Category: Bulletin Articles

The story is told of a business man who was overworked and decided to take some time off. While vacationing on the coast, a terrible storm hit. When it died down, he decided to take a walk down the cost to see what damage had been done. As he walked along the shore, he noticed thousands of starfish which had washed upon the shore. He knew that in a few hours the sun would come out and the starfish would dry out and die. As he thought about the starfish, he noticed a young boy who was throwing the starfish back one by one. The man was amazed by the youth’s diligence and shocked by his feeble attempts to make a difference. As he looked up the long beach, he saw thousands of starfish. When he caught up with the young man, he informed the boy that he could not possible save them all and said to the little boy, “You’ll never be able to make a difference to the starfish population.” The boy bent down, picked up a starfish, looked at it, then threw it back into the safety of the ocean. Then he said, “I sure made a difference to that one.

 We cannot personally make a difference in the lives of everyone that fills this world, but we can make a difference to a few of them. It is interesting that when Jesus spoke of those on His right hand on the Day of Judgment, he described them as having made a difference in the life of one person. He said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25:40). I sincerely believe that each of us can make a difference in the life of someone. This is how Jesus worked-one at a time. Sure, He preached to thousands, but He visited with families, and helped individuals. 

From Bulletin Digest

The five finger prayer is a great way to teach someone to pray, or a good model for anyone to use to pray. Remember, James 5:13-16 teaches us to pray for one another. 

First, your thumb is nearest you. Begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. 

Second, the next finger, is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and offer comfort. This can include teachers, They need support and wisdom in doctors, and ministers. pointing others in the right direction. 

Third comes the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders administrators. These people shape our nation and guide the public in many different ways. They need God’s guidance. in business and industry, and 

Fourth comes our ring finger. We could pray for marriages and families. We could also pray for those who are weak, because our ring finger is the weakest of the five. You cannot pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. 0o much 

Fifth comes our little finger. It is the smallest of the five. It should remind us of our place in relation to God and others. God’s Word teaches us that, “the least shall be the greatest among you (Matthew 23:11). Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and four you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

From Bulletin Digest 

The five finger prayer is a great way to teach someone to pray, or a good model for anyone to use to pray. Remember, James 5:13-16 teaches us to pray for one another.

First, your thumb is nearest you. Begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you.

Second, the next finger, is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and offer comfort. This can include teachers, They need support and wisdom in doctors, and ministers. pointing others in the right direction.

Third comes the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders administrators. These people shape our nation and guide the public in many different ways. They need God’s guidance. in business and industry, and

Fourth comes our ring finger. We could pray for marriages and families. We could also pray for those who are weak, because our ring finger is the weakest of the five. You cannot pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. 0o much

Fifth comes our little finger. It is the smallest of the five. It should remind us of our place in relation to God and others. God’s Word teaches us that, “the least shall be the greatest among you (Matthew 23:11). Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and four you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

From Bulletin Digest

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself” (Phil 2:3 NKJV)

One of the greatest struggles for humanity is the discovery of our own value and self-worth. People often feel so very empty and insignificant. The cares of life tend to batter down our self- image and leave us with a sense of meaninglessness and even self-loathing. This is part of the reason why so many people turn to so many vices-alcohol, drugs, sexuality-in an attempt to “fill the void”

The world is quick to offer solutions. The self-appointed therapists of afternoon talk shows and the mega-rich attitude coaches of late-night infomercials tell us that we need to practice “self love,” and engage in more positive “self-talk.” They tell us that we have to love ourselves first before we can ever learn to love anyone else. Yet, however quaint their advice may be, it is as far from truth as the east is from the west.

The Bible tells us that positive self-image does not come through believing we are wonderful, but through the knowledge that God loves us. We don’t need better “self-esteem,” but need a better understanding of God’s estimation of us! In fact, the Bible tells us that the first step to wholeness is understanding and accepting Our wretchedness and Own turning in utter dependence to God’s awesome grace. Perhaps the old children’s song has more practical advice on developing self-esteem than all of today’s pop-psychology: “Jesus first, yourself LAST, and others in-between.

From Bulletin Digest 

“Freedom is a powerful word, full-of all-sorts of meaning to different people. Some people think freedom refers to political liberty, such as we have in the United States under the constitution. Others think freedom means being able to do whatever one wants morally. Some even think freedom means doing whatever one wants, regardless of the rule of law. 

However, authentic freedom is based on the word of God and the work of His Son Jesus Christ! In John 8:36, Jesus said, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” One becomes free indeed by knowing the truth (John 8:32; 17:17) and obeying the truth (Matt. 7:21-o 27). This authentic freedom Christ offers is composed of three facets: 

1. Freedom from the burdens of life! In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says the sinner is “heavy laden.” Jesus tells us to bring that burden to Him. Hebrews 12:1 says to lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us.” Jesus can free us from those weights, as well as the burden of false religion and traditions of men (Matt. 23:3-4). 

2. Freedom from bondage to sin! The Jews that Jesus was speaking to in John 8 were not only in bondage to the law and to the traditions of men, but they were also in bondage to sin (John 8:44). Christ not only could free them from the law (Col. 2:14), but also from the guilt of sin (Rom. 3:23-26). 

3. Freedom from blindness! Jesus could open their eyes to the truth, if they so desired (John 8:32). Once one recognizes the power and importance of God’s word, he no longer has to worried about being fooled by the false doctrines of men (Eph. 4:14), if he will continue in the things God teaches in His word. Paul’s mission to the Gentiles was to “open their eyes” (Acts 26:18) So while we celebrate our political and social freedom on July 4th, let us also focus on and remember our spiritual freedom that comes only through Christ Jesus! He frees us from the burdens of life, from bondage to sin, and from blindness! Are you free indeed? 

