Bible Thoughts – June 15, 2009

Bible Thoughts

Sunday morning we studied the conversation Jesus had with the scribes and Pharisees in the temple from John 8. He claimed to be “the Light of the world.” He offered all men “the Light of life.” At every turn, they questioned Him; and every time He answered them with wisdom and proof. He told them the Father testified of Him, which is proven by the numerous Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah as well as the countless miracles Christ had worked in Jerusalem in those very days. They continued to reject Him as the Savior of men. He told them when they lifted Him up they would know who He was. They would learn that He is eternal and before Abraham. Such became evident the very next year, as He was hanging upon the cross. The sky went dark for three hours. The veil of the temple was rent in two. Saints’ bodies rose from the grave and walked the streets. So convincing were the proofs at His crucifixion, that one centurion said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” All doubt was erased in the sincere heart forever when the first day of the week came and the grave was empty. Jesus was raised! And he appeared to hundreds of people alive over the next forty days.

Everything the Jews needed to believe that He had come to save them was laid before them. Yet, in John 8:59, they picked up stones to throw at Him, so He went out of the temple. The implication of our study was simple: they weren’t listening and they rejected Him. Others, who heard the testimony of Christ, and believed, gave anything and everything to serve and obey Him. Are you listening to the claims of Jesus? Is He everything to you?

Quickly, let’s note what happened next in John 9. Jesus, having left the temple, passed by a man blind from birth and said, “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” When He had said this, “He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” So he went away and washed, and came back seeing” (9:5-7). More evidence of who He was and now is. How do you think the thick-headed Pharisees responded to this? They said, “This man is not from God” and they went about trying to discredit the miracle. They tried everything. They interviewed the man, then his parents, then the blind man again.

Then comes one of my favorite responses. The scribes called Jesus a sinner; but the blind man, who was not educated and lauded like these Pharisees, looked at them and said, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They Jews complained about how they knew not where Jesus was from. Again, the blind man said, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes.”

What a tremendous conclusion. I may not be able tell you everything about Jesus; nor can I answer all the questions one might dream up to fire at Him, but I know this: I was blind and now I see; this man opened my eyes!” Later the healed man said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe.” And that is the question today: Do you believe? The question isn’t, do you have all answers to every question about God the Father, Son, Spirit, life, death and future? But do you see His proofs and do you believe that Jesus is the Light of the world and can give you the Light of life?

Kris Emerson

News & Notes – June 15, 2009

News and Notes: Monday, June 15th

[Check out our newly updated website: www.eastsidebaytown.org]

News Among Members:

Bill Murff was taken to the hospital Sunday night with numbness in his lower body. Tests revealed that his blood-sugar was extremely high. He came home last night, went in for dialysis as scheduled this morning, and will see a specialist today to determine how to get mobility back in his legs.

John Partin was taken to the emergency room at San. Jac. on Friday night with a significantly low amount of blood in his body. He has since received enough to reach normal levels, is currently still in ICU and will remain in the hospital until tests can determine why he lost so much blood.

Evelyn Dahlquist had successful knee surgery at San. Jac. Methodist this morning. She will be moved to a private room this afternoon and is likely to be there for three days.

Bob Paulsel, who was sick yesterday evening and unable to worship with us, did go in today for eye surgery. The day surgery went fine and he is now resting at home.

Mary Griffin is recovering at home following her adrenal gland removal surgery last week. For now, all chemo and radiation treatment has been suspended.

Marcus Zaruba is continually in need of our prayers and concern as he received steady treatment to fight the cancer in his body. He was too weak to be with us this past Sunday, but has been attending when he can.

Special Service NOTE: Wednesday night Invitation assignments:

June 17^th – Robin Merritt June 24^th – Mike Ferguson July 1^st – Eric Kegley

Upcoming Schedule:

June Group Meetings:

Charles Chilson Group — Monday, June 15^th, 6:30 @ Charles Kelly’s home

Tim Johnson’s Group — Monday, June 22^nd, 7p.m., Kenneth Miller’s home

Group Meetings June 2009

Charles Chilson Group — Monday, June 15^th, 6:30 @ Charles Kelly’s home

Tim Johnson’s Group — Monday, June 22^nd, 7p.m., Kenneth Miller’s home

Steven Harvey’s Group — Tuesday, June 23rd, 7 PM, Bill Murff’s home

Bible Thoughts – June 9, 2009

Bible Thoughts

For a moment today, let’s go back and consider again our Sunday morning study: Psalm 36. If you were with us for the service, I ask you to give this beautiful psalm of David a second thought this week. For those who were unable to worship with us, I ask you to consider the basic outline of a very powerful passage concerning the grand difference between worldly men and the Heavenly Father. And how we must identify the difference and make a choice on who we will emulate. Finally, we must build a lifestyle that reflects that choice.

Let’s begin by looking at the nature of worldly men: “Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For it flatters him in his own eyes concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it. The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; he has ceased to be wise and do good. He plans wickedness upon his bed; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he does not despise evil” (36:1-4). This is the heart, eye, mouth, mind and feet of the world around us. And, we will be enticed to follow them; since we are children of men in flesh.

