More Sermons

I have finally updated the “Sermons” page to include some new offerings.  These are sermons preached to the Lake Shore Drive congregation during the past ten months.  There are three pages: one has sermons from Ephesians, one has sermons from Genesis, and one contains several sermons on various topics.  I have double-checked all the links, so you should have no trouble navigating to the recordings.  Click the “Sermons” link under the banner photo, then choose your series, then click on the title of a sermon to listen to the recording.  My prayer is that you will be encouraged in your walk with Christ and helped in your understanding of the word by listening to these offerings.

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Some Christians went into a bar…

I have long been aware that lots of people feel “unworthy” to have anything to do with church because of their lifestyle, manner of dress, etc.  One of our greatest challenges in evangelism is learning how to draw people across the barrier between “holy” and “profane.”  When someone says, “Churches and church people make me nervous,” I get it.  I know that the challenge for evangelizing that person is for me to put “ordinary clothes” on an extraordinary message.  Here in our own congregation we are trying to learn how to do better at being involved with the community around us, looking for ways to have conversations about spiritual things that grow from conversations about everyday things.

Here’s a question, though:  How far do we go, how much do we change, in order to attract those “unworthies”?  How much of the world’s dirt needs to be smeared on me before that perceived barrier begins to diminish in the eyes of that worldly person?  And then, how much of the mud stain will I carry with me?

The prompting for this post came from a news report about a congregation (yes, one of “ours”) that is establishing a “satellite” church in a bar.  No, not in a building that formerly was used for drinkin’ and dancin’ and has now been cleaned up and re-purposed.  This group will meet late on Sunday morning in a for-real, liquor-serving, fully-licensed bar.  The “worship service,” complete with secular music, begins at 11:30 a.m. and the bar opens at 12.  On the “parent” church website, anticipated questions have been dealt with in a FAQ sheet where your most pressing question (“will alcohol be present during the worship service?”) is answered in the affirmative.

What’s wrong with this picture?  Almost everything.  Jesus called for disciples to be in the world but not of the world.  Peter told Christians to live such good lives among the “pagans” that they would see their lives and glorify God – even when they actually wanted to run Christians down.  Jude told Christians to snatch people from the flames, showing mercy while hating even the garments stained by immoral living.  In short, the idea is to draw needy souls away from the world and toward the church, toward a better place to hang out after work and on the weekends.

Do we need to have a conversation with bar-rats?  Absolutely – they need to know that God loves them and wants better things for them, too.  But… surely we can have our conversations with these folks somewhere besides a bar.

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Eutychus and You

ImageRemember the story of Eutychus?  No?  He’s the young man who fell asleep while Paul was preaching (on and on and on).  That’s nothing unusual, you say, to fall asleep during a long sermon.  True, but, very unusually, Eutychus fell out of the second story window where he was sitting.  I’ll let you look it up (Acts 20) and find out what else happened to Eutychus.

A long, long time ago, my brother-in-law, Stan Mitchell, was looking for a way to remind the kids in his congregation that it was important for them to listen to sermons, even if they couldn’t understand everything that was being said.  It’s a matter of discipline, you see, training them to develop the habit of listening while that training is easier.  He began making available a little handout sheet that he titled “Eutychus and You,” and asked the younger set in his audience to listen enough to write down a few important words, maybe a key point or two, maybe even list the scripture references from the sermon.  After the worship service, they could bring their notes to “Mr. Mitchell.” During the afternoon, he would “critique” them (very positively, no doubt), and then attach a piece of chewing gum to the paper, all of which would be returned to the youngster before the evening service.

Maybe it was the treat, or maybe it was the fact that someone said to a child, “You can do something worthwhile here.”  Whatever it was, it worked!

Nancy and I picked up on the idea and started using a similar approach in Winfield.  It worked there, too!  So we introduced the same idea to the Lake Shore folks yesterday, and the response was, shall we say, really sweet!  The photo above is of our version of the Eutychus and You handout, but you could make up your own.  It’s not copyrighted (sorry Stan), so I’m including a link (click here) so you can download a PDF copy to print.  Run it front and back on some bright colored paper, cut the sheets in half, and you’ll be ready to keep some beautiful young people from falling out of the window.

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Zimbabwe, 2013!

Yes, we’re at it again.  The planning machine is rolling for Nancy and me to make another mission trip to Zimbabwe, Lord willing, in July.  At least one other person has said they want to go, and there is room for more (any takers? send me an email at bobbygwheat@gmail.com).

So, here we are, back on the fund-raising trail.  If you would like to help, or would just like to read the letter so you will be more fully informed, click here.

Zimbabwe continues to suffer economic and political trials.  People there are hoping for ratification of a new constitution later this year, to be followed by elections for new leaders.  While you are praying for us to raise funds and have a safe and productive journey, please continue to pray for the people of that beautiful country.

It is wonderful for us and our work to see that enthusiasm for the Gospel has only increased in Zimbabwe.  We are looking forward to sharing what we can to help Zimbabwe Christians grow and reach others for Christ in their own communities.