In 1 Samuel 1-5 we find the corrupt sons of Eli, priests, unwilling to heed their father’s instructions. They cause the children of Israel to despise the sacrifices of the Lord. Then the Philistines slaughter the Israeli army and carry off the Ark of the Covenant. In the midst of all this God is still faithful to fulfill His will, keep His promises, and He providentially raises up Samuel to be a prophet and a priest.

Then, in chapters 6-10, Israel, who has never been satisfied with the leadership and awesome power of the Lord, desires an earthly king to rule over them. He had guided them out of bondage and into the Promised Land. He had set over them righteous representatives to lead them (Moses, Joshua, the Judges, and now Samuel), yet they continued to rebel. Now they want a king like the nations around them.

Let me posit this question, “Whose side are we on?” If not on the Lord’s side we are His enemy. But He will conquer and every enemy defeated (Matthew 11:30). “Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” (Hebrews 12:9).

While we are often hard on the children of Israel maybe God is trying to get us to see our own nature. He has provided us with divine, kingly leadership in His Son. But that isn’t good enough for most people. He is King of kings and Lord of lords! Will you allow Him to rule your life. Here’s a test… have you and are you obedient to and subject to Him?

That transformation which occurs when one becomes a Christian is so remarkable. The apostle Paul emphasized this to those new Christians in Corinth. In his second letter to that church he spoke of all he was in Judaism before becoming a follower of Jesus. No one excelled his credentials, yet he gave it all up. He reminded them of this truth and then applied this transformation to all Christians. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). 

 The old guilt of sin had passed away. Under that Old Testament law, every year there was that Day of Atonement (modern Jews call it Yom Kippur) when God remembered the nation’s sins, and His displeasure was “satisfied by the offering of animal sacrifices. It was a religion which easily created guilt for there was no real forgiveness. When one becomes a Christian God “remembers their sins no more” (Jer. 31:34). 

 What Has Become New? Under the New Testament all of this had changed. There is now freedom of choice. The old law was a yoke of bondage (Acts 15:10), but Jesus’ new law is easy and light (Matt. 11:30). There is now eternal forgiveness-God no longer remembers our sins because Christ has become our eternal, atoning sacrifice. There is now a new relationship with God-Jesus’ model prayer begins, “Our Father who is in heaven.” John said it this way, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God” (1 John3:). 

 What has become new? Paul’s answer is “all things have become new.”  

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land'” Jeremiah 17:5-6).

My grandfather worked as a truck driver emptying salt water from oil tanks in west Texas. The water was hauled off and disposed so that the land would not be destroyed. One time, we drove through an area of land that looked like it had been bleached. I asked, “What happened here?” The reply: “A salt water spill.” Sometimes the salt water would leak out of the oil tanks. It left a barren patch of dirt on which nothing would grow killing everything

Jeremiah’s description of a person who trusts in mankind alone reminds me of these barren patches of land. The ultimate abode of a person who only trusts in the wisdom of man is isolation, loneliness, depression, and an empty life. It is when we trust in God first that life becomes a rich panorama of colorful seasons filled with fruit and gladness. God makes real fellowship with others possible. He is the basis upon which we have successful relationships with others. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” Matthew 22:37-40). Let us be diligent to love God and to love our neighbor to reap the abundant life (John 10:10).

Someone said, “To err is human; to forget, routine.” Sometimes it is good to forget. God Himself forgets our sins when we repent of and turn from them. In Hebrews 8:12 God promises their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” It is healthy to forget and forgive what God forgets and forgives in myself and others. Tragically, some people are too forgetful, for they fail to remember what God commands us to never forget. Six hundred years before Christ, through the weeping prophet Jeremiah, God asked with a broken heart, “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.” People can, and often do, forget God. In 2 Timothy 2:8 the apostle Paul reminds Timothy to do what we would think no preacher, elder, or Christian would ever need to be reminded to do: “Remember Jesus Christ.” The Lord’s Supper itself is a memorial service designed to remind us every Lord’s Day of the awful price paid for our spiritual freedom. If not careful, we can forget what it is the memorial service itself is supposed to help us remember. Memorial Day to many means nothing more than a holiday celebrated the last Monday in May with picnics and hot dogs and cook-outs, the day that begins summer vacation season. But Memorial Day was originated to help us remember the service and sacrifice of dead servicemen and women of all wars. We must never forget that our physical and spiritual freedom have come at a high cost. At a Veteran’s Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on November 11, 1985, President Ronald Regan spoke words which have both patriotic and spiritual application: “It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray-haired. But most of them were boys when they died. They gave up two lives-the one they were living and the one they would have lived When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old up everything for their country, for us. All we can do Will men. is remember. Jesus up everything for gave us we remember?

Meekness does not mean weakness. Humility does not mean timidity. As Christians we need to remember that we have been adopted into a (the) royal family. We are children of the King. We are nobles! 

Every Christian should live in such a way that their nobility is evident to the entire world. Timothy was “well reported of by the brethren” (Acts 16:2). In Philippi Paul and Silas conducted themselves with nobility. The Bereans “were more noble” then those in Thessalonica. And Paul stood proudly upon Mars’ Hill and proclaimed to the Athenians the one true and living God. 

Are we living lives of nobility? Are we conducting ourselves as children of the King? How do we live noble lives? Believe on the Lord Jesus (Acts 16:31) and on His word (Acts 16:32). Study the word (Acts 17:11) and stand boldly for the truth. Be the Lord, the kingdom, our neighbors, and our Be faithful and proud as a noble Christian!