Steadfast...Unmovable...Always Abounding...

Hello from Morrilton, Arkansas in view of Petit Jean Mountain beside the beautiful Arkansas River.  It seems that old winter is fighting hard to stay with us.  Wednesday (27^th) was a warm and sunny 65.  They say that it will be 17 on Sunday evening.  As we all know and take comfort in, spring is just around the corner.  I’m glad.  It will be so good to see the flowers popping up and the trees budding out again.  God has everything under control.  

The Harding Street church of Christ is doing just fine, continuing in the Way of Jesus Christ in simplicity and steadfastness.  It seems that the world around us moves further and further away from three solid Christian principles:  continuance, simplicity, and steadfastness.  Is faith in God through His only Son, Jesus Christ, repentance, confession, baptism, and true Christian living so difficult to understand in these modern times?  What does Hebrews 11:1 tell us about faith?  “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Could it be that the very reason life seems hopeless to too many people is found is this simple verse of Scripture?  Think about it.  Faith is the very substance of hope.  Though we may not “see” God, His Son, the Holy Spirit, or heaven yet, our faith is the evidence and our confidence in their reality.  When we “mess up,” make a mistake, do something wrong, fail to meet expectations, or commit sin, saying “I’m sorry” and changing our hearts, minds, and actions is common sense and exactly the right thing to do.  Either Jesus the Christ, the Savior or He isn’t.  There is no in between.  He is.  To deny Him is to reject the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Jesus is the One and Only way to the Father (John 14:6).  No matter what people say or believe or teach, baptism is required for salvation because Jesus declared it to be.  To His disciples He said, “Go, teach, baptize, and teach and He would be right there with them” (Matthew 28:18-20).    Why do some feel as though these basic principles are from some “bygone era” and should be discounted as “old-fashioned” and irrelevant in this, our modern-day society?  It is true.  The Bible is still relevant, still vibrant, still alive, still convicting, still needed, still true yesterday, today, tomorrow, and forever.  Count on it.

Sunday is March 3^rd and so we begin a new series of lessons entitled “A Scripture Text for Life.”  I am so excited to share this series with you from Proverbs 3:1-6.  Every Sunday morning sermon will be taken from this simple text.  Our first lesson is taken from verses 1 and 2 “My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of day and long life and peace they will add to you.”  Simple and to the point!  You would think so.  After all, we all want good and happy days and a long and peaceful life.  But we have a few problems that stand in the way of remembering and keeping what we know to remember and keep; problems like deception (Eve), passion (David), fear (Peter), greed (Judas Iscariot), and impatience (Probably you and me).   What was it that empowered Jesus to stay strong in the midst of these temptations?  He remembered.  He kept.  We’ll consider these things and commit ourselves to remember and keep God’s commands.  Come and see.

Wow! God certainly does fulfill His promises!

Welcome!  I’m so happy that you are reading my blog post this week and every week.  In addition to this article be sure to check out the other sections of our new website:  www.hardingstreetcoc.com: the Harding Street bulletin, our calendar, education information and coming soon; good reading for ladies, a youth page, and audio sermons.  We want to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ any and every way we can to those who are searching for the Way to goodness and mercy all the way to heaven.  David wrote about the Christian life in Psalm 23:6 when he wrote; “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  Of course these promises rest upon Jesus as the Shepherd of our lives.  We (The church of Christ that meets at 906 E. Harding Street) are truly a people who love God.  We want to serve Him every day.  We want to show and share Jesus’ tender loving care as we serve others.  We want to reflect the Light to those around us.  We truly want to teach, love, and care with the same passion and compassion that Jesus has for all the world.  May God, the Morrilton community, and the world see Jesus living in us!

