I'll be a Friend to Jesus - How about you?

Hello from up in the country, Enola, Arkansas and the Enola church of Christ.  I hope you are having a great week living the Christian life.  We had a great day this past Sunday with a good crowd gathered together to study the Bible, worship God in spirit and in truth, and enjoy wonderful Christian fellowship together.  Some of our fellow Christian family members were out of pocket vacationing, working, traveling, and a few were sick.  May God help us all to appreciate one another more and more as we look toward heaven.

Last Sunday was “Father’s Day” so our lesson was aimed at helping every dad to be a better dad.  We talked about three things that we need to do as fathers to see that our children know what they need to know:  First, they need to know God’s word.  Second, they need to know how to live life.  Third, we need to help them, but not overdo it.  In 2 Timothy 3 Paul wrote about the Scripture being inspired of God and contains everything we need for every good work.  How can we know “everything we need for every good work”  if we do not know the Bible?  In Romans 1:16 we find that the gospel  of Christ is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes.  Dads have a grave responsibility to bring up their children in the nurture and the admonition of Christ (Ephesians 6:4).  This means that sometimes we say “Yes” to what our children request and sometimes we say “No.”  James writes about wisdom in James chapter one and instructs every person who needs wisdom to pray to God for it and God will give what is needed.  As a dad and “PopPop” I take these passages from the Bible very seriously.  Always have.  Always will.

This Sunday we will study about friendship with a lesson entitled “I’ll Be a Friend to Jesus – Really?”  Are you a friend to Jesus?  Friends believe in each other.  Friends like to be together.  Friends are always honest with each other.  Friends trust each other.  Friends have confidence in each other.  How about it?  Are you a friend to Jesus?  Do you believe in Him?  Do you like to be with Him?  Are you honest with Him?  Do you trust Him?  Can He trust you?  When He asks you to do something, do you have the confidence in Him enough to do it without complaining, doubting, or asking Him “Why?”  These are sobering questions that we need to ask ourselves.  How about it?

On Sunday evening we will focus our attention on back on worship and the fact that God really does have rules that we must keep in order for our worship to be acceptable to Him.  We must come before God with an attitude or heart of reverence.  In Exodus 3 Moses approached the “burning bush” and was told by God to remove his shoes because the ground was holy.  We may not need to remove our shoes when we come to worship, but we certainly must have a heart of reverence for God.  This Sunday we will look at the second lesson in the series, “Submission to God in Purity.”  In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul wrote about the Lord’s Supper, the unleavened bread representing the body of Christ and the fruit of the vine representing Jesus’ blood that washes away our sins.  He wrote about the requirements for acceptable worship when we commemorate the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus.  We are to remember Jesus and examine ourselves.  Paul’s admonition is serious.  There is a “worthy” way and an “unworthy” way.  I want to remember Jesus in a worthy way.  How about you?  Those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

I hope to see you on Sunday, Sunday evening, and again on Wednesday evening.  The drive up in the country will do you good.  God bless you.  God bless us all.