Bulletin Articles

Does Christianity involve a recognition and commitment to God’s pattern? Yes. Paul told Timothy, “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13). Paul Himself received this pattern from the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, “But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

When one worships according to the God-given pattern, God will count him as righteous. When one steps outside that pattern and acts on his own, he creates his own righteousness and cannot please God (Romans 10:3). Without revelation, man can never restore God’s order. However, if one humbles himself and returns to God’s pattern beautiful restoration occurs.

Abel had a pattern from God and he followed it. Cain did not. Cain offered worship that he invented. It was an offering of his own righteousness. It was not what God wanted. It was not pleasing to God. Mankind needs a pattern to avoid presenting his own righteousness to God. However, when we follow God’s pattern, God counts it as righteousness (Romans 4:3, James 2:23).

The plea of churches of Christ today is to restore New Testament Christianity into the lives of as many as will receive the gospel. It is not sufficient to preach the gospel without expecting those who believe it to change their lives. To this end, the churches of Christ preach, and the Bible teaches, that the gospel contains all the information that we need to do this (2 Peter 1:3; 2 Timothy 3:17).

Where does our heart stand? Are we at absolute zero because we are covetous, stubborn, or selfish? I hope not. Instead, we need to be pliable and plastic so that the Lord may mold and shape us to His will. You can’t bend something that is at absolute zero, only break it.

Jesus is precious because His blood is precious.1 Peter 1:19 says that we were not redeemed with corruptible things “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” This blood paid the price for my sins and bought me back from perdition (1 Cor.6:20). This blood purchased the church (Acts 20:28). This blood speaks greater things than that of Abel (Heb.12:24). The blood of Jesus is precious.

The Bible says that Jesus is precious to us who are born again to righteousness, edification, and sanctification. In 1 Peter 2:7 we have this statement, “Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious.” Is Jesus precious to you? Do you value Him like you would value your most prized possession?

Please make a great effort to personally attend and support every lesson of our gospel meeting. Attendance helps the speaker, our singing, and our attitudes for serving the Lord. Brother Phil has invested some time in preparing these lessons for us. We need these lessons to help us grow and be faithful in the Lord.

What is your cross? The cross is not something pleasant. The cross is something difficult. Our society does not like to think about things that are not pleasant and difficult, but the truth is that life can be unpleasant and difficult at times. How are we going to confront those situations? Will we bravely take up our cross? Will we run away from the cross?

God calls lawlessness and unrighteousness sin (1 John 3:4; 5:17). He doesn’t distinguish right from wrong and righteousness from sin arbitrarily. Because God sees and knows all, He sees how sin ruins and hurts us. He calls wickedness and lawlessness sin, because He loves us and doesn’t want sin to deceive, enslave, and cause us to die spiritually.

The book of Hebrews tells of Christians who are slowing growing dull and falling away from the faith. Some were drifting (Hebrews 2:1-3), some were dull of hearing (5:11), and some had fallen away (6:4-6). They had fallen into the habit of forsaking the assembling. It was not that they missed an “assembly” or part of an assembly; they had abandoned meeting with the saints altogether! They quit going to worship and bible classes.

In our confused, broken, and chaotic world, there are some fundamental things every person needs! Yes, they need each of these things. These things are not to be taken lightly or dismissed as trivial. They are basics of life.

Paul faced many challenges in preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul wrote that when he came to Macedonia, “our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within” (2 Corinthians 7:5). “I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:27-29).

The gospel provides salvation from a lawless world. How? First, by providing forgiveness of man’s lawless deeds through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. And second, by providing a law of love (Romans 13:10, Galatians 5:14) by which we can live lawful lives in service to God. The gospel is, therefore, God’s perfect law of liberty (James 1:25), the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus that frees us from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).

In 1 John 3:4, the ASV reads, “Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.” That one verse tells us why we live in a lawless world today, because we live in a sinful world today. The world doesn’t have to have cattle rustlers, corrupt sheriffs, or saloon bosses to be lawless (though it often does). Sin, in and of itself, does the job. Truth be told, we probably don’t think of people’s sins as being lawlessness, but they are.

The scriptures give us a somewhat different picture than the Old West. In Matthew 7:23, Jesus says, “And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness'” (ESV). Both the King James Version and the American Standard Version of 1901 translate this word “iniquity.” But it is best translated “lawlessness” as the ESV does.

Helpful confrontation is as natural as the confrontation between darkness and light. Do you find it uncomfortable to turn on the light switch? We do it every day so that we can see and not be hindered by darkness. Light confronts darkness (John 1:5). So, also, we should be comfortable in presenting the light of the gospel to others. Are we?

Paul writes in Romans 12:2,3 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Many Christians want to transform the gospel to satisfy the culture, but that is not what Paul teaches. Radical transformation in action focuses upon moving Christians away from non-Christian culture and the sin within it.

Summer has not officially ended (that will be on September 22nd), but from a practical standpoint, it is gone. The beginning of the school year is upon us. Parents are ready, children are nonplussed, and teachers are sprucing up their bulletin boards. Going back to school is an annual routine that has been happening since […]

Sometimes we talk about behavior being “rude.” This means the opposite of being gracious. First Corinthians 13:5 says that love “does not behave rudely.” This Greek word means “to act unbecomingly.” It is the opposite of behaving graciously toward someone. It has the notion within it of causing offense. Christians do not intentionally seek to offend other people, nor do they intentionally seek to be offended by other people.