Go Away and Leave Me Alone

That sounds like what one of our kids would say when they're in a bad mood.  Or maybe it's a little like some of the other statements we hear, "I don't care what you think", or "I'm not going to do that no matter what  you say."  These types of statements usually have a very negative connotation however, the statement "go away and leave me alone" is a rough translation of one of the statements of Jesus.  Can you ever imagine the time or an event when Jesus would actually make such a statement?  One thing I've learned from studying the words of Jesus is that sometimes what our Lord had to say might surprise us.  He is kind and loving, but also strong and direct when He needs to be.  His words are directed according to the need of the moment, which means they're not always soft and gentle.  As we continue to look at the words of Jesus in our series on red letter sermons, we will look both at the gentleness and the directness of our Lord and Savior.  Your challenge for Sunday morning when you first arrive at services is to tell me when and where Jesus might have said something similar to "go away and leave me alone".  I'll be looking forward to seeing you Sunday morning.

Dean

 

 

A Growing Leadership

Last Sunday was a great day for this congregation.  In a great display of unity and devotion three men were added to our present eldership.  These men all accepted the charge of shepherding this flock in helping to protect our souls.  In response to their acceptance, this congregation accepted the charge which we were given by the elders.  The charge for us is to follow the leadership of our elders as we serve one another in unity and love.  The three installed elders are:

George Kokoruda
Billy Moran
Walter Thompson

Dean

 

 

Layers of Protection

If you ever wonder how much our Lord cares about you, take a look at the layers of protection He has provided for your eternal soul:

1. The first layer, of course, is God Himself who willingly sent His own son to die on the cross for our sins.  John 3:16

2. The second layer is the love and compassion of Jesus.  As
II Corinthians 1:3 explains, Jesus is always with us to provide comfort and care during our struggles.

3. As a third layer of protection the Lord has sent us the Holy Spirit to live within our hearts.  The spirit gives us strength from God according to Ephesians 3:16-20.

4. The fourth layer comes in the form of godly men that are given the responsibility of serving as elders.  These men serve as shepherds of the flock to guard from outside influences or false teaching that may destroy our souls.  Acts 20:28

5. Then there is the church itself, the body of Christ on the earth.  In the church each member has a responsibility to care for other members and to help each other with our struggles.  Galatians 6:1, 2

When you are struggling look carefully at how much God loves you and you'll find the strength to go forward in serving him.

Dean

 

22nd Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner

Be Our Guests:

For a traditional Thanksgiving meal and Christian fellowship at our 22nd Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner in the fellowship hall November 28th 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. If you know of anyone that cannot attend, we will deliver meals to them. Call 972-937-8855.

 

 

 

Upcoming Community Thanksgiving Dinner

Community Thanksgiving Dinner
November 28th

Please don't forget to sign up for preparing turkeys, dressing, mashed potatoes and pies!  We need your help to make this year's dinner a success!  Sign up sheets will be located in the classrooms and in the foyer or you can call the church office.

 

 

Make Up/Catch Up Special Contribution

"The elders want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for your generosity in our "Make Up/Catch Up" special contribution held on November 3rd.  As you can see in the bulletin, the contribution will greatly help in closing the shortfall for 2013 and will be of benefit as we work toward setting our 2014 budget.  We greatly appreciate your love and support of the work and look forward to continuing our efforts to share the gospel, help those in need and support the work in our congregation.  Please continue to pray for our work and that in all we do we continue to live by and share the love of God with the intent of bringing Him the glory."

 

 

Faithfulness in Marriage

In Matthew chapter 19:3-9, Jesus plainly states that married men and women are to be totally faithful to each other.  There is no room in marriage for any sexual relationships outside the marriage.  Faithfulness in marriage means the individuals are committed to one another for a lifetime.  They have given themselves to each other completely and totally.

True faithfulness in marriage, however, goes deeper than just the intimate relationship between a man and a woman.  True faithfulness includes faithfulness in all areas of life.  The two partners are faithful to each other emotionally, intellectually, financially and with a lifetime of protection.

