2) \u201cIt\u2019s About Me!\u201d (Steve Patton)
3) Why Do We Have the Lord\u2019s Supper on the First Day of the Week? (Bill Crews)
4) Still Growing! (Tom Edwards)
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\u201cMy Lord and My God!\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tom Edwards<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thomas was not present when the Lord had first appeared to the ten apostles, after His resurrection. In later hearing their testimony that \u201cWe have seen the Lord!,\u201d Thomas then responded, \u201cUnless I see in His hands the imprint of nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe\u201d (Jn. 20:25).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the following Sunday when Thomas was given that opportunity. For the Lord again appeared to His disciples, standing in their midst and saying, \u201cPeace be with you\u201d (v. 26). And then, specifically to Thomas, Jesus said, \u201cReach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing\u201d (v. 27).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are not told whether Thomas actually touched the Lord or not, but we are given his response in what he saw, when he acknowledged, \u201cMy Lord and my God!\u201d (v. 28).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus then said to him, \u201cBecause you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed\u201d (v. 29).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We note that Jesus does not specifically say that Thomas had touched Him, but that he had seen Him \u2013 and that appears to have been all that was necessary for this previous doubter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thomas, of course, had not been the only doubter, prior to seeing the resurrected Lord. For that was also the case of all the Lord\u2019s apostles \u2013 and even after hearing the testimony of Mary Magdalene, that faithful follower of Jesus Christ who had often been with them, and the one to whom the Lord first appeared, following His resurrection (Mark 16:9). For she had declared to them that she had seen the Lord; yet, the apostles did not believe her (vv. 10,11). Where was that knowledge and even that inkling of faith in them that the Lord was to arise from the dead? Had they had that, would not such a testimony of Mary have been all they needed to have sparked and brought them to the realization of this marvelous event?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord\u2019s resurrection is that which truly bears witness to His Deity. For as Paul writes concerning Jesus, \u201cwho was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was DECLARED THE SON OF GOD WITH POWER BY THE RESURRECTION from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord\u201d (Rom. 1:3,4, emphasis mine).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as we just saw, it was in seeing the resurrected Jesus that prompted Thomas to declare, \u201cMy Lord and my God!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If Christ had been merely a man, would not His response to Thomas have been a rebuke for calling Him \u201cGod\u201d?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thomas would certainly not call the apostle John \u201cGod\u201d nor say that about any other man. But he said that of Jesus, and the Lord did not point out any error in what Thomas had said, but accepted it. And not only that, but He also pronounced blessing upon all those who had not seen, but yet still believed in His resurrection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We recall the time when Peter came to the household of Cornelius, and Cornelius \u201cfell at his feet and worshiped him\u201d (Acts 10:25). But in seeing that, \u201cPeter raised him up, saying, \u2018Stand up, I too am just a man\u2019\u201d (v. 26).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And when the apostle John, while receiving the great Revelation from God through an angel, \u201cfell at his feet to worship him,\u201d the angel said, \u201cDo not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God\u2026\u201d (Rev. 19:10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So even holy angels are not to be worshiped. Yet, according to Hebrews 1:6, all the angels are to worship Jesus Christ!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While on earth, Jesus was worshiped. He was worshiped when an infant (Matt. 2:11). He was worshiped in adulthood (Matt. 14:33, 28:9,27; John 9:38) \u2013 and not once did He rebuke any of these for doing so! For Jesus is to be reverenced and worshiped just as greatly as we reverence and worship the Father \u2013 and to not do so is to not honor the Father at all! As the Lord declares, \u201cFor not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him\u201d (Jn. 5:22,23).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After considering all of these above passages, we should well understand what the Lord meant by warning, \u201cunless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins\u201d (Jn. 8:24).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the world not only come to that great conclusion that Jesus truly is Lord, and that Jesus is truly God; but also be able to declare, like Thomas, that Jesus is \u201cMy Lord and my God!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* All Bible verses are from the New American Standard Bible. -2-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Steve Patton<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our world constantly emphasizes that life is \u201call about me.\u201d We have it hammered into our brains daily with ad slogans like: \u201cYou are special. You deserve a break today. Have it your way. Because you\u2019re worth it. We do it all for you. It\u2019s everywhere you want to be.