Ladies Devotional this afternoon at 4:30 PM. Lesson begins ... I Samuel 21:1
Ladies Bible Class resumes on Tuesday, September 14. They will meet from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM. Lunch will be provided Tuesday. All the women of the congregation are invited and encouraged to attend. Except for a few Tuesdays (such as holidays) they will meet thru May.
Gospel Meeting begins today at Cookville church of Christ with Bro. Dalton Graves preaching. Services will be 7:00 PM nightly Sept. 12 thru Sept. 15. The theme will be from Hebrews 10:24.
Our Gospel Meeting begins Octob er10thru13thb0.Brother Jack Orbison (Janice's dad). We will have a Fellowship Luncheon on that day following the morning services. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend.
Pantry Items Needed check the round table in the foyer for a list of items needed to replenish our pantry. Your contributions are appreciated.
Bobby Davis (Tim Davis' dad) passed away early Friday morning at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler. Funeral services were pending at the time of the printing of this bulletin with Alexander Funeral Home in Naples, Texas so we should have the information on the funeral for the announcements this morning.
Joe Ferrell suffered chest pains Tuesday afternoon and was taken to the hospital in Tyler where he had heart catheterization and doctors will determine if his condition can be treated with medication or whether a pacemaker will have to be installed. He was transferred to University of Texas Health Science Center in Tyler. He is in Room 543, Phone 903-877-8543. He had hopes of returning home on Friday or Saturday.
Remember to place Joan Williams (friend of the Reed family) on your prayer list. She lives in Colorado and has cancer.
Bonnye Horton will enter East Texas Medical Center this morning for possible surgery Tuesday to clean out her carotid arteries.
Bennie Lee Jones (mother of Tim Jones) is undergoing physical therapy following her recent fall at home. She has been in Titus Regional Medical Center.
Alva Mae Sheets is in Titus Regional Medical Center, Room 301.
James Butler is still in Titus Regional Medical Center recovering from a broken hip received when he fell at home. He has been moved to Room 513.
Jerry Freeman is in Florida assisting in the reconstruction of the electrical system there following recent hurricanes. He may have to travel to southern portion of Florida if the need arises. We need to pray that God keeps him and his crews safe and for a safe return home in a few weeks.
Please change your records to show that Dorothy Sargent is in Room 153 at Pleasant Springs Nursing Center. (the name has recently been changed from IHS / Villa Nursing Center).
Betty Duncan has moved to Tyler. Please make a note of her new address: Betty Duncan
2504 Pounds
Tyler, Texas 75701
Phone: 903-592-1522
THANK YOU "The family of Ruby Davis acknowledges with grateful appreciation the kind expression of your sympathy."
Jon & Ben didn't seem to be missing their "lonely" parents one bit, when we talked to them Wed AM. Their plane arrived safely in London last Thurs. AM after flying all night over the Atlantic. Ben had watched "Castaway," before they left, but thankfully the "survival tips" he learned (his reason for watching) were not needed for this part of their journey! Colin & Lisa Graham, missionaries in Bangor, Ireland, were waiting to greet the boys and Ken Upchurch when they arrived. The five of them spent Thurs. & Fri. touring London. Quite naturally, Ben said his favorite site was "Big Ben," and Jon thought the "fish and chips" they ate for lunch were the best thing next to the tower of London, where the enemies of the crown have often "lost their heads" in years gone by. After a 5-hour delay Fri. PM, their plane finally left London for the quick hop to Belfast, but had to land at the wrong airport due to a mechanical malfunction. Jon said it was a "long story" about the "fun" they had after midnight in getting to the other airport where the Grahams had left their minivan for the trip to Bangor. After a short night's rest, they had a youth rally on Sat. AM, where about 20 teenagers were present along with a good number of adults. Ben led singing and both Jon and Ken preached. Two teenage boys indicated a desire for a Bible study to learn how to obey the Gospel and be added to the Lord's church. On Sun., Ken began preaching in a Gospel Meeting for the Hamilton Rd. church, in Bangor. Colin said they had great attendance and that the brethren were truly uplifted by Ken's lessons and that good interest was stirred among non-Christian visitors. Contact was also made with the parents of the teenage boys, who granted permission for the boys to study and be baptized if they choose to do so. Ben & Colin were going to have their first study with them Thurs. PM, after sending Jon and Ken on their way to Tanzania early Thurs. AM. Ken & Jon were flying back to London, then would change planes before flying to Alexandria, Egypt, then Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, then Nairobi, Kenya, and finally into Kilimanjaro airport, near Arusha, Tanzania. Jon will spend the next two weeks helping brethren from Hattiesburg, MS, and Seagoville, TX build a cinder block "church-house" for the brethren in the village of Keesonga. After that he and Ken will be teaching Bible studies and preaching in some of the villages where new congregations have been established. Ben will stay in Ireland for the next 3 weeks helping Colin in his daily work, passing out tracts in the town market, and preaching for Colin one Sunday, before making the same trip Jon & Ken made to Tanzania by himself (at which time his parents will be on our knees in prayer).
There is enough wrong in this old world today to sometimes make a grown man want to cry. As we look around us we often see the frightening reality of a world gone mad with sin. As a result of the sin-sickness of humanity, many things threaten our safety here on planet earth. Everything from the runaway increase in violent crime, to the fearful stranglehold of international terrorism, to the unthinkable ultimate catastrophe of global nuclear war, frightens and unsettles us to the point where we are left wondering when we might become the next victim of the hateful humanity who have not yet learned to live together in peace.
Even more threatening is the endless erosion of the moral fabric of our society. What was once referred to as a "Christian" nation has become a hotbed of secular humanism, drug and alcohol abuse, pornography, violence, abortion, and sexual perversion of every kind.
AIDS, cancer, heart disease, economic recession and depression, drunk drivers, natural disasters, insanity, taxes, law suits, nuclear reactor accidents, or you name it -- a million and one things menace and intimidate us in our world today. In what sometimes seems like a hopeless situation, we are forced to ponder, "is there any hope that I can learn to cope with all these problems?"
If you are a faithful Christian the answer is a resounding, YES! Jesus, the hope of this world (I Tim. 1:1), came to this world not to remove problems from our pathway, but to give us the "inner peace" which is necessary to cope with what ever problems or threats come our way. Jesus warned us not to be anxious about physical needs or physical threats (Mt. 6:25-32, 10:28), but rather to concern ourselves with spiritual pursuits that will give us that inner peace necessary to overcome any external problem (Mt. 6:33).
The Apostle Paul enlarged on this theme in Philippians 4:4-7, when he said, "Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice. Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus."
Brethren, truly, the only hope for changing our world and making it a better place is Christianity. The more we share Christ with others the more likely we are to change them, and as a byproduct change the world in which we live. But, even if the wicked world refuses to change, or even gets worse, as it did in Noah's day, we as Christians can learn to cope by virtue of the power of God's Word, which gives us inner peace. The sooner we learn that the power to cope comes not from outward circumstance, but from inward peace with God, the sooner we will be the happy people God intended for us to be! David McCain
(AM)..................Weldon Miller
