FAMILY NEWS AND NOTES
Volume 10 18 May 2008 Issue No. 13
If you have something that needs to be included in the announcements...please make certain you get it to the person making the announcements ... in legible written form … prior to announcement time.
COMMUNION FOR MAY 2008
SOUTH SIDE
NORTH SIDE
AM
Wayne Charlton Grady Duncan
Daniel McCary Royce Armstrong
David Neal George O’Neal
PM
Jimmy Jay Fox Charles Kyle
PRAYERS —– Sunday.
AM First Prayer …...…..…George O‘Neal
AM Closing……….......…..... Charles Kyle
PM First Prayer………...…Darrell Cooper
PM Closing……….……....….. Jon McCain
PRAYERS — Wednesday Nite
First Prayer…………... Rhodney Freeman
Closing…………….....……..… Doug Abbey
And now for … FAMILY NEWS AND NOTES
R. C. Grissom returned to Mount Pleasant and is at NEXION –Mount Pleasant Health Care, Room 30, on Hwy 67 (West 16th).
Ben McCain had a colonoscopy on Thursday at Mother Frances in Tyler. We should have an update by today.
Jim Duncan is scheduled for a laparoscopic gall bladder surgery on Thursday, May 22, at Titus Regional Medical Center. If all goes well his stay in the hospital will be short, but will be out of circulation for about 1 week.
THANK YOU … “For those who have offered prayers and words of comfort, during this time of almost unbearable grief, at the separation from my beloved brother, Tom Connor, I thank you with all my heart. The beautiful easel of fresh flowers the church gave in memory of Tom, means so very much.
—With my love
Ann Carter”
THANK YOU … “Brethren, Thank you for leadership and vision for the Lord’s body in NE Texas. The Bible Bowl and Youth Series have been such a blessing to the area. The bonds of fellowship have grown from the seed you have planted. The unity that has grown in this area is simply awesome. Whenever we have an event at Mount Vernon we know that North Jefferson will be here in full force, and that is a reflection of leaders that have instilled a desire for the Word through their example. May God continue to blew your work as shepherds and your fine congregation.
—Chris McElyea”
THANK YOU … “Just wanted to thank everyone for the cards and words of encouragement.
— Bronson Roper”
Funeral Services were held for Jeanette Miller (daughter-in-law of Weldon and JoAnn) wife of Kent Miller, at 2:00 PM Wednesday in Wichita Falls, Texas by Owens-Brumley Funeral Home. We need to keep Kent and the rest of the family in our prayers.
Weldon Horn (brother of Peggy Grimes) passed away at 4:00 PM, Sunday, May 11, at Longview Regional Medical Center. No funeral services or Memorial Service has been planned at the present time. We need to keep Peggy and this family in our prayers.
If Ben is well enough he will be honored at a graduation party Sunday night after the evening service, in the Multi-Purpose Room. Listen for an announcement to confirm his condition at the morning service.
Also, depending on Ben’s health, the McCain’s will be in Alabama next Sunday, May 25th, for the wedding of their nephew, Ryan Bayley. Ben is scheduled to e the Best Man and Jon the Groomsman. Dalton Graves will be preaching in David’s absence.
SYBSNET (Summer Youth Series) brochures are on the table in the foyer. The series starts here at North Jefferson on Monday Night, June 2nd. Tyler Young will be the speaker and his theme will be “Learning How to Choose What’s Right In a World Gone Wrong.”
As previously mentioned keep the following families in your prayers:
Millers—lost a daughter-in-law & sister-in-law
Peggy Grimes— lost her brother Weldon Horn
Ann Carter—lost her brother Tom Connor
Check the prayer list for others who need our prayers.
“The following poem reminds us that life is short, and how we need to live in love in view of that reality. Our own Ronnie Stewart is its author, and I thought you would enjoy it as I did. —David McCain
Running In Our Minds
By Ronnie Stewart
16 February 2000
How can the past …
And the future be …
When the future’s not yet …
And the past we don’t see?
If it never moved on …
And the present would last …
Could we ever learn …
From mistakes that are past?
Are yesterday, and tomorrow …
Just perceptions in our minds?
Is now eternity?
Are we running out of time?
So there’s no yesterday …
Or when time begins?
And there’s no tomorrow …
Or when it will end?
Running, always running,
Always in our minds …
Forever towards eternity,
Yes, we’re running out of time.
Now, is but a maze …
A puzzle to help one find …
The best of the many ways to love ..
Throughout this thing called time.
Beware
“Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8)
Satan is not content with the number of souls he has enticed to be his companions in the everlasting fires of Hell, which God prepared as punishment for the rebellion of the devil and his angels (Mt. 25:41). He always wants “just one more,” then another, and another. He is never satisfied, for evidently the pit of Hell’s anguish is not yet full.
He wants YOU Christian brother and sister, as much or more so than he wants those who have never had the privilege of hearing and obeying the Gospel to find salvation in Jesus Christ. That’s why we are warned in the Scriptures to beware of his influence.
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Col. 2:8).
“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness” (II Pet. 3:17).
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Mt. 7:15).
Parents he wants YOUR children. No doubt the desire of every faithful Christian parent is to raise your children “in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4) We know there is “no greater joy than to hear that our children walk in truth” (III John 1:4). But Satan will do all in his power to defeat us in that desire.
He will send evil influences a plenty through the culture in which we live, so we must ever be on guard to protect our children from the “roaring lion,” just like a watchful gazelle on the plains of Africa. Satan’s devastating attacks against our precious children may come in the form of the temptation to do drugs. Or, it may be in the form of the overwhelming barrage of sexual temptation which is so pervasive in every aspect of our pop culture. It may be through the influence of movies, television, the internet, magazines, or even comic books, which sometimes tempt our children to do and experience many evil things that are not to be a part of the faithful Christian’s lifestyle.
Brethren, as the Apostle Paul once penned, “…now it is high time to awake out of sleep, …the night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness…” (Rms. 13:11-12). Yes, it is time for us to wake up and realize that our children are under attack from a subtle, shrewd, and scheming Satan, who opposes all that is good in their lives. Sadly, if we are not on guard as parents, it may even come from what we think are wholesome spiritual influences. We must be sober, serious, and sometimes even suspicious, as we guard our children from the worldly influences and mind-control mediums, which are employed by that devious and devastating devil, who tirelessly tries to steal their hearts from God.
We must carefully instruct our children in how to effectively deploy the “shield of faith,” and how to proficiently wield the “sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God,” so that they might capably “quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one,” in order to successfully “stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10-17). Finally, we must be constantly circumspect, vibrantly vigilant, and warily watchful for that “roaring adversary,” who desires to devour our children. We must remember that lions most often hunt for the slowest, the weakest, and generally the YOUNGEST of their prey. David McCain
