Just Following the Pattern

     We had another great Sunday up in the country this week.  There is absolutely no better way to start the week.  I usually sleep in a little longer than usual on Sunday, then get up to a light breakfast, maybe a bowl of oats with fresh fruit and a piece of toast or possibly a delicious fruit smoothie made right at home or something else that I particularly enjoy.  I always spend a little time in prayer and then a few minutes going back over my sermons for the day.  We leave for Bible study at the Enola Church of Christ so we have plenty of time for visiting and lively fellowship.  Bible study begins at 10:00 a.m. and worship begins at 11:00.  We usually dismiss at Noon, but I have to admit that sometimes our preacher (me) gets a little “long-winded.”  I am so very thankful for the patience and support of the church and our guests when some sermons take a few minutes longer than others.

     At Enola we have an adult Bible study in the main auditorium, a young adult Bible class in the Annex Building, a teenage class, and classes for children and babies.  Our teachers are the best.  They love God and make the Bible come alive to their students.  The adults are studying Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, and 7.  Wow!  What a sermon the Savior preached, still just as alive and practical today as it was when He preached it almost 2,000 years ago.  I hear that our young adult class is really growing and very interesting.  If you visited with us up in the country you would be very surprised at the number of young families, teenagers, and children we have in addition to older Christians who serve as examples of faith, hope, and love.  Bible study dismisses at 9:45 on Sunday morning which gives everyone 15 minutes to move into the main building for worship.

      I love the pattern of our worship at Enola.  We follow the pattern laid out in the New Testament with plenty of prayer, congregational singing, the Lord’s Supper, the offering, and of course a lesson from the Bible that challenges and encourages.  We begin with an opening hymn lead by one of our gifted song leaders.  One of our three elders extends a hardly welcome to our members and guests followed by a prayer to God.  We sing a song or two then remember Jesus’ death in the Lord’s Supper.  We do this every Sunday because the church of Christ in Acts met on the first day of the week to “break bread” (Acts 20:7).  Some churches eat communion together only when the preacher decides to, or when the religious calendar they follow says to.  We choose to follow the example we find in the Bible.  I’m not passing judgment, just saying.  Paul wrote about taking the Lord’s Supper “often” in 1 Corinthians 11 and when we share in the Lord’s Supper we show the Lord’s death until He comes.  After the Lord’s Supper we offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God for all the physical and spiritual blessings we enjoy every day.  Every Christian and guest has the opportunity to give as we have been prospered, cheerfully, and generously.  We do not “tithe.”  Tithing is an Old Testament law.  We are no longer under the authority of the Old Testament (Hebrews 1:1-2).  One of our young men always reads a Scripture text in preparation for the sermon.  After another prayer I get to preach the gospel that is so very vital to life and living.  After the sermon we extend an invitation to anyone whose heart might have been touched by the living powerful word of God.  A song of invitation is sung by the church to encourage anyone who is not yet a Christian to make the decision immediately and without further delay.  Our baptistery is always clean and ready when someone confesses Christ as Savior.  We baptize those who believe in Christ Jesus immediately upon their confession.  We are not special, just following the pattern of the New Testament.  If a Christian has sinned or has special needs, that Christian may walk up the aisle to rededicate their lives to Christ or to request the prayers of the church.  After another prayer we dismiss for the afternoon.  At Enola our members and guests always stay a few minutes after worship just to visit a little bit more.

     Sometimes we have lunch together as a church.  Sometimes my wife and I enjoy lunch at the home of one of our Christian friends.  Sometimes we have some of our Christian friends over for lunch at our house.  Sometimes we go out for lunch.  After lunch we are free to enjoy a few hours with family or maybe a few hours enjoying a Sunday drive or maybe a few hours watching a race (I am so glad that NASCAR is back in session) or a ball game or maybe taking some time visiting someone who is in the hospital…I just love Sunday’s.  Many churches have given up on coming back together for an evening of worship and fellowship.  At Enola we have an evening service at 5:00 every Sunday.

     We are not large in number, only about 160 members.  We are large in love, heart, and soul and we have a God who is large in every way.  If you are not a Christian, you certainly are missing out on so many wonderful blessings that only come to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose.  If you are a Christian and are not faithful in your Christian life, how about coming home?  I would love to talk to you about beginning again.  If you have questions, I would consider it an honor to open the Bible with you to see God’s answers to your questions.  Come and see.

Where is the Love? You'll see it up in the Country!

