EAST TAMPA CHRISTIAN CHURCH
7824 S. 24th Ave., Tampa, Fla. 33619 / (813) 626-2507
Terry Tyree, Minister
ORDER OF WORSHIP
Announcements
Prayer
Sermon
Invitation Song
Communion Song
Communion / Offering
Praise Songs
We Believe
Scars
My Jesus
Closing Prayer
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
ON THE CALENDAR
Sunday - Sunday School: Adults, 9 a.m., Children, 9 and 10 a.m., Worship, 10 a.m.
Tuesday Hunger-Free Mission food and clothes sharing, 10 a.m.
Wednesday Bible study and prayer meeting, 6 p.m.
THIS AND THAT
Anniversary this week: Terry and Carole Tyree (today)
Birthday this week: Linda Thompson (today), James Thomas (Thursday)
General fund offerings last week: $1,085
Meditations next week: Jim Fairchild
FROM THE WORD
1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:
2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.
4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.
JONAH 3
ADDITIONAL
HOW HUMILITY CHANGES EVERYTHING
What a different story the Jonah Bible story would have been if, after Nineveh repented and God relented, Jonah had chosen humility! How I wish he had been able to say, “The same God who had mercy on me from inside the belly of the fish, has proven again how merciful and compassionate He is. He is slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to turn back from destroying people. I will praise the name of the Lord!”
Can you imagine the ministry he could have had, going from place to place telling the story of God’s great mercy on both him and the city of Nineveh? Who knows how many other cities may have turned to God as a result? But the Bible gives no indication that this ever happened. There is nothing said in the story of Jonah of his ministry after this point, so it is very possible he died there. In misery. Waiting to watch Nineveh be destroyed!
But friends, our story doesn’t have to end that way. We can choose a different path. We can choose humility! We have the choice to accept the mercy of our Lord, not just in our own lives, but in the lives of those who have wronged us as well. We can choose to rejoice, just as the angels do, when even one sinner repents, and praise the God whose mercies begin afresh each morning! Will you join me in asking God to give us His heart?
“Heavenly Father, You are so good! You are merciful and compassionate. If it weren’t for this truth, God, I would be helplessly lost in my sin. But You are slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. So, You made a way for me to receive Your forgiveness through the blood of Your precious Son, and I am so grateful.
Help me to never forget how much I have been forgiven. Help me to never feel more deserving of Your mercy than anyone else, because none of us deserve it, Lord! Not me, and not the person who has wronged me. But You offer it to both of us, just the same. So, give me Your heart, Father. Help me to see people through Your eyes. Help me to rejoice when anyone repents, and to be quick to show mercy, just as You do. Keep me humble, Father. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Cherith Peters an excerpt from hisdearlyloveddaughter.com
TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION
The invitation at the close of each worship service extends an opportunity for anyone outside of Christ to unite with him and become a Christian through belief (John 3:16); repentance (turning away from sin,
Acts 2:38); confession of belief in Christ (Romans 10:10); baptism into Christ for forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Romans 6:1-8) and devoting the rest of your life to
Christ (Matthew 10:22).
The Lord’s invitation also is open to anyone desiring to rededicate his or her life to Christ; to baptized
believers wanting to transfer their membership to this congregation, or to request prayer support.
ABOUT US
For more than a half-century, we have been a restoration plea fellowship in unity with other independent New Testament church bodies. Certainly, we are not the only Christians, but we are Christians only.
In that regard, we assume no denominational name. We observe the Lord’s Supper every Sunday to honor him and reflect upon his great sacrifice on our behalf (Acts 2:42, 1 Corinthians 11:23-28, Hebrews 10:25).
We teach directly from the Bible. Where it speaks clearly – such as the Gospel plan of salvation and other directions or commands – we seek unity. In matters of opinion, where the Bible does not expressly speak, we seek liberty. In all things, however, we speak love for one another, just as Jesus loved us and laid down his life for us!
If you agree with these matters, please join us to proclaim salvation and unity to those who need to hear it in the name of our blessed Lord and only Savior, Jesus Christ. We urgently invite you to do so since his glorious return is imminent.
OUR ELDERS
Jim Fairchild (813) 361-7809 jfairchild@famins.com
Dan Hefner (813) 244-9843 danshirlh@msn.com