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Articles
Remembering Our Meeting
This past week was just another reminder of what we have been missing for the past couple of years. We were blessed to hold our second gospel meeting as the Singing River congregation. Our brother, Lee Wildman, did a wonderful job in encouraging and helping us all to become better as individuals and as a congregation. Lee Wildman was already known by many of us and we were excited to have him with us again in Florence. The meeting has left us tired from the nightly services, but is there a better feeling than one felt at the close of a good gospel meeting? We were blessed with numerous visitors over the past week. We were led by strong song leaders in praise of God, prayers were led by our elders and other members, and each evening a lesson was derived directly from God’s Word. What more could we have asked for in our meeting this past week?
On Sunday morning, Lee began our week together with an evaluation of traditions. He made a distinction between those traditions handed down from God and those traditions that are man made. We are called to give an answer for the hope within us (1 Peter 3:15). The purpose of Lee’s lesson was to help us answer those questions with the why, and not just the what and how.
We live in a world filled with false doctrine and ideas and we must guard ourselves against their influence in our lives. We cannot allow these influences to cause us to drift away from God. We were warned concerning the complaining and murmuring of Israel. Israel’s complaining kept them from entering the promised land, and if we are guilty of the same sin of complaining – “We can complain ourselves right out of heaven!” We must look to others, be humble and grateful for God’s blessings and grow in our relationship with our brothers/sisters in Christ.
Sunday evening – We were called to be encouragers of one another. We live in enemy territory and “biting and devouring” one another will never achieve the righteousness of God. We must be mindful of one another and help each other throughout our lives. God’s love is manifested in a variety of ways, one of the most effectual ways is through our love toward our brothers/sisters in Christ. When we are devoted to God and to one another, then we are growing into the body of Christ who is united by faith, hope, and love!
Monday evening – Lee reminded us of the ONE thing that all of our lives should be settled and centered upon - Jesus Christ and Him crucified! This was a powerful reminder that God is not always concerned by every detail and specific detail of our lives, but rather that His will is to take top priority in our lives. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest message of love and our world desperately needs to hear it. Our task is to take this message to the world.
The old Athenian gospel is needed more today than in the past few generations. Our society has become skeptics of everything pertaining to religion and Christianity, but this does not give us an excuse to stop preaching/teaching the gospel. Our tactics in evangelizing the lost must adapt to the environments and people we are striving to convert. We must ground ourselves in the evidences of our faith and God’s Word and be able to clearly teach these things to our friends and neighbors.
On Wednesday night, Lee discussed the great blessing of prayer. Prayer is our direct line of communication with the Creator of all life. We should never mistreat this avenue of communication with our heavenly Father, but rather with humility and gratitude let our requests be made known to Him. We must learn to depend upon Him in every facet of our lives. In both the highs and lows of life, our Father wants to hear from His children. Prayer should never be viewed as the means to fulfilling our own selfish desires, but rather the means by which we become more spiritually oriented with our whole heart devoted to the Father’s will.
The grace of God is transformative. A person who is saved by God’s grace will manifest this change in his attitude, language, choices, and actions. We are not called by the gospel to remain the same, but rather we have been called to put off the old man of sin and put on Christ! In Romans chapter twelve, the apostle Paul gives us the practical nature of Christianity. The grace of God changes the way we view ourselves and others. The grace of God calls us to do things that will be difficult and some that are downright strange, but the expectation of our Father was the same for the Romans who lived two-thousand years ago!
Our final night with Lee Wildman was spent examining the need to get out of the boat and walk on the water with Jesus. The apostle Peter was frightened by the sight of Jesus walking on the water in the midst of the storm. He cried out for reassurance and Jesus called him to walk on the water. Peter left the safety of the boat and walked on the water with Jesus. We need to become like Peter. We need to learn to fully trust in Jesus, because the impossible can be accomplished through Him. When we begin to sink, Jesus is there to lift us up and keep us walking with Him.
This was a wonderful week spent in the study of God’s Word. The seed of the gospel has been sown and watered; may God give us the increase for our work. Our Father is worthy of our praise and devotion! Our prayer is that our worship has been received as a sweet aroma in His senses. May this past week serve as a small reminder of how great and awesome our God is!
