Our 2012 Sweetheart’s Banquet was a great success! Thank you, ladies who made this such a great night!
Verse of the DayAll blog entries fall under this category.
Join us Sunday mornings this spring at Burns for a look at Peter’s epistles: Christian living in a broken world. Hope to see you there!
Most folks who set out to make New Year’s resolutions make a list. That list is pretty familiar, isn’t it? Lose weight. Eat better. Be nicer. Quit smoking. Go to church more. Be a better parent, husband, friend, or preacher. Write better bulletin articles. Read more books. Talk less. Listen more. If you’re like most folks – that list serves you well until January 3rd or so. It’s a great idea, but hard to follow through on.
Here’s a suggestion: what one thing in your life is holding you back from serving Jesus? There may be several things—but what is the biggest problem?
We’re kind of funny people. I hate cleaning my office—just ask Leslie! The best way to get me to clean my office is to assign me a task I like less. Suddenly, cleaning the office just got a lot easier. Sometimes we don’t focus on what is really important.
If your car has a leaking transmission, burns oil, and doesn’t have brakes, you’d be a fool to spend your time and money waxing it and installing a new stereo, wouldn’t you? If your house has a broken window, you need to fix it before you worry about new hardwood floors.
Our lives are the same way: while there are several things in each of our lives that interfere with our relationship with Jesus, in all likelihood, one of those problems is more severe and urgent than the others. We need to tackle the big problem first.
So throw out your list of resolutions. Identify the one thing that is doing more harm to your soul than anything else: one repeated sin, one neglected virtue, one continued disobedience or doubt, one nagging fear—just one!—confess it to a trusted friend, bring it to Jesus, and make it the target of your full-on assault this year. When (not if!) you conquer—then you can find the next thing.
Want a free 8×10 of your family? Want to help keep our church family united? Make an appointment for your church directory photo as soon as you can! We will be taking pictures on Friday, January 27 and Saturday, January 28th.
Here’s what you should know:
Thanks for your participation! Let Matthew or Brenda know if you have any questions!
This season is one of my favorite four of the year! It’s hard to be sleepy when you step outside and inhale a breath of crisp winter air. It’s hard to miss the beauty of lights and decorations in our homes and communities. I enjoy this time of year.
You and I know that we don’t know when Jesus was born. The Bible is oddly specific in the details it leaves for us regarding the birth of Jesus. We learn about the gifts that were brought, the location of his birth, the response to his birth—but we don’t learn the date or all other sorts of interesting information. I suspect there’s a divine reason for this: God wants us to focus on Jesus—not the things that surround him.
I am grateful that the Christmas season is the de facto time when people remember the birth of Jesus, because without it, they might not think about him at all.
I’m glad that when people think about the birth of Jesus, they think about giving. After all, God does love a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7), and “the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35).
I’m thrilled that when people tell the story of his virgin birth, they are reminded that as the angel told Mary, “nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) Even the impossible is possible.
I’m encouraged by the charities that operate this time of the year to make sure that even in the darkest, coldest time of the year, the “least of these” are taken care of. (Matthew 25:40)
I’m glad to know that God is in the saving business, that He is here, and that he has a plan for me. I’m thrilled that today we can worship this God as a family. Aren’t you?
Not too long ago, a company I often shop with awarded me “silver customer” status. When I received their notification, I was told that I now qualified for more discounts with them, and they appreciated what a “good customer” I had been.
It struck me as a little bit funny. They knew I had spent some too much money with them, and they knew that the discount would likely help encourage me to spend more. The “silver” designation implies that there is a higher status (gold, platinum) that I could attain, if only I keep shopping with them!
It’s a brilliant marketing move that many companies use to try to manipulate us into spending more money. I’m not a big fan of manipulation—but I do have a question for you: if Jesus were evaluating your dedication to His name, how would he describe you?
Crowds of people are spectators. They are interested in finding out what Jesus has to offer, but they’re more content in standing on the sidelines and watching. Spectators will likely come in late and leave early. They might sing—a little—and they might even smile, too. We all begin as spectators who look at Christianity and try to evaluate its merit.
