Always Remembering Him
March 31, 2010
A preacher was telling the story about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to a group of children. He asked, “What did Jesus say when He came forth from the grave?” He was trying to make the point that He didn’t need to say anything that His wondrous miracle said more than words could ever say. A young lady however insisted that she knew what Jesus said. The preacher finally asked her to tell him what Jesus said. She smiled widely and said, “Ta Dah!”
Now I don’t know that Jesus actually said, if anything at all, but from a human standpoint I can imagine the excitement of just defying death and just perhaps Jesus doing something like that, (in part because I believe that Jesus had a human side as well as a sense of humor).
We are entering into a time of the year at which most of the religious world celebrates “Easter.” It might surprise some of you to know that our church doesn’t do that. I know that it is hard for you to imagine someone claiming to be a Christian and yet not celebrating this very special day. Yet for us, it is no different than any other Sunday.
You see, the Bible tells us to c
ome together the first day of each week to worship God. The early church did just that, Jesus told the early church to remember His death, burial and resurrection through the partaking of “The Lord’s Supper” or “Communion” whenever they met that way, (Matthew 26:26-29). The early church is seen coming together on the first day of every week to “break bread” or to partake of the Lord’s Supper, (Acts 20:7; I Cor. 11:23-30; 16:1-2).
In other words, we don’t need one special Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of the “Savior of the World.” We do it each and every “First day of the Week,” every “Sunday.” I know that some of you may ask the question, “Won’t doing that make it something that is no longer special? My answer is no, not at all, it is a continual reminder of the sacrifice Christ on our behalf. The Apostle Paul wrote in I Cor. 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” Not only His death, but His resurrection, because that is part of what the Gospel is all about, (I Cor. 15:1-4).
I don’t know about you, but remembering “The Great Ta Dah” every week is a great thing and a great comfort to me. My prayer is that you will see past the “display and circumstance” that so many heap upon this one special day of the year and understand that it is something you can participate in every Sunday with the same sense of awe. - MFTH
God bless you all and have a great week,
Michael
Oder of Worship
March 25, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sermon: Michael Bryan
Song Leader: Greg Chaney
Opening Prayers: AM-Jimmy Bellah PM-Billy Lucas
Closing Prayers: AM-Mark Rogers PM-Jerry Russell
Lord’s Table: Shelton Boyd, Cody Buczyna, Jerry Miller, Joel Owens, Scott Carey, & Rodney Russell PM-Shelton Boyd
Pick-up Cards: Tyler Jones & Kyle Owens
Worship Helpers: Russ Russell & Odell Walker
Nursing Home: Logan Cravens
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Boy’s Night
Devo: Lane Boyd
Song Leader: Burl McCoy
Prayers: Opening- Larry Gill Closing-Dustin Simmons
Meeting
March 18, 2010
Elders and Deacons’ have a meeting Sunday at 4:30.
Congratulations!!
March 18, 2010
Congratulations to Chera Chaney, Ciara Cope, Jessie McGuire and Reagan Bustamante making Varsity Cheerleaders.
LTC Practice
March 18, 2010
LTC practice Sunday from 3:00-5:30; Everyone needs to be there. LTC in Dallas is two weeks away!!
Order of Worship
March 18, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Sermon: Michael Bryan
Song Leader: Shelton Boyd
Opening Prayers: AM- Joel Owens PM-Jim Jacobs
Closing Prayers: AM- Jason Myers PM-Lane Boyd
Lord’s Table: Logan Cravens, Burl McCoy, Ronnie Hobbs, Russ Russell, Joe Stephens, George Smith PM-Logan Cravens
Pick-up Cards: Tyler Jones & Lincoln Russell
Worship Helpers: Cody Buczyna & Jonathan Juarez
Nursing Home: Jim Goldsmith
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Devo: Jimmy Bellah
Song Leader: Lane Boyd
Prayers: Opening- Jim Goldsmith Closing- Lou David Allen
Are Your Eyes Open?
March 17, 2010
The following is a true story (though there are some questions about a few of the details). Back in 1893, there was a group of four sisters in Iowa. They called themselves the Cherry Sisters and made their stage debut in Cedar Rapids in a skit they wrote themselves. It was terrible. But, for three years, the Cherry Sisters performed to packed theaters throughout the Midwest. People came to see them to find out if they were as bad as they had heard! Their unbelievably atrocious acting enraged critics and provoked the audience to throw vegetables at the would-be actresses. Wisely, the sisters thought it best to travel with an iron screen which they would erect in front of the stage in self-defense.
