Burns Church of Christ

Bible Bowl 2009 was a great success. Congratulations to the Burns teams which did better than ever in studying the gospel of John.

Enjoy this slideshow of our pictures!

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. II Corinthians 12:8

Champions learn to play hurt. We know that our favorite football player must play sometimes hurting.  He can’t just stop when he is hurt.  I once read a story about a man who played a half of the game with a broken arm.  That may be a bit beyond the call of duty.

“Amateurs can produce when they feel like it. Pros can produce when they don’t feel like it.” There is a local advertiser whose slogan seems to be “Life dose not have to hurt.”  I’m not sure about that. Life has its hurts.  Pain is a way of life for many this side of eternity.

Perhaps the character of a man is more evident when he has his back to the wall.  What we are really comes out when the pressure rises.  It is at this point that our faith really comes out.  If there is no testing of faith there is no certainty that we are really true believers.  James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Paul was a man familiar with pain.  He faced it with strength and fortitude.  It was a daily battle with difficulty.  When Paul pleaded with the Father to remove the thorn in his flesh, He answered: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

We don’t always equate power and weakness, but Paul did.  When we think of our walk with Jesus, we often can quit because of some pain in our physical of emotional make-up.  It is at this time that our faith is being tested and we need to endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ (II Timothy 2:3)

Sometimes at church we throw around words that mean a lot to us—but they may not mean much to you. This month, I’d like to share a glossary of church words and terms to help you better understand what we say and do.

• Church: noun. An assembly of Christians. Never used to describe a building, a location, or a set of beliefs; always used to describe the people. We want to be the church (the assembly) of Christ! (See Matthew 16:18, 18:17, Acts 11:22, Ephesians 5:23, et al)
• Bible: noun. The authoritative, inspired holy book for Christians. Its name means book – and it is a book of books: 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. It rests on the greatest evidence of any book of antiquity, and is the only book that is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.” (Hebrews 4:12) See also 2 Timothy 3:16.
• Worship: verb. To offer praise and demonstrate admiration for God. Comes from an ancient phrase meaning either to serve or to blow kisses. Worship is an act of love and humility that must be offered from a sincere heart in a way that honors the will of the worshipped one. Worship should belong to God alone. It can be done informally through action in our lives and formally as we pray, sing, give, study scripture, evangelize, encourage one another, or partake of the Lord’s Supper. Worship s a dominant activity of Heaven. See John 4:24, Mark 7:7, and Colossians 2:18.
• Baptize: verb. To immerse. In the Bible the term always refers to a complete envelopment, a burial. It is the transformational process in which a believer signifies a “death” to his old way of life and experiences forgiveness of sins and receives the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ promised comforter (Acts 2:38). It is undertaken by those who are willing to live in the grace of Jesus—those old enough to believe, repent, and confess. It is the process by which man comes into contact with the blood of Jesus, and thus—it saves us through him. See 1 Peter 3:21, Acts 8, and Romans 6:1-12.
• Hope: noun. Eager anticipation; desire and expectation. Hope is not wishy-washy; it is a solid anchor for our souls (Hebrews 6:19). Christians have hope because we look forward to the return of Jesus, and we are certain that it will happen. Hope does not disappoint (Romans 5:5).
• Burns Church of Christ: You won’t find this exact phrase in your Bible, but we believe that you will find it described. It is an assembly of Christians who gather regularly to worship God and encourage each other. They trust the Bible as our sure guide to understanding Jesus and his desire for us. We are not perfect—anything but—but we are made right with God though the blood of Jesus—and that gives us hope. Join us this Sunday and find out more!

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served (diakoneo), but to serve (diakoneo). Matthew 20:28

Some concepts in the Bible and the words used today to describe them need to be rescued from man-made distortions.  These distortions have accumulated through the years and have reversed the original meaning that we find in the Holy Scriptures.  We believe that we should go back to the Bible, not just to the current use of Bible concepts.

The word deacon is one of those words that we have a lot of baggage attached to and it is difficult for us to go back to the Bible for our understanding.  What pops into our minds when a word is used is conditioned by our own experiences and background.  Pastor is one of those words. When the word is used a certain idea, based on past experiences, pops into our minds.  Depending on our background the word deacon is likewise fraught with imbedded ideas.

Jesus has forever changed the use of the word deacon.  He has placed the responsibility on all his disciples that they be deacons.  Deacons in the text above is somewhat akin to a household servant.  A deacon is one who cares for the needs of others.  He is one who leads in a particular ministry, ministering out love to meet the needs of the local body.

If translators had translated the word rather than make an English word out of the Greek word, it would have simply been servant or minister.  Then we could get on with what Jesus said in Matthew 20: find a need and meet it by serving others.  That way we could all be ministers in the Kingdom and obey the orders of our beloved King.

Long-standing traditional boundaries very often restrict our freedom to think under the direction of the Holy Spirit in the Word. What could this church be like if all of us would show the attitude of Jesus in serving others?

Here are some flashcards for studying the people in John. Good luck!