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Family Lines Newsletter, April 5, 2007
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**What Would It Mean If We Succeeded?**
By David Chadwell
 
“It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”  (1Timothy 1:15)
 
The Jewish Christian Paul made that statement.  Did he ever understand it!  The murdering blasphemer and persecutor (1 Timothy 1:13) became a Christian because God wished to verify Jesus Christ’s patience (1 Timothy 1:16).  So the man who helped kill to keep Judaism pure became the apostle to idolatrous gentiles.  Gentiles were ignorant-- warping the view of deity, worshipping ridiculous things, and living by abusive morality.
 
Paul knew his old ways could not be defended.  As a result, the Christian Paul approached the “untouchables” with the same kindness and mercy God showed him in Jesus Christ.
 
Did the majority of Jewish Christians appreciate Paul’s efforts?  NO!  (See Acts 15:1, 2, 5, 6-11.  Please note Jewish Christians who did not like what they saw produced this emotional meeting.)
 
For a moment, let me role play as if I were one of those Jewish Christians.  “What is going on?  Does not everyone understand Christianity began in Jerusalem with Jewish converts?  We are the ‘mother’ church!  It is unthinkable that Christians would not pray at the temple or study scripture in a synagogue!  Why, many of these uncircumcised people becoming Christians do not even know Jewish traditions!  Surely, they can accept Jesus Christ if first they let us teach them how to do things!”
 
Baptizing gentile believers meant enormous change!  Many first century Jewish Christians did not like it!  Yet, Jesus Christ gave his life to save sinners, and that included gentiles.  God was as delighted with the repentance and baptism of a gentile as a Jew.   That was difficult to understand when Jews thought they held the patent on God!  Nobody did God like they did God!  God was theirs for 2000 years!
 
Would we all agree that Jesus died to save sinners?  That God does not care about the nationality or ethnicity of a person?  That if a person is willing to repent of sins, God does not care if you are homeless or live in a $500,000 structure?  That God forgives any background, past lifestyle, or godless behavior of the believer who repents and is baptized for the forgiveness of sin?  I suspect all of us would heartily AMEN all that.
 
We as Christians have little trouble with the “before.”  Our big challenges are with “after.”  If we succeeded in our God-given-mission to convert to Jesus Christ, what would success look like?  I confess freely I have no idea!  I know that people who “do things like me” quickly would find themselves in the minority. Faith and repentance would be considerably more important than 100-year-old traditions!
 
The thoughts of success in God’s objectives in Jesus Christ make me sweat a cold sweat.  How about you?  Do you think God is THAT serious about saving sinners?

“... The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)
 
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**Please Be Praying For**
• Doris Robertson is scheduled for back surgery Thursday, April 5th, at Washington Regional Hospital in Fayetteville.
• Kathleen Nelson is in St. Edward Hospital, room 3320. She is a member of an area Church of Christ and enjoys visits.
• Phillip Burns is recovering at home following back surgery on Friday (3/30/07).
• Ray Baker (father of Tiffany Null and Mayor of Fort Smith) is in St. Edward Hospital for tests.
• Remember in prayer our Leadership Training for Christ participants and their families as they travel to Tulsa, OK, for LTC competition, Friday and Saturday, April 6-7.
• Roger Dicks (son of Charles & Jean) has moved to room 515 in Sparks Hospital.
• Ron & Pam Collar are rejoicing as Ron continues to recover from successful lung surgery last Friday (3/30/07).The lymph nodes were not cancerous and doctors were able to remove the mass and lower lobe of his lung cleanly and with no complications!
• Tim Williams (son-in-law of Bob & Jane Fisher) has a recurrence of a brain tumor. Tim, Beth and their girls live in Lubbock, TX.
 
**Bereaved**
Our love and sympathy is extended to Linda McRay in the recent death of her mother-in-law in Seminole, OK.
 
**Pray for Mission Efforts**
• Continue to pray for our missionary families in Vietnam and Laos.
• John Paul & Ruby Lee Hundley in France.
• Steve & Coleen DeLoach, Operation Guyana
 
**Prayer Pagers**
• Doris Robertson, 441-2384
• Family of Roger Dicks, 441-2386
• Patty Kaiser, 441-2387
• Perkins Family, 441-2379
• Dialing (479) 441-2395 will contact all West-Ark prayer pagers at once.
 
