Mt. Vernon Church of Christ Newsletter 03-31-2019: Help us spread the word--Subscribe Today!; Newsletter archives; Last Weeks Issue; Social Media; Contents; Daddy, Take Me To Church; Mystery Reaveled - ELP; Digital Library; Church of Christ - ELP; Golden Thought; The Heaviest Cross Of All - Conway; Bible Question of the Week; Weekly Bible Reading Schedule; Weekly Memory Verse; Featured Video - We Must Read Our Own Mail - Thomas B. Warren; Featured Audio - God's Word: Perfect, Authoritative and Powerful II - Gary Colley....If you like it, please share it. Thank you!
Bring the whole family and join us for Bible study and worship this Lord's Day!
When we speak of the church it is important to understand that we are not merely speaking about a group of people or a building. When we speak about the church we are talking about a plan God purposed before the foundation of the world and executed in the fulness of time to bring about the salvation of man. Sometimes we talk about the plan of salvation. Or, we talk about the church being part of God’s plan of salvation. Actually, the church is God’s plan for saving man.
In his epistle to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul described the “mystery of Christ” (Eph. 3:3,4). This mystery is not something that cannot be understood or known for Paul wrote “how that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ” (Eph. 3:4). The word for mystery here meant something that was unknown to an individual until that individual was initiated into the mystery, then they were given knowledge of it. Think of it as a military plan which was not known by the troops until it was ready to be executed. . . .
The Mt. Vernon Church of Christ is building a digital library to aid serious Bible students in their study. When possible, we will be adding new volumes. We are grateful to the many sources from which we draw these volumes for making these available. We take no credit for them ourselves. We do not necesarrily endorse everything in every volume. We simply provide them as aids to Bible study. This week:
Inspired Old Testament prophets from Samuel (II Sam. 7:11-16) to Isaiah (Isaiah 2:1-4) having foretold of it's establishment (Acts 3:24), the church of Christ (Rom. 16:16) was founded on the first Pentecost after the Lord's resurrection (Matt. 16:13-20; Acts 2:1-47). Thus, the Lord's church was not an afterthought but was in God's plan from the beginning of time (Eph. 3:9-11). In the Lord's church, His body, ({i.e, in Him} Eph. 1:22,23; Col. 1:18) are all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3). Salvation is found only in Christ (Acts 4:12); thus, salvation is found only in His church (Acts 2:47). The New Testament provides a pattern for the organization, nomenclature, worship, and terms of entrance into the church of Christ (I Pet. 4:11; Heb. 8:5; Col. 3:17; Eph. 4:5, et. al.).
Organization
Christ is the head of His church (Col. 1:18). Thus, the church of Christ has no earthly headquarters. Each local congregation of the Lord's people is completely autonomous, being governed by a plurality of elders (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5) also styled bishops (cf. I Tim. 3:1-7), overseers (Acts 20:17, 28), shepherds (I Pet. 5:1-4), pastors (Eph. 4:11), and presbyters (I Tim. 4:14). These men must meet certain qualifications (I Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-16), as do the men who become deacons ("servants"-I Tim. 3:8-13). The eldership governs the congregation (Heb. 13:17; I Tim. 3:4,5) but does not "lord it over" the flock of God's heritage (I Pet. 5:1-4). . . . .
Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.
Leonardo da Vinci
James 4:17; 1:22
THE HEAVIEST CROSS OF ALL
I’ve borne full many a sorrow, I’ve suffered many a loss —
But now, with a strange, new anguish, I carry this last dread cross;
For of this be sure, my dearest, whatever thy life befall,
The cross that our own hands fashion is the heaviest cross of all.
Heavy and hard I made it in the days of my fair strong youth,
Veiling mine eyes from the blessed light, and closing my heart to truth.
Pity me, Lord, whose mercy passeth my wildest thought,
For I never dreamed of the bitter end the work my hands had wrought!
In the sweet morn’s flush and fragrance I wandered o’er dewy meadows,
And I hid from the fervid noontide glow in the cool green woodland shadows;
And I never recked, as I sang aloud in my wilful, selfish glee,
Of the mighty woe that was drawing nigh to darken the world for me.
But it came at last, my dearest, — what need to tell thee how?
Mayst never know of the wild, wild woe that my heart is bearing now!
Over my summer’s glory crept a damp and chilling shade,
And I staggered under the heavy cross that my sinful hands had made.
I go where the shadows deepen, and the end seems far off yet —
God keep thee safe from the sharing of this woeful late regret!
For of this be sure, my dearest, whatever thy life befall,
The crosses we make for ourselves, alas! are the heaviest ones of all.
Katherine Eleanor Conway
Bible Question of the Week
(All questions come from the Scripture readings.) Where are all spiritual blessings found?
LAST WEEK'S QUESTION AND ANSWER When does the blood of Christ cleanse us from our sin?
ANSWER: I John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
WEEKLY BIBLE READING SCHEDULE
(Theme: Church) Monday, April 1 - Is. 2:1-5; Amos 9:11,12; Acts 5:13-18; Dan. 2:44; Matt. 16:13-19 Tuesday, April 2 - Acts 20:28; 2:1-47 Wednesday, April 3 - Eph. 3:1-13; I Cor. 3:11; Eph. 1:19-23 Thursday, April 4 - Eph. 4:4; I Cor. 4:17; 7:17; I Tim. 3:15; Heb. 2:12 Friday, April 5 - Heb. 12:18-29; Eph. 5:21-33; Rom. 16:16
Weekly Memory Verses
Hebrews 9:22 - And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