This week has been one of those weeks every preacher dreams about and hopes and prays for.  On Sunday (17^th) we welcomed Brother Don Atkins to the church of Christ at Harding Street.  Brother Don will certainly be a wonderful asset to the church.  He will be teaching the auditorium Bible class beginning in March.  They will begin a study of the Judges.  We then had the great privilege of witnessing three new deacons accept their appointment; Brothers Marion Chenault, Jamie McCoy, and Brent DuVall.  Then at the close of Brother Bane’s sermon we celebrated a new Christian being born into the family of Christ as Emmy Lou DuVall confessed Jesus as Savior and was baptized into Christ by her dad, Brent, who was just appointed as a deacon.  Then, later on Sunday we had a new Christian brother added to the church as Seth Hall confessed Jesus as the Son of God and was baptized into Christ.  On Wednesday evening we announced the news that David and Pam Petroff have decided to be members at Harding Street.  God always fulfills His promises.  What did the Apostle Paul write in 1 Corinthians 3:6?  “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”  This we will do.  This God will do.

This Sunday (24^th) we have Brother Bob Turner and his lovely wife visiting with us.  Brother Turner will share a lesson from God’s word at the worship hour then speak to the auditorium class about a new project he is directing called “The Leadership Project.”  If you’d like to investigate this new work, the website is www.leadership-project.com.  And don’t forget the hyphen.  

Our Sunday evening lesson is entitled “Jesus – Concerning Salvation.”  We often sing the song “Trust and Obey.”  The chorus of this song teaches us about true faith in Jesus:  “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”  When we look in the Bible we find that faith is actually a combination of trust and obedience just like the song says.  The writer to the Hebrews in chapter 11 and verse 6 teaches us about true faith: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is (TRUST) and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (OBEDIENCE).”  We’ll consider this on the evening worship hour. 

Happy Valentine's Day - All you need is love!

February 14, 2019 – Hello…And Happy Valentine’s Day today! Love.  Oh yes!  All we need is love.  You know this is true.  What would happen today in your life and mine if we decided to love the way Jesus did, the way He taught, the way He asks us to?  Well?  Let’s do it.  Let’s love and see.

Sunday we will gather together at 906 Harding Street in Morrilton, Arkansas to remember Christ Jesus our Savior who loves us and gave His all for our salvation.  As we remember His sacrifice on this Lord’s Day let us take a serious and honest look at how we’ve lived our lives so that we may worship God in spirit and in truth.  If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  It could be that our relationship with God is just the way it needs to be.  Great!  Just keep on keeping on; teaching, loving, and caring, just like Jesus.  Brother Bane will be preaching on the morning and I’ll be preaching on the evening.  Next Sunday, February 24^th Brother Bob Turner will be with us to preach and then share some valuable information on the “Leadership Project” at the 10:15 Bible Class hour in the auditorium.

Congratulations to our three new deacons:  Marion Chenault, Brent Duvall, and Jason McCoy.  They will be appointed on Sunday just prior to the sermon to serve alongside David Blaylock, Tony Chenault, and Gary Watters.  To God be the glory in all that we do today and in the coming days to further the gospel of Christ in our Morrilton community and throughout the world.  Our task is to plant the seed of the word of God, to water the seed with faith, love, and hope, and then wait with prayer, patience, and perseverance for God to fulfill His promise to “give the increase” according to His will and purpose (1 Corinthians 3:6).  And this we will do!

We are so very happy to announce that Brother Don Atkins has decided to work and worship with us here at Harding Street.  Don has been with us for worship and fellowship for the past couple of months.  God is blessing us just like He promised by sending us laborers into His harvest.  What does Jesus say in Matthew 9:37-38?  Read it and see.  When we pray, God hears and answers.  I am praying for my Christian brothers and sisters; for those who have fallen away to return and for those who have not yet been born in Christ to hasten to trust and obey.  Do you remember the sermon I preached not too long ago on what it takes to grow?  Remember:  FOOD (God’s word spoken, taught, preached, and heard), EXERCISE (Putting into practice what we learn from God’s word), and TIME (Patient and steadfast).

LADIES:  There will be a COUNTY-WIDE Ladies Meeting concerning our upcoming LADIES’ DAY this Tuesday, February 19 @ 6:00 p.m. in the Annex at Harding Street.  This meeting is for all ladies at Harding Street (We’re hosting this year) and also ladies around the county.