Friends of Faith Baptist of North Chili,
Well, it looks like I’ll be taking a trip out of the country. I just got word that I have an inheritance of 9.5 million waiting for me in Nigeria. If I follow all of their instructions the fund will be transferred to my account without delay. I have between now and Monday to go down to their offices and sign the fund release order documents. The notice says, “You are also adviced to send us your account informations where you want the fund to be transferred to avoid any wrong transfer.” Plus they encourage me to “higher an accredited attorney.” So it looks like the next few days will be quite busy for me.
Actually, I am already the recipient of a much better inheritance! Paul’s testimony before King Agrippa in Acts 26 included his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. The voice of the Lord said that Paul was being sent to the Gentiles, “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.” (Acts 26:18) More detail is given in Colossians 1:12-14, telling us that the inheritance is not measured in dollars, but in light, “giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” After the events of this week and thinking of the intense sorrow of the parents and families of slain students in Virginia, if I were in their shoes I would rather have light than dollars. I pray that those who are grieving who have not trusted Christ for their salvation would have their eyes opened to the light of the truth of the gospel and trust Him.
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TIME FOR A SMILE
There are two secrets for success:
1. Don’t reveal all your secrets
As a five-year-old-boy and his Mom headed to McDonald’s one day, they passed a car accident.
Usually when they saw something terrible like that, they said a prayer for those who might be hurt, so she pointed and said to her son, “We should pray.”
From the back seat she heard his earnest request: “Please, God, don’t let those cars block the entrance to McDonald’s.”
A preacher attended a conference to help encourage and better equip pastors for their ministry. Among the speakers were many well known and dynamic speakers. One such boldly approached the pulpit and, gathering the entire crowd’s attention, said, “The best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman that wasn’t my wife!” The crowd was shocked! He followed up by saying, “And that woman was my mother!”
The crowd burst into laughter and he delivered the rest of his message, which went over quite well.
The next week, the pastor decided he’d use that joke in his sermon. As he approached the pulpit that Sunday, he tried to rehearse the joke in his head. It suddenly seemed a bit foggy to him.
Getting to the microphone he said loudly, “The greatest years of my life were spent in the arms of another woman that was not my wife!”
The congregation inhaled half the air in the room.
After standing there for almost 10 seconds in the stunned silence, trying to recall the second half of the joke, the pastor finally blurted out, “…and I can’t remember who she was!”
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Sunday, April 22, 2007
* Family Bible Classes – 9:30am
* The Adult Class (meeting in the auditorium) continues the study “Crises and Crowns” — the Old Testament biographies of Samuel, Saul, David and Solomon. This week we will look at 1Samuel 17-18 in which we read about David’s thrilling victory over Goliath and Saul’s growing animosity toward David. What lessons do we learn for us today from these familiar but ancient stories?
* Morning Worship – 10:45am
* From John 3:9-17, this Sunday morning’s message title is “Whosoever Believes!” Jesus continues His conversation with the Right Reverend Dr. Nicodemus, senior professor of OT, although we don’t hear anything more from Nicodemus after verse 9, ‘How can these things be?” What Jesus has to say is so simple and profound it includes the most memorized verse of Scripture (at least after “Jesus wept.” and “Judge not lest ye be judged.”). John 3:16 teaches God’s love (for the world), God’s gift (of His unique, one-and-only Son), and God’s reward (for faith in the Son of God). These are encouraging thoughts in a world filled with wickedness and corruption.
* Evening Celebration – 6:00pm
* We will continue our study of the prophecy of Nahum who was given a “burden” against Nineveh which is at the same time a word of comfort (the name “Nahum” means “comfort”) for Judah. In chapter two and three we are shown both the How and Why of Nineveh’s fall. God is very aware of the activity of nations, particularly their cruelty, exploitations, and sins. The message’s title: “Nations Are Accountable.”
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That’s all for this edition of FaithFriends. Pray with me that God’s people will be equipped and encouraged and the lost will hear the good news of the Gospel and trust Christ for their salvation!
Your faithful Minister of the Word,
Pastor Harriman
www.fbcnorthchili.org