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St Mary's, GA, United States
Weekly bulletin. Church Office Phone: (912) 882-5800

Friday, July 24, 2009

WORLDLINESS

I believe one of the greatest problems facing the church today is worldliness. I am convinced that the majority of our problems, individually and collectively, are rooted in this one problem. I believe worldliness is at the bottom of the problems of attendance, small contributions, and the lack of development in Christians.

Our definition of worldliness has been too narrow. I am afraid that preachers and teachers have contributed toward worldliness by leaving the wrong impression. Too often we have confined the term to some few things, which were certainly worldly, but were far from covering everything that should be included in the term. Many members of the church think that because they do not dance, or wear immodest clothes, and a few other similar things, they are not worldly, yet in God’s sight they are. I do not mean to suggest by this that these things are not worldly and that they should not be condemned, but we should not leave the impression that worldliness is confined to these. When John says, “Love not the world,” just how broad is that? Is it confined to some few things, or does it cover all that belongs to the world?

What is “worldliness”? Worldliness is sin. Worldliness is conforming to the world. Worldliness is anything that is opposed to being transformed. Worldliness is “worldlikeness” in anything. Worldliness is anything that is not Christlike or that hinders “Christlikeness.” Worldliness is a wedge that sin drives into the heart of the member of the church, disuniting his own will and God’s will for him, making his actions incompatible with his spiritual potential because he allows selfish interests to usurp the place of God in his life.

Worldliness, the opposite of spirituality, is an obsession with temporal, material things. Worldliness is a force that sidetracks the Christian from his greatest privilege and his greatest function. When one persists in worldliness, he will inevitably decrease in spiritual perception. Worldliness is majoring on the temporal rather than the spiritual.

Worldliness is a cancer which creates an indifference to moral values, a “no-difference” attitude about right or wrong. It makes a person insensitive to real abiding values and, in most cases, unsteady in Christian life. Worldliness splits an individual’s loyalties, making him selfish, spiritually indifferent, careless, near-sighted, and complacent.

What is your primary concern? Is it to be a social leader, prominent, comfortable, wealthy, popular, living in ease, spending all of your free time in some sort of pleasure that may be right in itself, or is it to be the best Christian possible? These things may be worthy of attainment, but not to the neglect of spiritual growth. Let us keep in mind that worldliness is the opposite of spirituality; an obsession with temporal and material things to the detriment of spiritual growth. One does not have to be knee-deep in sin to be worldly. The person who considers himself a “pretty good fellow,” but whose ideals are material and self-centered is a worldly person.
--Lamar

Thursday, July 16, 2009

MUST WE FORGIVE?

In our class last Sunday we discussed forgiveness in the family. In the course of the discussion the question was asked if we are to forgive someone before they repent or ask for forgiveness. We had a good discussion, but I wanted to develop it a little further.

First of all, what is forgiveness? I did not do a good job of fully explaining this in class. We talked about it being the releasing or letting go of something. We must determine what the something is that we are to let go. We talked about the letting go of bitter feelings and the desire for revenge, but this is not forgiveness of sins. What if you do not experience such feelings? If the release of those feelings is forgiveness and you never experience them, then you cannot release them so you cannot forgive. What about God? When He forgives us, is He releasing bitter feelings and desire for revenge? Certainly not. Forgiveness is the releasing of sins, the sending of sins away and the restoration of a peaceful relationship which the offence interrupted. Unless the offender wants this relationship to be restored, it is impossible to do so no matter how much the offended may want it.

Some will respond that the Lord says we must forgive if we want to be forgiven. That is certainly true. “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15). I am fairly certain there will be some people who will stand condemned on the day of judgment because they were unwilling to forgive others.

However, we must consider all that Jesus says about forgiveness. He also said, “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4). There is no doubt that we must be willing to forgive one another, but Jesus places a condition on that forgiveness: “if he repents.” Without repentance, there is no requirement for forgiveness.

Let me also say something about repeated forgiveness. In the text in Luke Jesus says that if a brother sins against seven times in a day and repents seven times, we are to forgive him each and every time. Some of us would probably question his sincerity in repenting by the seventh time, but we are not given any such prerogative. We must simply accept the repentance and forgive and leave the judgment of sincerity to God.

