Anna Church of Christ
833-5815
Website:
www.annachurchofchrist.com
Vol 22. Issue
25 June
22, 2008
Christ and Benevolence
The church of the New Testament was built by Jesus
Christ; for in Matt. 16 verse 18 Jesus said, “...upon this rock I will build my
church...” Not only is He its founder, but also its head. The apostle Paul stated this clearly when he
wrote “and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be
the head over all things to the church” (Ephesians
In the writings of Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John, which describe the life of Christ before He built His church,
we discover Him to be a person of great compassion. His greatest concern was of course with the
souls of people, but while living among men He demonstrated His care and
concern for the physical needs of people as well. A good example of this was when His friend
Lazarus died. When He went to the home
of Mary and Martha and saw their sorrow and that of their friends, the
scriptures tell us, “...He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled...Jesus
wept...He loved him” (John
Many came to Jesus for care. Jesus was moved with compassion because of
their great needs: “But when He saw the
multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were
distressed...” (Matt. 9:36). He was
concerned that people were hungry:
“I
have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days,
and have nothing to eat” (Mark 8:2).
Jesus then provided food for the people.
Not only did Jesus show His
compassion for others in need, but He also taught great lessons on the
subject. Perhaps the best known is the
story of the good Samaritan of Luke 10 verses
25-37. Jesus emphasized that the
greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and
the second greatest commandment is like it, to love our neighbor as
ourselves. When Jesus was asked, “Who is
my neighbor?” He responded with the story of the Good Samaritan. The story is about a man who gave his time,
energy, and money to help a stranger, at great personal risk. The stranger had been beaten, robbed and was
in need of medical attention, food, and a place to stay. He provided it all and as a result received
the praise of Jesus for his act of compassion.
Jesus then told the man in the crowd, “Go, and do thou likewise.”
We need to understand that in the
previous examples, not only were friends and neighbors helped, but strangers as
well. These are the exact instructions
that are given to Christians in the New Testament church, “Let love of the brethren continue. Forget not to show love unto
strangers...” (Hebrews
13:1&2).
The Apostle Paul wrote to several congregations and
instructed them, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is
good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of
faith” (Gal. 6:10). Our responsibility
is not limited only to its members.
Finally, the most
important care that the church and Christians render is the saving and teaching
of souls. That’s its main
business. Every
benevolence is a means to that end. The church’s responsibility is not
to feed and clothe the world but to teach the gospel. Even so, Jesus’ disciples are to be a
compassionate people, just
as He was. Does
the benevolence of Christ live in us? It certainly should.
-
R.W.
SERMON TOPICS
A.M. – “I Believe the Lord, But...”
(John 5:46-47)
P.M. – “Why Be A Member Of The
(Matt. 16:13-18)
Those For
Whom We Are Praying:
Kathleen Ritchey
Loren Eddleman
Rosemary Dillow’s
mother & Son –in-law
Jerry & Betty Ward
Rodney & Nikki Lingle
Bill Whitnel
Sheilah Whittington – Trying to strengthen her faith.
Gene Ballance family (Kittie’s brother) – Passed away. The funeral was Thursday.
Paul Frailey – Carolyn’s father.
Don Conant family– Don passed away last Sunday.
Pray for the Thornsberry
family. They’re in
Wisdom
From Proverbs: “The
words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost
parts of the belly” (Prov. 18:8).
Sentence Sermon: Attention all racists: Heaven is integrated.
Quotable Quote: “It’s a job that’s never started that takes the longest to finish.” – J.R. Tolkien * Be sure to check out the article, “Good News & Bad News” on our bulletin board. It contains interesting information about the church.
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES/ANNOUNCEMENTS
* Remember Ally Ligons, Sara
Thornsberry, and the group from the
in
your prayers as they return home from
mission work in
*We now have invitation letters to our services to mail out. The
plan is to select 5 names (in
order)
from the phone book every week and mail
those individuals an invitation. If you’d
like
to be a part of this, see R.W.
*Our food pantry needs canned
meat and beans.
*Feel free to drop any Bible
questions in the Question & Answer box in the foyer.
*Men – Be sure to sign up for
THE LAST Wednesday
service this month if you’d like to
offer the invitation. If Jamie and I can do it,
how hard can it be? :-)
* Andy and Melanie Erwin are
expecting their 4th child on
* Men: Check your calendars for suitable date this month for
a prayer breakfast.
* We received a new shipment of
the “Gospel Preacher.” They’re on the shelf beneath the
bulletins.
Hearing assistance for any service is available upon
request.
BIBLE QUESTION/ANSWER:
Last week’s answer: Paul was a
tentmaker (Acts 18:1-3).
New question: Who said, “When I
have a convenient season, I will call for thee?”
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Carla Smith – 6/24
David and Carla Smith – 6/26
Dustin Dillow –
6/26
God’s method of communicating His message to people
has always been through preaching. Men such as Noah, Moses, the prophets,
Stephen, and all the apostles in the New Testament, were powerful preachers.
The power was in the message they preached. A preacher is powerful, not because
he has great lung capacity, but because of the nature of his message.
Powerful preaching is pointed preaching! When
the apostle Peter preached on Pentecost, he told the people what they needed to
hear; not necessarily what they wanted to hear. He accused them of having (with
wicked hands) crucified God’s Son (Acts
Another case of powerful, pointed preaching is that
of Stephen’s preaching in Acts 7. When confronted by those who eventually
stoned him to death, Stephen pointedly said, “Ye stiffnecked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as
your fathers did, so do ye” (Acts
Powerful preaching is passionate preaching! The
passion with which the preacher delivers his message is often determined by his
sincerity. If the preacher has doubts about his message, it will come through
loud and clear. How passionate was the great prophet Elijah when he confronted
the false prophets of Baal (I Kings 18)? While the Scriptures do not reveal the
tone of his voice, it’s inconceivable that he spoke in an unconvincing manner.
Had he done so, likely, the false prophets of Baal would have
“laughed-him-to-shame.” When our preaching is done passionately, the audience
is more likely to respond in a positive way.
Powerful preaching is personal! We are not
advocating a form of preaching that publicly humiliates the individual.
Preaching that is personal reaches the individual’s heart and causes him to make
a personal application of what he hears. Not all who make a personal
application of the message will respond favorably, but all who do, appreciate
the fact the preacher had the courage to lovingly confront their sin and lead
them to repentance. We should always remember that powerful preaching is not
less powerful due to the audience’s rejection of the message.
Today, one of the church’s greatest needs is
powerful preaching. Powerful preaching will produce numerical and spiritual
growth. It did in the 20th century, and it will do so today. However, the sad
fact is, most congregations will not accept such preaching. In far too many
places, the church wants a preacher who will pat the members on their backs and
in fifteen or twenty minutes tell them all is well. And, many of our preachers
love to have it so.
If the Lord wanted powerful preaching in Bible
times, and assuredly He did, does He expect any less of the church today? Where
is the church that demands powerful preaching? Surely, there must be one or
two. Where are the preachers that powerfully proclaim the Gospel truth? Surely,
there must be some who do, but for every one who does, there are hundreds who
do not. One day all of the “tell them what they want to hear” preachers will pay
an awesome price, along with all who encouraged the weak, watered-down, don’t hurt anyone’s feelings type of preaching.
Brethren, we must awake to the problem of a weak
pulpit and get back to powerful preaching. Think about it.
- Marlin Kilpatrick