Bulletin Articles:
Good Advice for the New Year
If you haven’t made your New Year’s resolutions yet, how about these from Paul’s letter to the Romans?
Let us have no imitation Christian love. Let us have a genuine break with evil and a real devotion to good. Let us have real warm affection for one another as between brothers, and a willingness to let the other man have the credit.
Let us not allow slackness to spoil our work and let us keep the fires of the spirit burning, as we do our work for God.
Base your happiness on your hope in Christ. When trials come, endure them patiently: steadfastly maintain the habit of prayer.
Give freely to fellow Christians in want, never grudging a meal or a bed to those who need them. And as for those who try to make your life a misery, bless them. Don’t curse, bless.
Share the happiness of those who are happy, and the sorrow of those who are sad. Live in harmony with one another. Don’t become snobbish but take a real interest in ordinary people. Don’t become set in your own opinions.
Don’t pay back a bad turn by a bad turn, to anyone. Don’t say, “It doesn’t matter what people think,” but see that your public behavior is above criticism.
As far as your responsibility goes, live at peace with everyone. Never take vengeance into your own hands, my dear friends: stand back and let God punish if he will . . . .
Don’t allow yourself to be overpowered with evil. Take the offensive—overpower evil by good!
Romans 12
(Phillips Translation)
If I Knew Then What I Know Now!
How many times have you heard those words uttered over the years? Have you ever said them?
Usually words like these are said in regard to bad decisions one may have made in the past based on inadequate knowledge.
I believe these words can be appropriate to focus in on as we think about what we will know after this life is over.
This reminds me of a popular story spoken by our Savior and recorded in Luke 16. The rich man in the story is told, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented” [Lk.16:25].
Don’t you suppose the rich man may have thought to himself, “If I knew then what I know now, things sure would be different for me.” To his credit the rich man did make an effort toward reaching his brothers, but then it was too late.
The mind soars as we contemplate what we will know when this life is over and eternity stretches before us. We will know about the reality of God’s existence, the veracity of all the things said about Jesus in the Bible, the truthfulness of God’s word, the importance of Christ’s church, the value of a human soul, and no doubt many other things. But we know these things now, don't we? Let’s not wait until tomorrow to share these important truths with precious souls today. “Now is the accepted time” [II Cor. 6:2].
JUST TURN AROUND!
It would be difficult to imagine a subject more worthy of our attention than the subject of repentance. Some people might think that repentance can be easily accomplished. However, a brief look at the word of God reveals that such is not the case.
In 2 Pet. 2:5 we read that Noah [a preacher of righteousness] preached probably about 120 years. Do you think he used the same sermon twice? If he converted even one person before the flood, other than his family, we aren’t aware of it.
Jeremiah poured out his heart in an effort to bring his people to repentance. It didn’t seem to have a great effect. John the Baptist, the apostle Paul, and even our Savior, were unable to cause repentance within the lives of a large percentage of people with whom they had contact.
Repentance may not always be understood by all the people who hear the word. It isn’t mere sorrow, Godly sorrow, or even restitution of life. Repentance is actually what the title of this article is suggesting. It is simply turning around or changing one’s mind.
Repentance on the part of man is certainly in God’s plan. Therefore, he gives us reasons for repentance. We also see fruits of repentance illustrated in the Bible. Finally we see things in the word of God which motivate man to repent. All have sinned [Rom.3:23; I Jn. 1:8] thus all need to repent.
1-22-06
ABORTION, A SHEDDING OF
INNOCENT BLOOD
Today is the 33rd anniversary of one of the saddest decisions ever made in Supreme Court history. As a result of Roe vs. Wade, millions of unborn babies will never be able to experience life.
In the year of 1973, when the decision occurred, 774,600 abortions were performed in the U.S. alone. In 1996 that number had risen to 1,365,700. The fact that the number decreased slightly in 2001 [1,310,000] brings us very little comfort.
World wide there are 46 million abortions conducted each year. There are 126,000 abortions conducted every day of the year.
The majority of women getting abortions are young. 52% are younger than 25 years old and 19% are teenagers. The abortion rate is highest for women age 18-19. Unmarried women are 6 times more likely than married women to have an abortion. 67% of abortions are from women who have never been married.
In today’s lesson I want to explore what the Bible says about this subject. In doing this I will ask who created life and what value did Christ place on human life? Also I want to show the contrast between the golden rule [Mt. 7:12] and abortion.
To be fair I will also look at the arguments posed by individuals who are in support of abortion.
In conclusion I will present some ideas of what can be done by those of us who are concerned. In the book of Isaiah, the prophet exhorts us to “cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto my people their transgressions” [Isa. 58:1]. Jesus informs us that all people are our neighbors [Lk.10:35-37]. There could never be a more innocent neighbor than an unborn child. Let us drive out evil before wickedness drives us out of this land!
1-29-06
What Does God Say About Homosexuality?
Almost every day we hear someone speaking about the subject of homosexuality. If any of us dare speak out against it we are considered as being judgmental, ugly, and homophobic.
Therefore, in this morning’s lesson I will leave my opinion about homosexuality completely out of the picture, because it really doesn’t matter how I feel about this subject when we view it with eternity in mind. Instead, we will focus on God’s view. After all, it is the only view that really counts.
Turning to the word of God we will find that in the Patriarchal dispensation homosexuality was considered to be a “grievous” sin [2 Pet. 2:6; Gen. 18:20].
During the time of the Mosaical dispensation, the sin of homosexuality was considered to be a capital crime [Lev. 20:13].
We now live in the Christian dispensation. God teaches us emphatically that those who practice this sin will not inherit the kingdom of God [I Cor. 6:9-10]. In Rom.1:18, 27 we are told that the wrath of God will be revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness, including homosexuality.
To summarize, God’s stance against homosexuality has been consistent since the beginning of time. It was considered grievous during the Patriarchal dispensation, an abomination during the Mosaical dispensation, and shameful during the Christian dispensation.