End of Year Fellowship

Acts 2:42 says, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” I believe this passage is part of the reason the early church grew. One of the things listed here is fellowship. Fellowship is vital to the growth and health of a congregation. We are working to improve our fellowship. We are relaunching Sunday nights and adding in Stay and Play. I want to share some of the things that are coming up so you have a heads up.

Pig Roast September 30th

Church Eat Church October 1st

Door Knocking October 7th

Hayride October 22nd

Church Eat Church/Fall Festival/Trunk or Treat October 29th

Food Giveaway November 18th

Shut-in Thanksgiving Meals/Tuesday Night services November 21st

Christmas Party (after evening services) December 3rd

Maybe a New Year’s Thing December 31st (let us know what you think)

Do not forget about things like Ladies of Grace, Fifth Quarter (September 29th, October 27th), youth activities, and just normal service times. There are so many good things going on here. Thank you to all that make that possible!

A House Divided

"Next to the wicked lives of men, nothing is so great a disparagement and weakening to religion as the divisions of Christians." — John Tillotson

There is no doubt that sin is a great challenger of the truth of God’s church, but the quote says our divisions are also a huge problem for us. Do you think that is true?

Let me propose a scenario for you. A fellow here in town decides he wants to follow and obey God. So he asks one of his family members, and they tell him something that sounds good so he decides to do what they have said. But before he does, he tells another family member what he is about to do only to find out that they tell him something different. Confused, he asks other family members what to do. He receives various answers which agree and disagree with things he has already been told. Even more confused, he asks some trusted friends who give other answers. Thinking surely the preachers in town could give him a clear answer, he goes to them, but to his dismay they all give various answers. What is a fellow supposed to do? I do not think this scenario is too far-fetched. I could see it happening here in our community. Hopefully, this fellow will not give up because of confusion and will go back to what the Bible says. Because ultimately we will be judged by the Bible and not men’s opinions.

I believe there should be some shame on us. We have become content with religious division in our world. Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was not content with religious division when he penned 1 Corinthians chapter one verses ten through thirteen. Some were claiming to be of this person and some of another person. Paul asked, “Was Christ divided?” He called them out of division into unity. That can be tough because we must leave our opinions, likes, and desires and return to scripture for unity with God and His people.Too often, we like to bind our opinion and loose God’s Word, and that is the opposite of what we should be doing.

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Who taught you the gospel? Maybe it was your parents, grandparents, or someone else in your family. It is common for families to pass their faith down to the next generation (2 Timothy 1:5). Maybe a friend, neighbor, or coworker shared the truth of God’s word with you. Nowadays, maybe you watched a sermon on Facebook, took an online Bible study, or heard a podcast. Maybe it was a combination of these things or others. Are you grateful for those who took their time to share the gospel? Where would you be if they had not shared the gospel with you? I read a quote the other day by Emil Brunner that said, "One who receives this Word, and by it salvation, receives along with it the duty of passing this Word on... Where there is no mission, there is no Church, and where there is neither Church nor mission, there is no faith.”

What was Jesus’ plan for the spread of the gospel? His creation. We see an example of this in Matthew 28:18-20 when Jesus tells His disciples to go into all the world and make disciples. How do we make disciples? We must give them the Word of God. That is how faith comes (Romans 10:17). We see the gospel being passed down from Paul to Timothy and then from Timothy to other faithful men (2 Timothy 2:2). I do not believe God’s church will be destroyed (Matthew 16:18), but we can hinder its growth when we neglect our responsibility.

If you are a child of God, you were probably blessed to have those in your life who taught you the gospel. If we do not teach, will we have the same problem they had a few generations after Joshua (Judges 2:7-10)? Evangelism is not always fun. Fun does not make things right. Maybe you have been met with disappointment. Remember they are not rejecting you but Jesus. Brooks is going to be leading a door-knocking campaign on October 7th. If that is not an opportunity you can take advantage of, who will you share the gospel with?