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Family
Lines Newsletter, June 15,
2003
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**It Is Okay To Be Different**
By David
Chadwell
Our highly independent nature makes it difficult to
compile accurate statistics on congregations of the Church of Christ. Mac
Lynn seriously attempts such compilations. I wish to use his most recent
publication to illustrate a New Testament fact.
We have just over 13,000 congregations in the USA
and its territories. Of those, about 3,275 do not consider themselves in
fellowship with other congregations. The average size of a "mainstream"
congregation is 112 members. Total membership in the 13,198 congregations is
just over 1,276,500 people.
Do the math. In our USA membership of
1,276,500, between 20 and 25% of our members reject other baptized
believers. Our USA population is approximately 291,191,592. Our world
population is approximately 6,297,988,273. To regard ourselves as a major
influence on religious thought may be more a matter of arrogance than
reality.
Personally, I doubt that we understand the
complexity of the early church. We have begun to realize that the mindset
of Christian Jews in Palestine and Christian Jews in other regions differed
significantly. We still need to realize the complex differences between
(a) Jewish Christians who had God's scriptures for generations and (b)
Christians whose families worshipped idols for generations.
We do not deal well with the fact that most [if not
all] Christians in the New Testament were first generation Christians.
Their homes of origin were not Christian homes. Our naïve concept: if we
worshipped with Jewish Christians in Palestine, worshipped with Jewish
Christians in Galatia, and worshipped with non-Jewish Christians in Corinth,
each would do exactly the same things in exactly the same ways. We are
slow to realize many epistles addressed those differences for the sake of
encouraging acceptance, not for the sake of demanding conformity.
Paul did not commend the group in Corinth who
sustained division and said, "I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:10-17). He
did say this to the seriously divided Christians in Rome: "Who are you to judge
the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand,
for the Lord is able to make him stand" (Romans 14:4).
The master is Jesus. Jesus understands acts
of faith coming from the heart. Even if one believer is a vegetarian for faith
reasons while another believer for faith reasons eats food sacrificed to an
idol; even if one believer keeps holy days to honor God while another believer
rejects holy days to honor God, Jesus the master understood. He knew the
"why" and caused each to stand.
Being different is okay. Being faithless is
not okay. Trusting Jesus Christ is essential.
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**Shepherds' Corner**
We give thanks and praise
to God for a successful City of Children Mission
Team effort at Ensenada,
Mexico, during the week of May 31 - June 6.
Everyone safely returned on
Friday evening, June 6.
We sent a team of 40 teens and adults combined to
join with 17 from Arlington, Texas, for a total team of 57. In addition to
the teaching and fellowship with the 122 children housed at the City of
Children, we successfully completed several construction projects at the City of
Children. Also, another team totally built a house for a family of six
from the ground up.
Pictures and additional information will be shared
during our presentation on Sunday evening, June 22. Please try to be
present to learn more about how you can help with this mission
effort.
Ron Lenderman and Joe Pistole
Elder
Representatives to the
City of Children Mission Trip for 2003
**Gateway News**
The memory verse for David 1
rotation is: "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks
at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel
16:7b).
This week all classes will be working on a special
project.
2nd and 3rd grades will meet in "Faith Matters"
and 4th - 6th
grades will meet in "Thine Art."
**Summer Round Robin Series**
JUNE 15-21,
2003
SERVICES: SUNDAY, 6:00 P.M.
MONDAY - SATURDAY, 7:00 P.M.
Location and
Speaker:
Sunday at Valley View Church of Christ in
Greenwood with Larry Krudwig
Monday at Charleston Church of Christ with Larry
Mitchell
Tuesday at Washburn Church of Christ with Roy Enoch
Wednesday at
Booneville Church of Christ with N.D. Meador
Thursday at Branch Church of
Christ with Stuart Phillips
Friday at Dayton Church of Christ with Larry
Bean
Saturday at Waldron Church of Christ with Larry Bridges
**VBS is almost here!**
VBS is right around the corner (July 21-24) and
preparations are very much underway.
We are really looking forward to a fabulous week of
learning about God's Chosen with our children. This year is particularly
exciting because we are venturing into a TOTALLY different VBS than ever before
- one that we feel will help our kids get very enthusiastic about getting deeper
into God's Word, and at the same time, help them learn like never before.
This also means we need help!
If you have not already signed up and would like to
be a part of this exciting week, please contact Carolyn Harrell or
Dena
Jenkins via phone or email.
We also will need many items to be either donated
or loaned for the week. The lists will be appearing in the bulletin. If you can
help in any of these ways, please contact Carolyn or Dena.
Most of all, please pray that our week of VBS will
be an encouraging, educational, and eternally memorable experience for the
children and all involved!
* Rugs (oriental, jute, anything that might look
appropriate for New Testament times)
* Silk trees, greenery
*
Baskets
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**Remember In Prayer**
* Fred and Janet Jackson
request your prayers for Janet. Janet has a brain tumor that is in a very
difficult location. She is still going through testing.
