News & Announcements
Why the Teaching of Jesus Was So Effective
1. He treated people with respect. (Mark 10:46-52)
2. He spoke plainly. (John 3:1-3, Matthew 13, Matthew 4:19, John 4:1-4)
3. He spoke sympathetically. (Mark 8:2, Luke 13:34)
4. He showed no partiality. (Matthew 8:2-3, Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:21)
5. He appealed to the deepest human needs. (John 9:1-38)
6. He spoke as One having authority. (Matthew 7:28-29, 4:4-10)
7. His own life was in perfect accord with his teaching. (Isaiah 53:9, Hebrews 4:15 and 7:26, John 8:29, John 8:46, 1 Peter 1:19)
Something To Think About
“The growth of wisdom may be gauged accurately by the decline of ill-temper,"
"Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you."
"One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning."
"You don't set a fox to watching the chickens just because he has a lot of experience in the hen house."
"Jesus is a friend who knows all of your faults and loves you anyway."
Prayer
2 Chronicles 7:14
We need to pray for our Nation everyday. Prayer is our connection to God and his blessings. Pray for our president, Vice President, Congress, Justice System, Armed Forces, Candidates for Public Office, State Leaders, Churches and Christians.
We Christians should make others thirsty for the Gospel. Our brightness should illuminate the community and world. We should leave a positive influence on our communities. Let Jesus shine through you. Prayer does make a difference and we need to pray for our Nation and its people.
School is starting and we need to pray for teachers, staff members, coaches, students, bus drivers, parents, cooks, janitors and consolers. Prayer is awesome so lets use it and Glorify God with prayers.
~Keith Jones
Family Life Minister
Result of the Flip-Flop Drive
Back in June, we had put the donation tree in the foyer and asked you to purchase 2 pairs of flip-flops for each person. The drive was to help the orphans and widows at the Mission Vision Orphanage. Mission Vision is the orphanage that Chester helps in India. See the results of our drive. Thanks to everyone who contributed.
Help In Honduras & India
Our church helped send Leslie Kenney to Honduras.
Please view the report.
On the India Work page, you can also read about the work being done on the new church building in Purnea, Bihar, India. View the work.
Overcoming A Critical Spirit
"Be ye kind one to another" (Ephesians 4:32).
Despite this great command - and other commands like it - there are a number of people who seem to think that they are justified having a critical spirit because they are (quote) "just telling it like it is."
However, good manners requires that even in correction, we should be gentle.
Still don't think that this is important? Still don't think this is biblical?
Consider these passages:
"Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness" (Galatians 6:1)
Paul told Titus to remind the members of the church "to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people" (Titus 3:2).
And how did Jesus describe himself? He said: "l am gentle and lowly of heart" (Matthew 11:29).
"Telling it like it is" is NOT an excuse for violating the commands to be gentle and to show perfect courtesy.
l think one of the best examples (in either biblical or non-biblical sources) of perfect courtesy is found in the little letter to Philemon. Paul could have commanded Philemon that he had to take the slave, Onesimus, back and not punish him. Instead, Paul chose to plead, like a humble father, for the sake of his "child in the faith".
Recognizing the importance of overcoming a critical spirit, we ask "what can I do when I or another person is being too critical‘?"
One of the most important things to do to overcome a critical spirit is to learn to pray...and pray often. lt is essential to believe that God will answer this and all your prayers! (if they are in accordance to God's will and are prayed in the name of Christ) (1 John 5:14-15, Matthew 21:22; and John 16:23).
Also, every time you are victim of someone's critical spirit, whether it is justified or not, pray for that person! Matthew 5:44 tells us to pray for those who mistreat us.
Also, do not forget to pray for yourself. Ask God to forgive your sins including the fault of having a critical spirit (Matthew 6:6).
Larry Fitzgerald
Cisco, TX
The Right To Pray
Do you ever feel that perhaps you’ve not been "good enough" to pray to God? Some people feel this way. In fact, many people feel this way on occasion. But the good news is that we can come before God at any time. We don’t have to try to sneak up on Him either.
Because of the blood of Christ, we are always able to go to the heavenly Father with any problem — for any reason. We know that our priesthood in Christ gives us the confidence we need to face the Almighty. Even when we’ve sinned God wants to hear us and He seeks to forgive us.
Note the Scripture: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
Isn’t it great to know that He is there for us? You have been given the right to pray!
Tom Craiker
Have You Ever Been A Victim Of Jealousy?
