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
Come, Now Is the Time to Worship
Brother
Build My Life
Beloved
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.
Thursday: Bible study, 10 a.m.
October 31: Trunk or Treat, 6 to 7 p.m.
November 12: Operation Christian Child shoebox gifts deadlin
THIS AND THAT
Offerings last week: $2,105 (general fund)
Meditations next week: Bob Bellone
FROM THE WORD
A WORD FOR THE DISCOURAGED CHRISTIAN
I am aware that there are many Christians who live with perpetual disappointment and become discouraged because they don’t tap into the fullness of what is offered by God. Oftentimes I am that person. Why? I think it’s very evident. I take my eyes off who I am in Christ, and I focus myself on the discouragements.
I think one of the most amazing things the Apostle Paul ever said was, “I do not lose heart.” He said it twice in the space of about ten verses in 2 Corinthians. Here’s this apostle who’s getting beaten up one side of the empire and down the other, who can write up a catalog of sufferings that surpasses anything I will ever experience. He’s beaten, he’s whipped, he’s frequently in danger, he’s hungry and thirsty, experiencing sleepless nights, and on and on it goes. If there’s anybody in history who ought to have been despondent, it should have been the apostle Paul and yet he says, “I do not lose heart.”
What was his secret? He remembered who he was in Christ. He remembered that beating within him is none other than Christ himself—the indwelling
Christ with all his resources of power and love and joy. Paul says, “I could lose everything else, but if I can keep hold of Christ, I would have everything.”
The problem with us is that we focus on our losses, or we focus on what we think might be losses upcoming, we become discouraged, we become afraid, we become anxious. We’ve taken our eyes off of who we are in Christ, we have forgotten our identity in Christ.
Twenty years ago, a couple came into my office and said, “We’re losing everything. Our business is being foreclosed on, our reputation is ruined, we don’t have anything left.” And they then looked at me as if I could supply an answer for them. I was praying, “Lord, what should I say?”
And then it came to me and I looked at them and I said, “You haven’t lost a thing.” Then they looked at me incredulously saying, “What do you mean? We’ve lost everything!”
I said, “No, you haven’t, you haven’t lost a thing. So long as Christ is dwelling in your heart you have the resources to get you through anything in life—not just to get you through life, but to celebrate life at every point. You have the infinite love of Christ pulsating in your heart. And we are told that nothing can separate you from his love. You have everything. You haven’t lost—in comparison—anything.”
In the span of half an hour, I watched this couple. When they came in, his face was ashen and her face was wet with tears. I watched them walk out with smiles on their faces, arms around each other saying, “We’ve got Christ, of course. We forgot. We have everything.”
About ten years later I got a letter from them saying, “Do you remember that time in your office?” They had moved out of state by this time because they couldn’t continue to live in a state where they’d gone belly-up. I said, “Yeah, I remember very clearly.”
They said, “That was the beginning of new life for us, thank you.” And I wrote back and said, “I didn’t do anything. It’s Christ in you that’s changed your perspective on life.” And then they also included a very large check made out to the church which indicated that they were back on their feet again, but praise God, they had discovered true life.
Tim Savage for crossway.org
ADDITIONAL
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