As Christians, are we to have a forgiving spirit, always ready to forgive one another? Yes. Are we to go beyond a willing spirit and actually forgive one another? Certainly. However, such forgiveness can only take place when the guilty party repents.
--Lamar

Thursday, July 9, 2009

BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD

The place was Bethany beyond Jordan where John was baptizing. When John saw Jesus coming he said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)!

What an announcement! Since the fall in Eden the weight of sin had been on mankind. The blood of thousands of bulls and goats could not remove it (Hebrews 10:4). The prophets had foretold of a Messiah who would bring deliverance, making the crimson stain of sin as white as wool (Isaiah 1:18). Now He had come!

The word “gospel” means “good news.” The gospel of Christ is the good news about Christ. The preaching of the gospel has the aim of making men see Jesus as the Lamb of God, who saves men from sin. The story briefly told is simply that God sent His own Son into the world as a Savior. He ministered among the people for a short time and then was crucified. Those who killed Him did it with malice; but God intended His death to be a sacrifice for sin. He was buried and then raised from the dead. Soon He ascended back to heaven, but first He commissioned the preach­ing of the gospel to all men, promising that “He who believes and is baptized will be saved;” (Mark 16:16). He now reigns at the right hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).

The figure of a lamb is used to describe Christ because lambs were offered as sacrifices under the Law of Moses. The shedding of His blood was indicative of the loss of His life. Salvation is by the blood of the Lamb because He died for us. The righteous justice of God demanded that the penalty of sin be paid. But God’s mercy provided that Christ pay the penalty for us. The apostle Peter writes, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). And John says, “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2).

In Revelation, chapter 7, we find a description of a beautiful scene in heaven. There is an innumerable host of people from all nations. The record says, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14).

We can offer nothing as the hope of mankind except Jesus Christ. The answer for sin and all the world’s related ills is not to be found in science, philosophy, or government. Try as they may, those who reject the Savior will find no other solution. The “good news” is that Jesus will truly save those who come to Him in believing submission.

“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
--Lamar

Friday, July 3, 2009

A GREAT WORK

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the five young people who went on the trip to Cochran last week. These young men and women: Tyler Christensen, Walter King, Kieanna Knight, Andy Powell, & Tabitha Sharit, are to be commended for their willingness to sacrifice some of their summer and their desire to share the gospel with others. They knocked on the doors of about 200 homes, inviting them to the gospel meeting. They also gave a copy of the DVD “Searching for Truth” to each home. They took names and addresses of those who showed some interest for the Cochran congregation to follow up. All of this was done in 90 and 100 degree weather without complaint. The congregation here at St. Mary’s should consider ourselves blessed to have these fine young people in our midst.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen” (Matthew 28:19-20). While Jesus is speaking directly in this passage to His apostles, He is urging all Christians of every age to be busy in spreading the gospel to the world around us. This was accomplished to some degree by these young people last weekend.
As I stated before, they were willing to sacrifice a part of their summer. How many times, when asked to participate in a work of the church, have you responded, “I am too busy,” or “I just don’t have the time?” Sometimes we just need to make a sacrifice and make the time to do a good work.

This work was done in very hot and humid conditions. On Friday afternoon, while we were out we drove by a thermometer that read 102 degrees. In addition, the vehicle they were using did not have air conditioning (I think that was the case). When the group I was with finished walking a few blocks, we were able to go back and get in an air conditioned vehicle. These young people walked several blocks in the heat and their relief was to climb into a vehicle that was not much, if any, cooler.

We also see their willingness to step out of their comfort zone. This was a first for most, if not all, of these young people. It is not easy to walk through a neighborhood, knocking on doors, and talking to complete strangers. Most of us have a hard enough time talking to people we know about the gospel. I am sure they were a little nervous when they started, but they went ahead and did it anyway. How often do we miss an opportunity to share the gospel with someone because it would cause us to step out of our comfort zone?

“Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). There is no doubt these young people were an example to us all in this effort.
--Lamar