It is a blessing to be a Christian. Yesterday, Sunday, September 30th Cindi and I had the privilege of worshipping with the church of Christ at Laurel Street in San Antonio, Texas. Bible study began at 9:15 a.m. with Brother Keith Murphy teaching on the book of Acts. Brother Murphy is the Associate Minister at Laurel Street. The class was inspiring, informative, and true to the word of God. I found that Brother Murphy was a lot like me in his presentation. We only covered a few verses in Acts 17. The word of God is deep and requires time (a life-time) and depth of thinking to understand its meaning. We followed the pattern of the New Testament as the church gathered at 10:15 to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, pray without ceasing, remember the Lord Jesus Christ in the Lord’s Supper, give of our means to the work of Christ, and hear a message from God’s word preached powerfully and Scripturally by Brother Murphy. There were several requests for prayer and two public responses to the message. There were smiles all around us, Christian brothers and sisters happy to be together for worship and so very happy that we were there with them. There was much joy. No one was in a hurry. I don’t remember how many songs we sang or how many prayers we prayed or how many times the Bible was read or how long the preacher preached. Time didn’t matter. We were assembled before the presence of Almighty God to worship Him, to honor His Son, and to receive a renewed strength from the study of His Word. I do know this. I looked at cell phone to check the time when the service was over and we were back in the car. Bible study began at 9:15 a.m. and lasted until 10:00. Worship began at 10:15 a.m. We were dismissed at 12:10 p.m. And not a single person was in a hurry to depart, including me and Cindi. What a pleasure it was to worship God with Christian brothers and sisters so far from Enola, Arkansas and yet so close to us in spirit and in truth.
This coming Sunday, October 7th we will begin a new series of sermons on the Parables of Jesus. Jesus is the greatest preacher who ever preached. He is the Example for every preacher to follow. He is my Teacher, Mentor, Standard, Savior, Brother, and Friend. He is the Son of God and yet my closest Friend and constant Companion. He speaks to me every day through His word. I speak to Him in constant prayer. In times of happiness, He shares in every joy. In times of sorrow and pain, He shares in our grief and sorrow. According to the Bible, when Jesus spoke, people marveled because He spoke as One who had authority. He knew what He was talking about.
On Sunday evenings at Enola I would like to remind us of the Foundation Principles that we live by: God’s plan of salvation, His order of worship, His pattern for how the church is to be organized, and God’s plan for living for every Christian. We are citizens of a different kingdom. Whatever God does, He does on purpose, with purpose, and for a purpose. Romans 8:28 tells us that we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
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