Family News and Notes
New Brother in Christ. Cody Sparks responded to the invitation Wednesday evening to obey the Gospel of Christ. He was baptized to wash his sins away. His grandfather, Wayne Pickrel, was privileged to assist Cody in his obedience by baptizing him into Christ. In accordance with David's article, Cody will have the privilege of being the first to have the asterisk removed from beside his name in our new church directories. Please do so in your copy this very day!
New Member Sister Doris Jean Bell came forward last Sunday evening to identify herself as a faithful Christian who wants to place her membership here at North Jefferson, and work under the oversight of our good elders. She comes to us from the Lord's church in Borger, Texas. Her address is: 808 Carr and her phone number is: 903-572-1443. She is already included in the new pictorial directory but needs to be added to the condensed phone directory.
If you are able and are willing you may contribute to the Building Fund today. Thanks.
Men's Business Meeting next Sunday evening after services. All men are encouraged to attend.
Remember our first meeting for SYBSNET is this Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM, here at North Jefferson. Since this is also "Parents Night" every member, both young and old alike, is encouraged and expected to be present to hear Johnny Ramsey speak on "If I Were Young Again." Don't miss it!
See you at VBS beginning on Monday, June 13th. Make plans now to attend.
In relation to this there will be a meeting at 5:00 PM this evening for anyone who is willing to help with the crafts for VBS. See Shannon Hargrove or Joan Cook if you can help.
Any teenagers who want to go to Indian Creek Youth Camp in Alabama from June 24th to July 1st need to see David or Janice today to get your application.
Pat McIntosh has asked us to collect tubes of "Tri-Salve" or "Three Way Salve" (composed of 3 popular salves) for him to take on his next trip to the Ukraine to be used in their benevolence work to help the sick folks. This can be purchased in the over-the-counter pharmacy section at Wal-Mart or other stores. The generic version costs just a few dollars. Please place your donations in the box in the foyer.
Meagan Biesmeyer has been confined at home this past week with the Chicken Pox. Hopefully she will soon recover.
Jody Sparks is back at home after his hip replacement and is making good progress in his recovery.
Annah Ruth Brown is still in Room 510 at Titus Regional Medical Center. She is undergoing physical therapy following her recent hip surgery.
Rhodney Freeman continues to recover following Arthroscopic knee surgery last Wednesday morning at Titus Regional Medical Center. He hopes this will help the pain he has been experiencing in his left knee for the past year or more.
The following note was received from Judy Freeman:
"I am coming to the congregation again asking for your prayers on behalf of my parents, Wesley and Juanita DuBose of Longview. My mother was diagnosed Thursday with cervical cancer. She is to go on the 21st to the Cancer Center in Longview where they will discuss with my mother her options for treatment. I plan to go with her. Her gynecologist is very positive about her recovery. My mother and her gynecologist are actually taking this much better than I am. I know prayer will help and I need a lot of it.
In Christian love, Judy Freeman"
THANK YOU "Thanks so much for all the thoughtful things done for us during our loss of our beloved Billy Carter.
In Christian love, The Carter family"
The following was received from Ann Carter:
My beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
Your overwhelming response of love and caring (at the time of our separation from Billy) will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Outpouring of offers for helpcallsvisitsa massive stack of cards sentmore acts of kindness than I'm even able to recall.
David did such a superb job leading the congregation in hymns, and especially out-of-town guests were so amazed with the wonderful food the ladies prepared. Also, the way the meal was served.
Billy loved and truly missed the churcheach and every one of you. Please continue remembering us in your prayers.
With love,
Ann Carter and the Carter Family"
THANK YOU "We would like to say a very special "thank you" to each of you who supported us during the recent illness and death of Mike's mother. Your calls, cards, and words of comfort helped us through some very sad times. God bless you all.
In Christian love,
Mike and Kalyn Evans"
THANK YOU "North Jefferson Church of Christ and elders I would like to say thank you for all the love and support that you've given me throughout the years. Thank you also for the Bible and the graduation party.
In Christian love
THANK YOU "North Jefferson Church of Christ and elders thank you for the Bible and the support through the years. It is greatly appreciated.
Love,
You are cordially invited to a Bridal Shower Honoring
Keely Roper, Bride-elect of Daniel McCary
on June 19, 2005, 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm in the multi-purpose room
North Jefferson church of Christ
2311 North Jefferson
Mt Pleasant, Texas
Selections at: Mason Hardware, Target, and Wal-Mart
Keely would love to have a copy of your favorite recipe
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PRAYER LIST:
Justin Barker, Rachel Barker, Louis Bell, Annah Brown, Sue Browning,
Billye Campbell, Perry Cooper, Zenith Hargrove, Howard Horton, Hollis Lee,
Winnie Patton, Johnnie Rex Phillips, Helen Roper, Dorothy Sargent,
Alva Mae Sheets, Jody Sparks
ALSO: Melba Boyd, Denise Dering, Wesley & Juanita DuBose, Ruby Jeffery, Bascom Perkins, Chad Raney
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*Removing The Asterisk*
Most every congregation has some kind of church directory. It generally contains the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the members, and sometimes their birthdays, anniversaries, and places of employment. Here at North Jefferson, it's "the little white book" that most of us keep near our telephones. When it's not where it's supposed to be in our home, my boys have often heard me holler, "what have you done with the little white book?" Around our house "the little white book" sees lots of use, as it provides us with a handy source of information needed to stay in touch with our brethren through calls, cards, or visits.
