100% Attendance Day - Tuesday Summer Series on the Horizon...

May 2018 – What a beautiful week we’re having in our old Kentucky home, Louisville, Kentucky; warm sunshine, flowers blooming all around us (Just outside my office window I can see purple, red, yellow, white, blue, and green), green grass and trees, and everyone excited that summer is finally on the horizon.  Last Sunday was Mother’s Day.  I hope we all celebrated our mothers in ways that let them know they are loved and appreciated for what they have done and what they do every day.  My lesson was a bit challenging for us on Sunday, especially when I spoke about the responsibility every child has to obey their parents, even if their parents ask them to do something they think is wrong.  No parents should ever ask a child to do something wrong, but we live in a world where some parents use and abuse children. Children are innocent.  Adults will be held accountable before God for sins against children.  Of course when we become adults, we are no longer under our parents’ authority and are accountable for our own thoughts, words, and actions.

Coming up at Watterson Trail!  We’re having a very special Sunday we’re calling “100% Attendance Day” scheduled for Sunday, June 4^th (Only 2 weeks away).  I hope every member of the Watterson Trail congregation has marked this day to gather for Bible study, worship, and fellowship.  Wouldn’t it be fantastic to have every member assembled together to honor God and encourage one another? Plans are to meet for Bible Class at 9:30 and then worship together at 10:30.  No “potluck” lunch this year!  Sorry about that.  We’ll meet again at 1:30 for a short devotional period then break for the day.

Also, our Tuesday Summer Series begins on Tuesday, June 5^th with Brother Dean Beard from Piedmont, Alabama coming to share a lesson on our theme; “The Greatest Questions – The Greatest Answers – The Greatest Book.”  His question is “Is Anything Too Hard for God?”  Our Tuesday Summer Series will continue every Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in June, July, and August.  You won’t want to miss a single Tuesday.

God is so good to us every day; yesterday, today, tomorrow, and forever.  May we live for Him every day in a way that honors Jesus Christ, His most precious gift to the world. 

Derby Weekend is upon us - Be careful out there - And be good!

May 2 – Hello!  Derby Weekend is this weekend and you know what that means:  Yes: 21 of the most beautiful and powerful horses from all around the world coming to Louisville, Kentucky for the run for the roses, but also higher prices for food, clothing, fancy derby hats, and especially gasoline.  And there will be hundreds of thousands of people from all around the world visiting with us to watch “the fastest two minutes in sports.”  Be careful out there.  I love the horses and love to see them run, but when you add in people and the things we come up with to attach to horses and running, well, that’s a horse of a different color.

On Sunday (May 6) at the Watterson Trail Church of Christ we’ll continue in our series on “Experiencing God’s Power through and in Prayer” on the topic of THE DYNAMIC OF PRAYER.  God demands that we pray.  He expects His children to pray.  Ask. Seek. Knock.  Pray without ceasing.  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  God describes prayer and teaches us to pray with supplications, communion, intercessions, and thanksgivings.  The direction of our prayer should be to God, in the name of Jesus Christ, for everyone and everything.  When we come to God in prayer we must have clean hands (God will make us clean).  We must have a peaceful heart (God will give us the peace that passes all understanding).  We must live a faithful life (Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God).

Every first Sunday in the month at 1:30 p.m. we meet for a very special time of singing, Bible reading, and prayer.  Come be a blessing and be blessed.

Mother’s Day is next Sunday (May 13^th).  Better get a move on and take care of your mom.  Hope to see you on Sunday for Bible study at 9:30 a.m., for worship at 10:30, and then for our afternoon service at 1:30.  God bless us all.

Spring yet? Still waiting! Summer Series is just around the corner...

April 20, 2018 – Hello friends.  Glad we made it to Friday.  It’s still cool outside but very nice.  Kentucky Thunder on the Ohio River is now upon us scheduled for tomorrow (21^st) downtown.  And “Derby Day” in only two weeks away.  Be careful on the highways; 750,000+ people going and coming and gathered together can be quite complicated. 

Our annual Watterson Trail “Tuesday Summer Sermon Series” is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, June 5^th, only 6 weeks away.  You won’t want to miss a single Tuesday evening.  Each session will begin at 7:00 p.m. and last about an hour.

We will have 12 of Kentucky’s very best preachers with one Alabama preacher from Kentucky in the mix preaching on our theme: “The Greatest Questions – The Greatest Answers – The Greatest Book.”  From first to last these men of God will be sharing lessons from the greatest book, the Bible.

Take a look and plan to be here for every session.

June 5              Dean Beard, Piedmont, AL - Is anything too hard for God?

June 12            Luke Ashby, New Harmony - Will a man rob God?

June 19            Brent Donoho, Martinsburg, IN - If a man dies, shall he live again?

