Our_Bulletin_8_31

Family News and Notes

Today we have Brother David McCain and his family here from Mabank, Texas. Brother McCain will be teaching the morning Auditorium Bible Class and then preaching Sunday morning and evening. Brother McCain is one of the preacher applicants we have received.

The elders ask that you give your input pertaining to evaluation of Bro. McCain. For that purpose there is an insert in your bulletin. Please complete this and turn it in to one of the elders or deacons. This will assist them in their decision making in choosing a pulpit minister for our congregation.

FELLOWSHIP LUNCHEON please plan to stay for the Fellowship Luncheon following services this morning. This will be a great opportunity to get to know Bro. McCain and his family, as well as fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Everyone is welcome.

LADIES DEVOTIONAL There is nothing more uplifting than the love and encouragement of our Christian sisters. We would like to spend time monthly studying, praying, singing, and pleasant visiting. We will talk about future get-togethers. Please come Tuesday evening, September 9th, at 7:00 PM at the building to start meeting. Bring your Bible and a snack-type dish. Call Vicki Miller or Ann Pickrel if you have questions.

BUILDING CLEANINGIf you are willing and able to assist in the cleaning of the building please sign the sheet on the table in the foyer. Thanks for your help.

Bonnie Horton remains in East Texas Medical Center in Tyler, after being admitted last weekend with a brain hemorrhage. She was scheduled to undergo more tests last Thursday to determine proper treatment but hopes to be able to return home this weekend. She is currently experiencing problems with her vision on the right side. While at the hospital last week, Howard fell, but he is at home and is doing better.

Bro. Louis Bell continues to suffer from nosebleeds his latest one occurring Wednesday evening.

Georgia Lide is still in the hospital in Paris, but her room number has changed to Room 343 North.

Carl Lee will be undergoing eye surgery on September 1st.

Wade Miller is feeling much better following his surgery to install stints. He is still to take it easy for a few weeks, with no physical activity.

Sandra Cooper is still in Houston, at the home of her son, Kyle. Darrell is there with her. She lost more blood last Tuesday, but is hopeful she will be stabilized enough by the writing of this bulletin to begin receiving the new treatment she has been waiting for.

R. C. Grissom is still in Titus Regional Medical Center at the writing of this bulletin. He is in room 302. He is doing better.

Nelcene Steele of Texarkana (sister-in-law of Zeneth Hargrove) had surgery Wednesday night for an aneurysm. She is recovering well. Please remember her in your prayers.

Mary (Mackey) Taylor will have a biopsy on September 8 in Dallas. This is due to a large mass found in her right breast. She requests our prayers on her behalf.

Marie Butler has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is scheduled for surgery on September 4 at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:

Megan Proctor became a teenager, turning 13, on August 30.

Michael Pierce turned 11 on August 30.

New Mailing address: Please mark your roster.

Karen Sargent

P O Box 83854

Waco, Texas 76798

Karen is now away attending college and her parents are now experiencing the "empty nest."

THANK YOU "The cards and calls were so sweet and thoughtful. Your words of encouragement are a treasure I will always hold dear in my heart. May the years be kind to you, and may God bless you with

friends such as you are to me. I will always remember the love you have shown to me."

In Christian love,

Your sister in Christ,

Irene Duncan

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PRAYER LIST:

Justin Barker, Louis Bell, Woodrow Cooksey, Sandra Cooper,

Bonnie Horton, Howard Horton, Carl Lee, Joyce Lee, Georgia Lide, Wade Miller, Elna O'Neal, Alva Mae Sheets

ALSO: Ray Nell Benson, Judy Betts, Marie Butler, R. C. Grissom, Nita Horn, Dana Rigano, Gene Riley, Nelcene Steele, Mary Taylor

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Rhodney's "Funny Bone"

A lot of good-looking faces are wasted on ugly people.

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Service Arrangements

ANNOUNCEMENTS............Rhodney Freeman

SONG LEADER...................................Bill Jones

PRAYERS Sunday

AM First Prayer.................................Lee Moses

AM Closing.......................................Bob Hedges

PM First Prayer............................Weldon Miller

PM Closing....................................Glenn Parham

PRAYERS Wednesday Nite

First Prayer..................................Gene Campbell

Closing..............................................Jack Cooper

COMMUNION FOR AUGUST

AM Grady Duncan....................Gene Campbell

William Embree..................George O'Neal

Roger Grimes...................Lewis Robertson

PM Weldon Miller.........................Bob Hedge

ATTENDANCE COUNTER........Grady Duncan

TRANSPORTATION........Call Frankie Sargent

903-572-2647

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Keep Swingin' That Axe

by Lee Moses

When I was a young child of about five or six years, my father told me to cut down a small tree in our back yard. He took a saw, began to cut into the trunk of the tree to show me where to cut, and then left the saw with me to finish the work. About an hour later, he came to check on my progress. He said, "You must be cutting the wrong tree. Look, here's the cut I started for you." However, I had not been cutting the wrong tree. I had made such little progress in that time that my father could not tell that I had done anything.

