Family News and Notes
We will still meet on Wednesday evening December 31 but everyone is invited to stay after services for finger-food, snacks, fellowship, etc. and we will sing in the new year.
We are still in need of Volunteers to help clean the building for the month of January. If you are willing and able to help with this good use of your talents please sign the sheet on the table in the foyer.
Not only is next Sunday the first Sunday in a new year.it will be the Sunday designated as Building Fund Contribution day. If you are able you may contribute on that day.
Phyllis Moon was readmitted to Titus Regional Medical Center this past week after being dismissed earlier. She is on the 4th floor.
Irene Duncan was admitted to Titus Regional Medical Center suffering from double pneumonia. She is in Room 427.
Sandra Cooper's condition continues to worsen. She is not resting due to severe pain. We need to remember Sandra, Darrell and Lurlene in our prayers.
Sick at home this past week are: Luke and Travis Moses
Wanda Miller
Carl Lee
Betty Ferrell
Geneva Cooksey
Louis Bell
Howard Horton
Bonnie Horton
(There may be others.)
Hazel Phillips was able to come home from the hospital last week.
THANK YOU "Your gift of 65 mattress pads is very much appreciated. It is gifts like this that helps us keep things going at Boles Children's Home. Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to working with you in the future. May God bless you.
David Arnwine,
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PRAYER LIST:
Justin Barker, Louis Bell, Darrell Cooper, Sandra Cooper,
Betty Ferrell, Bonnie Horton, Howard Horton, Corine Hudson, Carl Lee, Wanda Miller, Phyllis Moon, Winnie Patton, Hazel Phillips,
Dorothy Sargent, Alva Mae Sheets, Janelle Stephenson,
ALSO: Judy Betts, R. C. Grissom, Velma Lucky, Kelsey Meyers, Shawn Phillips, Chelsea Simpson
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Service Arrangements
ANNOUNCEMENTS. Grady Duncan
SONG LEADER .....Bill Jones
PRAYERS Sunday
AM First Prayer.Weldon Miller
AM Closing.Roger grimes
PM First Prayer..Grady Duncan
PM Closing...Bud Roach
PRAYERS Wednesday Nite
First Prayer...Frankie Sargent
Closing....Tim Jones
COMMUNION FOR DECEMBER
AM Jerry Freeman Weldon Miller
Bud Roach George O'Neal
Jon McCain Ben McCain
PM Wayne Charlton Tim Jones
ATTENDANCE COUNT.........Grady Duncan
TRANSPORTATION....Call Frankie Sargent
903-572-2647
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Swiftly We're Turning Life's Daily Pages
by David McCain
To me, it seems like it was just yesterday when I was making New Year's resolutions for 2003. But, now, here we are just four days away from doing it again, but for 2004. Time surely, swiftly, and unceasingly marches on, doesn't it? Sixty seconds in every minute, sixty minutes in every hour, twenty-four hours in every day, seven days in every week, and fifty-two weeks in every year, the clock is ticking, and the hour glass of life is running down. The Bible puts time in perspective by warning, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27).
As we consider this past year, we will remember time we used wisely, and time that regretfully we wasted. My hope and prayer for the coming year is that we will all use the time God gives us to the best of our abilities, so that we might be profitable servants of the Lord. Listed below are some Christian priorities that should aid us in spending our time wisely. Think about them often as you make your New Year's resolutions, and as you plan the use of your time during the year 2004.
TIME WITH GOD: Our absolute top priority must be time spent in worship, prayer, and in the study of God's Holy Word (Mt. 22:35-38, II Tim. 2:15).
TIME WITH THE FAMILY OF GOD: There are few things in life that are more important than Christian fellowship. We all need to spend more time cultivating Christian friendships, so we can "bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:2). This would include fellowship both in and outside of our regular periods of worship and Bible study (Heb. 10:23-26, Acts 2:42-47). Resolve now to be a faithful attendee at ALL of our services in the year 2004, and to draw closer to your Christian family through activities of hospitality, brotherly kindness, faithful worship and dedicated Christian service.
TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY: Your family is one of the most precious blessings God has given you. Your gratitude for God's blessings of family ought to be evident by the special time you share together as husband and wife, and parents and children. Take time to work together, play together, talk together, pray together, study together, learn together, and worship together at home. The family who puts the Lord first will stay together, and the time you spend together in God's service will not be wasted (Eph. 5:22 - 6:4).
TIME FOR OTHERS: No one can help all of the people who need help all of the time. However, all of us can help some of the people who need help some of the time. If we are truly God's servants, then our personal ministries must be people-oriented. We most reach out to others to help them with their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, as we strive to bring them to Jesus, who alone can satisfy their every need (Mt. 22:39, Mt. 25:31-46, Col. 4:5).
As the apostle Paul exhorted, "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:15-16). I hope and pray that the year 2004 will be a wonderful prosperous year for you and your family, and that the North Jefferson church of Christ will grow spiritually and numerically in 2004 like never before. I also hope each of us will consider the questions Ruth Carruth asked, in the song she wrote, which Tillit S. Teddlie so beautifully set to music, and from which I borrowed the title for this article. "How are we using God's golden moments? Shall we reap glory? Shall we reap tears?" David McCain
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Departures and Arrivals
(Guest Article)
Life is filled with departures and arrivals. Children arrive into this world. Elderly men and women depart from this world into the next world. Friends move away. New friends move in. Planes depart and planes arrive. Preachers depart and preachers arrive.
Departures can be painful. One has only to think of the scenes of soldiers leaving their families for the Persian Gulf to see how painful departing can be. Even more agonizing is the fact that some of those soldiers who depart will never arrive home again. They have departed the Persian Gulf into the eternal realm with a great gulf fixed between them. There is a tremendous ache caused by separation.
The disciples felt this pain when the Lord departed from them to die on the cross. Jesus comforted them by promising His arrival at a later date to take them home to live with Him in His Father's house (Jn. 14:1-6).
Most arrivals are joyous. There are a few exceptions to this. When bills, tax forms, colds and other assorted miseries arrive, there is not much cause for rejoicing. However, most arrivals bring with them happiness and excitement. Their arrival of a baby is one of the greatest thrills known this side of eternity. Our hearts are lifted when friends or family arrive to visit. The arrival of a card or letter from a loved one cheers us. When Jesus arrived on Sunday after His crucifixion, His disciples were bewildered and filled with joy.
Someday, the Lord will depart from heaven and arrive above the earth to sound the trump of God. The dead in Christ will depart from their graves to arrive in the air to meet the Lord. Then, we which are alive and remain shall depart from the earth to arrive in the air to meet the Lord (1 Thes. 4:13-18). To the wicked He will command departure (Matt. 25:41). To the righteous He will grant arrival into the prepared kingdom (Matt. 25:34).
Paul knew that his arrival to be with Christ would have to be preceded by a departure form his life ( Phil. 1:23). Near the close of his earthly life, Paul said, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand" (2 Tim. 4:6). The Greek word for "departure" is analusis, and signifies a ship being loosed from its moorings to set sail on a voyage. Paul knew that he was headed for heave (2 Tim. 4:8). What a marvelous way to look at death! At death our spirit will depart from our body (James 2:26). It will return unto God Who gave it (Eccl. 12:7). He will then consign our soul to its proper place (Lk. 16:19-31).
When your spirit departs from your body and sets sail on its eternal voyage, where will it arrive and dock?
B.J. Clark (Southhaven MS)
