Having a Wonderful Week in the Country

     We had a good day this past Sunday up in the country, in Enola.  The church of Christ met for worship, study, and fellowship.  We had a good crowd (117), a little smaller in number than usual but strong in faith, hope, and love in Christ Jesus.  Several of our Christian brothers and sisters were at home recovering from various illnesses.  Some were at work.  Others were…well, I trust that they were at the right place at the right time doing the right thing.  It was good to hear that Mary is getting stronger after bypass surgery.  Felicia was present at the 11:00 hour even though she probably should’ve stayed home for a few more days to recover from her surgery.  Trevor is getting stronger after his knee surgery.  Recovery is often much slower and requires more patience than we expect.  God’s word teaches us and then reminds us about the power of persistent prayer to God for ourselves and for others.  He hears and answers according to His purposes.

     Thank you to those who support our food pantry.  Please remember our pantry when you shop for groceries each week.  Purchase a few items for those who are in need in our community.  Also, please remember the pantry with your financial contributions.  Just set aside a few dollars and give what you can to Brother Larry Arnett.  We are always in need of special servants to meet to prepare the boxes of food and then distribute them to those in need.  A sign-up sheet is posted on the bulletin board for your consideration.

     We are studying the parables of Jesus on Sunday morning.  I have entitled this week’s parable “The Parable of the Lost and Found.”  Jesus taught about a lost sheep, one of one hundred.  He then spoke about a lost coin, one of ten.  He concluded with a lesson about a lost boy, one of two.  God loves every Christian, every person who is safe and sound.  He also loves every person who is lost, every person who has wandered from where they should be, every person who at the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing.  He is always looking, waiting, hoping for what is lost to be found, for what is away to come home.  Could this person be you?  Jesus extended the greatest invitation when He said, “Come to Me…”  Read this sweet invitation in Matthew 11:28-30.

     This coming Sunday at Enola the church will meet for Bible study at 10, then for worship at 11.  Immediately following the assembly we will walk over to the annex, our fellowship hall for a delicious potluck lunch together.  If you have thought about making a trip up in the country to visit, this Sunday would be a great time to come.  Right after our lunch together we will walk back over to the auditorium for an afternoon meeting.  We will dismiss for the day after that.  ELDERS AND DEACONS:  Please plan to stay a few minutes after the afternoon assembly for a meeting to discuss the work of the church at Enola.

     We only have a few more days to accomplish our 2012 resolutions.  How are you doing?  2013 will be a wonderful year.  May God bless us as we finish out this year strong.

Happy Thanksgiving!

     The church of Christ at Enola is doing very well, enjoying fine fellowship, growing in grace and faith through Bible study, increasing in our love for God and for others through various service opportunities, always prayerful to God for our needs and for the needs of our community and our nation.

     We had a delicious Men’s Breakfast last Saturday morning.  Sonny, Larry, Greg, and Andy showed up early to prepare breakfast for the group.  Right after our meal together we put on our boots and gloves to work on our landscaping out in the front of our building.  Wow!  Everything looks great.  Thank you to every brother who stayed to finish the project.  Thank you to Phil, Eddie, and Patrick for the use of your equipment and the top soil. Thank you to Ronnie for operating the backhoe.  Thank you to Brandon for driving the dump truck. Thank you to Brother David for organizing everything and for the crape myrtles, the azaleas, and the mulch.  It was truly a joy to work together for our Lord and His church.  I am thankful to the Lord to represent the church as minister and friend.

     Our ladies met last Thursday night to prepare gift boxes for our young professionals and college students.  These boxes were filled with all kinds of goodies and mailed out this week.   We hope that a small gift from the church at Enola will remind our young professionals that they are loved and appreciated.  Our ladies are also involved in a Bible study every Monday evening in the annex.  They are studying about how to be better women, mothers, and grandmothers.  A Holiday Get-Together has been scheduled for our ladies at the home of Cindi Burleson in December.  Please check your bulletin for details.  I think our ladies are going to exchange Christmas ornaments.  It’ll be fun.

     This coming Sunday (25^th) we will continue our study in the Parables of Jesus and the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree.  A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard.  He wanted a fig and found that the tree had not produced any figs for the past three seasons.  Because the tree had not produced fruit, he asked that the tree be cut down.  The vine dresser intervened on behalf of the tree and asked for one more chance, one more year.  Note that the fig tree was planted in a vineyard.  Why?  We should bloom where we are planted.  It is right for God to expect us to bear fruit in a reasonable time frame.  We should know that God’s expectation is not inexhaustible.  God is patient, but mean’s what He says.  I hope you will meet with your fellow Christian brothers and sisters for Bible study, fellowship, and worship at every opportunity.

     On Sunday evening at Enola we are returning to the foundational principles of the Christian life.  We have studied God’s plan of salvation (faith, repentance, confession, and baptism).  Now what?  Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11 about the things we must flee and about the things we must pursue.  We are looking at pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.  This Sunday we will take a closer look at pursuing FAITH.

     Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.  Let us always be thankful today and everyday!  Feel it.  Think it.  Say it.  Show it.  Be it.

