A Good Servant of Jesus Christ

In 1Timothy 4, Paul instructs Timothy on how to be a good servant of Jesus Christ.  Here we find some helpful insight for ourselves in being a good servant of Jesus. 

1.      Instruct the brethren in the truth (v. 6)

2.      We need to continually be in God’s word so that we can be nourished (v.6)

3.      We need to carefully follow Jesus’ teachings (v.6) No matter what someone says or how good it may seem, if it’s not the word of God, don’t do it.  Follow the teachings carefully.

4.      Reject false information and practices (v.7)

5.      Exercise yourself toward godliness (v.7)  If you’re not going toward godliness then you are going away from it.

6.      Get a physical work out (v.8).  This helps keep the body in shape, but more importantly, put more emphasis on your godliness because it is profitable in all things.  This means however much time you put into physical exercise, you should at least double that for exercising godliness.

7.      Keep going! (v.10).  Never, ever, ever, stop serving Christ!

8.      Teach others these things!  

Excuses Are Like Armpits…

            Excuses are like armpits, everybody has them and they stink.  In Exodus 3, God calls Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.  Instead of accepting God’s call, Moses makes excuses to weasel his way out.  First excuse, Moses says, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Ex. 3:11).  God reminds him that He will be with him.  Second excuse, Moses wants to know what he will say to the people when they inquire the Lord’s name (Ex. 3:13).  God responds with, “I AM WHO I AM.”   Third excuse, Moses said, “Suppose they will not believe me” (Ex. 4:1).  God reassures him by showing him signs and wonders.  Fourth excuse Moses brings to God is, “I am not eloquent… I am slow of speech and slow of tongue” (Ex. 4:10).  God challenges him by asking, “Who has made man’s mouth?... Have not I, the Lord?” 

            Like Moses, God has called us on a mission to “Seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10).  What excuse will you give to God in order to weasel your way out of accomplishing this mission?  God has a response for any excuse you would like to offer.   Excuses are like armpits, everybody has them and they stink.  God doesn’t want your excuses, He wants results.  

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I pray that you have a safe and happy holiday, but be reminded of the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:15, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"  May you be thankful to the one who gives all good and perfect gifts from above. 

Your Spiritual Guidence

 Proverbs 3 is filled with great insight and reminders for us.  Notice what is found in the first four verses.  Solomon says:

Verse 1 - Don't forget God's law!             Why?   (v.2) You will have long life and peace. 

Verse 3 - Don't forsake mercy & truth!    How?  (v.3)  Write them on your heart 

Verse 4 - Find favor with God & men!     When? (v.4) All the time.  (implied) 

Notice the sequential order they have.  If you don't forget God's laws then you will know truth and mercy.  If you have truth and mercy then you will find favor with God and men.  May you strive everyday to exhibit these traits!  May God bless you as you serve Him.   

Recipe for Growing the Church

In Acts 2 we have the beginnings of the New Testament church.  Right here it shows us how we can grow the kingdom of God. Here is the recipe given for how to grow the church:

1. 1 Cup of encouragement & 1 Cup of the hope of salvation (Acts 2:40).
2. Submerge a person underwater and immediately raise up saved (Acts 2:41).
3. Mix together people for fellowship, continue adding doctrine and prayers (Acts 2:42).
4. Add a handful of the fear of God (Acts 2:43)
5. Combine all things together and distribute evenly (Acts 2:44)
6. Knead Christians by meeting together, eating together, and constant contact with one another (Acts 2:46)
7. 1 Heart full of praise for God & a coating of favor with all people (Acts 2:47)

Let us be a part of the Lord's church. Let's grow!

Sure or Unsure?

The deodorant, "Sure" had a series of commercials that showed people raising their arms high in the air because they were sure that their deodorant was doing its job.  They did have a second guess it.  There would be others who were "unsure" and so they would only raise their arms half way.  The commercial was trying to show that with "Sure" deodorant you you could be confident in what it was supposed to do.  Today it is advertised as the world's number one antiperspirant.  The message it is trying to convey is that you can be confident when wearing "Sure" deodorant.

