Faith is the Substance of our Hope - Hebrews 11:1

     We’re doing fine up in the country.  This past Sunday we had a wonderful Lord’s Day with family, friends, and neighbors gathered together for Bible study, worship, and fellowship.   We are so very blessed by God with brotherly love and a united Christian family.  Many churches have so many problems.  I remember those who have struggles in my daily prayers and hope, pray, and work so that the unity and harmony we enjoy in the Enola Church of Christ will continue now and until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

     This Sunday (March 30^th) will be the 5^th Sunday in the month.  In addition to Bible study at 10:00 and our worship hour at 11:00, we will have lunch together in the annex building at noon.  After the potluck lunch we will meet again in the main building for prayer, singing, and another lesson from God’s word.  To every member of the Enola Church of Christ; please prepare plenty of food for your family and our guests.  Thank you for your generosity.  I love Sunday’s because Sunday is the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day, a day to put the previous week behind me, think about all the possibilities of the coming week, and then dedicate both weeks to God.  Some weeks are tough.  Some weeks are easier.  God is with us in both the tough times and the easy times.  I’m glad.

     We will begin a new series of sermons this Sunday; a series entitled “Foundation Principles – The Christian Graces.”  In 2 Peter 1:5-10, God gives us a list of foundation principles we must add to our faith in Jesus Christ.  We must add virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love to our faith in God.   I need to preach this series for my own evaluation and growth.  I hope you will be challenged and encouraged by this series of sermons.  This Sunday we’ll consider faith as the substance of our hope and the evidence of what we cannot yet see.  God has never asked us to accept Him blindly without proper reasonable evidence.  Think about it.  There are at least three types of evidence we can consider when we think of God:  Circumstantial Evidence, Revealed Evidence, and Experiential Evidence.  We’ll study all three and make a decision about faith in God.

     Last Sunday night I preached a lesson to help us see the devil’s tricks more clearly.  Please, please, please don’t be deceived.  Know Jesus.  Know the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No Jesus.  No Way, no Truth, and no Life.  This is just the way it is.  Please don’t allow the world with its politically correct agenda to negatively influence the facts of life and eternity in your commitment to be steadfast immovable always abounding in the work of Christ.  A friend of mine had a business partner who did not believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God.  This friend of a friend was still looking for the Messiah to return to the world to establish an earthly kingdom.  Sadly many people will not accept the spiritual kingdom of Christ that He established before He ascended to the right hand of the Father.  This spiritual kingdom is the church of Christ.  Anyway, this friend saw so many wonderful attributes in their business partner, love of family, integrity, community involvement, generosity, positive work ethic…I could go on and on writing about the business partner and friend of a friend’s pattern of life without Jesus Christ.  Eventually, my friend began to view this friend and business partner as a Christian, one saved and travelling to heaven.  One day, after hearing a lesson similar to the one I preached on Sunday evening at Enola, my friend was at first very upset with the speaker and with God for His narrow and difficult way to salvation and to heaven, the way we read about in the New Testament.  Of course my friend, knew what the Bible says in John 14:6 and in many other plain and simple Bible passages that teach us that Jesus is the Christ and unless a person believes in Him, they will be lost.  She had become desensitized to the truth by her partnership with one who did not hold to the truth.  The devil is tricky in his desire to move every Christian away from the light.  May God help me to walk in the Way, hold tightly to the Truth, and live the Life.  May God help you too.

     May God help us all to see Him more clearly and hold to Him tighter and keep on keeping on.

Love Takes Time - Take the Time to Love

     Spring is in the air even if winter is trying its best to hang around as long as possible.  Believe it or not, I’m actually looking forward to mowing the lawn.  I’m really looking forward to seeing green again.  God has everything under control.  I’m glad.

     We had a very good day this past Sunday with family and friends gathered together for Bible study, worship, and Christian fellowship.  My sermon on Sunday morning was aimed at encouraging every Christian to ask, seek, and knock for as long as it takes to receive, find, and get the door opened.  Love takes time.  Period.

     Love takes time.  Period.  We sing “Sweet Hour of Prayer” NOT “Sweet Minute of Prayer.”  Do you remember what Jesus did the night before He appointed the apostles?  He did this all night long.  Did you say, “Pray?”  If you did, you are exactly right.  He prayed and continue all night (Luke 6:12).  Have you ever prayed for an hour?  What about several  hours?  What about all night?  Jesus said, “Ask, and you will receive.”  How long should I ask?  I should ask and keep asking until I get an answer.  Asking takes time.