The only thing bad about a church directory is that it's almost out-of-date by the time it's printed. That's because congregations of the Lord's people are ever in a state of flux. Just look at our new pictorial directory that is being passed out today, to see how much the complexion of North Jefferson has changed in the past two years. Member's addresses and/or phone numbers have changed, babies have been born, new souls have been added, children have grown up and married, new families have placed membership, old members have moved away, some have departed this life for their eternal reward, and sadly some have departed the Lord spiritually and are no longer faithful. The point is congregations of the Lord's people are ever changing entities.
As you look through most church directories, you'll usually see an asterisk (*) affixed beside some of the names. The asterisk denotes folks who haven't yet obeyed the Gospel, even though they may attend more regularly than some of the "members." That's an article for another day, but for today let's focus on what a joy it is when we can take our copy of "the little white book" and "remove the asterisk" beside someone's name, because they have obeyed the Gospel! In the case of a spouse it means that couple has now been united not only in marriage, but also in Christ. It means their children now have two "Christian parents." In the case of children who have obeyed the Gospel, it means their family is that much closer to getting the whole family to heaven. Removing the asterisk is always an answer to prayers and the occasion of much rejoicing in the local congregation, because we now have a new brother or sister in Christ!
Nothing would make us happier than to be able to remove the asterisk beside the names of all of you who are of accountable age, but have not yet obeyed the Gospel. You are so close to the kingdom of God, if only you would take that final step of confessing Christ and being baptized into Him. I would welcome the privilege of studying God's Word with you to help you learn and obey the Gospel. If something is holding you back from obeying the Lord, let's talk about it. I'm willing to listen to you, to study with you, and to help you in any way I can, to see you complete your obedience to the Lord. My help is only a phone call away.
One final thought about "the little white book" is the fact that it is not an infallible record of who is going to heaven. Just because your name is included in our directory without an asterisk beside it, does not necessarily mean you are on your way to glory. Only the Lord knows the correct record of the names of "such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47), and He will not have to "re-count" to be sure. Sometimes what we think about ourselves and what He thinks of us are two different things (Rev. 3:15-18). Some may argue that they intended to cast their vote for His cause, but being "pretty faithful" and only "half committed" will not place us on the winning side on the Day of Judgment. Remember, He has the power to blot out from the Lamb's Book of Life the names of all who don't overcome to the end (Rev. 3:5). That being the case, does not having the asterisk beside your name represent just a person who at some time in the past was baptized, or does it represent a faithful, active, working, "on fire for the Lord" Christian? As you think about your answer, remember all of us must "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12), as we "give diligence to make our calling and election sure" (II Pet. 1:10), for it is "a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31). David McCain
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Thanks to the hard work of deacon Grady Duncan, today every family should receive a very helpful and useful packet of information that contains the following items: (1) the looseleaf pages for a brand new (up-to-date through last Sunday) full-color pictoral directory of our membership, which you can use to replace the outdated pages in your old membership directory binders; (2) a condensed, handy-sized address and phone directory of our membership (up-to-date except for two new listings which will be noted at the bottom of this article); (3) a hospital address and phone directory which includes every hospital from Texarkana to Dallas (east to west), and from Paris to Houston (north to south), which is very useful for finding addresses and phone numbers to be able to send cards to or call members who are hospitalized; (4) a nursing home address and phone directory for all of East Texas, which is likewise useful for contacting members who are confined to nursing homes; and finally, (5) an up-dated history of the Lord's church in Mt. Pleasant. You can pick up your family's copy of each item (one per family, please) in the library, either before or after today's services. Grady will be there to mark your name off the list when you have received your copy of each item.
Please be sure to give Grady a warm "thank you brother!" for his diligent efforts, recognizing, though, that there is really no way we can properly thank him for the hundreds of hours he has spent on this project in the last year. He took the pictures, gathered the information on each family, compiled, entered, and alphabatized all of the data on the church computer, and finally then organized, proof-read, printed, cut, collated, stapled, and bound every page (comprising some 18,000+ pages in all) to make over 100 copies of each item so that every one of our 101 family units here at North Jefferson could have a copy of each item. In fact, Grady has spent so much time at the building the last couple of months, as he watched over this project like a "mother hen," with sometimes as many as three computers and printers going at the same time, that I somedays have been unable to get my afternoon nap for fear he would pop in and catch me snoring!
Seriously, we all owe Grady a tremendous debt of gratitude for his untiring efforts in seeing this project through to completion. I know he will be glad to get his life back, because he has literally breathed, eaten, talked, slept, and dreamed this project, especially the last two months, as he printed, collated, and assembled each packet. Due to the new looseleaf, single page per family design of the new pictorial directories, they can now be easily updated as information changes, or as new families are added.
From the bottom of our hearts Grady we THANK YOU! We also want to say THANK YOU to Pat Lee and Rhodney Freeman for their diligent efforts in compiling and writing the very interesting history of the Lord's church here in Mt. Pleasant. I'm sure you, like me, will find this information to be most informative, as it helps to give us a sense of the labors and sacrifices that were offered by others in the past to help bring us to where we are today in the Lords's work here at North Jefferson. We appreciate so much Pat's and Rhodney's hard work in making this historical information available to all of us! May God help us all to use these helpful items to keep on building up and edifying the body of Christ here in Mt. Pleasant. David McCain
Please add to your condensed phone and address directory the two following individuals.
Bell, Doris 808 Carr, 572-1443
Glover, Jacques P.O. Box 489, 572-6435
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