     Whew!  This winter has been and continues to be a bear for us.  The past few days have been much better and closer to normal and for that I am thankful.  Several up in the country are sick with various ailments and viruses.  Maybe you have been sick too.  If so, hang in there.  March is just around the corner.  Then, the buttercups, spring flowers, and other foliage will be shooting up through the formerly winter-chilled soil.  Spring is my favorite time of the year, I think.  Of course, every season has its own beauty and adventures.  Can you do anything to make your body stronger against sickness and disease?  Are you getting enough rest?  What about exercise?  Are you moving as much as you should?  Have you thought about your diet?  I’m not talking about weight loss necessarily.  I am talking about eating foods that are healthy and nutritious.  What about your spiritual life, your heart, your soul?  Sin causes so much trouble for us all.  Sin can weigh on our minds and negatively affect how we feel about life and living.  Sin makes us sick too, sin-sick.   Jesus Christ, the Son of God offers salvation to anyone who comes to Him by grace through faith.  Forgiveness is such a wonderful gift from God.  We talk about salvation in Christ and many other life-changing principles from the Bible at every meeting of the Enola Church of Christ.  There is a group of Christians who meet together every Sunday, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening, and at other times during the week for Bible study, worship, and fellowship up in the country in Enola, Arkansas.  We call ourselves the Enola Church of Christ.  This is not a denominational name, but a Bible name (Romans 16:16), a name that the apostle Paul used in his letter to Christians at Rome.  We are simply the church: people called out of sin into salvation, of: belonging to, Christ: Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the one and only Savior of the world, the church of Christ.  We meet on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and on Wednesday evening at 7:00.  Our ladies meet every Monday evening at 6:30 for Ladies’ Bible Study.  The church is overseen by an eldership, just like the churches you read about in the New Testament.  We also have deacons who work in various capacities so that all we do is done decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:50).  The church of Christ at Enola is blessed.  I am so glad to be the evangelist who stands before this great congregation each week to preach.  I am so glad to work and worship with such at wonderful loving group of Christians.  We would love to have you come and see the goodness of the Lord up in the  country.

     Our Sunday morning sermon series continues this week with Lesson One in the series “Where is the Love?”  We will be looking at six myths when it comes to love.  Think about it.  Is the following statements true?  If God really loved me, He would want me to be happy.  Well, what does “happy” mean?  Does “happy” mean:  I will never have to face any troubles.  I will never be sad.  I will never be faced with sickness and disease, disappointment, discouragement, depression, or death.  People will always like me.  Anything I need or want will be mine when I need it or want it.  Are you kidding?  Thinking like this is silly and sad.  Facing troubles makes us stronger.  When we’re stronger, we’re happier.  So happiness comes as a result of facing and overcoming the things mentioned above.  Some people will like us and some won’t.  Our purpose is not pleasing people, but pleasing God.  I want to be happy.  I must understand that happiness; true happiness will be mine for eternity only after this life in heaven.  We can do this.

     Our Sunday evening series is entitled “Expecting the Impossible – Diligence without Love.”  Jesus spoke about the storms of life in Matthew 7.  How can we face the rain (culture), the flood (crises), and the wind (change) day after day without love?  Answer:  We can’t.  With love all things are possible.  Also, in life we are faced with the devil’s tricks, temptations, and the cares of life, the deceitfulness of riches, and life’s pleasures that seek to choke out God’s word in our lives.  Jesus spoke about this in His Parable of the Sower, the Seed, and the Soil in Luke 8.  Love is our greatest motive and our greatest weapon.

     I hope you have a good week.  Proverbs 3 is certainly a great chapter for life.  Hope to see you soon.

Jesus went a little farther. We can go a little farther too.

     Hey, my friends.  You know?  There are many ways to learn.  We can learn by experience.  This is a tough way to learn, but lessons learned by experience will certainly stay with us.  We tell our little children “Don’t touch.  Hot.”  They really cannot understand “hot” until they experience, “hot.”   Many years ago we were spending the weekend with my grandparents in rural northwest Alabama.  They have one of those old timey gas floor furnaces, mounted beneath the floor in the hall with one of those metal grates that cover the furnace.  Man, is this grate hot in the wintertime.  Our daughter, who was just a toddler, woke up early when she heard her “Granny” in the kitchen getting breakfast ready.  She ran down the hall and before we could stop her, she ran across the floor furnace.  All we heard was the patter of little feet, then a spine chilling scream.  The bottoms of her feet matched the grate on the floor furnace.  Fortunately for us Granny had what we needed to cool and heal our daughter’s burned feet.  One thing is for sure.  Our daughter would not come even close to that furnace after that.  She learned what “hot” was. 

