrell, Hollis Lee, Joyce Lee, Georgia Lide, Courtney Marshall, Elna O'Neal, Wayne Pickrel, Marie Plemmons, Dorothy Sargent, Alva Mae Sheets, Edith Shiflet, Ola Mae Simpson, Rebecca Tippitt
ALSO: Melba Boyd, Cristell Cato, Austin Cody, Juanita DuBose, Letha Fomby, Ruby Jeffery, Wayne Lineberger, Lonita Thompson
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Members Of God's Family - What A Privilege!
The children's song says it all: "God is my Father, and Jesus is my brother, and the blessed Holy Spirit is my guide. The devil is no relation, for I'm a new creation, I'm a member of the family of God!" Yes, according to the Scriptures, the church, the body of Christ (Col. 1:18), is the spiritual family of God. Although the word "family" is used only one time, in Ephesians 3:15, of the KJV New Testament, numerous other passages clearly convey the idea that faithful Christians have been adopted into the family of God (Rms. 8:15, Gal. 4:5). Of course, membership in God's family is predicated upon our obeying God's terms of entrance into His family, prior to our securing the benefits of sonship. Jesus said, "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Mt. 12:50).
Once one has been added to God's family, the church, after being baptized into Christ (Acts 2:38-47), it is then exhilarating to contemplate God's family are promised an equal share in the inheritance of God. Paul recorded, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ..." (Rms. 8:16-17).
Being a member of God's family is not without responsibility. As brethren in God's family we must strive for an atmosphere of love, family unity, and concern for one another's feelings, needs, and well-being. We should take up for one another and help one another in times of need. When one member is happy we all should rejoice with him. When one is member is sad, we all ought to share in her grief as we extend our compassion and support to help in her time of need (Rms. 12:15).
Just like in our physical families, good communication is absolutely essential to healthy family life in the spiritual realm as well. We live in a world of hurting people, who need someone to care about them. Many of our brethren are hurting too. They need our care, our concern, our love, and perhaps most of all our forgiveness. The Apostle Paul admonished, "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness" (Col. 3:12-14). Truly, if we care about the well-being of fellow members of our spiritual family, then positive words of tenderness, compassion, love, forgiveness, encouragement, approval, respect, commendation, and exhortation will be frequently heard within our fellowship (Eph. 4:31-32).
Nevertheless, do not forget that negative words of reproof and rebuke, lovingly given, are also needed at times in order to maintain spiritual health in the family of God (II Tim. 4:2). Indeed, sometimes the most loving and considerate thing we can do for our brethren is to meekly point out their behavior which is inconsistent with their commitment to Christ, thus helping to save their souls from the fires of hell (Gal. 6:1-2, Jude 22-23, Jms. 5:19-20). If we really care for one another as brethren, then we will care enough to correct and discipline, unpleasant though it is, lest any should be eternally lost from the family of God.
Brethren, every member of the family is important. I need you, and you need me. We all need each other. When the family assembles for worship and Bible study, if you are not here, then the family circle is broken. Like a missing member of our physical family at a holiday get-together or family reunion, it's just not the same without you. So, please don't miss the family reunion on the "holy day," as we gather at the table of the Lord. In fact, here at the start of a new year, can we not all make a commitment to be here for every service this year, unless ill, out-of-town, or hindered in some unavoidable and legitimate way? I beg you to make that commitment and stick with it for a whole year, for I really believe God will bless not only you, but the whole family here at North Jefferson if you do. May God help us all to make 2006 a banner year in faithfulness and spiritual growth for the family of God here at North Jefferson, and for the cause of Christ in Mt. Pleasant and throughout the world.
We should be thankful for the wonderful privileges of being members of the family of God! The Bible records the many rights, privileges, and benefits that attend the child of God. For instance, membership in God's family makes us one with Christ. The Hebrew writer records, "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Heb. 2:11).
David McCain
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A Yearning View of the Future
Johnny Ramsey
Job 3:17 definitely belongs in the hall of fame of beautiful verses. In the midst of intense pain and bitter tears of loneliness the man of God longs for the place "where the wicked cease from troubling the weary be at rest." He knew that his Redeemer was alive and would bless all men in the last days (compare Job 19:25 with Acts 2:16-17). Just as "Jehovah blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning" (42:12) so shall God's tomorrow be brighter than today for all the faithful.
Jesus answered the longing cry of Job 14:14 "If a man die shall he live again"
in the famous setting of John 11 when He raised Lazarus from the grave. The only real suffering will belong to those who so live as to miss the triumph over death which Christ provides! Thanks be unto God for the victory that overcomes death, the grave and even the world (I Cor. 15:55-57 and I John 5:4).
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Develop So that Your Lips Overflows
Johnny Ramsey
In Hebrews, chapter five, the last few verses, the inspired record holds forth a solemn, yet familiar picture a lack of spiritual growth. In fact, so discerning had these Christians become that it was not profitable for the Holy Spirit to instruct them concerning the priesthood of Christ! Like the Corinthians (I Cor. 3:1-2) these brethren were carnal instead of spiritual. They were incapable of comprehending the deep things of God because they had not carefully studied the divine oracles. They had failed to make a difference between right and wrong (Amos 5:15). Their spiritual exercise (I Tim. 4:7-8) was indeed limited. Even though they should have been teachers, someone needed to impart unto them the first principles of the gospel all over again. How futile it seems to have to waste precious time over lazy brethren when they have had plenty of time to develop! When a Christian's spiritual diet consists always of milk and never of meat he has become weak indeed. These folk were babes when they were supposed to be men. This is an apt description of some of us in the church today. Until our delight is so strong in the law of the Lord (Psalm 1:2) THAT WE CAN HANDLE ARIGHT ITS TRUTHS (ii Timothy 2:15) we will continue to be unable to tell others the story of salvation (I Peter 3:15). Beloved, may we develop ourselves as children of a gracious God so that our lips will overflow with the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8). It is the responsibility and joyous privilege of each Christian to tell the sweet old story of redemption.
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