NEED TRANSPORTATION? Call............Frankie Sargent
903-572-2647
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IN CHARGE OF SELECTING MEN TO MAKE ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR AUGUST
Van Lee
IN CHARGE OF SELECTING MEN TO LEAD PRAYERS
FOR AUGUST
George O'Neal
IN CHARGE OF SELECTING MEN FOR COMMUNION TABLE
IN AUGUST
Jerry Freeman
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Volume 7 14 August 2005 Issue 24
Family News and Notes
Men, Remember the Business Meeting following services this evening. All the men are encouraged to attend.
Judy Freeman began cleaning our building on April 3rd. We would like to express our thanks for the good job she has done. Recently she informed us that for medical reasons she had to give up the responsibilities. So, effective August 7, 2005 we asked Rhonda Newman to take over those duties as our Custodian and feel confident we will continue to see the same excellence in the cleaning of the building. Please offer your encouragement and compliments to Rhonda. The elders
There have been some recent additions and corrections to our Church Directory. Check the round table in the foyer for these and take only one copy per family to correct your own directory.
Don't forget the Bible Bowl at Clarksville Tuesday evening. See David McCain if you have questions.
Bronson Roper has begun attending college at Commerce this week. He will be missed when he is not able to be here.
Kristian Marshall had "day surgery" on Wednesday at Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler. All went well and she was scheduled to return home that day.
Keely McCary has been in the local hospital with a bad kidney infection, but was able to go home on Thursday.
Bonnye Horton is out of the hospital and is at home. She still is not feeling well and will likely have more tests to see what is causing her difficulty.
You are encouraged to continue to refer to the PRAYER LIST for additional folks we need to remember in our prayers.
Thanks to Colin Graham for a great report on the evangelism effort in Bangor, North Ireland. This week he will be at Eden Drive church of Christ in Longview.
Remember Johnny and Iris Ramsey in your prayers as they are away at the Ohio Valley Lectureships.
INVITATION: All the ladies of the congregation who have free time during the day on Tuesday, are invited to attend a luncheon at the home of Amy Jones this Tuesday, August 16, at noon. The luncheon will be hosted by the Ladies Bible Class. Please sign the list in the foyer if you can attend. Also indicate if you need transportation and a ride will be provided for you.
LOCK IN & SCAVENGER HUNT: There will be a lock in Friday, August 26 at the Bridges Chapel Community Center. It will begin at 6 PM and the kids will need to be picked up Saturday morning by 9 AM. There will be a scavenger hunt for school age kids, as well as activities for the preschool kids. Kids will need to bring sleeping items and any games that they might want to play. Each child will need to bring $3 to help with supplies. If you have any questions or wish to donate time and/or money, contact Michelle Pickrel or Stephanie Sparks. Please sign the sign-up sheet if you will be able to attend. (Directions: Take Hwy 271 North from Mt. Pleasant for approximately 8 miles, turn right onto CR 1465, the Community Center will be on your left.)
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PRAYER LIST:
Justin Barker, Rachel Barker, Louis Bell, Annah Brown, Billye Campbell, Perry Cooper, Zenith Hargrove, Hollis Lee, Joyce Lee, David Neal, Winnie Patton, Dorothy Sargent, Alva Mae Sheets, Edith Shiflet, Rebecca Tippitt
How do our visitors remember us after attending one of our services? Do they remember us as, "that warm and friendly church in Mt. Pleasant," or are we remembered as cold, unfriendly, and cliquish? I honestly believe "North Jefferson" has the former reputation, not the latter, and I commend you for being an outgoing congregation who reaches out to all our visitors with friendliness, love, and hospitality. However, let us never forget that how we are remembered by our visitors will be determined by the effort we put forth to greet our visitors with a warm and friendly welcome, and to give them special treatment.