     We can learn from the experience of others.  Our parents and grandparents, our family and friends, the people around us teach us what to do and what not to do.  All we need to do is look, listen, and learn.  Do we?  Well, sometimes we do and at others times we only wish we had.  When I was growing up, my dad was probably just about like your dad or anyone’s dad.  He was a good lecturer.  He would say to me, “Son, look at my life.  I am not a perfect person.  I have made many mistakes.  I have also had many successes.  Follow me in the things I have done right.  Do not follow me in the things that I have done wrong.”  He was saying to me, “Son, learn from my experiences.  You really don’t have to run across a floor furnace to learn what “hot” is.  Just listen to what I am telling you about “hot” and you won’t have to run across a furnace grate.”  Sometimes I listened to him and learned.  Sometimes have haven’t.

     We learn from speeches, books, movies, music, and of course the internet.  In Colossians 3:16 in the Bible we find that we teach and admonish (challenge and encourage) each other in the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs we sing.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

 
     This past Sunday we took at look at Jesus and the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane just before Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denial, the mob’s cruelty, and Jesus’ torture and death.  Our topic was “And He went a little farther.”  We sang together the song “Night with Ebon Pinion.”  Maybe you know the song.  Do you know the meaning of the words, “Ebon Pinion?”  Consider that Jesus and the disciples were in that beautiful terrible garden called Gethsemane.  The night was dark and still, so dark that one could almost feet the darkness.  The writer of this hymn used the word “pinion” to describe how the night could have felt to Jesus.  Imagine a night that is so dark, so eerie, that it covers you with its darkness.  When you look up and around you, you get the feeling that you are literally covered with the wings of the darkness, pinion.  Though the night is very silent, there is the wail of the wind.  Just below our house in the Sharon community there is a small “vale” that leads to the Sharon cemetery.  There are several large cedar trees in the cemetery and when the wind blows through those trees, you can literally hear “night wind’s wail.”  Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us.  He also rose again for us.  He went a little farther for us.  What about you and me?  What a difference it could make, what a difference it would make, what a difference it should make if we would just go a little farther at home, at school, at work, in the church, in our neighborhoods, in our world.  Today, try to go a little farther in your life to be a better man or woman, boy or girl in patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, and in your thinking, speaking, and in your behavior.  I hope you will.

Let go. Let God. Live. Love. We can do it!

     Can you believe that it’s February?  January 2014 is history and boy, did it bring in the cold icy weather and then just leave us with it.  We’ll make it through one day at a time.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.  I just love Solomon’s proverbs.  This one is in chapter 3.  Reading the Bible is so inspiring.  Read it and see for yourself.  If your faith is weak, reading God’s word brings and strengthens the faith of every reader.  Of course Jesus told us in His Sermon on the Mount that reading without heeding accomplishes very little in transforming our lives.  Jesus said something simple and significant in John 14:15.  “If you love Me, keep my commandments.”  How about it?

     I enjoyed the concluding lesson in our series “The Pathway of Peace.”  Let go.  Let God.  Live. Love.  Do you love?  Really?  Well, love is patient.  Are you?  Love is kind.  Are you?  Love is strong.  Love is faithful.  Love is hopeful.  Love lasts.  Love doesn’t envy and is not boastful, puffed up, rude, selfish, and thinks no evil.  What about you?  Love never fails.  Boy!  I have a lot to do in my life to be the man I need to be for God, for my family, for the church, for others, and for myself when it comes to love.  Day by day, I plan on being a more loving person.  What a positive difference we all can make when we love, truly love.  Jesus showed us how.  Let’s follow His lead.

     Our Sunday evening series is challenging for sure.  Are you expecting the impossible?  Well, if you are expecting growth without diligence, you are indeed expecting something is just will not happen.  We looked at Psalm 126 where David writes about sowing and reaping.  We want the TROPHY.  Of course every Christian’s trophy will be heaven, to hear Jesus say, “Well done you good and faithful servant.”  In order to hear Jesus words of eternal salvation we have a TASK to accomplish in our lives.  Our task is to sow seed day by day by living the Christian life publically and privately.  In order to complete the task, we have been given the TREASURE, the seed.   Jesus told us about the seed in Luke 8.  It is the word of God read and heard, followed and obeyed, faithful in and taught to others until, well, Revelation 2:10 tells us just how long we must be faithful if we are to receive the crown of life.  God’s word literally transforms the life of every person who trusts and obeys (Romans 12:1-2).  TEARS are just as much a part of living the Christian life as laughter and happiness.  Jesus wept (John 11:35).  So do we at times.  The task, the treasure, and the tears results in triumph and the trophy.  In Psalm 23:6 we read, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  Now that’s what I’m talking about!

     Take care of yourself.  Live every day full and free.  Let go.  Let God.  Live.  Love.