67th Annual Carolina Lectureships
St. Andrews Road Church of Christ
Sunday through Wednesday - April 3 – 6, 2011
9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Theme: “What it means to Preach the Cross of Christ”
Key Note Speaker: Winford Claiborne of Fayetteville, Tennessee
Light Breakfast and Lunch Provided. Dinner on your own.

It’s good to be back into the swing of things at St. Andrews Road after the holidays. I miss receiving and reading our weekly church newsletter. Somehow it seems that I am not totally connected without it. Anyway, we are back in business now. How is your 2011 going so far? Did you make those New Year’s resolutions? How about a plan to accomplish your intentions? Go ahead. Set some realistic goals for yourself in this New Year. Think about how you can accomplish those goals in a reasonable timeframe. Then get to work.

We have a lot going on at SAR! Statewide Bible Bowl – February 26, Gospel Meeting with Caleb Campbell – March 6-9, 67th Annual Carolina Lectures – April 3-6, Annual Ladies Day at SAR – April 30th and that is just the first four months of the year. Now do you see why our lesson series on Sunday mornings in January is entitled “Get Involved?” Whew! Hey! We can do this and much more working together in the name of Jesus Christ.

On Sunday mornings in January we are studying God’s word to challenge ourselves to get more involved in the work of the Lord here at St. Andrews Road. Last Sunday we looked at Moses and saw that at first he allowed EXCUSES to keep him from getting involved in the Lord’s work to bring the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery (Exodus 3-4). He said; “But, who am I?” He was really saying, “Why me.” How often do we use this excuse? Moses continued to try to excuse himself from the work that God had appointed only him to do. His final excuse says it all. He said, “Lord, can’t you use someone else?” He was actually saying, “I don’t want to!” Thankfully, Moses decided to get involved in the Lord’s work and lead God’s people to freedom.

After the sermon I realized that we need more time on this subject. So even though we mentioned the rich young ruler, Simon Peter, and the Priest, the Levite, and the Good Samaritan last Sunday, we will take these examples and focus an entire lesson on each one.

This Sunday morning we will focus our attention on another example of why some of us refuse to get involved, be involved, and stay involved in the work that God has appointed us to do: REGRET. We will look at the rich young ruler’s request of Jesus in Matthew 19 to see how regret can keep us from getting involved in the Lord’s work. It is my prayer and desire that these lessons will help each of us to get more involved in the work of the Lord.

Our Sunday evening series is entitled; “Faith: Tempted and Tried.” Last Sunday evening we looked at lesson one: BE REALISTIC. Every human being is tempted and tried. The word for the day is not “if” but “when” when it comes to the tests of life. We must not try to hide the fact that we are tested. We must remember that being tempted and tried is not sinful. Our Lord was often tested while fulfilling His mission for the Father.

This Sunday evening we will look at lesson two: BE RESPONSIBLE. We must not blame others for our problems. We are responsible for our own lives!