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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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March 8, 2015
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Contents:
1) "The Joy of Worshipping God Together" (Bob Crawley)
2) That Your Days May Be Long (Dale Smelser)
3) Selected Sentence Sermons on the Heart
4) News & Notes
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-1-
"The Joy of Worshipping God Together"
by Bob Crawley
Mankind, as God's creation, has no higher tribute than that God
"visitest him" (Hebrews 2:6). Similarly, man is never more noble
than when he responds by lifting up his hands and heart to worship
God.
There is an aspect of the spirit of man that can be fulfilled only
by worshipping God. As the eye is designed to behold beauty, and the
ear is fitted to listen to harmonious sounds, so is the spirit of
man created to worship and serve God (Acts 17:24-28). "As the hart
panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O
God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God" (Psalm 42:1-2).
Men fulfill their reason for existence only when they "seek God, if
haply they might feel after him and find him" (Acts17:27).
God, in infinite wisdom and boundless love, has provided that we
should worship Him in those ways that both exalt Him and edify us.
When we can understand that the worship which pleases God and that
He accepts is also that which fulfills our own greatest need, then
we shall be able to worship Him with a greater depth of gratitude.
Worshipping Together
While effective worship should, at times, be rendered in the privacy
of one's own closet (Matthew 6:6), God has directed also that His
people join together sometimes to share in worshipping Him. The
company of other people strengthens us in whatever we do, either
good or bad. Even as "evil companionships corrupt" (1 Corinthians
15:33), so also the fellowship of others in the true worship of God
serves to "provoke unto love and good works" (Hebrews 10:24). When
our Lord directed that His worshippers come together "upon the first
day of the week... to break bread" (Acts 20:7), He was giving us the
benefit of this reinforcement. If one neglects this appointment, or
even joins with a church where this weekly communion is not
practiced, he not only disobeys Christ, but prevents his own
spiritual development.
Singing Together
Christians are admonished, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts unto God" (Colossians 3:16). Words of praise, thanksgiving,
hope and admonition are all the more powerful when set to
appropriate cadence and melody. Such is the value of music. When we
sing together with others whose hearts are similarly stirred and
attuned to God, our own soul is enlarged in its upward reach toward
God and in its outward reach to embrace, in love, our brothers and
sisters.
Breaking Bread Together
Only in the privacy of his own heart can the worshipper "discern"
that he is not merely eating bread and drinking the juice of the
grapes, but is participating in "the body and blood of the Lord" (1
Corinthians 11:27). Yet Christ, through His apostles, instructed
that this supper be eaten by disciples who have come together (Acts
20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:20, 33). While we are eating the bread and
remembering the body of Jesus, sustained as it was by "bread," in
which He fulfilled all righteousness and overcame sin in the flesh,
we can look around at others and be impressed that we are not alone
in communion with that body. Likewise, as we drink the fruit of the
vine, we are reminded that Jesus' blood was truly shed "for many
unto the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28). Such worship helps us
become more fully "one body, for we all partake of the one bread" (1
Corinthians 10:17).
Public Prayers
We do not have to pray aloud to be heard of God for "he that
searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the spirit" (Romans
8:27). Yet, from the earliest days, Christians have been taught to
unite in prayer (Acts 2:42; 4:24; 12:12, etc.). Joining our
fellow-Christians in prayer about their burdens helps us overcome
the temptation to be self-centered in our own prayers. It is also a
humbling experience to hear others praying earnestly for us. Those
who lead prayers in the assembly would do well to prepare for them
as carefully as for a sermon or a class lesson.
David was "glad when they said unto (him), let us go unto the house
of Jehovah" (Psalm 122:1). We, too, should learn to rejoice at every
opportunity to join our brethren in faithful worship to God. "For
the Father seeketh such to worship him " (John 4:23).
-- Via the bulletin of the Collegevue church of Christ (Columbia,
TN), 9/14/14
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To the scribe's inquiry, "What commandment is foremost of all?,"
Jesus replied, "...'You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all
your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these" (Mark
12:28-31).
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-2-
That Your Days May Be Long
by Dale Smelser
The article in the Washington Post announced, "Study Finds Regular
Churchgoers Get More Life Out of Life." Its lead paragraph said,
"Live longer, go to church. A major study of church attendance and
mortality indicates that people who attend church every week live an
average of seven years longer than people who never attend."
