April 2019 Newsletter

The April Newsletter is here and jam packed with articles and updates.

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April 2019 Newsletter

Have a great day!
~ Carmen

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (3/31/19)

Scripture for Sunday
2 Corinthians 5:10-21 (ESV) 

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Questions for Reflection
1.    When have you seen someone change in a significant way?
2.    What about you is most difficult for your acquaintances to understand or accept?
3.    What motivated Paul? (5:14)
4.    *Why did Christ die for everyone? (5:15)
5.    How did Paul change the way he looked at people? (5:16)
6.    What is true about every person in Christ? (5:17)
7.    What happened when God sent His Son to earth? (5:18)
8.    What does God do with our sins when we are reconciled to Him? (5:19)
9.    *How is a Christian an ambassador? (5:20)
10. How is it possible for us to be motivated both by the fear of the Lord and Christ’s love?
11. Why was it necessary for Christ to die in order for us to be reconciled to God?
12. What difference does it make that Christians are counted as Christ’s ambassadors?
13. *Where is your ministry of reconciliation?
14. To whom are you an ambassador?

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (3/24/19)

Scripture for Sunday
Luke 13:1-9  

1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.  4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." 6 And he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, 'Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?' 8 And he answered him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"

Questions for Reflection
1.    What connection do many people make between how bad they are and how much they suffer?
2.    When was a time you felt that God was letting you suffer because you had sinned?
3.    What explanation for the tragedy did Jesus propose? (13:2)
4.    How did Jesus reply to His own question? (13:3)
5.    What were Jesus’ listeners to learn from the two stories? (13:3-5)
6.    Why do we often assume that people suffer because they are uniquely bad?
7.    What people or groups of people do we sometimes blame for their suffering?
8.    What’s wrong with saying that people suffer because of how sinful they are?
9.    *What can we do to keep from judging people by their circumstances?
10.   What did Jesus mean by His warning, "But unless you repent, you too will all perish"?
11.   What second chances have you been given?
12.   What can we learn from this parable?

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (3/17/19)

Saturday March 16th is the 90th Birthday party for Dorothy Murr, 10 AM to 1 PM at the College St. Church of Christ.

Sunday March 17th - Wedding Shower for Mary Whitworth, 2 PM to 4 PM in the church fellowship hall. No gifts, please bring an embroidery hoop and needles if you have them. Come to embroider tea towels for Mary. Towels, yarn and extra hoops will be provided. If you don’t want to embroider come for the fellowship.

Scripture for Sunday
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (ESV) 

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Glory To God Alone (Soli Deo Gloria): This means that all glory is to be due to God alone, since salvation is accomplished solely through His work, will, and action.

Questions for Reflection
1.    How do God’s attributes compare with ours? (1:25-26)
2.    What were the Corinthians like before they were called? (1:26-27)
3.    How does God use the foolish and weak things of the world? (1:27)
4.    *Why does God express His power and wisdom through "foolish," "weak," and "lowly" means? (1:28-29)
5.    What has Jesus Christ become for us? (1:30)
6.    What difference should it make in your life to know that God chooses the weak and lowly people of the world to do His work?

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (3/10/19)

• Troy Kenneth Burch, 79, passed away on March 6, 2019 after a courageous battle with cancer. Funeral services will be held 2:00 PM, Friday, March 8, 2019 at the First Presbyterian Church with Rev. Jim Barker and Charles Hagood officiating.
• Billy Lee " Dooker" Ragsdale, 81, lifelong resident of Junction, passed from this life March 6, 2019 at his residence. Funeral services will be held 1:00 PM, Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the First Presbyterian Church with Rev. Jim Barker and Charles Hagood officiating. Interment will follow at Copperas Cemetery.
• Sunday March 10, 2019 - Pot Luck Bridal Luncheon for Jordan Keeton and Kersten Criddle.  Meat will be provided; please bring a side dish or dessert. 

Sola Christus | Colossians 1:15-23 | Christ Alone means that Christ is the only way that one can be saved and have an eternal relationship with God. 

Scripture
Colossians 1:15-23 (ESV) 

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Questions for Reflection
1.    Whom do you look up to? Why?
2.    What qualities stand out in a person you admire?
3.    What is Christ’s relationship to God? (1:15)
4.    What is Christ’s relationship to Creation? (1:15-17)
5.    How do "all things . . . hold together" under Christ? (1:16-17)
6.    What is Christ’s relationship to the church? (1:18)
7.    Why was the resurrection of Jesus significant? (1:18)
8.    Why did Paul take the time to describe the qualities of Christ?
9.    What difference does our understanding about Christ make?
10. In what way are we all under Christ’s authority?
11. In what way are you under Christ’s authority?

Announcements, Scripture & Questions for Sunday (3/3/19)

Announcements:

• Men's Breakfast Saturday morning at 8 AM. Coffee will be on at 6:30 so come early to visit and bring a friend.
• Wednesday, March 6, 2019 - Ash Wednesday Service 7 AM. 
• Wednesday,  March 6, 2019 - Lenten Luncheon at noon in the First Baptist Church Multi-Purpose Building.  We are responsible for 1/2 of the desserts. 
• Sunday, March 10, 2019 - Pot Luck Bridal Luncheon for Jordan Keeton and Kersten Criddle. Meat will be provided; please bring a side dish or dessert.

Scripture for Sunday

Galatians 2:16-21 (ESV) 

16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. 17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-10, 24-25, 39-40

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Questions for Reflection
1.    When you were a child, what are some ways you showed trust in your parents?
2.    What do you consider the greatest example of faith you have ever seen? Why?
3.    What is faith? (11:1)
4.    What does faith help us to comprehend about the creation of the world? (11:3)
5.    How did faith affect Abraham’s life? (11:8-12)
6.    What happened to a great many Old Testament saints who exercised faith in God? (11:39)
7.    According to this passage, what is the only way we can please God with our lives?
8.    What prompts committed followers of Christ to continue to exercise faith even when He never seems to "come through" for them?