June 26            Larry Webb, Worthington - Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

July 3               Jerry Macon, West Broadway - If God be for us, who can be against us?

July 10             Eric Welch, Hamburg Pike, J’Ville, IN - Who is my neighbor?

July 17             Steve Johnson, North Lexington - For what is your life?

July 24             Greg Circle, Palmyra, IN - For what does it profit a man if he gains the 

                       whole world and loses his own soul?

July 31             Zack Martin, Cedar Springs - How shall we escape if we neglect so 

                       great salvation?

August 7          Aaron Erhardt, Taylorsville - For do I now persuade men or God or do I seek 

                       to please men?

August 14        Andy Baker, World Christian Broadcasting – What does it profit, my brethren 

                       if someone says he has faith but does not have works?

August 21        David Hamilton, Potter Children’s Home – Who are you Lord?  Lord, what 

                       do you want me to do?

August 28        Larry Sawyer, Big Springs – To whom shall we go?

May God bless us as we come to Him, learn from Him, and take His yoke upon us every day, for He is meek and lowly in heart and in Him we shall find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-30).

What a Savior we have in the One and Only Jesus  Christ – John 14:6.

Jesus Christ - What a Savior - God's Amazing Grace is Amazing!

April 2018 – We keep expecting the cold and rain to give way to bright sunshine, warmer temps, and those feelings that say “summer is just around the corner.”  However, our Kentucky winter is being quite stubborn.  God’s promises are forever secure.  After Noah’s ark landed on the mountains of Ararat God said, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22).  God is faithful.  No need to worry.

Our Sunday morning sermon (April 8) is entitled “Jesus Christ – What a Savior.”  Whatever we do, whoever we are, whatever might happen or might not happen, Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord, and “Oh what a Savior Jesus IS.”  Whatever the question – Jesus is the Answer.  Whatever the problem – Jesus is the Solution.  Whatever the hurt – Jesus is the Healer.  Whatever the bondage – Jesus is the Liberator.  Whatever the burden – Jesus is the Overcomer.  Whatever the need – Jesus is the Supplier.  Whatever the sin – Jesus is the Forgiver.  He washes.  He justifies.  He sanctifies.  He and He alone is THE One and Only Savior.  He said it Himself; “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). 

Read and remember what Paul wrote to Titus, “a true son in our common faith” asking him to “affirm constantly” these things and that we “who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works” (Titus 3:1-8).  He writes about the “kindness and love of God our Savior” in Jesus and reminds us of Jesus’ amazing grace when he writes; “…not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Sunday afternoon at 1:30 at WT is very special.  We have been studying about “God’s Perfect Peace” from Isaiah 26:3-4.  You and I can have God’s perfect peace every day if we’d follow three simple steps:  #1 – Empty Myself (mind, heart, conscience, and body of the things of the world), #2 – Fill Myself (with faith, hope, and love, with God), and #3 – Guard Myself.  We’ve talked about steps 1 and 2.  We will conclude with the task of guarding ourselves against regret, selfishness, fear, and doubt.  Hear and do.

Don't be afraid. You can do this.

Think.  Believe.  Act.  Trust.  Every Wednesday evening at Watterson Trail one of our Bible study session is entitled “Facing the Giants.” Last week we discussed how “FEAR” can be a giant that we all must face and conquer.  We discussed people from the Bible who were often afraid:  Adam and Eve, the animals after the flood, David, Joseph before Jesus was born, the one talent man, and others.  There is a pathway from fear to faith.  God provides the way.               
       1. Be proactive, not reactive
       2. Be prepared
       3. Trust
       4. Act

Think about the weapons that we can wield against fear:

KNOWLEDGE – Isn’t it a fact that every test is easy when you know the answers to the questions?  Knowledge is vital when we face our fears.

FRIENDSHIP – Solomon wrote that “Two are better than one” and then calls to our attention all the reasons why this is true (Ecclesiastes 4:9).  Friends who stand beside us and will fight with us, not against us in the battle bring strength and confidence.

FAITH – I can only face and conquer my fears when I really come to believe that I can.  And just how does one have faith (Romans 10:17). Someone said, “If you believe you can’t, you’re right.  And if you believe you can, you’re right.”

READINESS – We must be prepared to face and conquer our fears.  Get ready.  Every morning we get up and get ready for the day.  What do we do?  We put on our clothes.  Not just any clothes, but the clothes that we’ll need to accomplish our tasks.  In the case that is before us, we’ll need a belt (of truth), a breastplate (of righteousness), shoes (the preparation of the gospel of peace), a helmet (of salvation), and of course the weapons we’ll need to battle our fears and conquer them, a sword (of the spirit) and a shield (of faith), the word of God and faith in the Savior.  This clothing is found “in Christ” (Ephesians 6:10-18).

Don’t fear.  Look up.  Prepare.  Trust.  Act.