West Main

SIN WORMS 

How Jesus Changes People

If you have lived for any length of time, you have observed that the basic nature of people does not change easily.  Ongoing evidence that Jesus was who he said he was is in the transformation of those who follow him.

His disciples were constantly with him, and were also changed the most.  The before and after character of the apostle Peter is a good example.  Of all of his followers, Peter was the most outspoken and was usually wrong in what he said.  Jesus often rebuked him.  Although Jesus had renamed him “Peter,” meaning “rock,” he was not rock-like in his stability.  Nor did he understand the spiritual rule Jesus had come to establish, but rather was ready to take up a sword.  He was unwilling to accept that Jesus would have to suffer.

In contrast, the new Peter, in his first letter, writes about our need to submit and suffer in order to represent Christ to an unbelieving world.  He calls on us to be willing to accept mistreatment to demonstrate that we are followers of Christ.  He compares such suffering to the refining of gold, where the heat of fire removes the dross.  The old Peter is hard to recognize in his writing.

Paul is exhibit number two.  In 1^st Timothy 1:12-14, he describes his old man as violent in his persecution of Christians.  He was a leader in the first great persecution of the church in Jerusalem.  He was determined to wipe out followers of Christ as far north as Damascus, Syria.  He was doing all of this, he thought, in the name of God.

In his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, he was humbled by blindness.  He could now look with new eyes at the Jesus he had been persecuting.  He was told that he was to become a special agent of Christ to the Gentiles, and that suffering would be his lot, too.  And so it was.  And to help others understand that all followers of Christ would have to suffer as well, his letters constantly reminded them of this inherent part of a Christian’s life.

James and John were also changed men.  In choosing them, Jesus called them “Sons of Thunder.”  See Mark 3:17.  In Luke 9:51–56 we see their combative nature in wanting to call down fire from heaven on a Samaritan town that did not want them to come there.  In contrast, an entirely new John is seen in his Gospel account and in his letters.  There he holds up love as the ultimate test of following Christ.

Harlots became holy after encounters with Jesus.  His emissaries changed thieves from takers to givers.  Slave owners learned to love and treat converted slaves like brothers.  All of this and more happened in the wake of the gospel of Christ.

Today, those of us who have signed on to allegiance to Christ recognize how much he has changed us, and how he has motivated us to change still more.  As I now write in the emptiness of a house I shared with my dear wife for many years, my sorrow is mitigated by knowing that I am not alone.  He is still with me, teaching me still more about change.

--  James Gibbs

(From Christ and Our Times)

Celebration of Life Service for Merlin Ragsdill will be this Saturday, September 17, at 1:00 p.m. We will be having a potluck/fingerfood fellowship following the service.  Please bring lots of your favorite foods to share so that we will have enough food for all of our guests who come to the service.

***Memorial contributions may be made to West Main Church of Christ Youth Fund.***

Our Tuesday Morning Ladies Bible Class will begin September 20, starting at 9:45 and ending at 11:00 a.m. All ladies are invited to come. We will be studying the Gospel of John.  Call Barb Viera for more information

New Adult Bible Classes for the Fall Quarter will begin this Sunday, September 18.  Our ladies class led by Denise Beeks will meet in the Fireside Room and will be studying the topic of “Bible Foods.” We will have a Bible study in the auditorium with Terry teaching on the “Book of Revelation.” An additional Bible study will meet in the upstairs adult classroom and will be studying  “The First Principles of Living a Christian Life.” Lance Lake and Brad Holm will be leading this class.

The West Main Leadership Picnic / Retreat is scheduled for Saturday, September 24, for the elders, deacons, ministers and their families.  It will start at 11:00 a.m. at Cantrall-Buckley Park, Area A.  See Dan Beeks with any questions.

The Welcome to the Junior High Dinner planned for this weekend is cancelled due to the service for Merlin Ragsdill.  Parents will be notified when the new date is planned.

Prayer Requests and Praises . . .

For your continued prayers for the Ragsdill family on the passing of Merlin ... For the safety of the Way Family as they travel ... For Cooper Albright - his last body scan showed no signs of cancer in his body ... For Gracie D’Antonio who travels to England this week to begin school ... For the daughter of Mandy Briethaupt, Vicki, as she continues her fight against cancer ... For the friend of Marcie Dixon, Rhonda, who had surgery this past week for a successful removal of her cancerous thyroid - please pray for her comfort and her family’s well-being ... Diane Liles, for praise and thanks that she had a safe trip to visit her family in Korea and is thankful to be home again ... For the friend of Lucas and Colin Ivey who has been deployed to Afghanistan - please preserve his life ... David Mayes requests prayers for his friend, Cora, to remain faithful to Christ ... For our President and all of our military men, women and families.

                                                         Mary Ragsdill and Family                                            

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

September 30-October 2: Women’s Retreat

Coffee Servers : September 18 & 25 - Lynn Albright

Nursery Help is needed for September 25.

***** Our Deacon’s Meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 19, at 7:00 p.m.  All deacons are encouraged to attend.