In the wedding vows the couple makes a number of promises to each other and every one of those promises is a part of being faithful.  True faithfulness means that a married person gives their very best to make the other person happy and to provide for them a spiritual home that will help them to spend eternity in heaven.  This Sunday we will be taking a careful look at complete faithfulness in marriage.

I'll see you Sunday.

Dean

 

 

What Would God See?

If you could imagine our Lord stepping in your front door and taking a look around your home, what would He see? Would He be pleased? Would the environment radiate His glory? Would He be disappointed? Would you be embarrassed? Would you be excited that He chose your home to visit?

Beginning in Genesis, God established a relationship with a man and a woman that we call marriage.  This relationship was designed for His creation to love each other, to have children and build families that would serve him.  It would only take our Lord a few moments in our homes for Him to see exactly how we're doing.  In the following few weeks we will be looking at marriage and parenting to see if our homes are really filled with godly love.

Opportunities To Be A Blessing!

"Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Galatians 1:10

As we noticed last week in the church we are a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a spiritual house for God.  It is our great privilege to bless the lives of other people and share with them the light of Jesus Christ.  As we look at involvement in the church this week we will be talking about many opportunities that you and I have to bless the lives of others.  At the Brown Street church of Christ we have a total of 39 organized ministries.  In one way or another all of these ministries are vital in helping people to know Jesus Christ.

You Are Indispensable!

"And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way." Ephesians 1:22, 23

Think about those last words: the church, the fullness of Christ on this earth.  As those who have been saved by the blood of Christ, that is exactly what we represent.  Without the church the world would never know the truth about God's salvation in Christ.  If the church is to show Christ to the world, every member must be willing to do his or her part.  The body simply will not function properly without each unit being involved.

1 Corinthians 12:21, 22 "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet 'I don't need you!' On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be the weaker are indispensable." Have you ever taken the time to realize that you are indispensable in the kingdom of God?  The church simply cannot be the fullness of Christ in the world unless every one of us accepts our responsibility in His body.  As we look at involvement during the month of October please    consider the way you can use your talents as apart of this congregation.

Dean

 

Pack the Pantry Month

This Sunday will be the 1st Sunday in October.  We will have approximately 600 people present representing 200 family units.  If each family unit is willing to bring 10 cans of fruit, if my math is correct, we will have over 2000 cans of fruit. It doesn't take much for each of us to bring a few cans of fruit to worship, but think of the great impact on people in need! Matthew 25:37-40 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' Then the King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did it for me.'"

This week show your love for Christ by loving those in need.  Bring your cans of fruit and place them on the podium.  You'll be amazed at how much can be done when each member of the congregation helps.  1 Corinthians 12:27 "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."

Dean

 

Who Would You Call?

If you are in a life or death crisis, and none of your family members were available, who would you depend on for help? Imagine the worst situation you've ever been in in your life, there seems to be no way out.  You need someone who will put their life on hold to take care of you.  It may involve sacrifice on their part, it may even include some danger, and certainly it will require wholehearted effort for anyone to help you.  Who would you call?

You have many friends, but you really don't know the depth of their friendship.  Are they just casual acquaintances? Are they people who might turn away when things get challenging? This is a life and death situation; who would you trust? They must be bold, honest, wise, caring and courageous. When you think of a situation like that, only a few names will come to mind.

October: Pack The Pantry Month!

Galatians 6:9, 10 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

It's time to pack the pantry! Every week people come to this congregation looking for food to feed their family. Our care center is open every Monday and Wednesday morning and it's time to fill it up again.  In October we are asking every member of the congregation to bring items for the pantry each Sunday or Wednesday night and place them on the podium.  We have a large stage in the front of the auditorium and we need to fill it up until the preacher doesn't have space to move.  Please plan on bringing the following items during the month of October.

A Peaceful Relationship With God

How much time do you spend alone with God? Worship doesn't count. Prayers at meals don't count. I'm talking about alone with God!

