David was a man after God’s own heart and wrote, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord’” (Psalm 122:1). I am so happy too, to worship God with you on Sundays and at every other occasion. Summer is flying by. You can clearly see by all the “pop-up” fireworks tents on every corner that July 4th coming quickly. As you plan your activities this summer, make note of the following activities scheduled for the church at Harding Street in July…
~Independence Get-Together at Marion and Rosetta Chenault’s on Saturday, July 9th
~The Gospel Gathering at Robinson and Center Church of Christ in Conway scheduled for July 10-15 at 7:00 p.m. each evening
~Our Birthday and Anniversary Potluck Lunch on July 17th
~Our Big Vacation Bible School scheduled for Saturday, July 23rd
The Supreme Court of our nation made one of the best decisions they could ever make last week by overturning Roe v. Wade, deciding that taking the life of a baby is wrong and that abortion should never have been made legal in 1973. No. They did not take any right away from anyone. They are protecting the innocent, a baby inside its mother. I am thankful. Sin is so terrible. Sin always takes us further than we ever wanted to go. Sin always keeps us longer than we wanted to stay. Sin always costs us more than we ever thought we’d pay. And when we are ready to let go of sin, sin is never ready to let go of us. When we look at sin, we see a mistake, an error in judgment, or an infraction. But when God looks at sin, He sees His one and only Son, Jesus dying on the cross. What is sin? You know.
We continued last Sunday in our sermon series “Walking in the Pathway of the Old Rugged Cross” with a lesson on the first “S” in C-R-O-S-S, SACRIFICE. Sacrifice is required if we are walking the pathway to heaven with Jesus. To sacrifice is to surrender. We are asked to give up on ourselves and our way for the way of God. We must let go of every weight and the sin that entangles us and look to Jesus as our all (Hebrews 12:1-2). There are requirements on the way of the old rugged cross: Courage, Reason, Obedience, Sacrifice, and Sincerely.
Our lesson at the 5:00 hour was “Things that Never Change in an Everchanging World.” Jesus came into the world to offer salvation to every person who believes, obeys, and follows Him. Anyone who desires to be saved must be READY, WILLING, and ABLE. In Acts 9 Saul was not ready at first, but after coming to a better understanding of God’s word, he was. Saul was not willing at first, but after coming to a better understanding of his place and mission before God in the world, he was. Saul wasn’t able to be saved at first because he was blind to the truth of what he needed to do, but after learning about what he needed to do to be saved, he was able. Are you ready? Don’t wait another minute. Are you willing? What are you waiting on? Maybe you are not able because you don’t know what God asks of you. Hear the gospel. Believe Jesus. Repent of your sins. Confess Jesus. Be baptized in His name. Begin your Christian life. I can help you. MB
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