Life expectancy was 53.3 years beyond the age of 20 for people who
never attend church. For those who regularly attend at least once a
week, the increase was 61.9 years. For those who attended more
regularly, there was an extra year added to that, making life
expectancy for them, 83. The study was funded partially by the
National Science Foundation. Other studies had noted a positive link
between religion and physical and mental health. But this was the
first study on a national level. Suggested explanations are that
frequent churchgoers are less likely to engage in "unhealthful"
behavior of the less principled. There are also the supportive ties
between members. And there is the possibility that worship decreases
the stress which is at the root of many illnesses.
While germs, viruses, and genetic flaws can appear at random
striking anyone, it should not surprise us that even approximation
to God and righteousness is beneficial even in this life. Even
religion that is deficient would have benefit as it approached the
ideal. In emphasis on God rather than self, upon excellence rather
than indulgence, upon principle rather than pleasure, there is bound
to be some benefit. The response of the unprincipled leaders of our
day is predictable. There will be the sitcom canned laugh line,
"Religious people don't live longer, it just seems longer." But that
denies the actual math, doesn't it? They just don't understand that
the pleasures of righteousness are not so fleeting as theirs, which
need a constant "fix" in new indulgence.
Here are some relevant promises of God. "Godliness is profitable...
having the promise of the life which now is, and of the life which
is to come" (I Tim. 4:8). There is national benefit as well as
personal. Immediately after giving the Ten Commandments, and
teaching love for God, Israel was required to do "right and good,
that it may be well with you" (Dt. 6:18). Moses said the
commandments to fear the Lord, "are for our good always, that He
might preserve us" (Dt. 6:24 ). And in the Commandments is a
requirement and blessing. "Honor your father and mother that your
days may be long in the land" (Ex. 20:12 ). Of course it was
understood that the parents were walking in and teaching God's laws.
The results of the above study were declared long ago by Peter. He
said there is a "blessing" in righteousness, and then declared the
blessing: "He that would love life and see good days... let him turn
away from evil and do good... For the eyes of the Lord are upon the
righteous, and his ears unto their supplication (I Pet. 3:8-12).
Living longer is not going to convert lovers of sin and haters of
righteousness. Nor is it going to make us love God more. It is faith
that humbly and joyfully compels us to the feet of God to worship
Him. The advantage is icing on the cake and some vindication in the
face of the assault on faith and piety. And thank God for that gift.
But especially for the hope we have in Christ for eternal life in
utter joy and undiluted blessedness.
-- Via Blog Articles from the Northwest church of Christ
(Germantown, Maryland), January 2, 2011
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-3-
Selected Sentence Sermons on the Heart
Be an organ donor. Give your heart to Jesus.
The heart is happiest when it beats for others.
To be happy, give people a bit of your heart, instead of a piece of
your mind.
The bigger the head, the smaller the heart.
Keep your head and your heart going in the right direction and
you'll not have to worry about your feet.
Peace is not made in documents, but in the hearts of men.
Sympathy is two hearts tugging at the same load.
Sympathy is the result of thinking with your heart.
Truth is something which must be known with the mind, accepted with
the heart, and enacted in life.
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-4-
News & Notes
Steve Vesta is soon to begin hospice care. Let
those of us who are Christians also be remembering his wife Maria
and all his family and friends in our prayers.
Buddy Gornto is now having to receive dialysis. He had been a
diabetic for many years; but now that his kidneys are no longer
working as they should, his diabetes has been eliminated.
I was very glad to find out today that Dolly Downs Moody is
now cancer free! She can still use our prayers, however, due
to a thrombosis (a coagulation of blood) in her portal vein.
There will be a Gospel Meeting at the North Valdosta church
of Christ March 15-20 with Everitt Heaton as the guest
speaker. Weeknights: 7:30. The church meets at 4313
North Valdosta Road in Valdosta.
Let us also continue to remember the following in our prayers: Myrna
Jordan, Melotine Davis (recovering from a knee replacement), Danielle
Howard, Mary Vandevander, Jim Lively, Deborah Medlock (hasn't
been feeling well lately), Shirley Davis, Penny Medlock
(glaucoma), Cheryl Corbitt (seeking employment), Jewell
Wilson, Rex and Frankie Hadley, Jesse Bailey (cancer), Dexter
Roberts (cancer), Sue Wooten (at nursing home), and Collen
Henson.
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Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA 31501
Sunday services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 5 PM (worship)
Wednesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 614-8593
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://tebeaustreetchurchofChrist.org
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/go
(Gospel Observer website)
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html
(audio sermons)