The church

Nobody is a Nobody in the Family of God

[199 words] If you have ever read Romans 16:1-16, you will see a list of people Paul wished to commend for their work in the church. The vast majority of them are individuals of whom we have no additional details concerning their lives or service in Christ. But Paul wanted to honor them for their…

Wednesday Night Bible Study

[250 words] Adam grew up in the church. His parents were both Christians from the day he was born. He attended Sunday Bible class, his family went to worship God on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and then on Wednesday nights. They were a very happy Christian family. Then something happened. Adam started school and his…

How the Church Can Prosper Today

[529 words] To answer these questions, we must go back to the book of Acts. It is there in Acts 2 that we read of the establishment of the Church on the Day of Pentecost, just as had been prophesied by the Old Testament prophets. While there are many things that we could say about…

Who Are We?

[396 words] Many seem to be confused as to what it means to be a member of the church of Christ. The following observations will be helpful in clearing their minds. • We are a band of imperfect followers of Jesus. We have been saved, not because of our goodness or merit, but by the…

If It Is The Lord’s Church…

[131 words] …then shouldn’t He determine how one enters it? …then shouldn’t He regulate how it should worship? …then shouldn’t He decide who should be qualified to be its leaders? …then shouldn’t He govern what it should do? …then shouldn’t He ascertain who are faithful members? And do you know what? It is and He…

What Can We Do to Prevent Apostasy?

[143 words] We need to appoint and support faithful elders who will properly oversee the flock (Acts 20:28-32). We need to be busy now training other leaders to take their place. Consider Joshua’s training and the influence it wielded (Joshua 24:31). We need to learn again proper respect for the Word of God (Psalm 119:9-16).…

A Big Name

[257 words] When Walter P. Paepeke started a carton company and called it the Container Corporation of America, his attorney said it was “a big name for such a small company.” Mr. Paepeke’s reply was, “We’ll take the name and grow into it.” That’s the task we have before us. We have taken a big…

Are We A Denomination?

[356 words] Q: Has the term “church of Christ” become a denomination in the minds of people? A: Obviously, yes. Many people outside the church call us “church of Christer’s.” They do not understand what we mean by the phrase “the church.” In some people’s minds, a Christian has to be either a member of…

Why We Need Each Other

[323 words] The sole business of the church is souls. The church is souls in love with God and one another. The church is souls weeping and rejoicing together, laughing and praying together, eating and singing together. The church is souls looking upward, in praise, inward in penitence, outward in practice, and forward in promise.…

Blessings of Worship

[204 words] First and Second Chronicles offers us several great reminders about what a wonderful blessing worship should be to our lives. Especially right now when our routines have been disrupted, we need to make sure we are participating with heart, soul, mind, and strength.  When the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem,…

The Six Most-Needed Things in the Church

[283 words] Conversion of the Members. The new birth consists of more than baptism. One has to be born of the Spirit and of the water. Those of us who have been baptized must have been led to believe in Jesus as the Son of God and the Lord of life. Conversion is in reality…

Spiritual Myopathy

[335 words] Things that are seen don’t last forever, but things that are not seen are eternal. That’s why we keep our minds on the things that cannot be seen” (2 Cor. 4:18). Poor eyesight has plagued me for the most part of my life. After more than ten surgeries, I still have poor eyesight.…

The Blessings of Friends and Family

[194 words] It is truly a blessing to be part of a loving family. In like fashion, it is a great blessing to have dear friends. Sadly, not everyone knows what it feels like to be part of such things. All too often we take our family and friends for granted.  If you are so…

How To Make Sermons Last

[272 words] A preacher posted recently that someone had commented to him, “sermons are ineffective because they are forgotten by the time people get to the restaurant after church.” This statement concerned me because I feel the person who suggested this idea to the preacher put preachers in a negative light (probably not intentionally). I,…

Family in the Faith

[328 words] Throughout Paul’s missionary journeys recorded in the book of Acts, he interacts with a number of young men who variously traveled with him, ran errands for him, and continued the work in a congregation begun by him. However, while the text mentions a few of these younger preachers, the relationship Paul had with…

God’s ‘House-Law’

[643 words] Every home has some kind of system in place to keep order. Maybe you were told to take your shoes off at the door, keep your elbows off the table, make your bed in the morning, or brush your teeth more than twice a month. Every home is different and the expectations for…

A Restoration Observation

[131 words] If I want to grow watermelons in Tennessee today, I do not have to have an unbroken watermelon vine stretching down through all the millennia from the Garden of Eden to Tennessee. All I have to do is plant watermelon seeds in Tennessee today. They will produce in Tennessee today what they have…

What Would You Be Remembered For?

[222 words] “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). God would be a terrible obituary writer. You know, no matter how the person lived his or her life, the blurb in the newspaper always says glowing things about the person … but…

I Don’t Get Anything Out of the Services

[406 words] Has worship become a lost art? I’m afraid that many of us go through the motions without ever really reaching out to God. Consequently, we tend to leave a service much as we came in. Before long there is the tendency to dismiss the whole concept of assembling for worship. At its best…

The Church is What You Are!

