ELDERS
CORNER
Freedom or Slavery
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1. Paul was writing to the congregation at Galatians telling them that they were not obligated to obey Jewish traditions of circumcision. Some of the jews, who were Christians, Were placing circumcising as a condition for salvation. They wanted the Gentiles to be circumcised, which was wrong. Even Paul had to confront Peter face to face about this problem stated in Galatians 2:11. Peter was going with the crowd and shying away from the uncircumcised gentile brothers when he was around circumcised jews.
What
can we learn from these scriptures? We have to stand firm on the gospel
and that alone. In other words, we have to identify what is a man
made tradition and what is taught in God’s Word. All things
that we do as a congregation needs to express our love, honor and
worship of God the Father, Jesus the Son of God and the Holy Spirit.
We cannot allow man made traditions to creep into our teachings. Christ
has set us free.
Man made traditions can make you a slave. We need to worship God in
spirit and truth. Think
about these scriptures when you think someone is not doing something
right or we’ve never done that before. Chances are it is a tradition
that you are worried about. Paul writes that “the only thing
that counts is faith expressing itself through love” Galatians
5:5. We have freedom in Christ, let’s not be slaves to traditions.
In Christian Love,
Jody Thompson, Elder
LADIES
CORNER
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
About a week ago I was approached by Debbie Shoemaker and asked to write the first article for the women’s section of our new church newsletter. I was both surprised and hesitant; however, I felt I should do my part in whatever the Lord wanted me to do so I accepted. I dwelt on the article for the full week, questioning myself....what should I write about? I thought of multiple topics and then would dismiss them and wallow around more in this sea of indecision. Now I am at the end of my time and the only thing I could think to write about was what I know most about and that is FOOD. I think the Lord is trying to tell me something. Anyway, I am an expert in chopping, dicing, slicing, frying, broiling and burning foods of all varieties. I am also an expert of dieting. Believe me I have tried about all of them from Weight Watchers, South Beach, Dr. Atkins, etc.,etc., I know how to count calories, fat grams, and carbs with the best of them.
After further consideration I knew the Lord wanted me to write about food; but not food for the body but food for the soul. That is one food you never need or want to put on a diet. The Lord provides us may scriptures in the Bible concerning food. Matthew 6:11 which is part of the Lords Prayer states, “Give us this day our daily bread”, Matthew 66:25 says “Do not worry whether you have enough food and drink”. I have never had to worry that I would not have enough food to survive like some more unfortunate people in the world but I know the Lord wants me to take my fill of the food of his Word. Matthew 6:33 says “But seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness and all things will be given to you”. Hebrews 6:12-14 states you need the basic things a beginner must learn about the scriptures; like babies who drink only milk and that a person needs to live on more than milk alone but grow into more solid food and mature so they will recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do only that which is right and just in the eyes of the Lord.
I pray that we all will try the “Nutrition Program” that follows
the Lords diet guidelines. I pray for our church and that the scriptural
truth will be all the food we ever desire. I love you all....
Barbara Cyrus