Copies of the Minutes from the Men's Business Meeting and Financial Report for the month ending December 31, 2003 are available on the table in the foyer. If you are interested please take a copy.
Please complete one of the Work Assignment Sheets today so that plans can be made for the work of the church for the coming year. Your participating, in some manner, is needed.
Please watch for the Pantry Items sheet soon and pay particular attention to those items that are in short supply. Your participation is greatly appreciated.
Reminder: Bible Quiz at Clarksville church of Christ, January 27th, for ALL AGES. We will meet here at the building at 6:15 PM. We will be providing refreshments.
The Ladies Monthly Devotional will be on Sunday afternoon, February 08, at 4:30 PM. Ann Pickrel will be teaching. All ladies are invited to attend.
If you were not included on one of the Visitation Teams and you wish to be included, please contact one of the Deacons. Visitation Team No. 1 meets today. See Jim Duncan.
Everyone is encouraged to tell your friends and neighbors about the articles appearing in the Tribune each Tuesday.
Weldon Miller had tests this past week regarding his physical condition and was scheduled to meet again with his doctor to determine what type treatment he will be receiving.
Josephine Cooper has now returned to Mount Pleasant. She is in Titus Regional Medical Center, Room 510, and will be undergoing physical therapy following her recent knee surgery. She is doing better & hopes to go home early next week.
I still remind everyone .. if you know of someone who is sick, will have surgery, have a death in the family, etc., PLEASE let the editor of this Bulletin know about it.
THANK YOU "Thank you for the kind things you've done, for the happiness you've given. Thank you for the cards, calls, visits, food and prayers in our time of sorrow.
--In Christian love,
Fay Gilmore and Wanda Carlock"
During the first two issues of the Bulletin for the month of January space has simply not been available to allow inclusion of the Birthday List for the month of January. Sorry about that we include the list only when space is available. We hope to be able to print a complete list with the beginning of the new fiscal year. Please watch for it. There are still many, many of you who have not furnished the month and day your were born. We ONLY NEED the month and day, so won't you please furnish that? If I don't include it in the first issue in March, please remind me.
We live in a society which wants instant gratification with all the bells and whistles at a discount store price! Truth be told, if we could have all we want, when we want it, for "free," then everyone would be satisfied, or would we? It seems as if "the buck" stops nowhere these days. No one wants to pay the piper. We want all of the frills, but none of the bills. Let's live it up, and we'll let our grandchildren pay for it. To show you how prevalent this attitude of irresponsibility has become, consider the "political-correctness" craze, which says don't blame anyone for anything these days because we're all just innocent products of our genetic code. If that's not enough to prove my point, consider a recent article in "Newsweek," which reported that the baby-boomer generation now demands even a religion of convenience.
Sadly, this attitude of irresponsibility has made inroads into the thinking of many brethren. The "change agents" among us say we must change the church to meet the "felt needs" of a changing society. But they're not just talking about modernizing methodology to keep pace with our electronic world; rather many of them are demanding that we change Christ's doctrine to make it more palatable to an irresponsible culture.
However, like it or not, it still costs to be a disciple of Christ. Jesus said, "If any man come to me, and hate (meaning "to love less" - D.Mc.) not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. ...So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple" (Lk. 14:26-33). Jesus also stated the cost of discipleship when he said, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me" (Mt. 10:34-38).
Being a Christian requires sacrifice. Daily, we must offer ourselves as living sacrifices for Christ, and the Gospel (Rms. 12:1-2, Mk. 8:34-38, Lk. 9:23). It is high time for the real men of God to stand up and proclaim a costly religion. It cost Jesus His life, and as our perfect example and pattern, He expects no less of us. Come forth, therefore, men like David of old, who when offered free the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, as a place of worship and sacrifice said, "Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which cost me nothing" (II Sam. 24:24). Stand up and be counted, men like that great old soldier Joshua, who challenged, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Jos. 24:15).
The religion of Christ remains a costly business. It still requires repentance, change, obedience, and sacrifice to be a child of God. Are you willing to pay the price to be a true disciple of Jesus? How much has it cost you to be a Christian? Are you ever guilty of trying to offer God worship or service, which has cost you little or nothing at all? The simple truth is, though the grace of God is freely offered to all mankind, Christianity is not a free ride. If you want to inherit eternal life, you must willingly pay whatever price He asks, for there is no true religion, which is also free religion!
During Christ's ministry on earth, His Divine glory and majesty were to a degree obscured from human perception (Philippians 2:6-7; John 1:5,10,14). However, there were flashes of that glory even while He tabernacled in the flesh; and at no time was His glory more plainly revealed during His time on earth than at the Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-8). God the Father spoke to the inner circle of disciples from Heaven, making clear that Jesus was preeminent even above the great lawgiver Moses, and above the great prophet Elijah, who had been translated into Heaven. Certainly this occasion would have been a blessing not only to those disciples, but to Jesus, as He saw their understanding and faith increased.
However, when Jesus came down from the mountain, He came upon an entirely different scene. A man had brought his demon-possessed child to the remaining apostles that the child might be cured, but the apostles were unable to cast out the demon. The scribes had seized the opportunity to attempt to discredit Christ and His apostles by asking sarcastic questions. When Jesus came upon them and asked the scribes what they were doing, they had no good response; but the father of the demon-possessed boy explained the situation to Jesus. To this localized epidemic of faithlessness, Jesus exclaimed, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?" (Mark 9:19). Jesus observed and expressed His displeasure with the fruits of faithfulness so prominent upon this occasion.
Weakness.
When the apostles asked Jesus why they could not cast out the demon, He responded, "Because of your little faith" (Matthew 17:20, ASV). After their failure to cast out the demon, they were also unable to answer the scornful questioning of the scribes. Neither of these failures would have occurred had they possessed a proper measure of faith. Many of the shortcomings and failures experienced today could easily be overcome with a proper measure of faith. One who trusts in the Lord can answer the Lord's naysayers (cf. I Peter 3:15).
Mean-spiritedness.
The scribes were the naysayers faced by the apostles. They had seen abundant testimony to the Divine origin and message of Christ, yet they seized upon one apparent failure as an opportunity to discredit Christ. These men displayed an attitude which was certainly not of a Divine origin:
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work (James 3:14-16).
As poet Archibald Rutledge observed, "One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others." If we are ever overcome with feelings of jealousy, doubt, or hatred, we can be certain that our attitude is not according to God's word; nor is it going to be commended by God. We can also be certain that if such persists, our faith is not what it should be.
Misery and suffering.
The father who had brought his child to the apostles also came to believe that his situation was hopeless. Many who came to the Lord to receive such blessings were commended by Him for their faith (cf. Mark 2:5; Matthew 8:10; 15:28), but such was not the case with this man. And so the child and his father had been forced to bear with the child's horrible condition while the scribes threw verbal jabs at the apostles. One who has left the Lord and His church to serve himself and pursue worldly interests will not find himself truly happy. Jesus encouraged service to others with knowledge that the Lord is over all, adding, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (John 13:17).
Biblical faith requires a strong conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). But by ingesting God's word, his "food for faith," one can have that blessed assurance that will help him overcome weakness, mean-spiritedness, and even misery and suffering.
