Articles

Bulletin - August 14, 2022

Hymn of the Day

(tune: "Come Christians Join to Sing, (altered) p.55)

 

When this passing world is done,

When has sunk yon glaring sun,

When we stand with Christ on high,

Looking o’er life’s history,

Then, Lord, shall I fully know—

Not till then—how much I owe.

 

When I hear the wicked call,

On the rocks and hills to fall,

When I see them start and shrink,

On the fiery deluge brink,

Then, Lord, shall I fully know—

Not till then—how much I owe.

 

When I stand before the throne,

Dressed in beauty not my own,

When I see Thee as Thou art,

Love Thee with unsinning heart,

Then Lord, shall I fully know—

Not till then—how much I owe.

 

When the praise of Heav’n I hear,

Loud as thunders to the ear,

Loud as many waters’ noise,

Sweet as harp’s melodious voice,

Then, Lord, shall I fully know—

Not till then—how much I owe.

 

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Today’s Hymns

Come We That Love the Lord, #23

Come, Thou Almighty King, #6

Rejoice, the Lord is King, #143

 

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Special Dates:

Fonda Van Beek – 15

Tyler and Amy – 18

 

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Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

for ye are like unto whited sepulchers,

which indeed appear beautiful outward,

but are within full of dead men's bones,

and of all uncleanness

-Matthew 23:27

 

Satan’s master plan is to get man religious without Christ. He would rather you be WHITEWASHED than WASHED WHITE in the blood of the Lamb. White washing will not save! I must be washed white in the BLOOD OF CHRIST. “And I said unto him, ‘Sir, thou knowest.’ And he said to me, ‘These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’” (Revelation 7:14).   -Don Bell

 

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It may be good if we just eliminated the word “church” altogether. It is not a Bible word. Our English word. “church” comes from “kirk” (spelled differently in different old languages) which in turn, finds its roots in a Greek word meaning “The Lord’s House.” It is true that the church is the Lord’s house, but that is not the word the Scriptures use, nor is it a good rendering of the Greek word translated “church.”

 

The Greek word translated “church” in English translations is “ekklésia,” meaning “called out” or “called to.” The best English translation would be “assembly.” This Greek word was used to describe the assembly of leaders for they were the ones “called out” to come together as a body to decide matters pertaining to the entire community. We see this still in English use in the political title, “Assemblyman,” a member of an assembly of people with authority to make laws and regulations.

 

The church is God’s assembly, a group of people called out from the general population to assemble for the purpose of worship. Just as with political assemblies, The Assembly of God is an assembly all the time, whether or not at any given moment they are assembled in one place. Yet, the professed members of this assembly cannot escape the fact that in their very name is a description of what they are to do: assemble. One can hardly be a part of an assembly if one never assembles with the other members.

 

We may be tempted to set rules for how often the members of this blest assembly must assemble or even the way in which they assemble. But we must resist that urge lest we fall into an ecclesiastical legalism, pronouncing judgements on those who do not assemble as often as we think they should or in the way we think they should.

 

But let us ever keep in mind that we who have been chosen, redeemed, and called to Christ by God are an assembly. We have been put in this assembly by the gracious calling of God, and our primary purpose in this life is to assemble however and as often as we can to worship the God who called us out to come together.  -Joe

 

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I will rain down bread from heaven for you.

The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.

-Exodus 16:4

 

Give us, this day, our daily bread…

-Matthew 6.11

 

They were not to lay up in store but were taught to live simply by the day. When night came, they did not have a supply of food left over for the next day but were entirely dependent upon God's new supply to come in the morning.

 

In this method of providing, God was teaching all future generations a lesson. When the Master gave the disciples the Lord's Prayer, He put this same thought of life into it, for He taught us to say: "Give us this day our daily bread."

 

This is a most valuable lesson for every Christian to learn. We should make a little fence of trust around each day and never allow any past or future care or anxiety to break in. God does not provide in advance for our needs. We cannot get grace today for tomorrow's duties; and if we try to bear tomorrow's cares and burdens today, we shall break down in the attempt.

 

Time comes to us, not in years, not even in weeks, but in little days. We have nothing to do with 'life in the aggregate' - that great bulk of duties, anxieties, struggles, trials and needs, which belong to a year or even to a month. We really have nothing to do even with tomorrow.

 

Our sole business is with the one little day now passing, and the one day's burdens will never crush us; we can easily carry them until the sun goes down. We can always get along for one short day, and that is really, all we ever have.  - J.R. Miller

 

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It is said of Francis I of France, that when a woman kneeled before him to beg justice from him, he told her to stand up. "It is justice I owe you, not something to beg for. If you want to beg for something, let it be mercy."  -copied