[220 words] The church is built of men and women, not bricks and mortar. As such, it can never be any more faithful or effective than the individual members that comprise it. The Lord’s church in any community will reflect the sins and attitudes of its members.  • If it is a growing church, it…

It Goes Without Saying

[318 words] We’ve all probably heard the adage that the majority of communication is nonverbal. This notion is from Dr. Albert Mehrabian, author of the book Silent Messages. In his research, he found that only 7 percent of any message is conveyed through words, the rest (38 percent through certain vocal elements and 55 percent…

The Gathering

[333 words] The phenomenon is called “shikadamari“ in Japanese. A loose translation would be, “deer gathering spot.” A large population of free-roaming deer live in and around the Japanese city of Nara, spending most of their time in the city park. Every summer evening at around 6:30, over 600 deer gather in the same spot…

Some See Less as Better

[293 words] There are some times when less is better. Sometime the less words we speak the better. The less fat intake, the better. The less sin, the better. Sadly, some see less as better in their Christian lives: Less time for worshipLess time for Bible studyLess time for gospel meetingsFewer verses sung in worshipShorter…

Bridging Gaps

[353 words] One blade of grass at a time. That’s how the last remaining Inca rope bridge is rebuilt every year. The Q’eswachaka bridge spans the Apurimac river in the Cusco region of Peru. For 600 years, communities from both sides of the bridge have been assembling to cut down the old bridge and rebuild…

Ten Little Christians

[199 words] Ten Little Christians came to church all the time;One fell out with the preacher, then there were nine.Nine Little Christians stayed up late;One overslept on Sunday, then there were eight.Eight Little Christians on their way to Heaven;One took the low road, then there were seven.Seven Little Christians, chirping like chicks;One didn’t like the…

What We Need in the Church Today

[353 words] More knocking on doors and less knocking on each other. The great commission demands that we busy ourselves in taking the gospel to others (Mark 16:15). The Bible says, “speak not evil of one another” (James 4:11). It is so much better to be busy doing good rather than evil. More sound heads…

It is NOT ‘Just a Church’

[575 words] Jesus promised to do something never before done on earth: He would build His Church upon the great truth that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God! “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock l will build My church, and the gates of…

The Effective Church

[112 words] …Exalts God (Eph. 3:21). The church is a place of heartfelt praise of its Architect. …Evangelizes the Lost (Matt 28:19-20). The church is a place where the truth of the gospel is presented to all. …Edifies its Members (Eph. 4:16). The church is a place of great love and encouragement.  …Educates the Unlearned…

What You Do in the Church Pew Matters!

[461 words] “You mind your business and I’ll mind mine.” That is the motto of many and I, for one, like it! The Bible teaches us not to be busy-bodies. At the same time, we need to remember that what we do has an impact on others for good or bad. One of the reasons…

The Watchers

[401 words] When I was a kid I loved collecting and reading comic books. Several characters have stuck with me even today. Among them are a group of alien beings called The Watchers. The Watchers are beings that have great powers to manipulate time, material, and space. They spend their time in observance of all…

Me, or We?

[458 words] The story is told of an encounter between a high school principal and a young ninth grader. The principal noticed the young man in the hallway with a very defeated and frustrated look on his face. He asked the young man, “Is everything okay?” The boy replied sternly, “No. I don’t understand all…

It is NOT ‘Just Church’

[577 words] Jesus promised to do something never before done on earth: He would build His Church upon the great truth that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God! “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of…

What If You Were the Only One!

[203 words] What if by some happenstance you were the only member of the Church left in your town? Does that seem farfetched? In some places in some cities you might be in that circumstance. If you were to find yourself in this situation, what would you do? Would you simply give up and stay…

Similarities Between a Pearl and the Church

[430 words] “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it” (Matt. 13:45-46). The parable of the pearl of great price is listed among our Lord’s kingdom parables (Matt. 13:1ff).…

Remember Who We Are

[291 words] At the beginning, the church’s foremost focus was upon God, not man (Acts 5:29; Galatians 1:10); upon heaven, not earth (Colossians 3:1,2); upon the spirit, not the flesh. (Romans 8:6; 1 Timothy 4:8.) And in spite of severe persecution and constant privations, the church thrived, turning the ancient world “upside down” with the…

You’re in the Wrong Church

[168 words] If you identify your congregation by a person (pastor or leader) other than Christ, either you’re not in the right church or you’re not the right kind of Christian. Christ does not brook the exaltation of man. The church belongs to him. No person has the right to be known for the work…

They Hoisted the Trophy Without Him

[392 words] It was a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon. My son’s Little League All-Star baseball team was playing in the Regional championship game. The team had won their first game earlier that afternoon to advance to the championship round. Just before the start of the game I headed to the dugout to inform both…

Dog Daze

[426 words] When I was a small boy in North Georgia I used to hear the older folks speak of “Dog Days.” I never quite understood what that meant but I got the idea it meant I couldn’t go swimming for fear of catching a fever or something worse. I suppose every part of the…

The Church Roll and Body Parts

[532 words] In our ongoing efforts to be the church, the body of Christ, I can’t help but wonder if many folks are missing some vital points. We rightly preach baptism for remission of sins (Acts 2:38). We rightly teach that it is God who adds us to his church (Acts 2:47), and ultimately, he…

The Three R’s of a Great Marriage

[513 words] June is definitely the month for weddings, and this past June I presided over two weddings and attended another one. Weddings are stressful, but exciting times. It’s very moving to witness the joining of the lives of a man and a woman in holy matrimony. It brings to mind thoughts of optimism and…
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