However, we are also children of God! And it becomes important, not only to see how great God is, but also how completely opposite and separated He is from worldly men: “Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O Lord, You preserve man and beast” (36:5-6). The character and purpose of God is to love, be trustworthy, do what is right, judge lawfully and care for us. This is who we must choose, and this is who we must emulate in our own hearts and purpose.

The choice belongs to you. You may stand at the crossroads today: you can follow the path of worldly men or serve and grow in the heavenly father. Children of men must choose God! “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light” (36:7-9). Won’t you choose God today? Why seek your own protection, when His wings will protect you. Why dig holes in the desert with a spade alone, when God has overflowing fountains of blessings. Why seek to find and keep light of yourself, when His light can become the radiance of your own. We must choose Him in repentance, baptism and faith.

And then finally, the Psalmist comments on how we want to continue in His blessings. I don’t want a sip of the life-giving water, I want to live at its base. Who will stay in His fold? “O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart. Let not the foot of pride come upon me, And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away” (36:10-11). How simple it is to stay in the comforts of His wings. Take time, daily, to know Him in prayer and open Bible reading. Examine your heart and see if His character is at the base of your thoughts and actions. And, stand firm. Make it your mission to not allow worldly men to drive you away.

Because, “There the doers of iniquity have fallen; they have been thrust down and cannot rise” (36:12). Only “there,” that is, “away” from God, is a life of loss and defeat. I choose God. Do you?

Kris Emerson

News & Notes – June 9, 2009

News and Notes: Tuesday, June 9^th

News Among Members:

Mary Griffin had successful surgery to remove her left adrenal gland from above a kidney. She is to be in the hospital for 3-4 days at Clear Lake Regional in Webster. Room #402; room telephone: 281-316-7402

The doctors do not anticipate that she will have any chemo or radiation treatment in the near future.

Marcus Zaruba was again feeling strong enough to worship with us Sunday morning, but is having a difficult time. He and his whole family will continue to need our daily appeal to God and His will.

[Marcus and Jessica Zaruba 5409 Caprock Pearland, 77584]

Peggy Chaney had successful eye surgery on her right eye this past week. She recently had the same work done on her left, so we anticipate she can now keep two good eyes on our brother Dwight 

 

Special Service NOTE: Wednesday night Invitation assignments:

June 10^th – Joe Scarborough June 17^th – Tim Johnson June 24^th – Mike Ferguson

 

Upcoming Schedule:

June Group Meetings: Charles Chilson Group — Monday, June 15^th, 6:30 @ Charles Kelly’s home

Bible Thoughts – June 2, 2009

Bible Thoughts

Our study for Sunday morning was from II Corinthians 1. The Apostle Paul discussed the affliction and sufferings and difficulties that he faced in being a faithful child of God. He noted that all of God’s people may frequently be made to bear the “sufferings of Christ.” But, as you may recall, verses 3-7 include a key word that appears 9 times:Comfort! God is all-powerful and uses that power to love and protect His people. So that no matter how much affliction we bear, as we trust in God’s ability to deliver, we will be comforted.

Some people think that the only ones who live in spiritual comfort are those who have faced the least affliction. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Look at Paul’s words: “indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead” (1:9). Paul was under the severest of persecution, yet it was in the affliction that he found himself trusting in God the fullest. We need to understand that great affliction and sorrow may pave the way to great humility and trust in the power of God.

Having said that, I want to show you a second place in the II Corinthian letter where the word “comfort” appears multiple times. In II Corinthians 7, Paul says, (v4) “I am filled with comfort”

(v6) “God…comforts…comforted us…” (v13) “For this reason I have been comforted.”

What was the reason Paul felt comfort in verse 13? The answer: “sorrow.” Sorrow lead to comfort. Without the sorrow, there could have been no comfort! What sorrow is he talking about? “I now rejoice, not that your were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation…” (7:9-10).

Sometimes … often times … nay every time – there can be no comfort in God or from God for the sinner unless they have first experienced the sorrow for sin and used that to produce repentance. Then, when we’ve been brought low by our own shortcomings, will we trust fully in God …. and He will lift us up!

Also, please note that the brethrens’ sorrowful repentance lead to Paul’s comfort! If you have some shortcoming in your life that is ongoing, and if you have people in your life whom you love, then know that the most loving and comforting thing you can do for them is have a sorrow unto repentance, so that they can say of you what Paul said of the brethren in Corinth: “I rejoice that in everything I have confidence in you” (7:16).

kse

Bible Thoughts – May 26, 2009

Bible Thoughts

Sunday evening we used our sermon time studying the book of Jude. It is an often overlooked book and includes some powerful warnings about the need to be aware of worldly, unprincipled influences. To refresh the memory and introduce the theme to those who were not with us Sunday night, please examine the descriptions given of these sinful folks in this short book:

“For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for their condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (v. 4).

“…these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties” (v. 8).

“…these men revile the things they don’t understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed” (v. 10).

“Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah” (v.11).

