NEED TRANSPORTATION? Call............Frankie Sargent
903-572-2647
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Family News and Notes
The "Special Contribution for the Tsunami Relief" was $2,553.41. once again this congregation has risen to the occasion and showed they care about others. Thanks so much for your generosity.
Ladies mark your calendar. Our Ladies Day is scheduled for April 02, 2005, and all the ladies of the congregation are invited to attend. We will have more on this at a later date as to subject matter, schedules, etc.
In the meantime, mark your calendar for the following: Westside Church of Christ Marshall, Texas cordially invites you to our 11th Annual Ladies Day Program on Saturday, February 12, 2005. The Theme is: "Turning Hurts into Halos and Scars into Stars" (Romans 1:12) Breakfast 8 to 9
Program 9 to 12
Lunch12 to 2
Adult Speaker will be: Sister Cheri Lee of the East Cotton Church of Christ in
Longview.
Youth speaker will be: Sister Shawnetta Jones of Southern Hills Church of Christ in Dallas.
Rodney Cook had foot surgery on Monday at Dallas. He is at home, but will be off his feet for several days. Joan says he is doing well.
Louis Bell will have surgery at 1:30 PM this coming Monday at Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler. He requests that we keep him in our prayers.
Hazel Phillips, at the writing of this bulletin, remains in East Texas Medical Center in Tyler. She hopes to be dismissed soon. Please remember Hazel and Ralph in your prayers.
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PRAYER LIST
Justin Barker, Rachel Barker, Louis Bell, Annah Brown, Sue Browning,
Billy Carter, Rodney Cook, Perry Cooper, Zenith Hargrove, Howard Horton,
ALSO: Denise Dering, Ercell Fetters, Marie Holloway, Patricia McCracken,
Kelsey Meyers
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SMILE, GOD LOVES YOU!
Perhaps you've seen the lapel buttons and surely heard the slogan many times, but do you really believe that God loves YOU as an individual? You should believe it, because indeed He does! God is alive and He loves YOU!
Handwriting experts tell us that personality traits show up in our handwriting. If this is true, and if God's handwriting could be examined, then the experts would know immediately that God is a generous being. The truth of the matter is, God's handwriting is available for our examination. The whole universe is His letter to us, and every living thing He created is His signature. In all of God's creation we see such generosity we must smile and acknowledge, God loves US!
God's love for mankind can be observed in many things. The beauty of the earth and the wonders of nature declare God's
love for us. In fact, God made all material things for man's physical sustenance and mental enjoyment. The miracle of human life and the complex order and design of the human body sounds forth that the God of love "was," and "is," and "is to come." Life with all of its inherent joys is truly a blessing of love given to us by God.
Of course the greatest evidence of God's love for us as individuals is that He sent His only begotten Son to pay our debt for sin. "While we were yet weak (helpless sinners), Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6 - ASV). As the old song says, "And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in" (from the song, How Great Thou Art, by Carl Boberg & Stuart K. Hine). Surely we see that only a God who truly loves us would let His Son die for us.
But one thing more, God's love shines forth radiantly in the written record of the gospel plan of salvation He provided for us. What good would Christ's payment for our sins be, if we went through life uninformed of this great salvation? Oh yes, dear friend, God loves YOU because He has taken great pains to share with you His eternal plan through His Holy Word.
Certainly, we all have something to smile about! We have a God who loves us, whose Son died for us, whose Word proclaims to us the message of eternal life. Won't you share that message with others, so that they too will have something to smile about? David McCain
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THE LOVE OF GOD
Guest article by Don Martin
Salisbury Church of Christ
Salisbury, North Carolina
The love of God is truly a great Bible truth. Some things we shall explore in this material are what does the phrase "love of God" mean, what is the meaning of love as applied to God, and how can we observe God's love.
The love of God. The phrase "love of God" is somewhat ambiguous in that it can either mean God's love for man or man's love for God (Rom. 5: 5, I Jn. 5: 3). When Paul used the expression (agape theou), he seems to refer to God's love for man. Hence, God's love is "shed abroad in our hearts." We see the love God has for man and we seek to duplicate it (Spirit so influences our hearts. - Rom. 5: 5). John manifestly uses the same expression (agape theou) to mean man's love for God. This is made plain by John's added "definition," "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments" (I Jn. 5: 3). The burden of this brief material shall be to primarily address God's love for man.
The meaning of love, as applied to God's love for man. W.E. Vine makes the following comments on the "two" nouns translated love and are applied in the sense of our study: "expresses the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect Being towards entirely unworthy objects" (Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words). Vine continues to point out the type of love God has toward man is not prompted out of self-interest or reciprocity, its only object is the welfare of those toward whom it is directed (my words, dm). Hence, man has done nothing worthy of God's love and God's love is one sided in that man is the beneficiary.
God's unselfish love for man is observed in many ways. The very nature of man's being as created by God is indicative of God's desire for man's well being (Gen. 1, 2). God gave Adam a beautiful, lush home and work to perform so Adam could be fulfilled (Gen. 2: 1-15). The garden offered most of what Adam needed - food, security, beauty, and fulfillment. God saw man needed a counter-part, so He created Eve for Adam (2: 18). Adam apparently enjoyed a relationship with God which will not be experienced again until heaven (Gen. 3). Even after Adam and Eve flagrantly sinned, God offered them hope (3: 15) and made future arrangements (4 ff). Remember, man is unworthy of the love of God. "What is man, that thou are mindful of him?" asked the Psalmist (Ps. 8: 4). "But God commendeth his love toward us," Paul writes, "in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5: 8, see vss. 6-9).
The wonderfulness and degree of the love of God as seen in John 3: 16. The verse reads, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3: 16 contains a wonderful statement regarding God, his love, and the degree of God's love.
Succinctly stated, John 3: 16 is wonderful because of the one who loved : "God so loved." It is great because of those whom he loved, "the world" (the enormity of the undeserved nature of the world). Notice how much he loved, 'So loved that he gave his only begotten Son." Greek scholars sometimes argue whether "so loved" suggests manner or degree. Commentator Lenski settles it, I think, when he comments: "in this way and to such an astounding degree." The Father loved so much that he gave his Son - only begotten Son. God's love is not simply sentiment, it has purpose. The purpose is expressed in the negation "should not perish" and in the affirmative, "have everlasting life." God's love contains a reasonable and possible requirement, "whosoever believeth in him."
God not only so loves but God is love. I personally believe the love of God especially on its higher levels is incomprehensible to finite man. However, another biblical truth regarding God and his love certainly challenges the greatest thinkers: "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (I Jn. 4: 8). John is not simply affirming the love of God, but that God himself is love! In other words, love is not simply a characteristic of God but the fiber or essence of his very nature and being. Love being the essence of God is the reason God can love unworthy man to the degree he does, I amconvinced.
God's love is totally unselfish but does make certain demands of man. As we have seen, love as applied to God (agapao and agape) is without self-interest and is totally motivated out of interest for the well being of those loved. In one sense, God's love is unconditional - "God so loved the world." However, to appropriate the blessings of God's love, man must submissively obey God (I Jn. 5: 3, 2" 1-6). This is the meaning of "keep yourselves in the love of God." (Jude 21).
We have explored the love God has for man, but how about the love we are to have for God? Loving God should be easy. "We love him, because he first loved us," penned the apostle John (I Jn. 4: 19). John also wrote, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous" (I Jn. 5: 3).