Is it true that most of your energy goes to other things and you don't have time for God? If we are going to truly have a close relationship with our heavenly Father we are going to need to invest our energy in that relationship.

If we are going to have the right relationship with God, we are going to have to invest time in communication with Him. Our personal prayer time is extremely important! We must take the time to open our hearts to God in one-on-one  conversation. Family prayers and church prayers are
important, but a close relationship demands one-on-one communication. Not only do we communicate with God in prayer, we communicate with Him when we listen to Him by reading and meditating on His Word.

How Much Time Do You Spend Building Relationships?

"Be imitators of God, therefore as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God. "Ephesians 5:1, 2

Last Sunday morning we talked about the use of our energy. Are we good stewards of our efforts or do we waste our time on things that are relatively unimportant? From the perspective of our God there is nothing more important than building loving relationships.  Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40

This week as we continue to look at finding God in our personal lives we will be talking about the importance of loving relationships. The greatest investment of your life is the investment you make in other people. Do we spend the proper amount of energy in those relationships or do we waste most of our energy in other efforts?

See you Sunday morning!

Dean

Life Changing Events

One minute you're driving down the road without a care in the world, then suddenly your cell phone rings and a loved one is in the hospital. It's an emergency and all of your plans suddenly change as you head for the hospital. It is amazing how quickly one event can change the course of your life. Sometimes those events cause good changes, other times they can be a disaster.

In one moment God can change everything in your life and give you the hope of eternal life.

The Remarkable Power of Adoption

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:26-29

Adoption has always been seen as a great act of love.  The adopting parents have freely determined to give all the blessings of their home to a child who has no parents.  The Greek and Roman laws concerning adoption during the time of Christ were very specific. An adopted child came into the family with all of the rights of a natural born child.  If a couple that adopted a child later had natural children the adopted child was still considered to have all the rights of the other children.

A Great Time To Invite Others To Worship

As we continue with our study on finding the Heart of God in Salvation, it's time to take a closer look at baptism. It seems that baptism has almost become an act that demands our defense. We sometimes have long debates with people who don't have the same understanding of the baptism that we have been blessed to learn.

The next few weeks we will be presenting baptism as what it really is: God's grace delivered to us through Jesus Christ. Without arguing the point, we will be looking at the tremendous blessing of God's love given to us at the moment of baptism. The new birth in Christ, the freedom from sin, the deliverance from death into eternal life, the blessings of forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Story Time

As a child, I loved it when my mom read to me. I would sit on her lap and listen to every word.  As she read, I examined the details of every picture and waited eagerly to hear what was on the next page.

Have you ever thought about the idea that our lives tell a story?  In every situation - good, bad, or indifferent - people around us are watching and listening to the story we are telling.  Our story is communicated not only through our words but also our attitudes and actions as we respond to life's buffetings and blessings.  Our children and grandchildren, spouses, neighbors and co-workers can all observe the story we're telling.

More Like Jesus

Let us be more like Jesus
In everything we do;
Let's live a life of service,
A life that's fresh and new.

Let's relinquish worldly things,
And not be slaves to fashion;
Let's fill our hearts with love,
Forgiveness and compassion.

Yes, let's be more like Jesus,
Being always in God's will,
For if Jesus' light shines through us,
Our earthly purpose we'll fulfill.

Joanna Fuchs
Christian Clippings

 

Let Your Light Shine!

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven."

Last Wednesday night our summer series got off to a great start! Sam Dilbeck gave us some great ideas about how we can share the message of Christ with others.  This week the topic will be letting our light shine in the community.  If we look we will find hundreds of people right here in the Waxahachie area that need help.  When we get involved in the community it gives us the opportunity to share the message of Christ.  People will respond to God's love when they see it in our actions.  Mayor Scooter Gierisch of Roanoke, Texas will be sharing some great ideas on how you and your family can make our community better and share Christ.