Recently, when Janice and I were on vacation, it was really brought home to us how important it is to make an extra effort to welcome our visitors and make sure they feel "at home" here at North Jefferson. Two of the three congregations we visited were very friendly. However, at one large congregation we visited, we arrived early and didn't rush to leave, but were only greeted by three or four people out of an audience of several hundred. They seemed to be more interested in talking with their own cliques of friends than in making the effort to meet and greet "the strangers" among them. If I were looking for a church home, that congregation wouldn't be it!
Do you remember the last time you visited another congregation? Do you remember the anxiety you felt at being in a strange place where you didn't know anyone? That's the way our visitors feel, unless we quickly move to eliminate those feelings by making them feel welcome and at home at the Lord's church in Mt. Pleasant. If we want to make a good impression so that our visitors are more likely to return and worship with us again, then extending a warm welcome to them must become a high priority item for every member.
The best way to treat our visitors properly is to practice the "Golden Rule" (Mt. 7:12). Put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself how you would like to be treated if you were visiting North Jefferson for the first time. Then do unto them, as you would like to have done unto you. If you see someone you don't know (a good tip that they are a visitor), go give them a warm greeting and introduce yourself. If they're a member you don't know, then you've given yourself an opportunity to get to know them and to increase your circle of fellowship. However, if they're a visitor, then you've already started to make them feel good about "that friendly church in Mt. Pleasant!"
Please don't stop the process of greeting our visitors after you've completed the formalities of introduction. This is your big chance to make a lasting impression with our visitors that the Lord's church in Mt. Pleasant is really an exceptionally warm, friendly, and caring church. Begin to introduce them to other members and before long they won't feel like strangers. Help them to find the right class for their children. Don't just say, "it's over in the educational wing," but rather go with them and show them the way. Invite them to sit with you in class or in worship, and keep introducing them to other members. Make sure if you're teaching a class to give special recognition to any visitors. And if you really want to go the second mile in welcoming our visitors, then invite them to enjoy a meal with you after the service.
We are fortunate to have many visitors at our worship services. Whether or not they will choose to become children of God, and a lasting part of our fellowship will be determined to a great degree by whether or not we make them feel loved, welcome, and at home here at North Jefferson. Let's continue to work hard to be "that friendly church in Mt. Pleasant!"
David McCain
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SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Johnny Ramsey
We are living in hard times spiritually due to extreme liberalism, nauseating compromise and the inordinate desire for "a better public image." So many members of the church are ignorant of Bible knowledge and are surrounded by a generation far more interested in social welfare than the pure gospel. Salvation from sin is taking a back seat to fellowship halls and mission depots. Not very many people, even in the church, have a deep, spiritual view of things holy and divine. When we ought to be seriously studying these grave trends we, like Israel of old, rise up to play. When plain truth ought to thrill our souls we are crying in the language of Isaiah 30: "Speak to us smooth things." While men claiming to be gospel preachers speak with forked tongues too many brethren love to have it so! All across this land we see rumblings of abject modernism from within the walls of Zion. One editor whitewashes a Hollywood celebrity who sings at Las Vegas in the gambling dens and bars of the Mafia and the cesspools of nudity. Some teachers in "our schools" speak unsteady words concerning inspiration of the Bible, music in worship and the Christian's participation in dancing and drinking. While the souls of men are dying a Tennessee church provides ladies with a class to learn how to make hats and a Coke machine in the hall in case their strenuous study overwhelms their esophagus! In far too many pulpits the listeners are treated to a series of quotes from Barth, Tillich, Lewis, Fosdick, Trueblood and Bonhoeffer while Christ and Paul and Peter go begging. What men say about the Bible overshadows what the Bible has to say about men!
It is much later than we think when we become enamored with the panoply of worldly attainments and begin to compare God's true way with Satan's schemes for the secular and profane. We need a double dose of Galatians 1:10 and James 4:4. Truly, we cease being a servant of Christ when we are so busily engages in receiving the applause of men. The world never has and never will welcome ardent followers of God.
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"Reputation is what men think we are. Character is what God sees we are."
