Posts Tagged ‘ house to house ’

Church Words 101

September 15, 2009
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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!

A Spiritual Check-up

June 30, 2009
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By the time you read this, our summer campaign will have been completed for several weeks. We will have met and studied with many of our readers-and we hope you were one of them! Our door and our hearts are always open to you. We don’t want to be strangers to our neighbors; come by any time, or if you have a specific need, give us a call and we’ll be glad to help wherever we can.

In the meanwhile, how about a spiritual check-up? It’s good to look inside and see how you’re doing.

  •  My Spiritual Heart: Do you “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”? (Matthew 22:37) Jesus said that this was the first and greatest commandment, and that all of the rest of the commandments of scripture are based on it and the second commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.  Do you have a passion for God-and the things of God? Is He real to you? Love produces obedience, by the way. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) Based on your lifestyle, is it evident that you love God?
  • My Spiritual Mouth: Do you pray early and often? We communicate with the ones we love; God is not different! Paul said that we should “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). He told the church in Philippi “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Is prayer a natural part of your life?
  • My Spiritual Ears: God speaks to us today through his inspired word-the 66 books of the Bible. Are you quiet long enough to listen to those words? Do you have a hearing disorder that keeps you from listening to him? Do you have selective hearing which picks and chooses scripture to suit you – rather than God? We believe “All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
  • My Spiritual Hands: How do you spend your time? It’s good to relax, it’s necessary to work, it’s important to be with you family-these are all biblical teachings – but the Bible teaches that nothing is more important than the kingdom of God, and all of our other priorities circle around this chief goal. We serve-as Christ served! As the old song says, “We’ll work ’til Jesus comes!”

We hope that you’re spiritually healthy. There’s certainly more to spiritual health than we could put on this check list! We haven’t talked about the importance of real and meaningful faith, the necessity of confession, the totality of repentance, or the beauty of our new birth in baptism-and these are all absolutely necessary!

Don’t like your answers to these questions? Do you have questions of your own? Come see us-and we’ll be glad to help point you towards the Great Physician we know and love.

Give Thanks!

November 25, 2008
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It is a special time of the year! How often does the collective American culture pause to say “thank you” or send cards en masse? Our stores are filled with lights and our homes overflow with the warmth of family. This is a time to celebrate and cherish what we love!

We are blessed people, yet how often we become forgetful and self-centered. The holiday season is supposed to be a time of generosity, when we live the words of Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

I hope you’ll spend some time with your family this season talking about the great gifts given by God. If anyone has the right to claim it is better to give than receive, it would certainly be the one who gave his only son, that whoever believes in him wouldn’t die! (John 3:16)

This winter at Burns we want to focus on being thankful people who live devoted lives because of the love of the Great Giver and Sustainer of life. We’ve dedicated the month of November to studying the “Big God” we serve. We’ll focus on Jesus, the greatest gift, in the month of December. On Wednesday, November 26 at 7pm, we’ll have a special service of thanksgiving to God. We’ll also have special mid-week services on Christmas Eve as well as New Year’s Eve at 7pm. We’re studying the letters Paul wrote from prison on Sunday nights at 6pm. In them we can see the power of God over anything that happens to us. We invite you to join us as we spend time in prayer, study, and song to express our gratitude to God!

This has been a great year for the church at Burns. We’ve been represented in mission work on three continents. We have grown in number. We have a class of almost twenty who are reading the Bible all the way through for the first time ever. We have grown as a family in the grace and peace of God. We want to share what we’ve experienced with you!

Let’s take time together to follow Paul’s instructions from 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “In all things, give thanks!”

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