|
"...Shepherd the flock of God which is among
you, serving as overseers..." (1 Peter 5:2)
Elders
Morris Bass, Rick Holt , Joe
Price |
"...let them serve as deacons,
being found blameless..." (1 Tim. 3:10)
Deacons
Aaron Bass, Rich Brooks, Mike Finn
John Hague, Dan Head |
"And take...the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17)
In this issue:
Gospel Meeting Sept.
25-30, 2005
Keep Your Eye on the
Goal (Dennis L. Scroggins)
Sermon Outlines:
Noteworthy News:
A Place to Live
Gospel Meeting Sept. 25-30, 2005
THE
MT. BAKER
CHURCH OF CHRIST
(1860
Mt. Baker Highway, Bellingham, WA)
Invites you to our
GOSPEL
MEETING
with
Evangelist
Dennis
Scroggins
(Lometa, Texas)
Sept.
25–30, 2005
Monday-Friday: 7:00 PM
(Sunday: 9:30 & 10:30 AM, 6:00 PM)
Sunday:
9:30 AM: This man is the Great Power of God
10:30 AM: Noble Hearts
6:00 PM: The Race is not to the Swift
Monday: Recognizing the Tares
Tuesday: No Other Name!
Wednesday: Give Me Strength!
Thursday: The Fear of Hell
Friday: Zeal Without Knowledge: A Spiritual Killer
(From
I-5 take Exit # 255 and go East 4.2 miles)
more information: please call (360) 752-2692
Top
Around the Bend –
Keep Your Eye on the Goal
Dennis L. Scroggins
“Keep your eye on that post yonder and you’ll be alright” were my
father-in-law’s famous last words to me, as I pulled away from him on his
old ’49 8n Ford tractor with a cultivator obediently following behind me.
He meant for me to plow out the weeds that had grown between the rows of
tender young watermelon plants.
Ten minutes into the
lesson, I was feeling pretty good about the great job I was doing plowing
for the first time in my life. Everything was going pretty well until I
decided to look back at the great job I was doing. Well, you guessed it, I
plowed out about a hundred yards of watermelons in the blink of an eye. Of
course, I straightened up and got my eye back on that post and the plowing
got better, but it didn’t change the fact that I had in a moment destroyed a
good part of the crop my father-in-law had hoped to harvest that year.
I felt bad, and
apologized for the great loss that had occurred as a direct result of my
moment of foolishness. It all happened because I was lifted up with pride
in the great job I was doing. Yes Sir, I was looking back to see what a
great job I was doing, taking my eye off the post, which had kept me on the
straight and narrow way.
Jesus said, “No one,
having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of
God,” Luke 9:62. Farmers plow for different reasons. They plow to prepare
the soil, to plant the seeds, or to remove the weeds from the good plants
that are trying to grow and produce fruit.
Christians who start
to do the will of Christ needs to keep their minds on Jesus’ business
and not get distracted by the things of this world. Many have lost sight of
what they are doing for a moment, only to fall into temptations and snares
set by the devil.
Pride is a powerful
emotion. Pride takes us in a different direction because we allow
ourselves to be led by what we think is good, and not what Christ has
commanded us to do.
Christians are not to
live their lives looking back at all the good they have done. Nor should
they be impressed with all the good they are doing, or even the good they
plan to do some day. Christians are to put their hand to the plow and keep
on, keeping on. Perhaps you have been looking back, and lost track of
time, and have not paid attention to the things that really matter to souls
around you.
Could it be you have
innocently plowed out many a soul that was trying to grow in Christ?
If you have put your
hand to the plow, please don’t look back at the rows you’ve plowed, for the
row you are plowing today may well be the “good soil” from where much fruit
will one day be produced.
We need to keep our
minds on Christ’s business.
-By: Dennis L. Scroggins
dscroggins@juno.com
(The illustrations used in
“Around the Bend” are from the author’s own experiences of country
living at “The Bend,” located on the Colorado River in the hill country of
Texas.)
Top
You can find the
complete outline of this sermon at
BIBLE ANSWERS
Bible Question Box (Sept. 2005)
Scripture Reading:
1 Timothy 2:8-12
1. Two questions with
similar theme.
2. The overriding issue in both of these questions is the role of women in
the local church (one concerning an application in the assembly; the other
in Bile classes).
•
Some
Bible patterns:
1. Women certainly
have authority to participate in assembly (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; Acts 2:42;
12:5, 12; 20:7; Rom. 10:9-10; Acts 2:38; Jas. 5:16.)
2. God established order of headship, 1Cor. 11:3
3. Women not the leaders, 1 Tim. 2:8, 11-12 (Acts 18:26).
4. Men not authorized to “give” women positions of leadership over men, 1
Tim. 2:12-14.
5. Women are to keep silent in the assemblies, 1 Cor. 14:34-35.
(Qualified, see above)
#1: Can a woman say
“amen” during a lesson?
1.
Does it meet Scriptural tests:
a.
Decently & in order (1 Cor. 14:40, 34-35).
b. Men commanded to lead in prayer, 1 Tim. 2:8
c. Only reference to saying “amen” in assembly is from men, 1 Cor.