\u201d So life is all about me and my wants and desires. Happiness means getting everything I want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe such an idea can be attributed to two things. One is the battle with our own lusts \u2014 lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eye, and the pride of life (1 John 2:15-16). Flesh versus spirit is a battle we fight our whole life. God\u2019s Word teaches us that self-denial and sacrifice are fundamental to a meaningful existence (Luke 9:27; Romans 12:1, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n But secondly, we are told that life can be meaningful without a belief in a Creator God who is the source of all existence and to whom we will ultimately answer. Radical evolutionists have been at the heart of this idea, telling us that this world is here without the hand of God, and that its continued successful existence is up to man. In the evolutionist\u2019s mind we are but one species in a long continuum of beings evolving into higher forms over billions of years. Our responsibility is to do our part to see that this evolutionary march continues throughout the millenniums ahead. I\u2019m not sure why they think we should do this since we each live only one lifetime. Shouldn\u2019t that one brief lifetime be filled with doing whatever I want, not with fulfilling any responsibility to future higher evolved beings? After all they will not care one bit about me and how I lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The evolutionist says that to find meaning to life, do not look up. Rather look around you and find something more important than yourself and work for it. Sounds good but I think someone long ago tried that. King Solomon recounted his quest for meaning in \u201csomething more.\u201d With great success he completed grand projects, amassed fortunes, and enjoyed mountaintop experiences, each failing to quell his heart\u2019s deepest pangs. His life lesson: Lasting significance is not found in something, but in Someone (Eccl. 12:14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do not let this world fool you. Life is not just about \u201cme.\u201d It is about both God and others. When your life needs meaning, learn to look up. Have the heart of the Psalmist when he wrote, \u201cAs the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God\u201d (Psa. 42:1). There you will find life\u2019s meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Via articles from Manslick Road church of Christ, January 19, 2014 -3-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill Crews<\/p>\n\n\n\n The New Testament accounts of the institution of the Lord\u2019s Supper are found in Matt. 26:26-29; Mk. 14:22-25; and Lk. 22:19-20. Paul also cites this occurrence in 1 Cor. 11:23-26. In all of these the followers of Christ are commanded to observe the Lord\u2019s Supper. Those who constitute a congregation or local church are taught to assemble together for this observance (1 Cor. 11:18,20,33). In Acts 20:7 we have the example of the church in Troas assembling together \u201cupon the first day of the week\u201d for the purpose of eating the Lord\u2019s Supper (called \u201cbreaking bread,\u201d just as it is in Acts 2:42). This approved example is the only New Testament clue we have as to when first century Christians observed the memorial feast of the Lord\u2019s Supper. Church histories compiled by men confirm that it was indeed the practice of Christians in the first few centuries to assemble on the first day of each week for the purpose of eating the Lord\u2019s Supper. In later years, led by those who believe that the frequency of doing so and the day of the week upon which it is done are not important, the practice of annual, quarterly, and monthly observances were begun. There is no Bible authority for such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 via the articles of the Collegevue church of Christ, November 13, 2016 -4- In thinking of our need to continually grow in our relationship with God, I was once reminded of that by Pablo Casals \u2014 that renowned cellist who was a virtuoso in his field. On his 75th birthday an interviewer asked him why he still found it necessary to practice the cello for four hours a day. \u201cBecause,\u201d Casals answered, \u201cI think I\u2019m making some progress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regardless of how long we have been a Christian, we, too, can still make some progress as we continue in our service to God and grow in His word. And may that always be our desire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Tom 1) Hear<\/strong> the gospel, for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30,31). Tebeau Street \u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all the nations\u2026teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age\u201d (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB).\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014 Contents: 1) \u201cMy Lord and My God!\u201d (Tom Edwards)2) \u201cIt\u2019s About Me!\u201d (Steve Patton)3) Why Do We Have the Lord\u2019s Supper […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":671,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670\/revisions\/671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s About Me!\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhy Do We Have the Lord\u2019s Supper on the First Day of the Week?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nStill Growing!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2) Believe <\/strong>in the deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent<\/strong> of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith<\/strong> in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized<\/strong> in water for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith,<\/strong> living for the Lord; for, if not, salvation can be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA\u00a0 31501
Sunday <\/strong>services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 5 PM (worship)
Wednesday: <\/strong>7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist\/editor: <\/strong>Tom Edwards (912) 281-9917
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http:\/\/thomastedwards.com\/go<\/a> (Older version of Gospel Observer website without pictures, but back to March 1990)
http:\/\/tebeaustreetchurchofchrist.org\/<\/a>
http:\/\/ThomasTEdwards.com\/audioser.html<\/a> (audio sermons)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"