Works

James 2:14-17, 19, 24, 26
John 12:42
Galatians 5:6
Acts 10:34-35
Matthew 7:21
Hebrews 5:9

Kinds of Works
1. Works of the flesh—Galatians 5:19-21
2. Our own works—Acts 7:41; 2 Timothy 1:9
3. Works of the law of Moses— Galatians 2:16

The Importance of Obedience

Matthew 7:21

Acts 10:34-35

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9

John 14:15 & 23

1 Peter 1:22-23

Hebrews 5:8-9

1 John 2:4 & 5:3

Romans 6:16

James 2:24

Sin

What is sin?
1 John 3:4
James 4:17

"All have sinned"
Romans 3:23

Sin is not inherited
Ezekiel 18:20
Matthew 18:3
Mark 10:13-15
Romans 14:12

Lord's Supper - Communion

Matthew 26:26-28
1 Corinthians 11: 23-29
"Upon first day of the week" —Acts 20:7
Note: This is the same wording used for the weekly contribution—1 Corinthians 16:1-2 and for the Sabbath—Exodus 20:8

Kingdom of God

"At hand"—Matthew 3:2
To come in first century with "Power"—Mark 9:1
But "Power" to come with Holy Spirit—Acts 1:8
This happened on the day of Pentecost—Acts 2:1-4
The Kingdom was in existence in Paul's day—Colossians 1:13.
It is the Church—Matthew 16:18-19.

Judgment

Hebrews 9:27
Acts 17:30-31
Matthew 25:31-46
Luke 11:31-32
2 Peter 2:9
2 Corinthians 5:10-11

Bible Inspiration

2 Timothy 3:16
2 Peter 1:21
1 Corinthians 14:37
1 Thessalonians 2:13
Galatians 1:11-12
Matthew 10: 19-20
Luke 1:68-70
Galatians 1:8-9

What Does The Bible Says About False Teachers?

2 Corinthians 11:13-15
2 Timothy 4:2-4
1 Timothy 4:1-3
Matthew 24: 24
Acts 20:28-30
Galatians 1:7-9
Deuteronomy 18:21-22.

To Support is Sinful:
2 John 1:10-11

God's church which Jesus is the Head

Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 5:23-27, Acts 20:28
The Church is the "Body of Christ," Ephesians 1:22-23, Colossians 1:18 & 24
There is one body = Ephesians 4:4-6, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Colossians 3:15
"Churches of Christ" Romans 16:16
Saved "Added by the Lord" not "Voted In," Acts 2:47, 2 John 1:9-10
Religious division is sinful.

Bible Authority

2 Timothy 3:16
Deuteronomy 18:20
Revelation 22:18-19
Deuteronomy 4:2
Numbers 24:12-13
Luke 16:15
Proverbs 14:12

The final revelation
Galatians 1:8-9
John 16:13
2 Peter 1:3

Righteousness

People are often unreasonable,
Illogical, and self-centered;
Love them anyway.

If you are kind,
People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful,
You will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
People may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building,
Someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
They may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
People will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
And it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
It is between you and God;
It never was between you and them anyway.

FOUR LEVELS OF MATURITY

FOUR LEVELS OF MATURITY

John Maxwell has identified four levels of maturity for Christians. They are given in progressive order with the least mature viewpoint listed first:
(1) I'm going to do what I want, regardless of any thought for God;
(2) If God gives me what I want, then I will give him what he wants;
(3) I will give God what he wants, with faith that he will give me what I want; and
(4) I will give God what he wants, regardless of any thought for myself.

Many Christians spend the balance of their life at level two or three but the greatest joy is found at level four.

Bookmarks

I will continue to add bookmarks or favorites to this blog post as I discover relevant ones. If you have any suggestions, feel free to send those to me and I will consider there relavance to this blog. If I feel they are as valuable as you, I will add them. Thanks!

Links, Bookmarks, etc. below

http://www.studyjesus.com/

Churches of Christ

Source: The Christian Higher Education Foundation Report

Churches of Christ rank first in the nation in weekly attendance among their membership.

Churches of Christ rank first in the nation in distribution of congregations.

Churches of Christ rank fourth in the nation in number of counties in which there is a congregation.

Churches of Christ are the sixth fastest growing church in America.

Churches of Christ constitute the twelfth largest religious group in America.

Churches of Christ are regarded as having a "remarkable degree of unity" by other religious groups because "they have experienced far less fragmentation".

Only 4.2 percent of young people in Churches of Christ who graduated from high school in the past ten years have divorced, which is half of the rate of their peers (8.1%).

Church Attendance

Why go to Church? (This is good)

If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this! If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it. If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope!

Why Go To Church?

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday... "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard thousands of  sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this.. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!" When you are DOWN to nothing... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!

All right, now that you're done reading, send it on! I think everyone should read this! "When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, "Jesus, could you get that for me?"

Amen!!

Scriptures to consider

Hebrews 10:25-26 (and Isaiah 54:7),
Matthew 6:33,
Titus 3:1,
Psalms 122:1

Dead or Alive?

Live churches have space problems - parking, classrooms etc.;
dead churches have no worry about space.
Live churches are always changing things;
dead churches don't have to, they always stay the same.
Live churches have noisy children and young people;
dead churches are fairly quiet and serene.
Live churches have a shortage of staff;
dead churches usually have a surplus.
Live churches are always overspending their budgets;
dead churches maintain large bank accounts.
Live churches struggle to remember new names;
dead churches - well everybody knows everybody - for years!
Live churches have a problem developing new leaders;
dead ones just use the same people over and over.
Live churches spend much on missions;
dead churches keep it all at home.
Live churches are filled with givers;
dead churches are filled with tippers.
Live churches operate primarily on faith;
dead churches operate totally on sight.
Live churches strain to learn and serve;
dead churches seek rest and comfort.
Live churches evangelize;
dead churches fossilize!