Historical Posts
Be Thankful
Recognise your blessings and be thankful.
Paul wrote: “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Genuine gratitude must be expressed. When we are truly grateful, we cannot help but say so. But, often we don’t say “thank you” enough. Be thankful and express it.
We should be thankful to parents for the love, nurture and direction they gave to us as we developed into mature adults. We should be thankful to teachers who patiently taught us the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmetic, the building blocks of education. We should be thankful to loving mates who have stood by us through thick and thin offering encouragement and support. We should be thankful to employers for the opportunity to work and provide for our families.
We should give thanks for the “little things” without which we could not survive. Are you thankful for the air you breathe? The sunshine? The rain? The changing of the seasons? Rather than complain about the weather, we should stop to give thanks.
We should be thankful for the people who have blessed and enriched our lives. It may have been a simple smile or an encouraging word, but it made a difference. Did we give thanks?
Most of all, we should be thankful to God who is the giver of all. For “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). As Paul also wrote: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of God? Of who hath been his counselor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever” (Romans 11:33-36 KJV).
We are ever in His debt. We should give thanks daily for His blessings! This nation may pause once a year to express thanksgiving, but those who truly understand will not let a day pass without giving thanks to God.
Are you thankful? Would you like to know more about His blessings?
Salvation: Hear - Believe - Repent - Confess - Be Baptized - Live Faithfully
Content by Roger Rush
Visit Roger at the 6th and Washington Street Church of Christ in Marietta OH.
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Luke 10:30-35 – Samaritan Sense
Text: Luke 10:30-35
Introduction
In our text, Jesus tells a certain lawyer of a certain Samaritan that did a good deed for a man that went from Jerusalem to Jericho. This lawyer asked who his neighbor was (Luke 10:29), and Jesus showed how to be a neighbor (Luke 10:36-37). Perhaps there was something else Jesus was teaching the lawyer. One can only wonder if the lawyer needed to realize that Samaritans can be good neighbors, and he needed to be a good neighbor to Samaritans…
Body
I. Some Samaritans did not receive Jesus.
A. There was not a good relationship between Jews and Samaritans.
1) The king of Assyria placed many foreigners in Samaria who did not fear the LORD, and often served idols (2 Kings 17:24ff.).
2) As time went on, Jews had no dealings with Samaritans (John 4:9,27; 8:48).
B. As Jesus sent out the twelve apostles, He commanded them not to enter a city of the Samaritans (Matthew 10:5).
C. One village of the Samaritans did not receive Jesus, as He was ready to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51-56).
II. Some Samaritans believed Jesus.
A. A woman of Samaria was wary of Jesus when she came to draw water at Jacob’s well, but later leads many Samaritans to Him (John 4:9ff.).
B. Peter and John preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans (Acts 8:25).
III. One Samaritan was thankful to Jesus.
A. Jesus healed ten lepers (Luke 17:11-14).
B. Only one leper, a Samaritan, returned to say thank you (Luke 17:15-19).
Conclusion
A. We can learn a lot from the Samaritans.
1) They are people, just like all of us.
2) They have the same opportunity to hear, believe, and obey the gospel.
a) Some believed themselves and led many others to Christ.
b) Some went to Christ and were thankful, as we all should (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
c) Some were good examples of how to love their neighbor.
Content by Richard Dillon
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Praise – audio
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Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise (James 5:13).
I suppose we’re more likely to obey the first part of that verse than we are the second. It’s easy to let all of life’s stresses cause us to forget our need to praise God for everything good. If we’re not careful, talking to God can be more like a 911 call – something when do only when we find ourselves in a difficult spot.
Talking to God, though – praising him – ought to be what we do in every situation.
- When we’re hurting or sad, we pour out our hearts to him.
- When we’re joyful, when he’s blessed us, we praise him.
James recognizes that life has its ups and downs. We’ll have problems like everyone else; when we do, we pray about it. But we should also recognize that God gives us so many joys.
What’s right in your life today?
Can you hear the birds singing outside? Perhaps you’ve already taken a walk in the cool springtime air this morning. God’s blessings surround us, and most of us have quite a few things to smile about.
A soft bed and a comfortable house. Water to drink and food to eat. A job that supports our families, healthy kids, faithful friends, a stable, peaceful country.
And most of all, of course, we’ve got Christ.
Even if we have problems, which we do, nothing can dampen the fact that we are forgiven.