**Pray for Our Military**
Brian Perkins is leaving Friday (4/6/07) for Fort Sill, Oklahoma and then on to Iraq for a year.  A prayer pager was recently given to the Perkins Family. Please be in prayer not only for Brian’s safety but also for Shelly, Brent, and Megan that God will comfort, encourage, and strengthen them in the coming weeks.
Continue to pray for:
Adam Morrissun
Brian Perkins
Brian Harris
Jeff Amos
Jonathan Smith
Kyle Evans
Michael Anderson
Ron Wheat
Stephen McElroy
Wes Roper
 
**Tutoring Driver Needed**
Starting Tuesday, April 10
2:30 – 5:30 p.m.
This driver will be needed until the end of the school year.  Call Jack Lewis if you can help.
 
**New Phone Numbers**
Lloyd and Betty Summers have new cell phones. Please consider Betty’s number as their “home phone.”
Betty (479) 353-6423
Lloyd (479) 806-5416
 
**Notes of Thanks**
Thank you for all the prayers, visits, cards, food, and meal after Mom’s (Oneta Love) funeral. A special thank you to Chris for the wonderful words at her service. Thank you to Chuck Combs for leading the song service. 
 In Christian Love,
 Cathy Harris and Family
 
Dear Brethren:
Thank you so very much for your love and concern shown to me during my recent surgery! I'll soon be as good as new, hopefully. Russ and I would also like to express our thanks, at this time, for the warm and loving welcome you have given us since our move to the Fort Smith area. We have fallen in love with our wonderful Christian family at West- Ark.  May God continue to bless us all as we work together for Him.
 Russ and Jean McConnell
 
Dearest Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
We thank you so much for your prayers and cards in our time of sorrow. We are blessed that our Lord will gather us together for eternity.
In Christian Love,
 Fran Wade, John, Sue & Moorea
 and all of Paul’s Family
 
Thank you so much for the lovely fruit and candy you sent me for Christmas. I feel that the family of God there cares for me, and I am so sorry that I can’t make it to church on Sunday. I cannot drive my car any more.  Your gift was lovely and also delicious. It made Christmas feel like family time again. I shared it with others here. I love you all and hope to see you soon.
 Pearl Shields
 Butterfield Place
 8024 Phoenix Avenue, #110
 Fort Smith, AR 72903
 Phone: 452-1656
 
Dear Church,
I would like to thank all of you who donated a book to the Library in honor of my sister. I want you to know that I appreciate it so very much.
 Glory be to Christ,
 Wanda Wear
 
To our West-Ark Family,
We want to thank you for your prayers on behalf of our family for the loss of Jack’s mom, Lucille. Your words of encouragement and understanding mean so much to us. This has been a difficult time for us, but we are confident in God’s promises, and we know we will see her again some day.
 In Christian love,
 Jack & Arenda Yancey
 
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**Wedding Shower**
A shower honoring Daniel Tignor and Julie Keller is planned for Sunday, April 15, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. at Meg Canfield's home (2 Chestnut Court in Fort Smith).  Daniel and Julie are registered at Wal-Mart. Daniel has been an active West-Ark member since moving to Fort Smith a little over a year ago and serves on the Missions Committee.  He and Julie will make Fort Smith their home after her graduation from Harding University in May.
 
**Welcome, Blessed Baby!**
Congratulations to Jeffrey & Blanca Nolasco on the birth of a son, Jeff Alexander on March 30.  Little Jeff weighed 7 lbs., 3 ozs. and was 20 inches long. Oscar and Alicia Nolasco are the very happy, first-time grandparents!
 
**Mark Your Calendars!**
VBS is June 18-21
“Catch Jesus in Action”
 
**Our 1st VBS Meeting!**
We’ll have an organizational meeting for everyone who wants to be involved in VBS on Sunday, April 15, at 5:00 in room 100. If you want to participate in VBS, but cannot attend, please contact Dena Jenkins or Staci James.
 
**Widows/Widowers**
April 7th will be our annual trip to Parks Brothers Greenhouse. We will eat lunch in the Annex at noon and then travel to Van Buren. Come join us for lunch even if you do not wish to purchase or look at flowers. Call Janice at 452-1240 (church office) if you need transportation to the Annex.
 
**We will not have an April Car Clinic.**
 
**The Hope Chest**
Please remember the Hope Chest as you do your spring cleaning. Household and kitchen items are always needed. The container in the foyer is for your convenience. 
 
