When you hear the word “fellowship” what do you think of? Some of us may think “Oh no! I’m going to have to hug somebody!” Some may think “Oh boy! A potluck meal.” Some may have the word “worship” come to mind. We do know for sure that we are to “fellowship” one another. One such passage is Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Theodore Roosevelt said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” How true that statement really is. We live among hurting people, ourselves not excluded. So often we struggle with life and its consequences, and sometimes these struggles are faith shattering. How do we cope? How do we live? Who can we turn to? Can I overcome with God’s help, or do I even need God anymore? Most of us have been there, and those of us who have not… just wait. It’s coming.
The elders announced on Sunday that Trent McManus has been slected as our new youth and family minister and we are pleased to welcome Trent and Christy McManus and their children Gideon, Faith, Daisy, and Silas to our Estes family.
Two friends were walking through the desert and got into an argument. One friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: “Today my best friend slapped me in the face.”
Judas is infamous. Many people who do not know a great deal about the Bible generally know who Judas was and what he did. His name is so marred that most people will not use it to name their children because of its negative connotation. John 13:18-30 records the events leading up to the betrayal by Judas. Many of the details leave some very vivid implications and reasons people ought to be concerned about their own spiritual well-being.
THE POWER OF THE WORD
My family recently began following a plan that divides the Sermon on the Mount into segments so the entire passage can be memorized over the course of the year. More than once I’ve been encouraged by speakers and writers of devotional books to memorize Scripture, but with the exception of a few random verses I’ve never systematically tried memorization until this year.
The spiritual advantages of knowing the Bible by heart are highlighted in the story of the temptation of Jesus. Satan, “the tempter,” presented three temptations to Jesus, and each time Jesus responded by quoting from Deuteronomy. In this moment of physical weakness and spiritual peril, Jesus drew on his memory of Scripture to counteract Satan’s snares. One point in this story has always fascinated me, and shook me a bit too. For the second temptation, Satan took Jesus to Jerusalem to the height of the temple and said, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone’” (Matthew 4:6). Here Satan demonstrated his memorization of Scripture, quoting from Psalm 91. He also gave us a timeless demonstration of what a dangerous adversary he is. He quoted Scripture accurately, from memory, but twisted its meaning to serve his purposes. In this passage, the psalmist was encouraging the faithful, showing God’s love and care for their safety. Satan used the passage to lure Christ into demonstrating his deity by a spectacular display of risk-taking. Had Jesus jumped from the pinnacle of the temple and not been harmed, he would have won a following of earthly admirers, awed by his display of power. But he also would have departed from his Father’s redemptive plan to save the world.
When I ponder this account, memorization becomes more than an intellectual exercise. It is vital to the spiritual safety of my family. Our adversary, Satan, knows Scripture, and knows how to twist its meaning and lure us into sins that separate us from God. We have power at our disposal to combat Satan’s wiles. One weapon in our spiritual arsenal is memorizing Scripture. If we carry the Word of God in our hearts, recalling and reciting Scripture in times of weakness and temptation, it can produce the same result for us that it did for Christ when he resisted temptation in the wilderness.
–Greg Massey
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February is nearly upon us and that means it’s time for the annual Bible lectureship at FHU. On February 2-6, the campus will play host to a couple thousand of our brothers and sisters who have travelled from near and far to benefit from what is arguably the world’s largest Bible study!
This year the main theme for the lectureship is The Patience of Hope: First and Last Things in Thessalonians. In the words of Lectureship Director David Lipe: “Paul wrote these two letters to a young church he had established in the upper part of what we would call Greece, a church suffering persecution because of its faith. These two warm, personal letters provided the guidance those Christians needed in this life and gave them a divine perspective on what would happen when Christ returns. They will do the same today.”
The fact that the Lectureship takes place on our own doorstep provides a tremendous opportunity for us at Estes. There are programs available at the Welcome Center. Take one and scan through it. Find some things that interest you and go listen. You will be challenged and encouraged by some of the most outstanding voices in our brotherhood.
To get us started, the Estes elders have decided to dismiss the Sunday evening service on the day the Lectureship begins. They would like to encourage us instead to attend the evening lecture that day and as much as possible during the week, since they believe this will help promote the spiritual growth we seek as members of the family of God. We will be running a shuttle service to and from the evening session on Sunday; one before the singing and another before the lecture. They will leave the Estes building at 6:40 and 7:10 and will return to Estes after the session concludes.
As is our custom, we will also have an early service on Wednesday evening to allow our members to enjoy a special speaker here at Estes and then make it to the University for the evening session. We have invited Jay Lockhart to speak at Estes at 6:00 and Bill Watkins will be the Lectureship speaker that evening.
There is a lot going on and it presents a wonderful occasion for spiritual encouragement. Don’t miss this opportunity!
–Mark Blackwelder
UNDERSTANDING PAIN, GRIEF, AND THE GREAT PHYSICIAN
GOSPEL MEETING WITH LOVELL HAYES
Brother Hayes is the pulpit minister for the East Jackson Church of Christ in Jackson, TN. His education includes an A. A. in English (Southwestern Christian College); a B. S. in Bible (Abilene Christian University); a Masters in Human Development Counseling (Univ. of Illinois at Springfield); and a Doctor of Ministry degree in Marriage and Family ( Southern Christian University).
He is a Nationally Certified and State Licensed Professional Counselor. He teaches in the counseling department of Freed-Hardeman University as adjunct faculty. He and his wife, Patricia also conduct Marriage enhancement workshops and Family enrichment workshops.
JANUARY 26-29
Sunday – 9:30am Isaiah 53
Sunday – 10:30 am Should Saints Hurt?
JOIN US FOR A NOON POTLUCK MEAL ON SUNDAY.
Sunday – 1:00 pm Growing Through Grief
Monday – 7:00 pm Sanctified Self Esteem
Tuesday – 7:00 pm Faith in the Great Physician
Wednesday – 7:00 pm The Big Hurt
All adult Bible classes will meet together Sunday morning.
In the fall of 1972, I was a senior in high school and a running back for the football team. In the third game of the season, I was injured in a play in which my left hip was dislocated. Once I had been treated at Baptist Hospital in Memphis, the course of healing was to stay flat on my back, with my left leg in traction for six weeks. It was at that time I learned what the words “disuse atrophy” meant. After laying in bed for weeks and with the lack of using or exercising my leg, the muscles in my leg weakened and shrunk in size. Once my mobility did return, it took much effort and regular exercise to regain my leg strength.
As I consider disuse atrophy, I cannot help but apply this concept to spiritual things. It seems that just as muscles have the ability to develop atrophy, so does our spiritual life. Failure to exercise our minds in spiritual matters, leads to spiritual disuse atrophy. The Hebrews writer in chapter 5, verses 11 and following, mentions to the readers that their spiritual growth was not what it should be. They were not equipped to be teachers of God’s word as they should have been, instead they had allowed their spiritual growth to wane. In other words, spiritually, they suffered disuse atrophy.
As we begin this new year, evaluate your spiritual life and if you discover you are suffering from disuse atrophy, keep in mind that just as with muscle atrophy, spiritual atrophy can be reversed with spiritual exercise and improved spiritual nutrition.
–Mark Scott
Join us
Sunday Bible Study at 9:30 a.m.
Sunday Worship at 10:30 a.m.
Sunday Evening Worship at 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday Bible Study at 7:00 p.m.
