The Ladies Monthly Devotional will be this afternoon, February 08, at 4:30 PM. Ann Pickrel will be teaching. All ladies are invited to attend.
Men's Business Meeting tonight following services. All men are encouraged to attend.
TODAY There should be a Sign-Up List in the foyer for all the Ladies who will be attending LADIES DAY on April 3rd. Please sign the list and indicate what type SALAD you will be bringing. Also, mark your calendar that we will need this information AND the recipe for your salad by March 7, 2004. Thank you.
Visitation Team No. 4 will meet after the evening service on Sunday, February 15. If you are on this team please try to attend. (Grady Duncan, Capt. and Gene Campbell, Co-Capt.)
Diane Johnson (daughter of Winell Blackard) is in Room 3506 at East Texas Medical Center. (She is there as a result of an auto accident a little over a week ago.)
Winell Blackard was supposed to go home from the local hospital last Thursday.
Elna O'Neal finally had surgery on her leg last Wednesday. Everything went OK.
Corine Hudson has been discharged from the hospital and is now back at home. Her daughter is staying with her. She still has pneumonia and only a small percentage of her heart is functioning. It is our understanding that Hospice has been called in.
Billy Floyd had surgery last Friday in Tyler to repair an aneurysm in his aorta. This is a serious type of aneurysm.
Wayne Pickrel was scheduled for surgery last Friday. Please check on him.
Several others that we know of have been sick at home this past week:
David Neal, Jack Cooper, Josephine Cooper, Thelma Reed, Alice Lovelady, Zenith Hargrove
(If you know of others please let someone know.)
Please correct your Directory to show the following 911 address for Ralph & Hazel Phillips:
Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted an old friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her. Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked "NO ADMITTANCE." When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was
missing.
Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child, and he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed what could have been a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was so mesmerized that they couldn't recall what else the great master played. Only the classic "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
Perhaps that's the way it is with God. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren't always graceful flowing music. However, with the hand of the Master, our life's work can truly be beautiful. Next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You may hear the voice of the Master, whispering
in your ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." May you feel His arms around you and know that His hands are there helping you turn your feeble attempts into true masterpieces. Remember, God doesn't seem to call the equipped; rather, He equips the 'called.' Life is more accurately measured by the lives you touch than by the things you acquire.
"Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them. Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen" (a compilation of Lk. 24:44-49, Mk. 16:15-16, Mt. 28:18-20).
Executive orders have been issued by the Commander and Chief of the army of God. Sometimes called "the Great Commission," these orders issued by the captain of our salvation (Heb. 2:10), King Jesus (I Tim. 6:15), are the battle plan for carrying Christ's Gospel to the whole world. Because of these executive orders, all soldiers of the cross must go forward with the Gospel, not to pillage and destroy, but to heal and to save. No faithful child of God can escape his duty in regard to the Lord's primary directive. The absolute bottom line of why we must all be involved in sharing the Gospel through personal evangelism is because Christ said so!
The lack of church growth in our time is directly related to our failure to get every child of God involved in fulfilling the executive orders of Jesus. Until personal evangelism becomes a "grass roots" activity within the Lord's church (meaning until every single member in the pews gets busy telling his/her friends the "Good News" about Jesus), the church will never enjoy growth in modern times like it did in first century times. However, we know numerical growth is possible in modern times, for back in the middle of the last century, when it was not uncommon for the members in the pews to be out teaching home Bible studies, the churches of Christ were the fastest growing religious group in America.
The Gospel has not lost its power to attract those who are seeking God, however, the Gospel will not attract anyone until we get busy sharing it. What has been lost in our time is faithful obedience to the Executive Orders of King Jesus. Brethren, we must make every effort to bring our neighbors, friends, and relatives to meet Jesus. When we all begin to do that daily, we shouldn't be surprised when the Lord's church here at North Jefferson begins to grow! As an added bonus to numerical growth, when we spend more time trying to evangelize the world we will have less time for fussing, fighting, and brotherhood feuds over trivial matters of personality and opinion, which will lead to added peace, joy, and happiness in the body of Christ.
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest" (Jn. 4:35).
As the work team program at North Jefferson is moving into full swing, brethren obviously have visitation on their minds more greatly than usual. Certainly, visitation is a great need of the church (cf. I Thess. 5:11-14; Heb. 10:24; James 1:27). Having the work team program also provides added motivation and focus for those who, because of lack of confidence or misplaced priorities, have not been as involved in the work of the Lord's church. It occurred to me that there could be some attending their work team meeting who might receive instructions regarding a needed visitation, only to see that their own name is given as one needing a visit. Can you imagine? "Please visit (yourself) - Has not been faithful in attendance." Or, "Please visit (yourself) - Has been discouraged." Or, "Please visit (yourself) - Has become involved in some inappropriate activities." Would not such provide a quick dose of reality?
In truth, we all need to "pay ourselves a visit" upon occasion. While we are to exhort others in the faith, we must first exhort ourselves. The word of God teaches that self-examination and self-preparation are prerequisite to edifying others. Timothy was commanded, "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee" (I Timothy 4:16; cf. II Corinthians 13:5). For this preacher in Ephesus, whose goal was to save others, he was to begin with self-examination and self-preparation. He was to compare his thoughts, words, and deeds with "the doctrine" (the Gospel), and make sure he was in line before he could save himself, much less save others. Thus he was to "pay himself a visit" periodically. Ezra was able to restore the people of Israel to the law and worship of God, "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments" (Ezra 7:10). He began by "giving himself a visit." Even the apostle Paul regularly had to "pay himself a visit": "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" (I Corinthians 9:27).
If these three great men of God needed to pay themselves a visit upon occasion, should not we as well? The commandment given to Timothy to "take heed unto thyself" is just as binding upon us today as it was upon Timothy nearly two thousand years ago. If Paul needed to "keep under his body," we can be certain that each of us needs to do the same. The very principle behind Jesus' statement, "Judge not, that ye be not judged" (Matthew 7:1) was that one could not adequately address the problems of others when he had not yet adequately addressed his own problems. Therefore He concluded, "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye" (7:5).
Each able-bodied member of this congregation needs to be involved in the work of visitation in order to encourage and edify those in need: "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (Philippians 2:4). Notice the word "also." Here we have the proper order of priority given. Seeking the best interest of others is every Christian's goalbut it begins by preparing ourselves.