Thankgiving Reminiscing

     Can you believe that Thanksgiving Day is now only 10 days away?  Close your eyes and think back to those earlier Thanksgiving days, those carefree days when you were a child.  Mother would have all kinds of food cooking when we woke up on Thanksgiving morning.  The house smelled wonderful.  Mmmm!  We usually drove over to my Papa and Granny’s for Thanksgiving Day lunch.  Papa and Granny’s house was very small, just right for them, but when sons and daughters, in-laws, grandchildren, and great grandchildren came, there wasn’t even a place to stand, much less sit.  That was just fine.  It didn’t matter.  Family.  We were all together.  That was most important.  Papa sat in his chair awaiting the call to eat.  Granny, my mother, my aunt, and others were organizing the food, drinks, and desserts.  There were greetings, hugs, and kisses all around.  Children were positioned outside.  We spent the time before lunch swinging on the porch swing or on the tree swing.  We played games kids games like chase, marbles, and hop scotch.  When the call to eat was finally made, Granny’s table was always a sight to behold.  Every dish of food was arranged perfectly with a few dishes delicately hanging off the table.  Granny usually had every kind of dessert imaginable; apple pies, pecan pies, sweet potato pies, fried pies, and cakes of every kind. Her Red Velvet Cake was one of a kind.  She sometimes used toothpicks to hold it together.  This is probably the reason why I have such a big “sweet tooth.”  There was fresh made bread and rolls, corn bread, and biscuits.  There was ham, turkey, chicken, pork chops, and some kind of casserole.  I could go on and on.  My Granny is now 95 years old.  She grew up in rural northwest Alabama, married my grandfather when she was only a teenager, and lived almost her entire life less than a mile from where she was born.  Thank you for allowing me to reminisce a little bit.  I want my children and grandchildren to have similar memories later on in their lives when it comes to the holiday season and the time they spend with Cindi and me.

     Every Sunday morning the church meets for Bible study at 10:00 a.m.  Brother Eddie Hawkins, one of our elders is teaching the adult session in the main auditorium at Enola.  We are currently studying the First Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians.  In chapter one, verse 2-3 Paul writes:

“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your WORK OF FAITH, LABOR OF LOVE, and PATIENCE OF HOPE in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.”

Did you see that?  Faith is work.  Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17).  Our faith is often challenged and tested.  It is sometimes hard to maintain our faith.  Faith is work.  Love is labor.  Love is not always a feeling of passion or positive emotion.  Love is always a decision.  Love is labor.  Our hope requires patience.  Heaven is the end result of patient hope.  We hope for many things in life.  Patience is required if we are to have our hope fulfilled.  We hope in patience.

     May God bless us as we open our hearts and minds to His direction!  May we always and forever to thankful for everything great or small, past, present, and future, now and forever!

Great Challenges for Every Christian

     Tuesday’s election is behind us.  The next four years will be a challenge for me and for every Christian in America.  I look back and find that Cindi and I made it through the last four years under God’s unchanging hand.  It is certain that we can survive the next four years.  I am reminded of the song we often sing together when we are with the church, “This world is not my home.  I’m just passing through.  My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.  I know He’ll take me through, though I am weak and poor.  And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”

     The apostle Paul wrote to us by inspiration of God concerning the “last days,” the days in which we live in 2 Timothy 3.  He wrote about “perilous times.”  Just before he penned these verses that are depressing and very scary, he wrote the follow passage in 2 Timothy 2:22-26:

“Flee also youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.  But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they gender strife.  And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

     I find here that in perilous times my task is to do the following;

1.        Run from youthful lusts (selfishness, greed, worldliness, complacency, ignorance)

2.       Run to righteousness, faith, love, and peace

3.       Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes

4.       Do not quarrel

5.       Be gentle to everyone

6.       Teach with patience those who in opposition to the truth

7.       Walk in humility taking every opportunity to help whomever I can to know the gospel

8.       Pray for those who are held captive by the devil to come to these senses, repent, and escape

     This Sunday at Enola we will continue to study the lessons that Jesus taught during His ministry on earth; His Parables.  This week we will take a look at the Parable of the Covetous Man or The Parable of the Foolish Rich Man in Luke 12:13-21.  Covetousness is sinful.  If you would like to read about this subject, take a look at Exodus 20:17, Ephesians 5:3, Colossians 3:5, 1 Timothy 3:3, and Hebrews 13:5.  Do we understand that our lives do not consist in the abundance of the things we possess?  The thing about things is this:  Things get old, they tarnish, they rust away, they depreciate, they soon lose their value.  Things simply do not last. Things are not sinful within themselves.  Fact is life should be about faith, hope, and love.  Why?  These treasures never get old.  They do not tarnish or rust away.  They never depreciate.  They have value beyond calculation and are eternal in nature.  I hope you understand.  It is okay to have things.  Just as long as we understand that our lives do not consists in the abundance of the things we possess.

     On Sunday evening at Enola we will continue in our series on Foundation Principles with a lesson on righteousness.  God’s plan includes faith, repentance, confession, and baptism.  Now what?  Every Christian must walk in righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus Christ.