Announcements
BUS WORKERS & SKATE DAY VOLUNTEERS: Tonight is the night! There will be a meeting in Baker, after the evening service. Please plan to attend for instructions on this event.
LIVING CROSS COSTUMES: Please have ALL costumes washed and returned by Sunday, May 3. You may leave them on the coat rack located in the hallway on the piano side.
SOUL-WINNER’S VISITATION DINNER: Due to the CCS Elementary Program on Thursday, April 30, we will not be having a meal. However, we will still have our regular visitation occurring at 6:30 p.m.
DEACONS: Please pick up your packets at the Welcome Desk.
From My Heart
Karen and I will be leaving next Saturday morning for the Alaska cruise you so graciously gave us for our 30th anniversary. The way the cruise is scheduled, we will have to miss two Sundays. I have Dr. John Hamblin scheduled for both Sunday services on May 3. On Wednesday evening, the pastor I preached for a couple of weeks ago in Florida, Pastor Mark Siers, will be here to preach for us. Pastor Siers was my music director and youth pastor when I was pastoring in West Virginia in the early 90s. He and his wife, Hope, are visiting Washington, D.C., this week, but he is happy to drive up to preach for us on Wednesday, May 6th.
I noticed while reading II Timothy 2:15 that the Apostle Paul tells us every Christian has the same assignment! Our assignment is to “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” That is every preacher’s
assignment, every missionary’s, every deacon’s, and even every church member’s assignment! We are to “STUDY.”
Using the King James Bible’s built-in dictionary, we can easily see the definition of the word “study.” Paul says, “study to shew thySELF approved unto God, a WORKman.” The Bible definition of “study” is “self-work.” Studying is work that is done by oneself! And each of us has the same assignment.
In a classroom of sophomore students, the teacher will say, “This is everyone’s homework assignment for this evening!” What the teacher means is that each individual student is to study the assignment. It is not for the student to go home and have Mom or Dad do THEIR homework. And this is the same principle behind us doing “self-work” in order to learn the Bible.
Recently, a young pastor friend called and said, “Bro., I need to ask you a Bible question.” I chuckled a little and said, “Fire away.” So, he asked his question, and I was relieved because it was something I had studied through just a few years ago. He said, “Wow! That makes perfect sense! I see that so clearly!” He then said, “How did you so readily know the answer to that so quickly?” I told him how, a couple of years ago, I was preaching on the very verse he was asking me about, and while studying this for my own message, the Lord showed me what I just shared with you! And that is what studying the Bible means - “self-work.” It is work you do yourself.
I love to read the Bible, and I love to use the cross-references in the center of my Bible. It is unbelievable how much knowledge and understanding we can glean by “self-study.” The best Person to explain the Bible to you is the One who wrote the Bible Himself! And the author of our Bible is the Holy Spirit! And the Holy Spirit lives within you when you are a born-again believer.
Have a great day!
Pastor Norris