Bulletin Notes January 24, 2016

THE FEAR OF THE LORD

Charles Box

      The fear of the Lord is that understanding of God's greatness and power and man's accountability toward Him. A scriptural and saving knowledge of God is the greatest need of every person. An unknown God can neither be trusted, served, nor worshipped. Belief in God is the foundation principle of the Christian faith. The writer of the book of Hebrews said, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him,…" (Hebrews 11:6)

      The fear of the Lord leads to finding the knowledge of God. "If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God." (Proverbs 2:4-5) The fear of the Lord awakens feelings of gratitude and love. The fear of the Lord leads us to the Bible so that we might gain the knowledge of God.

      The fear of the Lord causes us to depart from evil. God commanded, "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil." (Proverbs 3:7) He also said, "…By the fear of the Lord one de­parts from evil." (Proverbs 16:6) No one who knows himself should be conceited. There is no experience more humbling than to come face to face with our own sins. One who thinks he knows everything will never come to fear God. Watch and pray constantly against the spirit of self-conceit.

      The fear of the Lord produces a satisfied life. "The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfac­tion; he will not be visited with evil." (Proverbs 19:23) A Godly life is a happy and satisfied life, here and hereafter. The fear of the Lord pro­duces a true life. True life, genuine satisfaction and freedom from sin are all blessings of the fear of the Lord.

      The fear of the Lord will cause you to obey the gospel quickly. To become a Christian you must hear the gospel and believe (John 6:44-45), repent of sins (Acts 2:38), confess Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized into Christ. (Romans 6:3-4)

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IN OUR PRAYERS-   SHUT-IN: Jason Duke (Camden Health Care), Levi Towater (skilled care in Mount Juliet), Jerry Young (Lakeside in McKenzie), and Kay Miles (at home). ONGOING: Hank Rook, David Spain, Ernest Thorne, Randy Hatch, Laverne Hatch, Dwight Bullington, Ross & Darnell Cole, Margie Martin, and Mercedes Gibbons. UPDATES: Mary Lou Christian (received a good report from doctors in Atlanta- will return in a month to discuss a possible new medication), Jill Shomaker (in Vanderbilt Hospital), Charles Sisson (having trouble with a swollen hand), Jerry & Gaye Massey (at home not feeling well), Randy Cochran (sick at home), John Martin (sick at home), Vickie Cox (at home not feeling well), Sydney Parish (will undergo hernia surgery at Vanderbilt on February 3^rd), and Muriel Larkins (will have first cataract surgery on February 4^th).

FIFTH SUNDAY SINGING:   We will have our Fifth Sunday Singing next Sunday afternoon at 1:00. Be sure to be here!

CHILDREN’S HOMES:   Don’t forget the children’s homes container on the table in the foyer. Thanks!

CLASS TOPICS: We are presently studying the book of Revelation in our Sunday morning auditorium class and How We Got the Bible on Wednesday evenings. Come and participate in these studies.

NEWS FROM LVIV:   Stas reports that the congregation is doing well. An American family of four from Arkansas will be meeting with them for about six months. The father is a teacher from Harding University who will be teaching in the university in Lviv. Also, a Christian lady from Ghana who is studying in the university has contacted Stas and will hopefully be attending worship. Stas and Ann are in Bila Tserkva for two weeks while Stas teaches in the Bible Institute. Dima, Alyona, Bogdan, and Alina are carrying on the work in Lviv.

MISSIONS NEWSLETTERS for December and January from Steve Rook are posted on the mission board in the hall. Be sure to check them out.

HELP!   Please help update our prayer list. If you know of additions or changes that need to be made, be sure to inform Johnny Mack. Thanks!

SCHOOL ITEM:   Spiral Notebooks (1 subject, 70 page). We need 13.

Vera Sopelnik January 2016

Hello dear brothers and sisters.

I'm happy to write to you about the news of the Sunflower Bible School for kids. There were many interesting events during the period of November 2015 to January 2016 that I’m eager to tell you about.

First and foremost, I want to greet every one of you with the New Year 2016. I wish you to be able to do everything you couldn’t last year. New Year is a new page, and may God be the most important person in the book that we write. Thank you for your prayers and support that I feel every time.

1. Bible classes for kids.

Work at the Bible school for kids is a very interesting ministry, and I try to include other sisters in Christ into it. Alina Mitskutis has taught several classes; she is a Christian lady from Kramatorsk, but now her family lives in Bila Tserkva. Veronika Zhuravlyova has helped me organize the celebration for kids. Tamara, a lady from local congregation, has sewn small hearts for presents. She offered her help, and we supported her. Also ladies from Bible classes for ladies helped me to decorate the church hall for the celebration. I try to get them interested in this ministry. They didn’t have any Bible classes for kids at this congregation before. However, now I try to teach these classes, and kids like listening to Bible stories and making crafts. They are looking forward to something new each time, and that’s just wonderful.

2. "Frozen" celebration

The New Year time is colored with expectations of celebration and presents. Our kids were looking forward to the day that we had planned as “Frozen” party. The main goal was to get kids to know one another and to show that it’s always better with God. It was a good day. We had invited kids and their parents to the Sunday service, and we had our celebration after the service was over. We played games with kids, sang songs and told them how loving God and loving one’s neighbor will melt frozen hearts. Of course we gave presents to everyone; ladies from our Bible group helped me to make a box full of presents during Bible classes for ladies. Kids were happy. We had wonderful fellowship with kids and their parents after the celebration, having tea and tasty snacks, which were made by our sisters in Christ. It was a wonderful day.