As Christians, God has given us a series of questions that we can answer to be sure of our relationship with Him and others.  1 John 5 will help us ascertain an answer to see our relationship with Him.

Questions:

1. Do you love God?                                            Y or N 

2. Do you love your brother?                               Y or N 

3. Do you keep God's commandments?               Y or N 

4. Have you been born of God?                           Y or N 

5. Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?  Y or N 

According to 1 John 5 if you answered "yes" to all of these questions, then you can have confidence in your relationship with Him.  If you answered a "no" then you need to reconsider what you need to do to be in a right relationship with God.  God wants us to be sure of His promises, know who we are and where we are going.  Be the person who strives in every way to love God and keep His commandments.  Search the scriptures daily so you can serve Him properly! May God bless you as you serve Him! 

Running Up an Icy Hill

Have you every tries running up an icy hill?  Your feet are moving and you are getting tired, but you are going nowhere.  Do you ever feel this way spiritually?  We seem to be trying our best, but our best doesn't seem good enough.  We feel that we are running as fast as we can but are not getting anywhere and we get tired.  In your spiritual life, a lot is demanded of you, not counting all the demands of your physical daily life.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians and reminded the Christians how they were to "walk" or live.  Walk in Unity (Eph. 4:1-6); Walk as the New Man (Eph. 4:17-24); Walk in Love (Eph. 5:1-7); Walk in Light (Eph. 5:8-14); and Walk in Wisdom (Eph. 5:15-21).  Paul comes to chapter six and tells the Christians to "finally" be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
No matter how tired you get, you must be strong.  When you are weak, you will not have unity among the brethren.  When you are weak you will revert back to the old man and old ways/habits.  When you are weak you won't love as you should, walk in the light, or be careful to use wisdom in decision making.  Paul urges the church the be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.  It is the Lord who provides the strength.  It is God who will help you to stand against the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:11).  When you put on the armor that God has given you, you can stand tall and withstand in the day of evil.

Pray for God's strength (Eph. 1:19).  Let that strength/power work within you (Eph. 3:20).  Be strong in the Lord and in His power and overcome the schemes of the devil (Eph. 6:10).  Even though you feel like you may be running up an icy hill, keep running.  It will be God who gets you to the top!  May God bless you as you serve Him!

Renew, Remind, & Recharge

You are in the middle of the week and you have had stress pulling at you, maybe some discouragement, or possibly just down right struggles.  That's okay because God is on your side.  Satan can use all of his fancy tactics but you can overcome!  Today I want you to renew your mind and think on godly things.  I want you to remind yourself that you can live righteously before your creator.  I want you to recharge your batteries and give a strong effort for the end of week to live as God has called you to live.  Here are four ways to resist temptation:

1.  Pray - Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 6:13 how to pray.  Part of that prayer was, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  If we want to resist temptation, pray specifically for that.

2. Read/Study Your Bible - If you are constantly in the word, you will recognize temptation when it is headed toward you.  You will find godly counsel in how to help overcome specific struggles in your life.  We must be a people who know the word!  Hosea 4:6 - "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge."

3. Voice It - There is something to saying things out loud.  It means something to others when you voice that "You love them," or "you appreciate them."  When it comes to temptation, "Voice it."  Tell Satan to leave you, ask for God's help, tell someone you are struggling, Voice it.

4. Flee (Don't Flirt) - James 4:7 says, "Therefore submit to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you."  Flee the sight of temptation!  I literally mean you might need to run the opposite direction.  Don't flirt with the possibility that you might get lured in. When Potiphar's wife tried to get Joseph to sleep with her, he ran out of the house.  We need to have this type of approach to temptation.

You can do it.  You can resist temptation because God can help.  Get rid of excuses because we all have one.  Renew your mind, Remind righteous living, and recharge your batteries.  We are traveling down a narrow road, don't let Satan drift you off course.

You have been fighting a spiritual battle for a few days and now it is time to RECHARGE yourself to continue to keep pressing toward the goal. 

