“CONVERSIONS IN ACTS - 2” By Larry Yarber

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my

church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Jesus promised

that He would build His church. He also stated that the gates of hell, (Hades – the place of

departed souls, LY), would not stop Him. This means the church would not come into

existence before His death, burial, and resurrection. This is exactly what did happen. The

church was founded upon the earth on the first Pentecost after our Lord’s resurrection. The

Bible says, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there

was added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). The scripture also states

that they were, “Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to

the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47). A person cannot be added to a non-

existent institution, thus the church was established upon the earth the first Pentecost after

our Lord’s resurrection (Acts 2:1 ff).

The building of the church or kingdom is an ongoing process. This fact is implied in

Paul’s statement to those at Corinth, “For we are labourers together with God: ye are

God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building” (1st Corinthians 3:9). The members of the

church are God’s building, not the physical structure where the church meets. Every time

someone obeys the gospel, the building grows. Peter said that the church of God consist of

living stones, not dead timbers or inanimate rock, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built

up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to

God by Jesus Christ” (1st Peter 2:5). Construction of this spiritual house takes place daily

through the preaching and teaching of the gospel. Thus, Paul warned those at Corinth to

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-3395

Jamie Barber, Floyd & Marcella

Brown, Sophie Cook, Faye Dawson,

Joann Eagleman, Melissa Givens,

Wayne Halford, Mary Henry,

Thomas Keese (Son-in-Law of Don &

Louise Webster), Jim Lashley, Vernon

Long, Kelly Marsh, Mary Sue

Marsh, Phil Martin, Leona

Morrison, Judy North, Joe Plachy,

Jr., Linda Perry, Charles Riley,

Richard Risner, Betty Sage, Ralph

Shelton, Bonnie Wallace, Don &

Louise Webster, Leona Willard,

Virgil & Faith Wilson & Sibyl

Wright.

BrookeHaven Elberta Biltoft

Laura Weant

National HealthCare James Hall

Jackie Wells

Velnora Wilkening

Pleasant Valley Manor Carolyn Hall

Dorothy Luna

Pat McFarland

West Vue Louise Cook

Joann Eagleman

Robin Fitzgerald

Bobby Jo Gish

Hazel Henry

Joe Powell

Dennis Smithson

CHURCH OF CHRIST “I was glad when they said unto me; Let us go into

the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1)

111 South Curry St.

West Plains, MO 65775

417-256-3925

currycofc@centurytel.net

Office Hours 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. / T - F

COME JOIN US IN OUR

WORSHIP!

Sunday Bible Study 9:30 a.m.

Classes for all ages!

Morning Worship 10:30 a.m.

Evening Worship 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday

Bible Study 7:00 p.m.

KJV Requested For Pulpit, Classrooms & Scripture Reading.

Ch

urc

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111 S

. C

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Per

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No. 95

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65775

Those We Love In

Need Of Prayer

Nursing Home

Residents

Volume 31, No. 1, January 1, 2017

www.cschurchofchrist.church

Room 303

Room 407

Room B1

Room A13

Room C-12

Room 105

Room 405

Room 505

Room 327

Room 425

Room 605

Room 412

Room 713

Room 810

Room 411

A Warm Welcome

To Our Visitors!

We want to welcome each and every one

of you to our worship services today! We

hope you will stay after services, so that we

may become better acquainted with you! If you would, please fill out an attendance card

located in the pew in front of you and drop it

into the collection plate, so that we may have a

record of your attendance.

Attention Teachers:

Please see Lance

Shipley for your teaching

materials.

Members: We are in the process of updating our

member’s addresses and phone numbers.

Please check the copy that is on the foyer

table and make sure that your contact

information is correct.

**As they mourn and heal, please pray for

the family of Loeta Barr

**Leona Morrison was taken back to OMC

on Thursday of last week with low blood

pressure. She was being moved to a regular

room on Friday.

**Don & Louise Webster are in Kansas until

after Christmas. Their son-in-law, Thomas

Keese, is near death with MS.

**Bill Osborn is scheduled for knee surgery

on Jan.12, 2017

Thank you for the

Fruit Basket!