I hope you'll bring your entire family every Wednesday night and be a part of this great series of lessons. All of our speakers are well-qualified and will provide us with encouraging messages.  You and your family will get a great midweek inspiration by being here.

Dean

 

Results of Living By Faith!

Every choice in life produces its own results.  For example, if you decide to break the law, you will eventually be caught and spend some time in prison.  If you and your spouse decide to have children, you will spend many hours at school plays, band performances and ball games. If you decide that it is important for you to make lots of money, you will spend many hours working and trying to climb the corporate ladder.

We might want to ask ourselves, if every choice produces certain results, what are the results of living a life of faith?  The Bible explains a number of results that you can expect if you really live a life of faith.

1. Expect God to hear and respond to your prayers.
   Psalm 4:3
   Psalm 32:5-7
    
2. You can expect God and His word to guide your steps.
   Proverbs 3:3-7
   Galatians 2:20
    
3. You can expect God to bless your life.
   Proverbs 28:19-21
   Matthew 25:22-24

Live by faith and you will live to rejoice in it!

Dean

Great Faith!

When we talk about finding God’s heart in salvation, we must take a close look at faith. God’s greatest desire is for all His children to worship and serve Him. When we give our lives to Him in obedience, He gladly gives us eternal life.

When we quickly say the plan of salvation -  hear, believe, repent, confess and be baptized, it is easy to overlook the fact that the word believe is actually used as a synonym for have a great faith in God. This is a difference between an intellectual belief and a life changing belief. Faith is a belief in God that changes a person’s entire life.

This Sunday we will look at five aspects of that life changing faith:

1. Trusting God’s word
2. Accepting the challenge of faith
3. Obeying God
4. Enduring the hardships
5. Standing firm

I’ll see you Sunday.

Dean

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)
 

Finding the Heart of God in Our Singing

“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:19 )

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom and as you sing with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16 )

There is no human action that brings us closer to each other and closer to the heart of God than our singing praises to our Lord. When we unite ourselves with one another in song, we can totally focus on our love for God and our devotion to each other. It is a time of encouragement, excitement, learning and devotion.

When we praise God properly, every heart in the congregation becomes one with the heart of God as He hears and enjoys our complete, joyous communication with Him. We are united with one another as we remind each other of  our mutual belief in God and our submission to His will.

Come prepared to unite your heart with God as we sing praises to Him this Sunday.

Dean

Finding the Heart of God

“So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.” II Corinthians 5:9

What is the most important goal of your life? Is it to please God? If it is, we must examine the heart of God and learn what really pleases Him. During the next few weeks, we are going to examine our worship service and see what God really wants from us as we worship.

John 4:24, “God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

I Chronicles 16:29, “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. Bring an offering and come before Him; worship the  Lord in the splendor of His holiness.”

Come to worship Sunday morning prepared to lift all of your heart and soul up to God and please Him during our worship.

See you Sunday.

Dean

It Only Takes a Few Minutes

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27

We have a large number of older members here at Brown Street and all of them are important. While some of them are able to come to services, many are unable to leave  their homes. Our Thursday meals and our card ministry provide excellent services for these very special members of God’s kingdom. However, the weeks sometimes roll by with very little contact with the outside world.

Why not get your family to spend some time with one or two of our older members? It would only take a few minutes to make a visit or two. It would be good training for your children to learn how to care for the elderly and your whole family would learn some remarkable facts about the past generation.

“A new command I give you; love one another. As I  have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34, 35

Dean

Truth

In the first few verses of II John, the word truth  is used over and over again. According to John, it is because of truth that God provides us with grace, mercy and peace. It is truth that allows our children to walk safely within the will of God. The love we have for other Christians has its foundation in truth.

Without an understanding of truth, we could not serve God, the church and even our society would quickly fall apart. As we prepare for this week’s service, I would encourage you to consider the following statements to see how many of them you agree with.

