Friends of Faith Baptist of North Chili,
David Jeremiah writes in his Today’s Turning Point devotional thought this past Tuesday, “Many people mistake thanking the Lord for praising Him. Oftentimes we rattle off a list of things we are thankful for and move right to our requests, believing we have spent time giving glory to God. But there is a clear distinction between thankfulness and praise.” He then observes, “The primary difference is that when we give thanks, our focus is on what God has done for us, whereas during praise, the focus is solely on Him.” Then he closes with this quote: “When I give thanks, my thoughts still circle about myself to some extent. But in praise my soul ascends to self-forgetting adoration, seeing and praising only the majesty and power of God, His grace and redemption.”
This is a good thing to remember in our self-absorbed, narcissistic society. Have you praised the Lord today?
In a little over a week (on Saturday, Oct. 6) we will be hosting a Balanced Evangelism Seminar with Pete Mothershead. Please pray with us for God’s blessing as we equip believers to do the work of ministry!
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TIME FOR A SMILE (from Reader’s Digest)
A man goes to see his doctor because he has a lettuce leaf sticking out of his ear. “Hmmm,” the doctor says, “that’s strange.” The guy replies, “I know. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
My brother and I arrived at boot camp together. On the first morning, our unit was dragged out of bed by our drill sergeant and made to assemble outside. “My name’s Sergeant Jackson,” he snarled. “Is there anyone here who thinks he can whip me?”
My six-foot-three, 280-pound brother raised his hand and said, “Yes, sir, I do.”
Our sergeant grabbed him by the arm and led him out in front of the group.
“Men,” he said, “this is my new assistant. Now, is there anyone here who thinks he can whip both of us?”
The office supervisor, had to have a word with a new employee who never arrived at work on time. He explained that her tardiness was unacceptable and that other employees had noticed that she was walking in late every day.
After listening to his complaints, she agreed that this was a problem and even offered a solution. “Is there another door I could use?”
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Sunday, September 30, 2007
* Family Bible Classes – 9:30am
* The Adult Class (meeting in the auditorium) will be taught by Dan Noyes (Pastor is teaching a new member class). Dan is taking three weeks to reaffirm the sufficiency and primacy of Scripture in evangelism, in a series titled, “Biblical Discernment and Evangelism.” This Sunday will focus on Biblical Christianity’s Confrontation with the Emerging Church (and example of what happens when a group deviates from the Bible as their sole authority in all matters of faith and practice).
* Morning Worship – 10:45am
* In John 6:30-40, we are faced with the concepts of success and failure. Those words aren’t used, but Jesus essentially affirms His confidence that His mission will be a complete success. His reason for that confidence is the same reason for our confidence – “The Will of the Father.” We often look at numbers, size, facilities, impact, and dollars as measurements of “success,” and the accompanying philosophy that our efforts are the determining factor. But here we learn to look at things the way Jesus did and focus on what God the Father is doing more than on what we are doing.
* Evening Celebration – 6:00pm
* This Sunday evening we will continue our series on Prayer. From I Samuel 1 we will learn some valuable lessons about prayer from the heartfelt cry of infertile, sorrowing and suffering Hannah. She ended up “getting what she asked for” – so does this passage teach us a formula to use the guarantees we get what we ask for? Think about that and come prepared to learn what God has revealed, not just to have some preconceived notions affirmed.
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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