* Shawn McCartney
(nephew of Peggy Pistole) is in St. Edward Hospital, ICU.
* Louise Howard's
brother-in-law, Joel Prigge, had high risk surgery on Thursday.
* Mickey
Mendez' mother, Lucila Lara, is in Sparks, room 522.
* Loren Parker is in
Sparks, room 614.
* Floy Hamilton (mother of Gary) is in St. Edward, room
3208.
* Kathy Monk is waiting for her test results from Little Rock.
*
Jerry Canfield is having tests.
* Doris Hammack, mother of Sheila Bailey, is
in Sparks, room 221.
* Mary and Jess Huff are improving.
* Zachary Green
(toddler son of Naomi McLinden) was in the hospital over the weekend with
pneumonia. He was released Sunday evening.
* Continue to pray for Vicki
Varvel, Sandy Thurman, Elaine Jordan, Marilyn Ogletree (Jane Choate's daughter),
Wendy Beck (friend of Brown Family).
**Baptisms**
Maria Concepcion Manjarrez was
baptized Saturday by Oscar Nolasco. Her husband, Victor, was baptized a
few weeks ago.
**Change of Address**
Philmore and Netsy
Lynn
4105 Southridge Estates Road
Fort Smith, AR 72916
Phone:
646-0898
**Corrected Phone Number**
Kevin & Christy
Hesslen
(918) 436-7020
**Guyana Mission Team**
Please remember our
Guyana 2003 team in your prayers. Their return flight home arrives at 6:50 p.m.
Sunday evening, June 15th at the Fort Smith Regional Airport.
** 60+ **
Our next potluck is Saturday night,
June 21st, at 6:00 p.m. in the FLC.
**Return Song Books Please**
Additional song
books are needed in the pews. If you have books out, please return them to the
church auditorium as soon as possible.
**Happy Birthday**
June 16
Kalen Griffin
Loretta
Loudermilk
June 17
Louise Hamilton
Elijah
Huff
Marquetta Walker
June 18
Dale Brown
June 19
Kaitlin Jones
June 20
Ronnie Galloway
Kerry Jenkins
J.
T. Smith
Kent Smith
June 21
Leslie Frederick
June 22
Shelly Perkins
**Pantry Needs**
* Canned meats
* Small boxes
of powdered milk
**Announcement*
"...whatever you did for one of
the least of these,
you did for me." Matthew 25:40
Please join us on Sunday afternoon, June 22, at
2:00 p.m.
In the Singles Room at the Pleasant Valley Church of Christ in
Little Rock for an
Organizational Meeting of all those interested in
launching an Adoption Ministry in Central Arkansas.
We have invited David
Jordan, Executive Director of the AGAPE Organization of Memphis, Tennessee
to
come and share their history and their future interest in partnering with us in
this ministry endeavor.
Ben and Sheila Shields
On behalf of the Adoption
Ministry Committee
**David's Lessons**
Sunday Morning
A Spiritual Check Up: Analyzing
Personal Situations
Sunday Evening
Familiar Passages: 2 Timothy
2:15
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**Family Life Ministry**
By Brad
Pistole
What a great night! This past Sunday, over 75 teens
and adults stayed after services to welcome our new 7th graders into the youth
group. We ate pizza, played volleyball and basketball, and had a brief
devotional.
We kicked the night off by spending our worship
hour talking about the importance of belonging and finding where each person
fits in our group. We want to welcome all of our new 7th graders and visiting
teens and let them know there is a place for them here as they work and serve as
ministers of the gospel of Christ.
It's a great time to be part of the West-Ark Youth
Group. We have an exceptional group of 11th and 12th graders who have spent the
past several years preparing for a time of leadership just like this. They are
ready to disciple, train and lead our younger teens.
Our teens are a reflection of the committed parents
and spiritual mentors that have led them up to this point in their lives. They
are ready to serve and we will all be blessed because of their examples. I am
blessed to be a part of this group.
Please make plans now to join us this coming Sunday
as we celebrate the joy of our relationships in Christ. EVERY MEMBER of our
congregation is invited as we meet this coming Father's Day Evening from 7-10
p.m. at Ben Geren Park.
We have reserved 3 softball fields. Everyone needs
to bring a ball, glove, bat or any piece of softball equipment you may have.
Everyone also needs to bring $2 to help offset the cost of the snacks, drinks,
and field/light rental fees. If you don't have any above, come any way. There
will be plenty of sharing taking place. Come join us for a great
evening.
**In the Nursery**
Infants
Trish
Carson
Jane Dunavin
Morgan Dunavin
Dwonne Cogswell
Toddlers
Bennie Hedrick
Vicki
Anderson
P.M. Nursery
Marquetta Walker
Schedule of Services
Sunday Worship (10:30)................619
Sunday Classes (9:30) ................. 421
Sunday Evening
(6:00)...................315
The Way (4:00)
................................61
Wednesday Worship (7:00)...........
242
Sunday Contribution ...............$13,421
Laotian
Attendance..........................17
Hispanic
Attendance........................53
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