     Love takes time.  Period.  Take a look at Luke 15 and notice Jesus’ parables about a lost coin, a lost sheep, and a lost son.  A woman lost one of her 10 coins.  How long did she look for the lost coin?  She looked until she found it.  A shepherd noticed that one of his 100 sheep was missing.  How long did he look for (seek) his lost sheep?  He looked for his sheep until he found it.  A father’s youngest son became lost in a “foreign” country, a place far away from home, a place in life where only sadness, sorrow, and sin surrounded him.  How long did the father long for his son?  The father longed for his son until he saw him coming home, yet a long way away.  How long should we seek after what we need in life?  We should seek and keep seeking until we find our way.  Seeking takes time.

     Love takes time.  Period.  In Luke 11 Jesus taught His disciples about the importance of persistent prayer.  He talked to them about the possibility of getting three loaves of bread at midnight from a friend for a friend who had arrived unexpectedly.  The reason one friend will get up at midnight to lend bread to another friend is not because of friendship, but because of persistence.  How long should we knock on a door of opportunity?  We should knock until the door is opened or until we know that we are knocking on the wrong door.  Knocking takes time.

     Next Sunday (23^rd) we will conclude this series “Where is the Love” with a lesson that remind us where the love is.  Look up.  See the love.  Look back.  We do this every Sunday when we eat the Lord’s Supper together.  See the love?  Look ahead.  Christ is already there.  Look beside you.  Can’t you see the love?  Look around you.  Love is right there.  What about beneath you?  Love is there too.  Now look inside you.  Can you find the love?  I hope so.  If not, Jesus Christ, Love is waiting to be welcomed into your life.

     Remember our series “Expecting the Impossible.”  We cannot grow without diligence.  We cannot be diligent without the proper motive for diligence, love.  We cannot love without a true knowledge of God.  John wrote about love in 1 John 4:8; “He who does not love, does not know God, for God is love.”

     Mark your calendar for SUNDAY, MARCH 30^TH.  At the Enola Church of Christ we are having a very special Sunday.  We’ll meet for Bible study at 10:00 a.m.  We will gather together for worship at 11:00 a.m.  Immediately following our worship hour, we will gather over in the annex building for a pot-luck lunch together.  After lunch we will assemble again for an early afternoon service then dismiss for the day.  I always look forward to every Sunday.

     May God bless you and yours is my daily desire and prayer.

Trusting in the Lord up in the Country

     We’re going to be just fine!  Today (Monday, March 10^th) was just a sampling of the day ahead; beautiful weather, loving family, faithful friends, a great and awesome God, and a Christian life lived one day at a time.  Returning from the Preachers’ Meeting this afternoon I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few items that we needed.  I bought a bag of oranges.  As soon as I walked through the door at home I picked the perfect one from the bag, peeled it, and ate it one slice at a time, savoring each bite as if it were the very first and last orange in the world.  Oranges are precious to me for a reason.  Every single time my Grandmother, Tennie Burleson ate an orange  she would tell anyone who would listen about waking up on Christmas morning to check her stocking for a gift and find an orange and an apple in the stocking.  Her face said it all.  Now when I eat an orange I think of my granny as a little girl with wide  sparkling eyes holding that Christmas orange, breathing it in, slowing peeling back the cover and placing a piece on her tongue, closing her eyes and feeling, tasting, savoring the slice as it burst in her mouth.  Delicious!  We are so very blessed!  I have a whole bag on my kitchen counter and I plan on sharing and enjoying every one of them.

     We have much to pray about this week.  Many of our Christian family members are sick up in the country.  I have a adjusted my morning routine to include more time for prayer:  prayer for my mom and dad in Alabama, my sister and brothers, and for mine and my wife’s family members, prayer for our elders and deacons and their families, prayer for those who are fighting disease and those who are fighting beside them, prayer for our youth, prayer for those who are older, prayer for the church of Christ locally, statewide, nationwide, and worldwide, especially the congregations I have worked and worshipped with in my years of ministry, prayer for our governing authorities, federal, state, and local, prayer for my friends, prayer for my enemies, prayer for those who are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, stranger, or imprisoned, prayer to say “Lord, help us” and prayer to say “Thank you, Lord” and prayer to say “I’m sorry, Lord” and prayer to say “Lord, come quickly.”  I could go on and on and sometimes I actually do go on and on just like Paul wrote to the church of Christ at Thessalonica when he wrote, “Pray without ceasing.”  How about you?  Can you adjust your morning or evening or midday routine to include more time for prayer?  I hope you will.  I need it.  You need it.  The world needs it.  We all need it.

     Our Sunday morning series in entitled “Where is the Love.”  We have looked at the myths of love and decided to believe and accept only the facts and realities, not the myths.  God shows us His love every day in ways that we can see.  We, too much show Him our love in ways that He can see.  We must open our hearts up to God.  This past Sunday we looked at lesson number three in this series and decided to renew our commitments to God, to others, and to ourselves, the commitment we made when we confessed Jesus as the Son of God and put Him on in baptism.  Our final lesson necessarily follows.  We must now love as Jesus loves.