1. If you believe in absolute truth you will always be in the minority.
2. If you believe in truth you will make decisions which many people will disagree with.
3. Truth is absolute and it is eternal. 
4. If your children walk in the truth they will have eternal life. 
5. Most people do not understand the concept of truth. 
6. There is only one truth because truth will not contradict itself. 

See you Sunday.

Dean

*February 3 is Scout Sunday. The scouts will hand out food bags for donations to benefit the Christian Care Center. Please return your bag with food Sunday evening. The scouts will be leading the prayers and song service for the Sunday evening service. Come and support our young men.

Which One Will You Choose?

An artist wrote an extensive description of heaven  and hell, detailing every aspect of life in both places. He then painted a large painting of each place on the wall in his office. Later, as people came to see him, he would casually ask them, “Which place do you want to live?” Not surprisingly, as they looked at the painting, everyone picked heaven. Not one soul ever picked hell.

Heaven and hell are destinations and before we get to the destination, we must choose the way we are going to travel. The way to the destination is determined by the nature we choose for our life. Will we have a Godly nature or a sinful nature? Peter describes both in chapters one and two of I Peter because he wants to show us what it really means to serve Christ. You have the opportunity to choose either a Godly nature or a worldly nature. One leads to heaven, the other will take you to the fires of hell.

Which one will you choose? Would you choose the nature of God which leads to eternal life in heaven or the worldly nature which leads to eternal condemnation? II Peter helps us see the choices in three short chapters.

• Chapter 1 looks at the Godly nature.
• Chapter 2 gives us a picture of the sinful nature.
• The last chapter takes a look at the judgment.

Think about it! I’ll see you in church Sunday.

Dean

James: Practical, Everyday Christian Living

In five short chapters James covers a number of important everyday topics. As you can see below, each chapter is packed with powerful everyday information designed to help us live for God.

1. GODLY WISDOM 
2. FAITH AND WORKS 
3. POWER OF THE TONGUE 
4. SUBMIT TO GOD 
5. LIVING WITH FAITH 

When you compare God’s concept of wisdom with the view of the world, you see two totally different lifestyles emerge. Worldly wisdom leads to a hunger for things and selfish ambitions dominate life.

Godly wisdom on the other hand causes us to have a faith in God and it directs our lifestyle toward people rather than things. As we will see Sunday, Godly wisdom changes the things we say as well as the deeds we do. It also provides us with a totally different attitude toward the nature and purpose of human life.

See you Sunday morning.

Dean

The Bible

People in every century have challenged the authenticity of the Bible. Questions are asked by unbelievers as well as those who want to believe in God’s word.

1. How do we know the Bible is really God’s word? 
2. Why are there so many English translations? 
3. How do we know that we have the right text? 
4. How can we be sure the Bible hasn't changed over the years? 
5. Which translation is the most accurate? 

As we look at some of these issues this coming Sunday; you can be absolutely sure that the God who created the universe fulfills all of his promises. One of those promises is that His word will always be protected.

• “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word  of God. For, all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of God stands forever.” I Peter 1:23-25
  
  
• II Timothy 3:16,17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in  righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
  
  
• “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had it’s origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  II Peter 1:20,21

Dean

What is Important in 2013?

According to several surveys, here is a list of the most popular New Year’s resolutions in America. Look closely and see what is missing!

• Drink Less Alcohol
• Eat Healthy Food
• Get a Better Education
• Get a Better Job
• Get Fit
• Lose Weight
• Manage Debt
• Manage Stress
• Quit Smoking
• Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
• Save Money
• Take a Trip
• Volunteer to Help Others

Did you notice? Not one resolution has  anything to do with God! You might want to consider the following for 2013:

1. Start every day with prayer and Bible reading 
2. Help every member of your family toknow God better. 
3. Never miss a worship service. 
4. Tell others about Christ. 
5. Fight against any sin that is in your life. 
6. Put God’s will first in your life. 

In the final judgment, the only thing that will matter is our relationship with God. Let’s grow in that relationship during 2013.

Happy New Year!

Dean