“These are men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts… casting up their open shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever” (v.12,13).

“They are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage” (v.16).

“These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit” (v.19).

Umm, wow! These passages represent the worldly, ungodly, rejecter of God and Truth! Some act in ignorance, some in defiance, some in addiction, some in hatred. But we must see them in the world, have mercy on some, save others, and conduct ourselves with great fear of sin when among them.

NOW THEN… I have to say something that I told my wife I would NOT say in last night’s sermon (and I did not). Instead, she suggested I wait for this article and I have. In recent years, I have personally seen and heard preachers in the church use these verses to describe other Gospel preachers with whom they had disagreement. If a preacher disagrees with them, they call the man a “false teacher” and quote verses like (Jude 19 – see above) to categorize them. No matter that the men are good Bible students, sincere servants of Christ, or accomplishing much in the kingdom. If men will not fully conform on certain issues, “preachers” coin them as guilty of the import of this passage. This has been done against preachers you greatly respect and even the man writing this article.

That is a complete stripping of this context, which is wholly about men and women who deny Christ and rush headlong into the ungodliness of sinful living. To grab verses out of context and fire them at brethren who differ with us is not only a travesty against Scripture, but slander in its truest form and unmitigated sin.

Interesting, verse 16 describes men who “grumble” “find fault” and “speak arrogantly” – all of which completely devoid of the Spirit’s will and Truth. I will not fire back at such people, but I would suggest this verse more accurately describes men who spout unfounded accusations, than the sincere Bible students so often targeted for standing with Scripture instead of with certain men.

Okay, that’s all I have to say about that. Just a short article to remind us of the need to always use a passage in its proper context … and … always be careful lest undisciplined usage of Scripture against others actually cause some to become guilty of the very passage they’ve misused.

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you”

Eph. 4:31-32. kse

Bible Thoughts – May 18, 2009

Bible Thoughts

I have spent some time today thinking about the atheist. Actually, one atheist in particular. I don’t remember the woman’s name … but … a few years ago I was preaching a meeting in Bay City, TX. I’d been having a little back trouble and one of the members was a chiropractor. He said, “Come on over tomorrow morning and I’ll check you out.” I did and he took x-rays and poked around a bit. (Digression: I’ll never forget laying on the table looking at his legs from the corner of my eye and then seeing his feet come off the ground – the next thing I knew, his full force had come down on my spine. That still hurts when I think about it). Anyway, he told me he wouldn’t charge me a dime, but he wanted me to spend a few minutes with an atheist woman who he’d been treating for years. So, he got the two of us in a small room together and said he’d be back in a few minutes.

She and I talked and talked about God and Science and everything in between. No matter what I said or what argument from Scripture I made or what questions of logic I asked, she always came back with very evasive and shallow responses: “Evolution has to be true.” “Creation doesn’t make any sense.” “What about rock formations in Europe?” And things like that. So, after nearly 45 minutes, I finally asked her a question I should have laid out at the very beginning: “Have you ever read the Bible?” She said, “No.”

The most important thing all men need to be doing is reading the written Word of God. The simple, sincere act of investigating God’s will has convinced many an idolator, atheist, immoral man, and humanist to obey the gospel and serve the living God! And, since all who have attacked its authenticity and facts have failed, no one has ever read the Word and had cause to stay faithless! But, people aren’t reading. If atheists were reading the Bible, here are a few passages that would give them reason to reconsider a life of rejecting God:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” Gen. 1:1

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Ro. 1:20

“The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; there is no one who does good. God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after God. Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge, who eat up My people as though they ate bread and have not called upon God?” Ps. 53:1-4

Perhaps you know someone who is living a closed Bible life and hence has no concept of the great, almighty and living God. If so, consider opening their eyes by giving them the greatest gift you have: Words from God!

News & Notes – June 2, 2009

News and Notes: Tuesday, June 2nd

News Among Members:

Marcus Zaruba was able to be with us Sunday morning but clearly is having a difficult time. He and his whole family will continue to need our daily appeal to God and His will.

[Marcus and Jessica Zaruba 5409 Caprock Pearland, 77584]

Mary Griffin will have her adrenal gland removed next Monday, June 8^th.

Peggly Chaney had successful eye surgery last week and will be going back this week to have the other eye worked on. Also, Richard Marquis had eye lid surgery last week and that’s why he looked like a raccoon

Renate Turner received tremendous news that tests recently run have revealed no cancer! Also, Jenny Lawrence has not been feeling well at all lately. We are thankful both were able to be with us on Sunday.

Special Service NOTE: Wednesday night Invitation assignments:

June 3^rd – Randy Hogue June 10^th – Joe Scarborough June 17^th – Tim Johnson

Upcoming Schedule:

Teacher’s Work Day: This Saturday, June 6^th, from 9-12. Classroom changes, plus moving Nursery class.

No Group Meetings scheduled yet, but please pick up a sheet identifying your group and group leader.

Teachers Workday

Saturday, June 6th, 9-12 – Teachers meet at the building to change classrooms and move the Nursery classroom.