Nadine House, Peggy Jeffery

Helen Batterton, Wayne Halford,

Dorothy Burgess, Jean Thompson

Leona Willard, Dortha Johnson, Leland

Grisham, & Glenna Hall

*************

COMMUNION CLEANUP- 2017

May, July, October and December are still open if you can help with this

work. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

John 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Congregational News

Holding One

Another Up in

Prayer

WORD SEARCH PUZZLE

MICAH CHAPTER ONE

T E H O A D M O H T C Y T N E H

U B R A E H D S I S D O A N H A

M T I N D R H S E S I N M A Y C

S A R Z A U B E G C A H R E S I

E U R G H E J N H A A H C E T M

B S O O A C I T Z I P L C A V H

E N G S T K A I H A N E P B L A

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G E H O F D I N E E E I C R H M

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E G L V T I A C A E A R T E T A

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M E R V H N F T A E J E R H E H ACHZIB JOTHAM ADULLUM JUDAH APHRAH KINGS BEAST

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GRAVEN WAILING HOUSE WITNESS JACOB ZAANAN

NEXT SUNDAY, January 8, 2017.

Fill in the Blank: Matthew

Blessed are they that _____________; for they shall be

____________________.

Last Week’s Answer: they; commandments; right; tree;

in; gates

Horse Trader Articles

12/28/2016

Understanding the Message of the

Prophets “Micah – Walking in the

Spirit of Falsehood” By Larry Yarber

“Will The New Year 2017 Be

“Business As Usual?” By Ivie Powell

January BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES

This Week 1 - Deborah Martin

3 - Avery Hackney, Randi Russell

4 - Chris Green, Kim Green, Amber Redburn

5 - Louanna Green, Ron Rainwater

7 - Judy Hawkins

Timothy and Tabitha

▪ This Afternoon, January 1st

▪ Small Auditorium

▪ Ages 12 and up

▪ 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

************************

▪ Sunday, January 15th.

▪ Small Auditorium

▪ Ages 11 and under

▪ 5:00 – 5:30

Matthew 5:8

“Blessed are the pure in heart for they

shall see God”

Philippians 3:13-14 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, (Vs.14) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God

in Christ Jesus.”

January’s Dinner

take heed how they built thereon, “According to the grace of God which is given unto me,

as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let

every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than

that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1st Corinthians 3:10-11).When the end comes, then

the Son will deliver His kingdom/church back to the Father, “Then cometh the end, when

he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put

down all rule and all authority and power” (1st Corinthians 15:24). We are helping the

Lord build this kingdom, today.

In our first lesson on “Conversions in Acts”, we noted how those on Pentecost were

saved (Acts 2:37-38), those of Samaria (Acts 8:5 v12), the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:35-

38), Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:18 22:16), Lydia (Acts 16:14-15), and the Philippian Jailor

(Acts 16:29-33). Baptism is the one constant in all of these conversions. We resume this

narrative now by looking at the conversion of those in Corinth. Upon the preaching of Paul

to this city, the Bible says, “And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the

Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized”

(Acts 18:8). Shortly thereafter, Apollos came to Ephesus and baptized many according to

John’s baptism, “This man was instructed in the way of the lord; and being fervent in the

spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of

John” (Acts 18:25). Even though John’s baptism had some connection to remission of sins,

it was now an outdated and unacceptable baptism, “John did baptize in the wilderness, and

preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4), and, “Then said

Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they

should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus” (Acts 19:4).

Paul rehearses his conversion in Acts, chapter twenty-two, but since we already noted this

earlier, we will not examine this passage again at this time. In all these conversions we are

told that the people heard, believed, repented, confessed, and were baptized. Only one of

the five steps listed above appears in the record of all these conversions. Yet it is the one

the religious world rejects as necessary for salvation. That step is baptism. One can only

wonder why the other four steps mentioned are accepted by the religious world as

necessary for salvation and in the same breath deny the necessity of the command to be

baptized. Have you been saved in the same manner as those whom we have read about

above in the “Conversions in Acts”?

Going Forward by Looking Back

By Avery Hackney

Another year is ready to be put in the record books and with this

changing of the calendar; we have the opportunity to take a look at all

that has happened in the recent year.