14:15-16 (1 Tim. 2:8).
2. Answer: No.
#2 – What are the
Scriptural reasons that a woman is not usually allowed to teach the high
school class if there are Christian boys in it? (How could it be teaching
over a man when they aren’t men?)
-Reputation & propriety, 1Tim. 2:11-12; 1Ths. 5:22.
-Our children, cf. Isa. 5:20 (Mal. 2:17).
-Orderliness, 1 Cor. 14:33, 40; 1 Ths. 5:12-13 (Phil. 2:13; Eph. 5:21).
-Consciences, Rom. 14:13.
Conclusion
1.
Principles for the assembly (1 Cor. 14).
2. Principles for men (1 Tim. 2:8; 1 Cor. 11:3).
3. Principles for women (1 Tim. 2:11-12; 1 Pet. 3:4; 1 Cor. 11:3).
Top
You can find the
complete outline of this sermon at
BIBLE ANSWERS
Dating: The Protection of Purity (#1)
(If you love Me, you will follow Me)
Scripture Reading:
Proverbs 2:10-17
1. “It would be nice to
have a lesson on self-control and discuss lust and appropriate relationship
affection for pre-marital couples.”
2. Young people: This kind of teaching is designed to help protect your
heart (Ps.119:9; Prv. 4:23; 1 Pet. 5:8).
3. Three people to be concerned with when you date: God, the person you
date & yourself. You must please God in all things (2 Cor. 5:9) Rom.
12:1; Col. 3:1.
4. World’s view & God’s view (1 Cor. 15:32; 2 Tim. 2:22); Eccl. 11:9-10; 1
Jno. 3:3.
I. LOVE OR LUST: DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE?
A.
What are you Talking About?
1. Self-control: “the virtue of one who masters his desires and
passions, esp. his sensual appetites;” Gal. 5:23; 2 Tim. 2:22.
2. Lust, Col. 3:5: evil desire: “desire, craving, longing,
desire for what is forbidden, lust” (Job 31:1; Matt. 5:28).
3. Lewdness (lasciviousness), Rom. 13:13; Gal. 5:19 (Mk. 7:21-23;
1 Pet. 4:3).
a. “Unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness… shamelessness…as filthy
words, indecent bodily movements, unchaste handling of males & females…”
b. MTV, cyber-porn…; Bodily caressing, fondling, (Gen. 26:8); Do you
encourage this by what you wear?
4. Fornication, 1 Cor. 6:18; Gal. 5:19, 21; Heb. 13:4.
B. Lust & Love: Do you know the Difference?
-Lust is selfish (often at the expense of the others); love is
unselfish; it pleases God & the other person.
1. Lust is based on what she/he is, 1 Jno. 2:16; Matt. 5:28;
Prov. 6:25; 1 Pet. 3:3-4 (SS 7:1-9).
2. Love is based on who she/he is, Prov. 31:30 (10-12); SS 5:8-16
(Rom. 1:24; 1 Cor. 6:13); 1 Cor. 13:4-8.
C. What will Lust, Lasciviousness & Fornication Cost Me? Eccl. 11:9;
Num. 32:23; Prov. 13:15
-Cost your soul (Mt. 16:26); your innocence, reputation, peace of mind &
self-respect (Acts 23:1); your life.
Top
NOTEWORTHY NEWS
(Current events in the
light of Scripture)
A Place to
Live
Joe R. Price
The devastation left in the wake of hurricane Katrina is horrific and
mind-numbing. New Orleans, a city of 1.5 million souls, is submerged; its
residents, now refugees. In Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, countless
houses and businesses are scattered over the countryside. Then, there is
the human toll; undoubtedly, deaths will be counted in the thousands.
Brethren have also been affected; their homes damaged and their lives turned
upside down.
One victim of the
storm’s wrath said, “Katrina is the great equalizer.” Rich or poor,
mansions or shacks, it made no difference; when the rains descended and the
floods came and the winds blew, the houses built by men were destroyed.
Jesus used this sort of force and its effect to warn us to built our lives
on hearing and obeying His words so that our souls will not be eternally
destroyed (Matt. 7:24-27). The foolish person who refuses to hear and obey
Jesus is left without the safety of salvation when the storm of sin rages
and ravages; he is lost. Let us be obeying Jesus.
The
sight of hundreds of people standing on the roadside with nowhere to go (and
in some cases, with only the clothes on their backs), gives us pause to
ponder just how fragile life is, and how blessed we are. Jesus assures
those who “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” that
God will supply their needs: food, drink and clothing (Matt. 6:25-34).
But, have you ever noticed (as a brother recently pointed out to me), that
there is not a promise of shelter in that (or any other) passage? The Son
of Man “had nowhere to lay His head” (Lk. 9:62). Those “of whom
the world was not worthy,” “wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and
caves of the earth” (Heb. 11:38). Could this be so in order to impress
us that this world is not our home (Phil. 3:20)? May we ever flee for
refuge from the storms and devastation of sin and lay hold of the hope in
Christ, that anchor our souls regardless of what befalls us on earth (Heb.
6:18-20). Oh Lord, help us live for heaven!
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