Hope Chest Needs:
• Small toothpaste
• Small deodorant
• Disposable razors
 
**Coming Events**
 
Rita Brown will be the Guest Speaker at
Rena Road Church of Christ Ladies’ Day
Saturday, April 21
Registration is at 9:00 a.m.
Rita’s devotional is titled “For Such a Time As This” and is taken from the book of Esther. Lunch is provided and the event will end about 1 p.m. Please call 474-6527 if you can attend.
 
**Praising the Lord in Song**
If anybody has a reason to sing … we do! 
Join us for a weekend of Praising the Lord
April 20-21
Central Church of Christ
823 W. Sixth Street
Little Rock, AR
(501) 982-1090
Sponsored by Purpose A Cappella Ministries
 
Friday, April 20, at 7 p.m.
Coffeehouse (a casual event with coffee and desserts) featuring Purpose from Little Rock and Chosen from Dallas.
 
Saturday, April 21, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
A sing-out featuring uplifting music from the following groups:
• Central Arkansas Ensemble (Searcy and Texarkana, AR)
• Radio Chorus (Lewis St. C of C, Little Rock, AR)
• Purpose (various congregations in Little Rock, AR)
• Blessed (Sherman, TX)
• Eastside Ensemble (Eastside C of C, Tulsa, OK)
• One Accord (Greenville Ave. C of C, Dallas, TX)
• Chosen (Dallas, TX)
 
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**Family Life Ministry**
By Brad Pistole
 
A legend in the field of Youth Ministry, Mike Yaconelli, once said something to the effect that our concepts of Jesus are “all messed up.” He talked about how often people referred to Jesus as “such a nice person.”
 
After examining the scriptures closely, exactly what do we find out about how the religious leaders felt about Jesus? Did they have wonderful things to say about him?
 
To be honest, many of his actions were just down right confusing to most of the religious people. They are still confusing to many religious people today. Do the following passages of scripture make sense to you: Matthew 11:16-19, Matthew 12:46-50, Matthew 21:31-32, Matthew 23, Mark 2:13-17, Mark 11:15-19, John 4, John 8, John 9:34-41.
 
Wow! Jesus was referred to by the religious people as a “glutton, a drunkard, and a friend of the worst sort of sinners!” He called the religious leaders “blind guides, hypocrites, whitewashed tombs, etc.” He spent his time with tax collectors, prostitutes and known sinners and had the nerve to even ask some of them to be in his “inner circle of leadership.” And there’s so much more…read the stories!
 
Does this sound nice to you? Does it make much sense to you? Does it sound like the best way to make friends and influence people? If it doesn’t, then try to wrap your mind around THE CROSS.
 
Is that the method you would have chosen to redeem the people who had turned their backs on you? Would you choose your child to be the recipient of the punishment for the sins of the entire world?
 
Isn’t it wonderful that we serve a God who doesn’t make sense? Thank GOD that he lives in the heavens and does whatever He pleases! (Psalm 115:3) Thank GOD He doesn’t ask for our permission or opinions about the way things should be done today!
 
May we continue to get out of His way and let Him do what He wants to do … when He wants to do it … in whatever way He chooses to do it!
 
Thank God OUR FATHER KNOWS BEST!
 
**Happy Birthday**
 
April 9
Saige Blasdel
Jackie Hamilton
 
April 10
Clayton Amos
Michelle Boozer
Lisa Hollomon
Robin Murphy
Rachel Snider
 
April 11
Rachel James
Duane Walker
 
April 13
Rick Carson
Rachelle Robison
Sara Rye
Gina Williams
 
April 14
Jaci Burkhart
Tim Davis
Wilburn Howard
Don Neisler
 
**Morning Nursery
Dena Jenkins
Suzi Jennemann
Melissa Walker
 
**Evening Nursery**
Terri Jones
Marquetta Walker
 
**Attendance and Contribution Count**
Sunday AM Worship 683
Sunday PM Worship 345
Bible Classes  456
Life Groups 45
Contribution   $21727
Children’s Home $248
 
**Lao Worship**
Attendance 61
Contribution $207
 
**Iglesia de Cristo **
Attendance 64
Contribution $178
 
Office Phone (479) 452-1240
Fax  (479) 452-5767
office@westarkchurchofchrist.org
www.westark.org
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"Making disciples for Jesus who are eager to serve others."
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