2016 has been a year full of laughing, crying, prosperity, and

some loss. Many people take this time to make “New Year

Resolutions”. Some pledge to eat healthier than the year

before, some pledge to handle finances better, others simply pledge to spend more

time with family. All of these changes have the potential of being great, but the

only problem is we do not always keep these resolutions. What if we made

spiritual resolutions and helped one another keep them throughout the year?

The first thing that must be done in making and keeping spiritual resolutions is

admitting you are imperfect and have areas that need work. This can sometimes

be harder than it seems, but it can be done. When we make a resolution to eat

healthier, it is only after we have noticed and accepted the fact we have been

eating unhealthy. So why is it so hard for us to admit we have areas that need

work in our spiritual lives?

Swallowing our pride is the number one key in changing spiritual neglect. Take a

few moments to think about your spiritual life in the past year: did you grow closer

to God or further away? To be honest there is no “middle ground.” You do not

simply stay the same, you either grew closer to God or you went the opposite

direction.

After coming to the realization that there will always be areas we can improve in

our spiritual lives, it is now our job to identify those and make the change. It could

be that your prayer life is suffering. It could be that you need to be more

evangelistic. Or it could simply be that you need to be more loving and hospitable

towards your brothers and sisters in Christ. If you do not know of an area where

you could make improvements - ask those who know you best, such as your close

friends and family members. Now comes the most important part of making

spiritual resolutions: KEEPING THEM. A recent study showed that only 46% of

people who make New Year resolutions will keep them 6 months into the year and

Conversions in Acts – Part 2

even fewer keep them after 6 months. You may be thinking, “I have tried but it is

just so hard!” You are in luck my friend; the Lord has given us the opportunity to be

part of His family. This means we have an amazing support system. If you want to

be more prayerful, you

can go to a brother or sister and ask them to hold you accountable and frequently

ask you about your prayer life to help you stay on top of your goal. If you want to

be more evangelistic, you can ask a brother or sister to help you conduct a Bible

study. Little things like these can help more than you know. In fact, studies show

that people who explicitly state their New Year resolutions are 10 times more likely

to keep their resolutions than people who make them privately.

With all of that being said, we can see that a spiritual resolution is not an

impossible task, it just takes persistence, prayer and pillars of support. You may be

thinking, “I understand a spiritual resolution can be achieved, but do we see this in

the Bible?”

While the words “New Year Resolution” are never explicitly found in scripture, the

principle can, in fact, be found. The major difference in these “spiritual resolutions”

we see in scripture and the ones we see in today’s society is the frequency. While

we usually only think about change once a year, the Bible calls us to strive for a

closer walk with God each day. One of my favorite scriptures is Luke 9:23 which

states “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny

himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

The word I want us to focus on in this verse is the word “Daily.” That means that

each moment we have on this earth, we need to be trying to take up our cross and

live closer to God. We also see people like Paul in scripture looking back at their

past life in order to live closer to God. This does not mean that we need to dwell in

the past but rather look to the past to grow and then forget about it so that we can

continuing pressing towards the mark. Philippians 3:13-14 “Brethren, I count

not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those

things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are

before, (Vs.14) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God

in Christ Jesus.” May God bless you in your efforts to walk closer with Him.

Sin – What’s It Worth?

SIN WILL TAKE YOU FURTHER THAN YOU WANT TO GO.

Will cost you more than you want to pay.

Will hurt more people than you could imagine it will hurt.

Will leave you cold, questioning, and cynical.

Will leave you feeling empty, dirty, and worthless,

lie to you, deceive you, and hurt you.

Will take you for all you’re worth.

Will produce hurting, haunting guilt that will make you distrust others

Will produce fear.

Will separate you from all that is good, right, and beautiful.

Will bring short-lived temporary satisfaction of carnal wants that will be gone as

soon as the sin cools.

As you grow old will make you cold, distant, ugly, cynical, and full of hate.

Will steal your joy, your peace, and your friends, but most of all will damn your soul

to eternity in hell.

GOD WILL LOVE YOU DEEPER THAN YOU’VE EVER BEEN LOVED.

Will meet needs you don’t even realize you have.

Will be there when your worst enemy tries to slay you or your best

friend betrays you.

Will answer questions you believed never had answers.

Will leave you fulfilled, cleansed, and valuable.

Will tell you the truth, never lead you into temptation, and hold you

Will love you even when you feel worthless.

Dale Jenkins