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New Seed Supply

Yes, it’s been a while since anything new showed up on this blog.  But, after two major moves, an all-absorbing one-year experience as a university teacher, a return to graduate school, a good but exhausting summer mission trip, etc., etc., etc., I’m back at the keyboard.

Here’s the proof – check out today’s new post, “Always Be Prepared” (find the link in the side panel to the right)

Happy reading!

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Always Be Prepared – for big changes…

Have you heard about the next big thing for the Boy Scouts of America?

My own experience with Scouting was short-lived – I started and finished as a Webelo Scout, never moving on to the “real” Boy Scouts.  Our youngest son spent a little more time with it, but computers and other things captured his interest and time before he had moved very far into his teens.  But I am grateful to the outstanding men and women, most of them people of deep faith in Christ, who were determined to influence boys and young men to become Godly adults in their own time.

So it was with a great feeling of sadness that I heard on TV and read in the local newspaper that a vote will soon be taken that is likely to lead Scouting in an entirely different direction.  Observers say the measure is likely to pass the vote next month, and then each local Scouting organization will be left to decide whether to accept Scouts and volunteers who are acknowledged homosexuals.  The apparent motivation for the change in policy is the loss of sponsorship from UPS and other well-known brands, companies that have, in my view, succumbed to pressure from the homosexual “community.”  Yes, it all about dollars and cents.

I am reminded once again of the illustration involving a frog, a pan of water, and a cook stove.   You know how it goes:  Put the frog in the cool (even lukewarm) pot of water, and it will happily float or swim around; set the pot of water on the cook stove, turn the burner on low, and watch the frog continue happily in its bath.  And, so the story goes, if you increase the heat slowly enough, the frog will never really notice its danger until it’s too late to hop out!  The end result?  Boiled frog.

I fully expect to see at least two of the biggest religious groups involved in Scouting to make some significant changes in the future.  They might even begin their own programs, paralleling activities of traditional “scouting,” but kept “in-house” to avoid the pressure of outside, agenda-driven groups.

Think about it:  A local scout organization might decide to refuse homosexual scouts and volunteers, but any participation in regional, national, or even international scouting events will bring their own youth into contact with people from other scout organizations by which the opposite decision was made on homosexual participation.  And it is also possible that the homosexual-agenda-driven organizations will keep up the pressure, forcing an eventual mandate from Boy Scouts of America that all local scout organizations must accept homosexual scouts and volunteers in order to maintain their affiliation with the national organization.

After all, what’s a few more degrees of heat on a pan that’s already simmering?  At any rate, Scouting will never be the same.

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Happy New Year!

Wow!  How did 2012 get here so quickly?

Obviously, I have been too busy with teaching classes and taking classes to get together anything worthwhile to post.  So, here I am, posting briefly a link to another letter asking for more money.

We are raising money so we can accompany several FHU students to Zimbabwe on a 4-week mission trip.  They (and we) will have opportunities to teach the Bible, to worship with and encourage Zimbabwean Christians, and get some “hands-on” experience in some benevolence work.

This will be a great help for these students as they think about what their future service in God’s Kingdom might entail.

Please follow the link (here) to a letter that explains our plans and our financial needs for this work.  And please pray for us!

Before the next semester starts, I’ll be back to write a little more about our experience to date at FHU.  Suffice it for the moment to know that we are really happy about what we have done and experienced since August.  God has blessed us richly!

God bless!

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Big Changes – More Seed

I uploaded several more sermon recordings yesterday, including some lessons in a new series from 1st Peter.  I hope you find them encouraging and helpful.

Of course, the big news for our family is that Nancy and I will be moving to Henderson, Tennessee, next month.  I will be working as Missionary-in-Residence for the 2011-2012 school year at Freed-Hardeman University.  This opportunity popped up rather suddenly less than two weeks ago, but it will help us to further realize our dreams of encouraging and teaching young people and others to have greater interest in what is happening and the needs that exist in other places.

I will teach 3 Bible courses (2 sections of Life of Christ and 1 of Acts), help sponsor the Missions Group and other missions-related activities, and be available to speak to and help students who have a serious interest in doing mission work.  Nancy and I are looking forward to contributing to this work, partly because people at FHU played such an important part in the lives of our own children.  We are excited.

Of course, the hardest part of this process will be leaving Winfield.  This town and this church have provided a good home and many wonderful relationships and experiences for us during the seven years of our sojourn here.  We have also enjoyed good, encouraging and productive relationships with many, many Christians in other congregations in this area.  Leadership Training for Christ, Flint Hills Christian Camp, numerous Gospel Meetings, Men’s Breakfasts, Derby Summer Series — we will miss all of these things, and so much more.

The other “hard” part of making this move is that we must raise our own support, and we must do it quickly!  We have put together a letter explaining out situation and need.  If you would like to read it – and make use of it to help us find some support! – click here.

Pray for us as we begin a new chapter in our (never-boring) lives!

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Dropping Seeds

There are a few new sermons in the bag, along with a couple of recent bulletins.  Hoe your row over that far and see if they’ll make a crop.

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Filling the Hoppers

I just added some additional material to the “Sermons” and “Winfield Church of Christ Bulletins” hoppers.  Plow in and check them out by opening the appropriate pages above (under the banner photo).

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