Articles From Our Bulletins
Oh How I Love Your Law!
Here once again is the scriptural warning brother Shaw noted last Sunday morning: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” (Hosea 4:6, ESV)
Let’s take this to heart. Not only an individual, but even a whole people, even those people who are God’s people, (even a member here, even the whole congregation) can be destroyed. It takes only one thing to bring about that destruction: the lack of knowledge. That lack of knowledge, in turn, comes from rejecting and so forgetting God’s law.
On the other hand David cries out, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.”(Psalm 119:97) My guess is that, as we read Hosea 4:6 and inspect our own hearts, we would conclude that we are not as bad as God’s people of Hosea’s time. On the other hand we might also have to acknowledge that we fall short of David’s love and zeal for God’s law. Wherever we are on the spectrum, we all have room to grow in our knowledge and application of the word of God. As we neglect opportunities to learn, are we not in essence rejecting God’s word? On the positive side, as we use what opportunities we can to learn God’s word we express our love for Him and His word and so grow in grace and knowledge.
As members of the Southport church of Christ we are blessed with a wide range of opportunities to learn more about the words of life. Here is a brief review of our opportunities to increase our knowledge of the Bible—
1. Our private and/or family Bible reading and study. Establish some habits of regular (daily and weekly) Bible activities. By such studies and activities you and your family are laying up treasure in heaven and arming yourselves for future challenges here. For quick references to other translations and Bible helps to aid your study, a couple (of many) internet sites I’ve found helpful are Blue Letter Bible and Olive Tree.
2. The sermons each Sunday. We are looking for-ward to brother Phillip Strong coming the end of June. Meanwhile we are hearing excellent Bible lessons from many of our brothers in the congregation. This has been good for us, helping us to continue to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior.” If anyone could use a CD copy of any of the lessons, just ask John. They can be very useful for further personal study or to share with a friend.
3. Our Sunday morning adult Bible study. Last Sunday we began a new study. Over this quarter brother Shaw will lead us in studying 1 & 2 Peter. In a lively discussion last Sunday Darrell encouraged us all to deepen our commitment to seriously study God’s word and share it with others. Today we begin looking at 1 Peter. If you can at all and haven’t been making it to this study, now is a great time to start.
4. Our Wednesday evening adult Bible study. Over 13 weeks brother Tim Kilgo will lead us in studying “In God’s Image: A Study of the Nature of Man.” Using a study book (copies available in the foyer), we will help each other learn more about what it means to be made in God’s Image. In another lively discussion Tim led us to consider why it is important to have a good scriptural understanding of our makeup. Again, if you can at all and haven’t been making it to this study, now is a good time to start. This coming Wednesday we will discuss the fact that man is a physical being (the second lesson), and in doing so briefly review the error of evolution.
5. Our library. As you study 1 and 2 Peter or the Na-ture of Man you might find it helpful to avail yourself of our library. It takes up one wall in the large classroom at the end of the hall. Bible dictionaries, lexicons, atlases, and Bible outlines can give you much interesting and valuable information about the people and places that are mentioned in the text. We also have Bible commen-taries which provide well-informed comments on chal-lenging passages. Our library includes five commentaries on Peter’s letters.
6. Our children’s and teen Bible classes. Parents can refresh (and even gain in) their Bible knowledge as they help their children prepare for class and then afterwards review the material to help in the retaining of what is learned.
7. The devotional at Manor Care. Sundays at 2 pm singing and a short lesson is shared with any at Manor Care who want to join in. Besides an opportunity to learn, here is a good time to share our faith and be an encouragement to others. Please join in if you can. If you can’t come every week, maybe you could make a point of making it once a month?
8. The Ladies Bible study at the building. The study is just starting up again on April 19th with a study of Luke 16, the rich man and Lazarus.
9. The women’s home Bible study. Meets at the McCauley home one Friday a month to study prayer.
10. The monthly home study of Revelation. Meets once a month at various homes. Brother Bunch is doing the teaching. After the study a pitch-in is enjoyed.
11. Our Gospel Meetings. The next one begins in just two weeks. Mark McCrary from Kentucky will present lessons on commitment starting Sunday the 24th and going through Friday.
12. Gospel meetings elsewhere. We are blessed with a number of good congregations having special series of Bible lessons and inviting us to come benefit from them also.
13. Other home Bible studies. Many brothers and sisters like to get together to study a subject weekly for just a few weeks. Watch for notices of such opportunities. Or maybe you’d like to have one in your home.
14. Our website. Besides keeping us updated on assign-ments and providing a church directory, we can also ac-cess the sermons preached here over the last few years. And it is fully searchable by subject, date, speaker, etc.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s continually feed our souls the living word of God. Those in Hosea’s day did not suddenly completely reject God’s word, but drifted into indifference and forgot what they once knew. If we are not actively learning and applying God’s word we are dying. May it always be true that the South-port church of Christ loves the law of God. May each member here be as active as he or she can using many of these opportunities to grow in the knowledge of God’s word.