     Our Sunday evening series is “Expecting the Impossible.”  We must not expect growth without diligence.  We must not expect diligence without love.  This Sunday evening we will see that we must not expect love without the knowledge of God and His salvation.  The Holy Spirit through John said, “He who does not love, does not know God because God is love.”  Let us live with positive expectation.  I want to grow, so diligence is required.  I want to work for God and for good, so love is required.  I want to love as Jesus loves, so I want God at the center of my life.  How about you?  The apostle Paul said, Imitate me as I imitate Christ.”

     I hope to see you up in the country for Bible study, worship, and Christian fellowship. 

From the Country - So much to be thankful for!

     Whew!  What a week we are having up in the country.  It’s March and we are covered with ice and snow.  What an experience, seeing lightning and hearing the booming sound of thunder all the while watching the ice and snow fall from the sky.  One phrase I haven’t heard in the news lately is “Global Warming.”  Spring cannot arrive too early for me.  I have no issue with the weather.  God has everything under control.  He knows what He’s doing.

     At the Enola Church of Christ, we have so much to be thankful for.  Every Sunday, Sunday evening, and Wednesday we meet for Bible study, fellowship, and worship.  The women of the congregation have a special ladies Bible study every Monday at 6:30 in the Annex Building adjacent to the main auditorium.  The men of the church meet for Men’s Fellowship on the third Thursday each month hosted by one of the brothers.  Our ladies meet for a Ladies’ Fellowship on the second Thursday each month hosted by one of the sisters.  SOMETHING NEW AND EXCITING:  We will have a 5^th Sunday Fellowship Feast this month on March 30^th immediately following our morning worship hour.  We will meet for Bible study and worship like we normally do, then walk over to the annex for a “pot-luck” lunch together.  After lunch we will meet back in the main building for an early afternoon service.  Plans are to have a Sunday like this every 5^th Sunday in the year.  I checked the calendar.  We’ll have a 5^th Sunday Fellowship in March (this month), then in June, August, and November.  So mark your calendar for these very special activities.  Elders, deacons, and ministers:  We will have a business meeting every 5^th Sunday as well, right after the afternoon service.  I hope you will be ready to offer your vision for the particular areas of your ministry along with your goals and action plans.  The church of Christ at Enola is growing and we want to keep the fires of edification, benevolence, and evangelism burning brightly.  To God be glory in all that we think, say, and do.

     Our Sunday morning sermon series continues this Sunday – “Where is the Love?”  We introduced this series, then looked at the myths we often believe about love.  Last Sunday we looked at what it means to open our hearts to God.  He certainly opens His heart to us and He does so in ways that can be clearly seen.  He asks us to show our love for Him in ways that can be seen too.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  When He looks back to see His follows (Christians), what does He see?  Does He see some wandering off to the right, thinking and saying that everything is sinful and that nothing is ever right?  Does He see some wandering off to the left, thinking and saying that nothing is sinful and that everything is always right?  Does He see some straggling behind, grumbling and complaining that the Shepherd is moving too fast or maybe going where they don’t want to go?  Does He see some running ahead, thinking that they know more than the Shepherd and that He is simply moving too slowly for them, that the way of the Shepherd is not very entertaining, even boring?  Or does He see His disciples, Christians following closely, patiently, excitedly, lovingly, completely trusting in His leadership to lead them all the way to green pastures, still waters, and eventually heaven, and Home Sweet Home?  I want to be in this group.  I am in this group.  And I plan on staying right here, walking when Jesus walks, running when He does, resting with Him, fighting with Him, living with Him and dying with Him so that I will one day live with Him forever.  How about you?  This Sunday, Lord willing, we will consider lesson three in this series and renew our commitment to following Jesus wherever He might lead us.

     Our evening service last Sunday was cut short due to the ice storm.  We are studying the series “Expecting the Impossible.”  Think about it.  Is it possible to have growth without diligence?  What about diligence without love?  Love is the greatest motive in the world.  Just like Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13.  “Now abides faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love.”  This coming Sunday (9^th) we will consider the fact that love is not only the great motive in life, but also the greatest weapon against our enemy, the devil and all that follows and goes along with him.  In Jesus Parable of the Sower, Seed, and Soil, He talks about the devil coming into our lives just before the word of God settles in our hearts to steal the word away.  He talks about the temptations of life as stones that often leave the seed of God’s word without proper nutrition.  He also talks about riches, pleasures, and the cares of life as thorns that choke out the word of God in our hearts.  Love is a powerful weapon against each of these negatives in life.  Love is a powerful weapon against the devil.  Love is a powerful weapon against temptation.  Love is a powerful weapon that allows us to see riches, pleasures, and the cares of life clearly for what they are, normal, temporary, something we can experience and still be true to God.

     I hope you have a great rest of the week.  May God bless you and yours with what you need to help you see Him.