FAMILY NEWS AND NOTES
Volume 10 07 DECEMBER 2008 Issue No. 41
Most of us were alive and well when the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor. As our President said, “This day will live in infamy.” How true! Today, we should be thankful for all those who gave their service and lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms we now enjoy!
Service Arrangements
COMMUNION FOR DECEMBER 2008
SOUTH SIDE NORTH SIDE
AM
Wayne Pickrel
Weldon Miller
George O’NealJody Sparks
Cody SparksCharles Kyle
PM
Ron TraughberTim Jones
ANNOUNCEMENTS ……….…… Rance Robison
(Sunday and Wednesday)
SONG LEADER (AM)………………. Hal Roper
(PM) …………...... Hal Roper
Wednesday Nite ….... Daniel McCary
PRAYERS —– Sunday.
AM First Prayer ………..… Bob Hedges
AM Closing…………..... Bronson Roper
PM First Prayer……….. Darrell Cooper
PM Closing……………..….. David Neal
PRAYERS — Wednesday Nite
First Prayer………………..…. Hal Roper
Closing……………….…...… Austin Neal
PRAYER LIST:
Justin Barker, Rachel Barker, Louis & Nona Bell, Doris Bell, Billye Campbell,
Suzanne Charlton, Steele Cooper, Irene Duncan, Ben McCain, Thelma Reed
ALSO: Wesley DuBose, Wayne Lineberger, Jesse & Jacob Massey, Yvonne Waldrup,
Linda Wysinger
And now for … FAMILY NEWS AND NOTES
Fellowship Luncheon scheduled for 19 December 2008. Bring your favorite food.
See following item in this bulletin.
Teachers, and all interested in teaching, need to meet in the Multi-purpose Room.
Hope to see you there.
Have you signed up for the Friday evening December 19 date for a Holiday Family
Get-together for all age groups … at the Civic Center (Walnut Room)? Please sign up
and show how many you will be bringing, along with a favorite dish.
Time will be furnished later.
BIBLE BOWL Monday evening beginning at 7:00 PM. Study for the event will be this
afternoon beginning at 5:30 PM in the Multi-Purpose Room. All young people are
encouraged to attend each event.
Ladies Bible Class will meet at 9:00 AM (instead of 10:00 AM) on Tuesday, December 09,
to fill baskets for shut-ins and others. We need baked goods, including a few sugar free
items.
Other dates to be aware of … tape this to your refrigerator or mark your calendar …
We will meet for mid-week service on Tuesday before Christmas. Also, we will meet
on the Tuesday before New Year’s Day. So don’t get mixed up. We want you here.
See ya!
Wade Miller is back at home and working. He got shots in his eyes to help control his
problem. On December 10 he returns for laser surgery.
Betty Abbey had knee surgery last week and came thru the surgery just fine. She now
begins therapy to regain full use of her knee.
Suzanne Charlton got a good report on her tests last week.
Remember to keep those on the PRAYER LIST in your prayers each day.
CAN A PERSON CHANGE?
This is the question of the ages that God inspired Jeremiah to ponder, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?” (Jeremiah 13:23a).
Can a person change?
From the perspective of psychology, the answer would all depend upon what kind of change we are talking about. For one to take a different route to work or try a new brand of toothpaste, not much is required. However, to change how one has always looked at self and the world or to change how one relates to others and one’s environment, the challenge is much, much greater. It is almost insurmountable.
The potential of change is further influenced by age. The longer we walk in a particular lifestyle the deeper our rut becomes. This is one reason why a young person is much more likely to accept the gospel than an older one.
There is also the fact that certain personality traits make one less likely to change than others. One who grows up being taught that all change is bad has a definite bias to overcome. This is why some cultures are unreceptive to anything “new.” this is why the preacher Paul finally had to turn from the Jews to the Gentiles with his message of faith in Jesus (see Acts 13:46).
So, we go back to the question, “Can a person change?”
The most truthful answer would have be individualized according to the background of the person and the change being sought. Even then, expressing only the odds of change could be the best answer because profound and lasting change is extremely rare, even among the young.
However, God has made mankind to be different from animals. We are not leopards who cannot change our spots. We are creatures endowed with the gift of self-determination. We can choose, rationally, how we are supposed to life.
Therefore, the answer is actually quite simple.
Yes! We can change! Every command of God to further our righteousness and every admonition to turn from sin necessitates that we each have the capacity to change within the perimeters of rational choice and what he has given us to work with. As such we can choose to be more loving and less selfish. We can choose to be wiser, more self-disciplined and more spiritual.
Without the gift of self-determination the word of God is meaningless and the commandments of God are beyond the reach of all.
Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be writing articles about how to change. The first step is to know that we can!
Floyd Kaiser
The Southwesterner—Southwest church of Christ - Ada, OK
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Give Thanks Even For The Turkey Loaf!
Grandpa’s and grandma’s house is empty again. The children and grandchildren have all returned to their respective homes, jobs, and schools. The dishes have all been washed and neatly stacked in the cupboard and china cabinet. The “Pilgrims & Indians” centerpiece has been carefully replaced in its storage box and carried back up to the attic. The house is clean and uncluttered again, and so very quiet! The linens and towels have all been washed, the beds in the spare bedrooms remade, and everything has been put back in its proper place. About all that remains is the carcass of the “big bird,” and enough sliced, diced, chopped, and chipped turkey to make the words “turkey loaf” sound like a death warrant.
Oh yes, there is one other thing that lingers on, or at least should, even after the “turkey loaf” is just a bad memory. That is, the warm feeling of thankfulness for all of God’s blessings large and small, which should be a conscious part of the Christian’s life, not just on “Thanksgiving Day,” but 365 day a year. We are indeed privileged to live in a land whose constitution and government acknowledge the existence of God, and where by yearly presidential proclamation a day of thanksgiving is set aside as a national observance of God’s blessings and provisions. We detract not one whit from this national tradition and hope that it will ever be remembered and observed in our great nation.
However, the Christian should be thankful to God, not just once a year on a national day called “Thanksgiving,” but every day that we live. Both in good times and in bad, in circumstances of good health or affliction, in prosperity or adversity, in times of joy or sadness, Christians should be humble, grateful, thankful people. Over a hundred verses of Scripture instruct us concerning God’s desire that His children be people who are filled with praise and thanksgiving. Colossians 2:7 says we are to “abound in thanksgiving.”
I Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing; and in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” As the Psalmist so beautifully penned, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:4-5).
Perhaps, though, the most difficult admonition concerning praise and thanksgiving is the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6). Is it possible to be thankful everyday, in all circumstances of life, both good and bad? Paul, by inspiration, said: YES!
We must strive to look for the good and “our God” in every occurrence of life. When we do that, when we begin to look beyond the temporal to the spiritual, two great things happen. First, the devil flees, because he prefers grumbling and complaining over continual praise and thanksgiving. Secondly, we discover a reward for thankfulness, for Paul continued to write, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).
Yes, even after “Thanksgiving” has come and gone again, there remains for the Christian the daily, calm, continual, thankful, supplication and prayer, which will result in the priceless prize of the “peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” With that in mind, we can even be thankful for “turkey loaf,” not to mention the upcoming season of the “rat race” at the shopping malls!
David McCain
