Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins

The Church, The Home - Ready for The Future It was Samuel Johnson who said, “The future is purchased by the present.” As national elections come and go many of us talk about the future. What will this new president, this new Congress mean to the future? That is a worthy point to consider, but much of the answer is outside the realm of our influence once those persons are elected. The church, on the other hand, also has a future, and it is in our hands right now. What will this church be like ten years from now? Fifty years? If Samuel Johnson is right, we now hold that future in our own hands. What obligations do we – as Christ’s church – have regarding our nation’s well being? What do we owe the future church? As Parents We must provide our children with a home full of love and the discipline that accompanies that love, with opportunities to succeed –even opportunities to fail. With these, we must allow them to face the consequences of their actions and become responsible parents also. When children know they are loved they can have a positive attitude toward themselves, their family and others. We also have learned that a child who is secure in the knowledge that Mom loves Dad and Dad loves Mom, will have a much better chance to become a productive citizen and have a real chance in life. We owe them that much. Yes, we owe them that much!  The cost is not measured in dollars and cents alone, but in time, attention, and loving care. For parents in Christ’s church, nothing is more urgent than for us to help our children have productive families and to bring others to Christ. The past has shown that without these qualities a child is already years behind the moment he arrives on this planet. As Christians Every Christian has goals and priorities to honor. Most people in this community will not hear our sermons, read our bulletins, but they will see and hear us in our every day lives. What should they see and hear? Our behavior, our language will reveal more about us than we might think. But if they see in us kindness, a generous spirit and an energetic determination to do what is authorized and demanded in the Bible, we are making progress. Our children and our neighbors must see these attitudes in our life. Even if we have no children or our children are grown, we have a stake in the education of our youth. We pay our taxes, but a personal interest is also needed. When our neighbors see in us an honest heart, words that are meaningful and true, they have an added reason to pay attention to what we believe and teach. There are no positives seen in hypocrisy, stinginess and lives void of hope or concern. Our friends, neighbors, and the parents of our children’s friends are making judgments daily, some judgments about us. What information are you giving them in that task? What About The Church? The church of Christ has a great mission to fulfill. We must first discover what that mission is – and the Bible gives us all we need on that and other subjects, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:3. The world needs the gospel! Our commission is not to govern our cities, but our deeds and example can give guidance to both elected and appointed officials. While we have obligations to the poor and needy, most of them are directed to individual Christians. While we should be active in our employment, it is our deeds done “after work” that will tell others who we are. If we could lump these things together, we could simply say: “Why not let the church be the church!” We are in a battle, all right, but not with industry, the entertainment world or the business world as such, but with “that old serpent, the devil, and Satan which deceiveth the whole world,” Revelation 12:9, 20:2.  When we fight the wrong battles, we lose the righteous power given us by our Creator. How did we begin this process of thought? “The future is purchased by the present.” Now is the time for all of us to begin paying the price. Carl Garner

Taking Death to Heart The length of any individual’s life is uncertain. We may expect people to live to a certain age because of the averages of people who had similar lifestyles, but that expectation is always tempered by the possibility of accidental death or fatal disease. Death awaits each of us and is not far away from any. We have the choice to ignore this fact and live in a state of self-delusion, or to live with the understanding that the future is not guaranteed. Human life is a temporary and frail existence that ends in death, a certainty that many people fail to deal with. From the worldly perspective there is no adequate way of facing death. God’s word, however, gives us the perspective that allows us to face the reality of death and live in joyous service to God. Men need to face the fact of death as Ecclesiastes 7:2 points out: “Better to go to the house of mourning Than to go to the house of feasting, For that is the end of all men; And the living will take it to heart.” We all need to face it because it is coming to us whether we are ready or not. Pretending death is not coming, or ignoring that it is, will never prevent it. Nothing we do will prevent it. Those who are living need to see that death is the end of all men and take it to heart. This should not result in a morose depression brought about by impending death, but it should lead us to appreciate and wisely use the time we do have, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil,” Ephesians 5:16. Solomon gives the wise response to the fleeting nature of life (Ecclesiastes 9:10): “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” The understanding that death is coming ought to cause us to live in urgency. When we see things that really need to be done, we need to do it with our might, with all that we have. The time is coming when we will no longer have the opportunity to accomplish any of these things. Now is the only time we know we have; let us make full use of it. Clearly, we can see that our urgency needs to be applied to the right things. What a waste it would be to spend all our precious time whole-heartedly pursuing goals that are meaningless! The entire book of Ecclesiastes exposes the emptiness of worldly pursuits; they are all nothing but vanity, and none maintain value beyond the grave. Our service to God, however, does have meaning at the end of this life. Has God provided me with anything to do, with any purpose for my life today? There is no doubt but that in Christ, God has called the whole world to repentance and made a path for all sinners to return and serve Him. The salvation in Christ is for all, as Peter pointed out in Acts 10:34-35, “Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” As Jesus commissioned His disciples to bring His message to the world, He established the importance of accepting the gospel. “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned,” Mark 16:15-16. There is nothing that approaches the urgency of believing and obeying the gospel, being baptized into the death of Christ and raised to walk in newness of life, serving God. Only through Christ can we escape the eternal condemnation of our sins. Those who find this opportunity at hand ought to obey from their heart with a sense of urgency, because they will not have the chance forever. For those who have been baptized into Christ, God’s word directs us to continue to focus our lives on the spiritual, as Col. 3:1 tells us: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.” There is plenty for our hands to do since we are charged to do God’s will and show forth His truth and love in the world. The lost desperately need to hear the gospel because they desperately need to obey it. Individually, we need to apply ourselves to the knowledge of God’s word that we may live by it. Our brethren also need encouragement as Hebrews 3:13 (among many other passages that point out), “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Let us recognize the urgency and purpose of our lives and let us do the good works in joy and in love that God has set before us. Drew Hyde, Ranger, TX.