Saved from sin. Washed in the blood. Justified, sanctified, and soon to be glorified.
So today, take time to praise.
List the blessings God’s poured into your life, and thank him for every single one of them.
But especially thank him for giving you hope in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior.
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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Thank You!
“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:15-20) “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Thank you, God, for creating a beautiful world for us. Thank you for the sun, the moon and stars which declare your glory. Thank you for the hills and mountains, the rivers and valleys, and the rolling meadows and plains. Thank you, God, for the birds that sing.
Thank you, God, for nice houses. Thank you for fine clothes and good food in abundance. Thank you for our families which make our houses homes. Thank you for parents. Thank you for mates. Thank you for children, our nation’s greatest resource. Thank you, God, for a world where we can know joy, peace, and salvation.
Thank you, God, for all the days of sunshine in our lives. There are so many! Thank you for the rainy days, too! They make us more appreciative of the good. Thank you, God, for strength when we are weak, courage when we are afraid, and hope when all around us seems hopeless. Thank you, God, for making us in your image. Thank you for loving us when we are unloving. Thank you for giving your Son, even though we are undeserving. Thank you for giving us hope beyond this realm. Thank you, God, for heaven.
This past week, as our nation celebrated “Thanksgiving Day,” help us all to be more thankful, not just in November, but every day of the year. In Jesus name, amen.
Content by Roger Rush
Visit Roger at the 6th and Washington Street Church of Christ in Marietta OH.
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Render To Each His Due
We live in a society in which everyone thinks they are owed something. If a person does something nice for someone, they expect a favor in return. When that doesn’t happen, they become disappointed. Jesus taught, “Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back (Luke 6:30).”
However, when a person does something nice for someone they are owed something. My eighth-grade teacher often said, “you’ll have my gratitude” for doing something that he approved of. It seemed he owed us his thanks for helping him.
Likewise, there are some to whom we owe thanks.
This past week we all enjoyed our Thanksgiving fellowship. Many people helped in so many ways: fixing the bulletin board, cooking food, bringing dishes in the building, setting up tables and chairs, decorating, and advertising the event. A big “thank you” goes out to each and everyone who had a part, whether big or small.
Paul said it best when he told the Romans: “Render therefore to all their due…honor to whom honor (Romans 13:4).”
Thank you everyone! Wonderful job!
Content by Richard Dillon
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Everyone Knows Peter – Mark 15:40-41
Text: Mark 15:40-41
Everyone knows who Peter was!
He walked on water (not for long), spoke his mind (too often), and tried to take off another guy’s head with his sword (he missed).
There’s also Paul, probably the most prominent and influential Christian ever.
And the Bible has quite a few other household names, like Abraham, Moses, and David.
I wonder how many sermons have been preached on these men over the years?
Some are less known.
When is the last time you heard a sermon about people like these?
- Mary Magdalene
- Mary the mother of James the younger
- Salome
Yet God has done most of his work over the years through people like them.
Mark inserts this little tidbit into his narrative of the Lord’s crucifixion:
There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem. (Mark 15:40-41).
While Jesus was dying, several people were conspicuously absent.
The apostle John was there, but where were Peter and James?
Where were the rest of the apostles?
We don’t know for sure, but they were probably huddled up somewhere hoping they weren’t found and arrested in the excitement surrounding Jesus’ execution.
These women were there!
These women were somewhere near the cross, more courageous at this point than their male counterparts.
And notice also what Mark says about what they had done for Jesus: “they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women…”
It seems that Mark wants us to know that it wasn’t just the prominent names working with Christ.
Many “unknowns” worked with Jesus.
It was the ones who were willing to work in the shadows to do what needed to be done.
They supported him financially. They also probably prepared food and made clothes and tended to a thousand other needs of a traveling group of missionaries.
In other words, they did the stuff behind the scenes that doesn’t make splashes.
But without this service, the public ministry doesn’t get done.
That describes a lot of you.
- You’ll do things today in service to Him that’ll never be recorded in a history book, and no one in the church will know.
- You’ll change your baby’s diaper and sing her a song about Jesus.
- You’ll send a note to a discouraged believer.
- You’ll buy a gift card for a struggling family.
- You’ll do what needs to be done to promote Jesus in the hearts of the people around you.
I think that’s what Mark had in mind when he told us about these women.
God mostly works through people whose names the world will never know.
But he remembers, and he’s recording every deed and every name.
Thank you for doing what nobody, but God, knows you do.
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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