Burns Church of Christ

      It has been my privilege to spend about a month in New Zealand teaching students the Bible and training them to be church leaders.  This has been a special ministry for me for about twenty years.

      The training school where I teach is in Tauranga, New Zealand.  There are students from all over the South Pacific, Australia and Asia. This year we had students from New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Pakistan and Fiji.  These students will go back to their homeland and culture and be lights for Christ in their own neighborhoods and communities.  We believe that this is the best way to do world evangelism.

      While in New Zealand I get to work with several former students and I was able to preach every Sunday I was there. The Lord’s Church has struggled in the South Pacific but is beginning to make progress.  There as several church plants and more will become a reality as our students get going in their communities. Most of the churches in Fiji and New Zealand are now led by our students.

      On another topic we are about ready to knock every door in Burns.  Our campaign begins June 10^th. Campaigners will begin arriving on Wednesday night and the door knocking will begin on Thursday. Glen Buffington is in charge of all organizational matters.  He has worked to get ready and many of you are on his team.  This effort will require that all of us “give of our best to the Master”.  From food to washing baptismal garments to cleaning the building to greeting new members, much is to be done.  See Glen if you have not already volunteered.

      Thanks to Matthew who preached in my absence. There was not a beat missed when I was gone.  We are much blessed by having Matthew and Leslie on our team.

      This weekend is our “couples’ retreat” at Joe Wheeler State Park in North Alabama. Jeff and Pam have planned a great retreat and all who attend will be blessed.  We will be down in our attendance with so many gone.  Sit close and sing as loud as you can. 

While the foundation and practice of the church is built on an unchanging foundation, we can’t deny that many things about the church have changed in the two thousand years since Christ’s ministry. Some things are improvements; some aren’t.

What do you think it was like to be a Christian in the days before church buildings? The earliest Christians met in homes or occasionally at the synagogues in Jewish towns. The catacombs became temporary shelters as Roman Christians hid from persecution, but the first church building that historians are aware of was constructed in the mid 200’s AD in the Syrian city of Dura-Europos on the west bank of the Euphrates River. It was first a house. The Christians knocked out the living room wall so that the building would accommodate the entire church in one room. Basilicas, monasteries, and cathedrals didn’t become popular until several centuries later.

These Christians certainly had less of a temptation to think of the church in the abstract – as the building or the location. There weren’t many “pew warmers” in those days before pews! We need to recapture some of what they knew-that the existence of the church has nothing to do with facilities on 2718 Church Street – but everything to do with the lives of eighty or so families in the Burns community.

We need to hear again Peter’s words to a persecuted church:

“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5) May we never forget our place – not in the church, but as the church!

Campaign for Christ Prayer Guide

This guide is meant as a tool to aid as you pray for our campaign. Don’t feel bound to it-explore the possibilities of prayer as you take this special effort to the Father’s throne.

1.      Pray for ourselves

a.      …that God will give us a burden for the lost.

b.      …that God will help us do our best to prepare.

c.       …that God’s will may direct our planning in wisdom.

d.      …that we will learn and be transformed by this experience.

e.      …that we will have pure hearts and right attitudes.

f.        …that we will have the energy, health, and resources to complete our task.

g.      …that we will have confidence in God.

h.      …that our lives will exemplify Christ.

i.        …that we will be forgiven for the times we’ve hidden our lights.

2.      Pray for our visiting campaigners

a.      …that they will travel safely.

b.      …that they will be effective.

c.       …that God will use them to teach and inspire us.

d.      …that their training will be remembered and utilized well.

e.      …that Eddie’s preaching of the gospel will lead souls towards Christ.

3.      Pray for our community

a.      …that we will find those who want to know God.

b.      …that those who don’t yet want to know God will learn to seek Him.

c.       …that nothing happens to hinder our effectiveness.

d.      …that Satan may not interfere with our efforts.

e.      …that God will prepare the hearts of those we meet.

f.        …that through God’s providence every person may have an opportunity to hear the gospel.

4.      Pray for our congregation

a.      …that our leaders will lead well, following in the footsteps of Jesus.

b.      …that we will grow spiritually-more sure of our faith in Christ, more dedicated to his cause.

c.       …that we will be what God wants us to be and the world needs us to be.

5.      Pray!

a.      Thank God for his love, grace, and mercy.

b.      Thank God for the ones who have taught us faith.

c.       Thank God for the gift of Jesus.

d.      Thank God for his eternal wisdom.

e.      Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Praise him, all creatures here below! Praise him above ye heavenly host! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

What’s the good news?

Did you know that patients who believe that they have hope usually recover quicker and live longer than those who don’t? Did you know that troubled marriages in which the partners believe that things can get better are significantly more likely to get better than in identical circumstances without an optimistic outlook? Man can endure almost anything, as long as there is hope. Hope is powerful stuff! (Remember Proverbs 13:13? “Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick!”)

A biblical understanding of hope is even more powerful. It isn’t just wishing that things will get better-it is knowing that they will, and looking forward to that day! That’s why “hope” is such an important term in our understanding of heaven.

We have hope because of what Jesus has done: he has given us his righteousness-a gracious act that transforms our lives. Here’s how Paul put it: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame (“disappoint” NIV), because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:1-5 ESV)

Now that’s what I call good news!

Forget seven habits or twelve steps-this passage describes the secret to successful, joyous, hope-filled, and heaven-bound living-and the secret’s name is Jesus the Christ!

Who will you share him with this week?

Our facilities here have a fire alarm system. It exists is to let us know if there’s a fire, so that we can exit safely. Our bodies have systems that let us know about dangerous situations, too. We have pain receptors that detect pressure, heat, and the presence of caustic chemicals that could harm us. Our nervous system is designed just so to deliver these signals as high priority messages to our brains-which process these signals as quickly as possible in a way that makes pain virtually impossible to ignore.

The system is wonderful in the way that it works-but not so wonderful when it’s sending false alarms. What is hard for me to believe is that it is even worse when it doesn’t raise any alarms at all.

Leprosy is caused by bacteria which cause the immune system to attack the nerves in your skin, beginning with your extremities. The first victim of leprosy is your ability to feel pain. You become, quite literally, desensitized. Ask a leprosy patient-this isn’t a good thing. This desensitization makes it easy for you to hurt yourself without ever knowing it. You’d never know that you stubbed your toe or that your shoes were wearing blisters into your feet-until the damage had long been done. Leprosy invites other infections and diseases into your now mangled body-which is ultimately the cause of death.

1 Timothy 4:2 describes a similar situation, a time when folks depart from the faith through the teaching of insincere liars whose consciences have been seared. They no longer can feel! No pain and no pleasure. As a result, their “insensitivity” has caused them to be agents of Satan who are actively tearing apart the church.

We need this reminder to be sensitive. We need to be sensitive to detect false teaching. We need to be sensitive to see problems in our families. We need to be sensitive to see opportunities and teachable moments when we spread the gospel. May we never lose our Christ-centered sensitivity!