A publication of the:
Butler church of Christ
Our meeting location is:
201 5th Ave.
Butler, PA 16001
724-287-0628 (building) / 724-282-9417
(home/office)
Assembling Times:
Sunday Bible Class - 9:30 AM
Sunday Worship – 10:30 AM
Wednesday Bible Class – 7:00 PM
Editor / Preacher –
Brian A. Yeager
Check out the web site:
(I Corinthians 10:31 and I Peter 4:11)
Acts 5:42 “And daily in the temple, and
in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”
Anyone who picks up a copy of the New Testament and begins to read about
the history of the New Testament church contained therein will find that
the church had an attitude of daily service to the Lord. However,
if one where to pick up a recent history record about brethren today they
would find that brethren today have plenty of daily activities such as:
1. The daily cup of coffee.
2. Reading the daily newspaper.
3. Working secularly every day.
4. Watching daily television programs.
The list could go on and on of things
so-called Christians do daily that take away from our needs of daily study,
daily evangelism, constant prayer, etc. Truth be told, it is evident
in Bible classes and sadly even from some pulpits today, how little brethren
are growing spiritually. Our lack of spiritual growth is the result
of a lack of daily service towards God, and our daily growth through studying
His word. Do we need to start working God into our schedules?
Working Time for God Into Our Schedules?
We schedule our car service, we schedule
our Doctor appointments and sadly, some even have to schedule time with
their families. When a Christian has to schedule God into their daily
activities then that Christian has a serious problem with their placement
of their priorities. The Lord said: (Matthew 22:37) “…Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind.” Surely, someone who claims to be a Christian can
see, from what Christ said, that our service to the Lord is not something
we work into our daily schedule. Everything in our daily lives should
be worked around our time we spend doing God’s work, not the other way
around. Once we make a commitment to Christ everything else is secondary
to Him. Notice the following text:
(Luke 9:57-62) “And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
In this text we see those who claim they
want to follow the Lord, but when the Lord takes them up on their offers
they all of a sudden get too busy. That is just what happens at times
when it is suggested to some brethren that they ought to do some of the
Lord’s work. It even happens when brethren suggest work themselves.
There have been cases such as when brother “A” says to the other men “hey,
I got a good idea for evangelism”. The other men agree. However,
what they really meant was “hey, we need to get the preacher to do this
good idea brother “A” had on evangelism”. Whoever thought that brethren
would actually be part of carrying out their own brilliant ideas?
Another case would be when brother “B” says “hey we need to study the book
of _______”. What brother “B” really meant was “hey preacher, you
study the book of _______, let us know what it says, and we will pay half
attention to it”. Whoever thought that some brethren would come to
a Bible class prepared to discuss the text because they had done some of
their own studies? The sad thing is that this is exactly what happens.
It is the let’s go get em’ as long as I do not have to be included with
the “let’s” part of the go get em’. Daily study and evangelism are
surely taught within the inspired pages of the New Testament (Acts 17:10-11,
II Timothy 2:15, Matthew 28:19, Acts 5:42, and II Timothy 2:2). Will
we do that which God requires of us, or will we be too busy?
Conclusion
Who are we, to make a commitment to serve the Lord and then to renege? How can a Christian actually believe that coming to services a few times a week is enough to show their faith and dedication to God? We each are personally responsible to work for God. We will be judged on what we do (II Corinthians 5:10). If many so-called Christians could just have the zeal for God that they have for the 11:00 news or the local newspaper the church would be growing by great amounts spiritually. Congregations would have an abundance of qualified elders and men who want to spend their lives declaring the Gospel of Christ. If you are guilty of placing your service to God somewhere below first on your priority list, will you take these words as a wake up call or as something else that you must put off?
Quick
NotesThose In Need of Our Prayers:
Steve Burgoon, Desiree’ Crist (a letter
of concern and intent of discipline has been sent by the men to Desiree’),
Kathren Lucas has not been feeling well, and Joan Croyle.