Thanking God For His Abundant Blessings.

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Benton KY

From our family to yours, we wish you the abundance of God's blessings this Thanksgiving and always.

Chronicles 16:8 - Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the 

peoples.

Good Morning America

Good Morning America!

Before coming to church, my morning ritual involves coffee, and watching the news on Good Morning America. I usually watch this while reading the news of the world on my laptop. I am a firm believer that knowledge is power, and a well informed person can truly be prepared for most conversations. 

This morning between learning about George Clooney's breakup with his girlfriend, and all the spicy gossip of Britain's royal family, I left the house feeling ill prepared to broach any serious conversations.

The only positive news that I had to begin my day with was that our church was busy doing active ministry, whether in the form of mission trips, gospel concerts, stuffing teddy bears to give to children, our planning a new fall bible study .
As I contemplated these very two very different organizations (world media and church), I began to delve on why the world news was non-fulfilling while church news was fully fulfilling. 

The difference at least for Christians is in the fact that we as God's people know that when we bless God, when we turn our faces on him, God blesses us by turning his wonderful face on us. As I went to God's Word this morning, I read the following in the Book of Psalms chapter 67, verse 1.

Psalm 67:1 May God be gracious to us and bless us

    and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

Brothers and Sisters, God is gracious to his people and his church's when they are a blessing to him and others, "In His Name!"  I leave the word 'Selah" with you today, to pause on and to think about. We are told that "Selah"  Occurs frequently at the end of a verse in Psalms and Habakkuk, probably as a musical direction.

My prayer for all of us this week is that we constantly are a blessing to God and others, in the knowledge and fact that people that bless God are blessed by God. So when we encounter things of the world that leave us cold, take a breath and say "Selah!" In this way, each of us will take a pause and seek direction from God the Great Director of the music of creation.

Good Morning America, bless God and others, this day and every day.

Selah!

Pastor Tim

Fighting The Good Fight of Faith!

The last couple of weeks I have been able feed my hobby of studying the War Between the States, yes the Civil War. As I walked the hallowed grounds of battle, and as I have tried to discern what occurred at these places, it becomes difficult to imagine how the soldiers on either side felt. One thing that came to my mind while walking these fields of battle, was realizing that they all have one thing in common. What they have in common is that at a certain time in the battle one or both sides had to make the decision to stay and fight our to retreat for safety.

As we enter times in which we agree or disagree with our government and even our churches, some of us may have thought about staying to fight, or retreating to safety. As I study Civil War history, I'm often led to stories of generals that were able to get their troops to stay and fight onto victory. This leads me to write about the Apostle Paul in his first letter to Timothy in which Paul strengthens Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:12


Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses (ESV).

We see Paul writing this to give Timothy strength in his ministry, and to keep on professing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Timothy did not flee but took the words of Paul and kept on working, knowing who he was and who he belonged to. Paul told Timothy that as long as he followed God's Words, he would be without blemish or blame. 

Brothers and Sisters, the same goes for us today, whether it is elections, church politics, or work decisions that do not go your way. Stay in there and fight the good fight, do not flee, do not run, but be assured that as long as we follow God's commands, we will be without blemish or blame. 

Fight the good fight, never give up,never surrender!
Pastor Tim.

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: Keeping An Eye On The Storm!

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: Keeping An Eye On The Storm!: As i sit in my office this morning, like many of those around the world I am keeping an eye on Hurricane Sandy. Yes our eyes are glued ...

Keeping An Eye On The Storm!

As i sit in my office this morning, like many of those around the world I am keeping an eye on Hurricane Sandy. Yes our eyes are glued to our television sets, Internet pages, and cell phone news reports, as to be informed about the devastation that is being anticipated.

On that night that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was gathered with his disciples, he was looking with forward thinking eyes that viewed his future with exact knowledge. Christ knew of the pain that was to be inflicted upon him, he knew of the suffering that laid before him, yet his love for his disciples led him to speak words of encouragement and promise to his disciples. 

As the Body of Christ, we are blessed with the forward thinking words that were left to us in scripture. God's word reveals to us his vision for us as we look to the future with forward thinking eyes: 

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 1Peter 2:21 (ESV.) 

Brothers and Sisters: The words revealed to us in this text tell us that as we go forward in Christ's example, we must follow his steps and make sacrifices for others. As we walk with Christ to the cross, we understand what sacrifice is all about, and what we should be doing as Christ's body here on earth. 

My prayer for us all this week: As we hear reports of devastation on the east coast,may the body of Christ gather as his example of forward thinking eyes and come to the aid of those in need. My prayer is also that this horrific event be the catalyst for Christians to lead by example, as we sacrifice our worldly possessions of "Time, Talent, and Resources" for the world that God has created. 

Looking Forward and Praising God and "Keeping An Eye On The Storm!" 

Pastor Tim

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: The Abundant Word of God!

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: The Abundant Word of God!: The picture in this Monday's blog was done by our Young Adult Church School, and portrays what an abundant life is about in today's famil...

The Abundant Word of God!

The picture in this Monday's blog was done by a previous Young Adult Church School at a former church, and portrays what an abundant life is about in today's family. The picture portrays activities in reference to sports, vacations, good food, but most importantly quality time with our families. In our busy schedules it is so hard to find time for what is important, especially our family relationships and the bonding that can only occur through shared family experiences.

The same goes for our reading the bible and finding enough quality time to read it and to bond with it in relationship and experience. This weeks blog will give helpful hints as to get as much from your bible reading, so it will supply us with an "Abundant Life" in God's Word. Rick Warren tells us that God's Word must be studied in the following ways.

1. Observation: What is it saying?
2. Interpretation: What does it mean?
3. Correlation: What other verses explain it?
4. Application: What am I going to do about it?

Brothers and Sisters, as we strive to have a life of abundance in everything that we do, let us also try to have a life of abundance in understanding God's Word. God desires to be in relationship with each and every one of us, and as we spend that quality time with our families, let us spend some quality time with Father God in his Holy Word!

Living Abundantly

Pastor Tim.