Some people are consumers. They’re interested in what Jesus has to offer, what the church has to offer, what the community has to offer, and whatever anyone has to offer! They are active—in a consuming role. They’ll drop their kids off at every church activity. They’ll eat at every fellowship meal. They’ll be at every party—and probably even early! But you can count on one thing: they won’t be staying after to clean up. They reap without sowing.
A few are investors. They’re interested in being like Jesus. They’re active in serving. Freely they have received, so freely they give of their time, talent, and treasure. They clean up the building and take out the trash. They invest in people with encouraging words and time in prayer. They invest in their faith by studying the Word. They invest in the community by volunteering and teaching. Their work is hard, but nobody enjoys greater satisfaction, joy, or rewards, than an investor.
Which are you? If you’re new here, it’s okay to be a spectator for a little while. Test the water as a consumer—for a little while. And when you see that Jesus is good and his word is true—invest your heart and your life in his cause. Don’t be satisfied to watch and consume. Invest!
Our new winter quarter of classes begins this Sunday. We hope you’ll make plans to be a part of our special times together for Bible Study and fellowship!
Our kids’ curriculum is moving on great. We’ve got classes for all ages on Sunday mornings at 9 and Wednesday evenings at 7.
Here’s what’s new for our adults:
On Sunday mornings in the auditorium, Matthew and James will be teaching the Parables of Jesus in Luke.
On Wednesday nights, the auditorium class will be taught by Jerry Hall, Randy Fuqua, and Charlie Dauphin. Their topic is “The Story of God’s People” — a quick overview of what God is doing between Genesis and Revelation.
The ladies will restart their Wednesday night class downstairs in the Media Room, coordinated by Kathy Gabriel. Several of the ladies will be bringing biographical lessons of different women in scripture using the book “Bad Girls of the Bible” as a guide.
It promises to be a great quarter. Hope to see you here!
Our Wednesday night class listed several things for which we are thankful. The class decided to only list the “little things” in daily life that we tend to take for granted. I’ve included most of the list here as a guide. I hope it will help motivate you to thankfulness! If there’s something you’d like to add, would you add a comment to this post?
serenity prayer
fresh coffee in the morning
dogs that snore
morning solitude
hospital corpsmen
satellites
paper plates
c-pap machines
GPS systems
sunsets hitting airplane vapors
church steeples
clocks
toilet paper
electricity
refrigerators
smell of vanilla
ICE- for tea and other drinks
windshield wipers
heated blankets for when I’m cold
sleeping bags
ice cream cones
rye grass in the fall and winter months
new construction of downtown Dickson
all things chocolate
Read more »
If you’re anything like me (terror at the thought!) sometimes it’s hard to know what to say in a difficult situation. Job’s friends did their best work when they sat silently for a week (Job 2:11-13). By the time Job 16:2 rolls around, they’ve long since opened their mouths and become “miserable comforters.”
Certainly there is a time to speak and a time for silence. Wisdom is knowing which is which!
Alan Wolfelt wrote a book: The Handbook for Companioning the Mourner. He suggests that we take an attitude of companionship rather than feeling the need to offer counsel. Here are his principles for your consideration:
We say it often—because it’s true—sometimes the most important thing is just being there.
(See Richard Beck’s blog for a fuller discussion.)
Around the turn of the 20th century, the London Times put out a call to writers. They solicited essays in response to the question “What is wrong with the world?” to run in a series in the paper. Many great thinkers, scholars, writers, and preachers wrote in response to that prompt—but one short and simple answer stood above the stacks that came in before and after it.
Dear Sirs:
I am.
Sincerely yours,
G. K. Chesterton
I’m partial to Chesterton’s reply. It was probably the most helpful of the answers received that day. We can sit around and pontificate and try to solve all the world’s problems and list all the world’s woes, but ultimately, the only problem I can really deal with is mine.
It’s far easier to complain about what’s wrong with your spouse than to improve your share of your marriage. It’s easier to gripe about your kid’s teacher than it is to discipline your child enough so that he actually completes his homework. It’s more comfortable to count the sins of others and recall our own righteousness than it is to get our hands and hearts dirty in the business of cleaning our own lives.
Don’t take the easy way out. Be honest with yourself and with God. Jesus said, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)