Amazingly, in 1896 the girls were offered a thousand dollars a week to perform on Broadway — not because they were so good, but because they were so unbelievably bad. Seven years later, after the Cherry Sisters had earned what in that day was a respectable fortune of $200,000, they retired from the stage for the peaceful life back on the farm. Oddly enough, these successful Broadway “stars” remained convinced to the end that they were truly the most talented actresses ever to grace the American stage. They never had a clue as to how bad they truly were! They naively believed that the tossed vegetables were either unrestrained tributes to their talent or acts of jealousy by less talented people.
How could they be so blind? I find it all too easy to understand. The truth is, like everyone else, I am blind to many of my shortcomings. I fail to recognize that I have a problem with impatience or lack of compassion or pride. Don’t get me wrong — I have no trouble seeing those faults (and many more as well!) in the lives of people around me. I can readily see how sinful everyone else is. But even when people “toss vegetables” at me, I still insist there’s no problem with me.
Jesus had something t
o say about this to the Pharisees (and of course it’s easy for me to see how sinful THEY were!):
Matt. 7:3-4 “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
God, please open my eyes to those things in my life which displease You and keep me from being close to You and others around me. In my times of blindness, help me to see. In Jesus’ name, amen. -TFTD
God bless you all and have a great week,
Michael
Order of Worship
March 11, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Sermon: Michael Bryan
Song Leader: Lou David Allen
Opening Prayers: AM-Joel Owens PM-Jimmy Bellah
Closing Prayers: AM-Tim Walker PM-Mark Rogers
Lord’s Table: Jim Goldsmith, Wayne Deen, Billy Jones, Robert Jackson, Scott Adair & Ray Juarez PM-Jim Goldsmith
Pick-up Cards: Tyler Jones & Preston Jackson
Worship Helpers: Odell Walker & Russ Russell
Nursing Home: Logan Cravens
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Devo: Scott Carey
Song Leader: Shelton Boyd
Prayers: Opening-Lane Boyd Closing-Dustin Simmons
What Do You Have?
March 11, 2010
In December 1977 the Arkansas Razorbacks, coached by Lou Holtz, were preparing to play the Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl. Because of recent suspensions on the Razorback team (and the resulting dissension among players) Arkansas had become a 24 point underdog.
The negative press took its effect on the players as they prepared for the game; it was evident in the way they practiced. They were listless and unfocused, completely lacking confidence.
Holtz called the team together for a meeting. As the players sat slumped in the chairs, staring at the floor, he told them: “Just because the press is writing our obituary doesn’t mean that we have to die. We’ve read all the reasons why we can’t win; I want to hear why can.”
The players sat silent. Nobody offered an opinion. Holtz told them plainly, “We’re not leaving this meeting until I get some answers.”
Slowly the players began speaking up: Even though they had lost some key offensive players, the defense was still intact. They still had the best place-kicker in the country. They had a great quarterback, and on and on. The more the players talked about why they could win, the more their confidence soared, and the more their outlook changed.
If you’re a football fan, you know what happened a few days later. The Razorbacks pulled off one of the greatest upsets in bowl history, beating Oklahoma 31-6.
Holtz said, “We won that ga
me the moment our players focused on what we had instead of what we lacked.”
Moses faced a similar situation when God called him to lead the people of Israel out of slavery. Moses’ response was “What if they don’t listen to me?” God’s response was “What do you have?”
Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2)
What Moses had was a rod. But it was more than a rod; it symbolized the power of God, and it was all Moses needed. That rod taught Moses not to look at what he had lacked, but look at what he had: the power of God in his life.
What do you have? Along with your talent and your determination, you can list the power of God among your assets. And needless to say, it goes at the top of the list.
Whatever challenges you are facing — whatever seemingly insurmountable odds — remember that the key to victory is focusing on what you have, not on what you lack. - S. May
God bless you all and have a great week,
Michael
Our Youth – Congratulations
March 4, 2010
Congratulations to:
«Chelsea Chaney FCA Cheerleader
«Chera Chaney Offensive Player of the Year & Academic 1st Team All District
«Traci Childers 2nd Team All District
«Carly Szabo Defensive Player of the Year & FCA Basketball Player
«Ali Szabo 2nd Team All District
