October 17, 2012
MAKE EVERY EFFORT, PART 4
Ephesians 4:1-6: “Therefore I Paul, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.”
Let’s very simply break these lovely words down. For the sake of room we will spread this out over several weeks. Let’s just lay out the basic idea of each one, and invite the Holy Spirit to work it over in each of us individually:
Be Gentle – We MUST learn to be gentle, because let’s face it…there is LESS and LESS gentleness in our world! What an incredible and powerful quality a gentle spirit is. Colossians 3:12 implores us to, “clothe ourselves with gentleness.” Can any of us say we truly do that? Charles R. Swindoll said this of gentleness, “In our rough-and-rugged individualism, we think of gentleness as weakness, being soft, and virtually spineless. Not so! .... Gentleness includes such enviable qualities as having strength under control, being calm and peaceful when surrounded by a heated atmosphere, emitting a soothing effect on those who may be angry, and possessing tact and gracious courtesy that causes others to retain their self-esteem and dignity .... Instead of losing, the gentle gain. Instead of being ripped off and taken advantage of, they come out ahead!” GODLY PEOPLE should be THESE kind of people! THIS is what the world should see in our churches.
As we seek to show the world unity…let us learn to be people who are GENTLE with one another, in word, deed, and action.
– Pannell
HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!!!
Our Creator and Redeemer . . . and do we THINK about it??? God’s accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs . . . For example:
– Eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days.
– Those of the canary in 14 days.
– Those of the barnyard hen in 21 days.
– Eggs of ducks and geese hatch in 28 days.
– Those of the mallard in 35 days.
– Parrot and ostrich eggs hatch in 42 days.
(Notice, they are all divisible by seven, the number of days in a week!)
God’s wisdom is seen in the making of an elephant. The four legs of this great beast all bend forward in the same direction. No other quadruped is so made. God planned that this animal would have a huge body, too large to live on two legs. For this reason He gave it four fulcrums so that it can rise from the ground easily.
The horse rises from the ground on its two front legs first. A cow rises from the ground with its two hind legs first. How wise the Lord is in all His works of creation!
God’s wisdom is revealed in His arrangement of sections and segments, as well as in the number of grains.
– Each watermelon has an even number of stripes on the rind.
– Each orange has an even number of segments.
– Each ear of corn has an even number rows.
– Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains.
– Each bunch of bananas has on its lowest row an even number of bananas, and each row decreases by one, so that one row has an even number and the next row an odd number.
– The waves of the sea roll in on shore twenty-six to the minute in all kinds of weather.
– All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks, and the Lord specified thirty fold, sixty fold, and a hundred fold, all even numbers.
God has caused the flowers to blossom at certain specified times during the day. Linnaeus, the great botanist, once said that if he had a conservatory containing the right kind of soil, moisture and temperature, he could tell the time of day or night by the flowers that were open and those that were closed!
– Submitted by Bob & Dorothy Trimmer
IN THE GARDEN
I was in the garden like Jesus,
Talking to the Father.
And as I said those fancy words
Jesus said, “Don’t bother,”
I know what’s in your heart
And I know your sorrow,
I took care of you yesterday
And I’ll be with you tomorrow.
I felt His very presence
And didn’t know what to say.
He spoke again and said,
“What’s important is what you do today.
Remember all my promises
And trust me with your doubt,
Let your heart be still
And all things will work out.”
I began to feel better
As I felt Him so near,
I opened up my heart
And He erased my fear.
Angels began to sing
As I humbly knelt,
And I cannot explain
The joy that I felt.
I know that He’s my Savior
And He gave me my pardon
And when I want to talk to Him
I’ll meet Him in the garden.
– Sue Martindale
West Main Fall Seminar is scheduled this week , October 18 & 20, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the auditorium and during our Sunday morning class and sermon times on the 21st. We will have a luncheon and discussion time following our morning service. Child care will be provided during our seminar times. Our theme this year is:
“Submission: Subordination or Freedom?”
Our general topics for the seminar will be:
1. The Theology of Submission - What it is and What it is Not
2. The Responsibility of Being Submitted To
3. The Responsibility of Submitting
4. Submitting to One Another in Matters of Faith and Disputable Matters
5. The Power of Submission
6. Living with Submission-Challenges and Prospects
Please plan to be a part of this seminar and invite your friends to come join us.
Christian Relief Fund -- Now is the time that we need to start collecting extra funds for our “adopted children” for their Christmas presents. Please be generous as the donation can is passed around during our class time OR you may write a check and place it in an envelope marked CRF. Thank you so much for all that you do for our children - it is greatly appreciated. :)
Our Anniversary Sunday is coming up soon on October 28th. Please invite your friends and former members as we celebrate Sixty-Two Years as a church family. We will have a potluck luncheon following the morning services.
Prayer Vigil and Fasting , November 17-18 -- Our prayer time will be from 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. on November 17. Our Fasting time will be from 9:00 a.m. on Saturday to 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 18. We will break our fast with breakfast at the building at 8:00 a.m. on November 18.
Prayer Concert -- December 1 - More details to come.
Prayer Requests . . . For Billie Kay Barnett as she recovers from hip surgery...For EEthel Flock - she had a pacemaker put in on Monday and is recovering at home...For Matthew York who continues to recover from brain surgery in Portland - he thanks you for all of your prayers for him and to please pray for his complete recovery- he is doing great...For Mike Eddy, who expects to come home Thursday. Please pray for his complete recovery. Surgery was canceled, as he was beginning to heal on his own!...Mandy Breithaupt asks your prayers for her granddaughter to overcome her addiction and for her grandson as he travels from Washington, D.C. to visit her...Dakota Winsbury, a friend of Cady Morris, was hit by a car this past week and is in critical condition in a Portland hospital...For our President and all of our military men, women and families.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Oct 28: Anniversary Sunday
Nov 17 - 18: Prayer Vigil and Fasting
Dec 1: Prayer Concert