William Shakespeare wrote in King Henry VI, Part III, "Many strokes, though with a little axe, hew down and fell the hardest-timber'd oak." To the best of my memory, I did not finish cutting that tree down myself. I had been too young to use an axe, but the saw I was using was not the reason I did not take it down. Neither was I attempting to "fell the hardest timber'd oak." I certainly could have taken that tree down, but three things hindered me: Lack of skill, lack of strength, and lack of perseverance.

God has assigned each of us a tasknot to cut trees down, but to save them from being cut down. Of course, we are not referring to chaining ourselves to literal trees to save them from loggers. We are referring to God's promise that "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire" (Matthew 7:19). The immediate reference of this verse is to false teachers, but the application can be extended to all non-Christians: Jesus said, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:4-5). Using a slightly different metaphor, the principle is here set forth that only a Christian can bear good fruit. If one has never obeyed the Gospel (Romans 6:3-4) or has left Christ's church (II Peter 2:20-22), he is not abiding in Christ and cannot bear good fruit. Jesus goes on to say, "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned" (John 15:6).

The task of casting into the fire those who do not bring forth good fruit will be that of the angels (Matthew 13:41-42). This is a reality that will take place after the Judgment. However, it is not God's wish that anybody be cast into the fire: "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (I Tim. 2:4). This is where our role comes in. Jesus told the apostles at the Great Commission, "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" (Mark 16:15-16). The apostles were to bring a message that could save souls from being cut down and cast into the fire. That Great Commission is extended to us today, for the apostles were instructed at that occasion to teach those whom they did baptize "to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19). This would include going into all the world and preaching the Gospel to every creature.

Shakespeare's words convey that with a less-than-perfect tool, one can still accomplish the required task. But the tool we have been provided for our task is the Gospel! Our tool is God's power to save (Romans 1:16; I Corinthians 1:18,21). Our tool is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). Our tool is "living" and "powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12). We often think of a sharp axe being used to take down trees, but God has provided us a sharp tool to prevent their being cut down. I could not blame that saw I used all those years ago for my failure to cut down that tree. It is said, "It is a poor carpenter who blames his tools." How much more is this the case when we have been given the perfect, all-sufficient tool for accomplishing the required task?

It is our responsibility to grow in skill, strength, and perseverance that we might use the provided tool to its full capacity. The more we use that tool, God's word, the more we will grow in these areas (I Peter 2:2; Hebrews 5:14). We must not shy from opportunities to wield the tool we have been givenopportunities to save the lost. A lumberjack who uses his axe daily will eventually become very skilled with it. One could not hope to do well in the Olympic sport of fencing without regular practice.

We may not see results immediately. We may check on our progress in one year and not see much more made than my father saw as I attempted to cut down that tree. But as we grow in our skill, strength, and perseverance we give the Gospel more chance to do its work. Remember, "Many strokes . . . hew down and fell the hardest timber'd oak."

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In Need of Oxygen

by Michael Light

In his best-selling book called Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer relates the hazards that plagued some climbers as they attempted to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Andy Harris, one of the expedition leaders, stayed at the peak too long; and on his descent, he became in dire need of oxygen.

Harris radioed the base camp and told them about his predicament. He mentioned that he had come across a cache of oxygen canisters left by the other climbers, but they were all empty. The climbers who already passed the canisters on their own descent knew they were not empty, but full. They pleaded with him on the radio to make use of them, but it was to no avail. Harris was starved for oxygen, but he continued to argue that the canisters were empty. The problem was that the lack of what he needed had so disoriented his mind that though he was surrounded by something that would give him life, he continued to complain of its absence.

Many today are complaining about not being able to live a fulfilling life that something is missing in their life. Many complain while the answer is right before them. The apostle Peter declared, "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue" (II Peter 1:3). Friends, God's word is the oxygen that will give us spiritual lifewith our spiritual lives in order, life has true meaning, and it is a life worth living. Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). What the world needs is laying before us in the New Testamentmay we all partake of its life giving flow.

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