For one man in the Old Testament, jealousy became the source of terrible conflict -- and it took the death of someone to finally put an end to the situation.
The man was David -- later to be known as King David -- highest king of Israel and ancestor of Jesus.
We read about this episode in the life of David in 1 Samuel 18-31.
Usually when we think of David, we think of the fact that he slew a giant named Goliath (1 Samuel 17). David was a man of courage. He knew that the Lord was by his side.
Because of this, David gained favor with King Saul. And the king eventually made David a commander in Saul's army. In a short time, David established a reputation as one of the finest military men in the history of the world.
Soon, the people made up a song about David and Saul. It was meant to honor both of them: "Saul has slain his thousands; and David has slain his ten thousands" (1 Samuel 18:7).
But when King Saul heard this song..he didn‘t like it. It caused jealousy to invade his soul like bacteria invades the body. And from the time that he heard that song, Saul looked for a way to murder David.
Saul used many tactics to try to kill David. Sometimes he attempted to do it himself Then he tried to get others to do the dirty work.
David ended up having to flee for his life and was constantly hounded by Saul's armies.
But David did two things right.
#1. Despite the fact that Saul mistreated him, David never resorted to revenge or even hate. In fact, on more than one occasion, David had the - opportunity to assassinate the king. But he refused to do it and even criticized the king's guards for letting down their protection ( 1 Samuel 26).
When people mistreat us, the normal thing to do is to lash out. To seek revenge. But God calls us to go beyond the normal. He wants us to do the Godly thing.
Romans 12:14 "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them."
Romans 12:17 "Repay no one evil for evil ..."
Romans 12:19 "Beloved never avenge yourselves vengeance belongs to the Lord, alone, He will repay...".
David demonstrated this Godly characteristic.
And when we are the victims of jealousy. Then we, too, should never repay evil with evil -- instead we should repay evil with good.
#2 The second great characteristic that David demonstrated is that he never lost his faith in God.
If David had been like some people today, he would have thrown up his arms and yelled: ”I don't know why God is punishing me like this!" And then he would have started cursing God and stormed out of the church.
But David never lost his faith in God. What about you? When you are the victim of someone's jealousy or mistreatment how do you react? God wants us to be "Davids."
Larry Fitzgerald
Cisco, Texas
Purity In Dress
As most of you already know, the appearance of the summer months often means the disappearance of clothing. Modesty gives way to comfortableness, and in some cases more flesh is exposed than is covered. In this article, I simply want to briefly explore the issue of modesty and ask that you reflect upon the teachings of Christ.
As you know, when we were called by the gospel, we were called unto a life of purity. Our life ought to be characterized by purity in mind (2 Peter 2:1), conscience (1 Timothy 3:9), language (James 3:2), and in body (Hebrews 10:22). In spite of the Lord’s expectation of purity, modesty is seldom discussed, and when the subject is raised, many act as though the one raising the subject is a prudish bore.
But friends, unless we are very naive, we all realize what type of clothing entices lust in the hearts of men and women. Clothing that instead of covering the parts of the body that stirs up lustful thoughts, but rather exposes and emphasizes those areas, or shows just enough flesh to tease is inconsistent with the law of the Spirit of life.
Our clothing should profess our godliness, not our worldliness (1 Timothy 2:9-10). Our dress should be “chaste," not so that we will be "chased".
The sexual drive within humans is very strong. It is God given, and it is good when expressed and fulfilled within the boundary of marriage (Hebrews 13:4). But if that drive is tantalized and cultivated outside of the marriage relationship, sin and disaster looms just ahead.
I recognize it may very well be the case that young ladies do not know how visually oriented that men are or just how powerful the sexual drive is. If that is the case, mom and dad, please step in and help them make responsible choices with regard to their clothing. Don’t allow them to leave the house dressed in a fashion that will tempt and tantalize.
Am I proposing some sort of dress code? Absolutely not. I have no desire to legislate what you should or should not wear. God has given all of us the ability to discem between right and wrong. Contained in the Bible for all of us to read and the principles that regulate what type of dress is appropriate and what type is inappropriate. So you should not concern yourself with my dress code, but with God’s.
However, I would like to make a proposal. I do propose that you and your family draw some lines. Set some standards. Make sure that before you wear anything, you ask yourself If you would feel comfortable defending the purity of that type of clothing before the judgment seat of Christ. For after all, that is what we all will someday have to do.
By Steve Higginbotham
