Sound Teaching

(And the Meaning of Life)

(Note: This Article, The Search for Immortality, (And the Meaning of Life) , was written by Tommy Davis, one of the members of the West Side congregation. I commend the article to you).

A few weeks ago, as my family and I watched a movie, I noticed a recurring theme in all forms of literature and movies — the search for immortality. This is not a recent phenomenon. The Egyptian pharaohs went to great lengths to achieve immortality. In fact, their culture almost revolved around the afterlife and immortality. Legends exist from nearly every society about those searching for the magic elixir that will let them live forever. What a colossal waste of time! From the day man was created, we have been immortal souls. We die as a direct consequence of our own sin. God gave us all a soul that will live forever; however, our problem comes because men want to live forever on earth. Why? It is a broken place full of death, disease, and heartache because of sin.

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The Sermon begins with the passage from 2 Timothy 2:20-21. Vessels of Honor includes:

• The man who purges himself of sin
• The man who is sanctified
• The man who is meet for the Master’s Use
• The man who is prepared unto every good work

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The Church in Philippi is introduced in Acts 16, then aspects discussed in the lesson from the Paul’s epistle to that church. The discussion includes:

• The possible faults of the congregation
• The congregation’s virtues
• Paul’s admonitions to the brethren
• Paul’s final admonition from 4:8-9

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A very poor holy man lived in a remote part of China. Every day before his time of meditation in order to show his devotion, he put a dish of butter up on the window sill as an offering to God, since food was so scarce. One day his cat came in and ate the butter. To remedy this, he began tying the cat to the bedpost each day before the quiet time. This man was so revered for his piety that others joined him as disciples and worshipped as he did. Generations later, long after the holy man was dead, his followers placed an offering of butter on the window sill during their time of prayer and meditation. Furthermore, each one brought a cat and tied it to the bedpost.

Source Unknown

The moral to the story is this: Tradition can be a good thing. In fact, apostolic traditions form the canon of scripture, (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:2). However, the blind following of tradition can not only lead to absurd practices, but unscriptural ones, endangering our souls. Let us all know and understand the scriptural reasons behind all that we teach and practice.

(The following article was written by Tommy Davis, one of the members of the West Side congregation. I commend it to you. Stan)

Take a minute to answer this question, do you have dreams for the future? Do you want to be a doctor, make a scientific breakthrough or do you want to be a professional athlete? Some people dream of good health or being wealthy and living in a huge house. People in nearly every culture have dreams for the future. We hear about holding onto our dreams at events like graduations, and when we get married, we feel like a dream just came true. Most of us don’t dream of terrible events like death or destruction.

God has a dream for us too. When God created man, he longed to walk with man on earth and have relationships with us. For a while in the Garden of Eden, God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day — Genesis 3:8. I often wonder what those conversations were like! This soon came to an end when sin entered our lives, and now we are separated from God. No longer do men walk with God and talk to him face to face. We are imperfect and impure; not fit to be in the presence of God. The relationship was broken!

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The Sermon is an analysis of the song written by John Newton. Grace:

• Saves
• Teaches
• Keeps us Safe
• Provides Hope
• Speaks of Eternity

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The Sermon Discusses small things that are nevertheless great in the Sight of God. Things such as:

• The Power of Two or Three
• Only a Cup of Cold Water
• Little Children
• A Single Person of Faith

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In the Reader’s Digest the other day I found a list of 10 of the most annoying phrases that people use Phrases like “fairly unique” (either it is unique or it is not); and “at this point in time” (an overused expression that I must confess I have used from time to time).

Among these annoying phrases was “The way I see it. . . “ or some equivalent. In the list, I found it the most objectionable of all, because it has been used so often to justify a position or practice that is at odds with the word of God. People seem to feel that they are a sufficient source of authority for their religious beliefs or moral practices. It just isn’t so!

The only just reason to defend a position or practice is because God sees it that way! Remember the song, “The Bible tells me so. . .”

Stan

The sermon contrasts five different views of Baptism, using Mark 16:16 as a reference.

• The Atheist View
• The Universalist View
• The Catholic View
• The Protestant View
• The View of Our Lord

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Sermon based in part on a text from 2 Kings 6:11-18. Open our eyes that we may see the:

• Power of God
• Power of Truth
• Power of Love
• Power of Unity in Christ
• Power of Forgiveness

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Sermon based on the text of Ephesians 4:17-24. The new man of God is to live a life characterized by righteoueness.

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The lesson is taken from the text of 2 Corinthians 2:12-17. The text describes Paul, and by extension all Christians, as God’s fragrance. In effect, as we diffuse the fragrance of God (knowledge of Him), we become God’s fragrance. Rejected by the lost, received by the redeemed.

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Those who live by faith will be faithful in their walk. They will obey God, and diligently live for His cause. They will set their affections on things above, where their reward is to be found.

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We must forgive others because God forgave us, He commands us, It is in our best interest, and it is necessary for us to receive forgiveness from God.

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Maine’s governor signed a freshly passed bill Wednesday approving gay marriage, making it the fifth state to approve the practice and moving New England closer to allowing it throughout the region.

New Hampshire legislators were also poised to send a gay marriage bill to their governor, who hasn’t indicated whether he’ll sign it. If he does, Rhode Island would be the region’s sole holdout.

The Maine Senate voted 21-13, with one absent, for a bill that authorizes marriage between any two people rather than between one man and one woman, as state law currently allows. The House had passed the bill Tuesday.

Continue reading “In The News: Maine 5th State to Allow Same Sex Marriage” →