We are grateful to the Christian from Bruceton church of Christ for their support. With their help we were able to buy sweets and presents for kids. God bless you in your ministry.

3. Ladies ministry.

I continue teaching Bible classes for ladies at the local congregation; I try to inspire them and encourage them to join this work. We study the Bible together and do crafts. Such classes encourage me so much, and each one of us can share her recipes and valuable advices.

4. Going to theatre.

There was another bright moment when our family invited several other families to go to the theatre play for kids. Our kids got friendly before that and were happy to meet at such circumstances. We spent a whole day together and we are grateful to our kids; because of them we can get to know other Christians better. It's good to have friend in the church, to have common interests and fellowship.

5. Warm – hats – presents.

Christians from the US helped us by sending warm hats, scarves and gloves. We distributed them between the kids that attend our Bible school. Everyone was so happy and pleased. Thank you for your support and for these presents.

I'm grateful for your prayers and support. I pray that God gives you strength and patience in your ministry.

With love in Christ,

Vera Sopelnik.

Bulletin Notes January 17, 2016

IT IS WRITTEN

Nick Pace

In Matthew 4, Jesus is tempted by Satan on 3 separate occasions. Jesus was tempted the first time, just after fasting for 40 days and nights. Jesus must have been extremely hungry after fasting for this period of time. Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones into loaves of bread. I am pretty certain that Jesus would have had no problem changing stones into bread, but Jesus was focused on something bigger. Something bigger than the physical hunger he was facing that very moment.

In order to stay focused, Jesus knew that He needed to focus on God’s Word. Thus we see in Matthew 4:4 Jesus responds to Satan’s temptation with “It is written” and then quoted a passage from Moses’ law. Jesus used God’s Word to overcome the temptation that was put before Him by Satan. He used this same strategy in Matthew 4:7, 10 on the second and third temptations by Satan.

But how do we often deal with temptations in our lives? We often turn to popular opinion, the latest trendy pick, friends, family, social media, Hollywood, and many other things. What we ought to be doing is doing the same thing Jesus did to overcome Satan’s temptations. That is going to scripture and using our knowledge in His Word to deal with the issues presented before us.

We should remember that there is a connection between loving God and loving His Word. In John 14:15 Jesus says “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” If we make the claim that we are Christians and that we love God, we must study, know His Word, & obey His Word.

When we fail to love and respect God’s Word, we will soon forget God and disrespect His Word. In Deuteronomy 8 Moses warns the Israelites not to forget God’s Word. But we know as time passed, they forgot, and began disobeying/ disrespecting God’s Word. When we forget God’s Word, we tend to replace it with man’s teachings or traditions.

We must continue to cling to God and His Word even through troubles and trials we face. Jesus passed these 3 temptations in Matthew 4 by relying on God’s Word. We need God in our lives, especially through the tough trials and temptations we face. We have a much deeper need than just physical needs. We need God in our lives.

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IN OUR PRAYERS-   SHUT-IN: Jason Duke (Camden Health Care), Levi Towater (skilled care in Mount Juliet), Jerry Young (Lakeside in McKenzie), and Kay Miles (at home). ONGOING: Hank Rook, David Spain, Ernest Thorne, Randy Hatch, Laverne Hatch, Dwight Bullington, Ross & Darnell Cole, Margie Martin, and Mercedes Gibbons. UPDATES: Mary Lou Christian (received a good report from doctors in Atlanta- will return in a month to discuss a possible new medication), Jill Shomaker (in Vanderbilt Hospital), Stephanie, Sydney, Seiley, and Stormy Parish (sick at home), Charles Sisson (having trouble with a swollen hand), Jerry & Gaye Massey (at home not feeling well), Randy Cochran (sick at home), John Martin (sick at home), Vickie Cox (at home not feeling well), and Muriel Larkins (will have first cataract surgery on February 4^th).

CHILDREN’S HOMES:   A check for $105 was sent to Happy Haven Children’s Home this past week. Thank you very much to all who contributed.

CLOTHING COLLECTION: Remember to bring good, clean clothing you no longer use so we can get it into the hands of those who need it. Thanks!

SCHOOL ITEM:   Spiral Notebooks (1 subject, 70 page). Need 23.

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DEALING WITH GUILT

Johnny Mack Young

Guilt is an unpleasant thing. It nags at us, sometimes spoiling even the good things we could otherwise enjoy. How can we get rid of it? Here are three ways:

1.  Lower your standards. The measure of guilt is the difference in the standard of conduct we believe in our heart to be right and our actual conduct. The greater the gap between what we think is right and what we do, the more intensely we feel guilt. One solution is to lower standards to fit conduct. This works very well in the short term. The problem is that it will only work for the span of our lives: “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words has that which judges him— the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48)

2.   Ignore the guilt until it goes away. And it will go away, though not without pain. Pangs of guilt will be experienced until the heart is hardened and the conscience is seared (Hebrews 3:15, 1 Timothy 4:2). The downside is that the final outcome will be the same as number 1.

3.   Be freed from sin and guilt through Jesus Christ! “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:16) As an erring child of God, confess your sin and repent of it and God will freely forgive! (See Acts 8:22, 1 John 1:8-9) There’s no down-side to this one. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1).

When you think about it, guilt is really not such a negative thing. If we feel guilt, we have a functioning conscience. If we have a functioning conscience we are still able to heed its warning, repent, and be right with God. Maybe that’s part of what is meant in Hebrews 12:11— “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”