Spiritual Vitality is important!

2 Corinthians 4:16 - "Therefore we do not loose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day."

Remember: Keep on keeping on.  We struggle, we have hard days, but Paul reminds us to not lose heart.  Don’t give up.  There is help.  There is hope.  There is strength to help keep you going.  He tells us that the inward man is being renewed.  How does that happen?  1) Feeding on the word of God.  This will renew our strength and courage to fight life’s struggles that lie ahead.  2) Spirit Working – We let God’s spirit work within us that when we think we have nothing left, we have a helper.  3) Promises – We remember the promises made by God to never leave us nor forsake us.   4) Remember this life is only temporary.  We are working for something better that is eternal.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Classes for all ages Every Sunday Morning at 9:30 & Wednesday PM @ 7.
High School Bible Study is every Thursday

Thursday, Sept. 29  - High School Bible Study
Saturday, Oct. 1 - TX Ranger Baseball Game
Sunday Oct. 2 - LIFE Chain from 3:30-4pm
Wednesday Oct 5 - Regroup for grades 7-9.  At the Watson's home.  4:30-7pm
Sunday, Oct. 9 - Devo for Youth Grades 7-12
Friday - Sun, Oct 14-16 - NETSYS Retreat at Camp Deer Run

The Sanctity of Life

             On January 22, 1973 the United States Supreme Court made a decision that made the known deaths of over 57 million unborn children legal in the US.  The case is known as Roe v. Wade.  The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman’s decision to have an     abortion.  

It is sad to see so many encouraged and enabled to give up their babies.  Thanks to some who were encouraged or planned to have an abortion, but changed their minds and did not go through with their intentions.  A few, out of many, who were almost aborted but hearts were changed and given the chance at life include:  Tim Tebow, Cher, Celine Dion, & Nick Cannon.  All of these people, who were almost aborted, have become famous in the public eye. 

What does the Bible say about abortion?  The Bible teaches that life starts at conception and it is not our choice to take a life.  Genesis 25:21-26; Jeremiah 1:5; Amos 1:13; Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:40-41; and Psalm 139:14-16 describe life beginning in the womb.  I think it is      interesting to notice God’s view on hurting life in the womb according to Exodus 21:22-25.  If harm is given to a child in the womb, you shall give life for life, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. 

When given the opportunity, let us take a stand for life!

Evolutionary thought is all around us.  From the kids movies of "The Good Dinosaur" to the running tv series "The Big Bang Theory." Evolutionary thought is in just about everything we do.  If you don't believe me look around you this next week and see how many times it is referred to on a movie, book, billboard, tv series.  When you start to look for it you will realize how much it had infiltrated our society and accepted as fact.

Here are 5 Reasons Not to Accept Evolution

I am talking about Macro-evolution which is the thought that all life descended from a common ancestor.

1. The Lack of Fossil Evidence - millions of fossils have been collected and cataloged but there is not one single transitional fossil that shows one species evolving into a new species.  Examples that have been debunked include: Neanderthal Man, Nebraska Man, Piltdown Man, Java Man, and Rhodesian Man to name a few.  All of these were thought to be the missing link only to come up short.

2. The Impossibility of Life by Blind, Random Chance - Most scientist acknowledge that any possibility less than (1 x 10^50) one in 10 to the 50th power is considered an impossibility.  Yet Evolutionist Harold Marowitz estimated the probability for chance formation of even the simpliest for of living organism at 1 x 10^340,000,000.  This is impossible.

3. It Contradicts the Laws of Science - Evolutionary thought goes against the 2nd law of thermodynamic, the law of cause and effect, and the law of Bio-genesis.

4. It Fails to Pass the Scientific Method - The testing done for evolution cannot be accepted because it is falsifiable which meas the hypothesis is bad and must be reconsidered.

5. It Fails to Answer the Question of How Something Came from Nothing. 

Rom. 1:18-20 - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

If we seek out truth we will find it.  Have you found God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth?