(September 7, 2011)

Prayer House News!

This coming Sunday will be the tenth anniversary of the 911 tragedy. Our service is going to have a special focus on it. I’m looking for to sharing it with you. Now that the Band Shell service is over we will be back to our regular schedule of 8:30 and 10:30. Hope to see you at one of those services.

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This week is not only Family Week for us – it’s also our All-Church Clean. If you have signed up to help us – don’t forget!! Saturday will be the big day as we put the sanctuary back together and clean up the east edge of our property. Dave Dennee is bringing his trailer and we are going to load it with all the brush and weeds we take down. See you around 9:00am.

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Devotional

Doing What is Good

So we have these two issues before us. Living a life of righteousness, and winning souls. Lets go back to our opening verses.

(1) Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, (2) to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.

This has to do with righteousness. Righteous living is basically living in a way that causes others to see Jesus. Godliness has to do with our relationship with God, righteousness has to do with my relationship with others. Righteous living is living is a way where you do for others what you believe God has done for you. Be peaceable, be considerate, show humility, and be obedient. These are things we are to do for the sake of others seeing the nature of God in us. This has nothing to do with our own personal salvation. We are saved by the blood of Christ. That is what washes away sin. I am not saved by being humble, or considerate. We do not do these things for our own sake. We do them for the sake of those around us that have not yet had a clear revelation of who God is.

Proverbs 11:30 says, The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.

Fruit means, that which you produce. Fruit is what grows. So the fruit of the righteous, or that which the righteous gain, as their harvest, is a tree of life. In other words, righteous living is going to result in winning people to eternal life.

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Medication: A Merry Heart

High Ways

It had been a quiet night at the local bar so far, but then

the door was thrown open and an interstate highway strode

in.

"I'm an interstate highway," he declared. "I stretch from

coast to coast and have at least four lanes, shoulders, and

a median almost my entire length. I have the highest speed

limit of any highway. I'm the best of the highways, and I'm

afraid of no highway and no road."

He then strode up to the bar, ordered a beer, and began

drinking it while looking around.

A short time later, a four-lane highway came in, went to the

end of the bar, and ordered a beer.

The interstate looked him over and walked over to him. "I'm

an interstate highway," he declared. "I stretch from coast

to coast and have at least four lanes, shoulders, and a

median almost my entire length. I have the highest speed

limit of any highway. I'm the best of the highways, and I'm

not afraid of you."

The four-lane highway said, "I agree that you're the best. I

don't want any trouble with you. Let me buy you a beer," and

he did. They drank their beers and discussed their

engineering specifications.

After a half hour, the door opened again and a two-lane road

came in, went to the other end of the bar, and ordered a

beer.

The interstate looked him over and told the four-lane

highway that he had to take care of the new arrival. He

walked over to the two-lane road and said, "I'm an

interstate highway. I stretch from coast to coast and have

at least four lanes, shoulders, and a median almost my

entire length. I have the highest speed limit of any

highway. I'm the best of the highways, and I'm not afraid of

you."

The two-lane road quivered a bit and said, "You're

absolutely right. You are the best of the highways. I'm just

a lowly two-lane road. I don't want any trouble. Can I buy

beers for you and the four-lane highway?"

The interstate motioned the four-lane highway to come over.

The two-lane road bought beers for each of them, and the

three of them drank their beers and discussed the merits of

various paving materials.

After another half hour, the door opened again and a strip

of asphalt about eight feet wide came in. The interstate

highway ducked behind the bar and hid there quivering

quietly.

The bartender was shocked.

After serving the asphalt strip, he walked over to where the

interstate was hiding. "I watched you stand up to the

four-lane highway and the two-lane road. You said you

weren't afraid of any highway or road. Why are you hiding

from that little asphalt strip?"

The interstate replied quietly, "It's true that I'm not

afraid of any highway or road, but he's a cycle path."

(By Bill McCray)