The Champions Spirit
Volume 68, Issue 19
May 17, 2009
In This Issue
God's Passionate Pursuit for Me
Today's Schedule
9 a.m. Combined Jr-Hi through Adult Class (Auditorium)
"God's Passionate Pursuit for Families"
10 a.m. Worship Sermon "God's Passionate Pursuit for Me"
11:30 a.m. -12:45 p.m. Pot Luck Lunch
12:45 p.m. Devotional and Q and A with Joe Brumfield
No evening services.
FAMILY MATTERS...
We welcome our visitors as special guests today! We are thankful you have come our way. We would be honored if you will stay for lunch with us and, if possible, the other activities of the day. Thank you for coming, and may God’s blessings be yours.
It is great to see this congregation of the Lord’s church continue to grow. We are thankful to have Jeff and Rebekah Johnson as well as Jerry and Phyllis Massey (Jerry is Phyllis’ mother.) We thank the four of them for deciding to serve together with us in the army of our Lord. May His be the glory!
This is the final week of Little Champs for this school year—where has the year gone? We have been blessed with wonderful children and parents as well as a capable and loving staff of teachers and assistants. Our staff and teachers deserve our thanks and praise for a job well done. Working with MDO this year were: Lisa Killough, Director, Amber Hill, Shelley Miles, Mindy Lusk, Linda Briethaupt, Jessica Holt, Nancy Stewart, Tracy Adams, Amy Smith, Rhonda Gropp, Rachel Sherwin and Kaye Ruoff.
On a personal note, I want to express my gratitude for the love you have shown to both Janet and to me in the death of Janet’s mother last week. Annie Lee Pope (Granny as she was known by us all) was a great blessing not only to Janet, but to me as a son-in-law as well! She will be greatly missed! Your thoughtful responses helped us through this time.
Parting Thought: The trouble with being punctual is that no one is there to appreciate it.
—F. P. Jones
HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!
Jeremy's Junction
Congratulations College Graduates!
We would like to congratulate our college graduates and wish them the very best as they begin a new chapter in their life! May you always look to the Lord for guidance as you travel on your life’s journey.
—Jeremy Guerin
| Graduate | School | Parents |
|---|---|---|
| Erin Arnold | Texas A & M University | Allen and Dixie Arnold |
| Kimberly (Keetch) Brown | Harding University | Rick and Anita Keetch |
| John Burke | Lipscomb University | Rodney and Myra Burke |
| Aaron Jean | Baylor University | Peggy Jean |
| Ashley Mize | Lipscomb University | Danny and Laura Mize |
| Megan Phillips | Harding University | Blake and Suzanne Phillips |
| Jacob Smith | Harding University | Joel and Carey Smith |
John's Jogs
PASSIONATE PURSUIT is our congregational theme for the year 2009. Of course Joe Brumfield’s topics this morning are: “God’s Passionate Pursuit for Families” and “God’s Passionate Pursuit for Me.” Since my articles often take a look at a play on words, let’s take a look at the true meaning of these two words and elaborate on where we want to go with them.
PASSIONATE comes from the root PASSION which means: (originally) suffering or agony as Christ on the cross or the period following the “Last Supper.” - Any one or all of the emotions of hate, love, grief, fear, joy, etc.; extreme compelling emotion, intense emotional drive or excitement; strong love or affection; the object of any strong desire or fondness. Thus, PASSIONATE means: Having or showing strong feelings; capable of or susceptible to passion. Tending to arouse strong feelings, ardent, intense, impassioned. An ardent and fervent emotion suggesting an outburst of intense feeling.
PURSUIT means a pursuing or to pursue. PURSUE means to follow in order to overtake or capture – to proceed along or follow a course, action or plan etc. – to try to find, strive for or seek.
So what do we hope to accomplish with this theme of “Passionate Pursuit?” First we do not want to achieve a congregation like Laodicea that is lack-a-daisical and lukewarm but is on fire for the Lord. “Whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord.”
We want to pursue the Lord and His work with a passion. We want to be excited and enthused about worshipping and serving our Lord and Savior. We want to enter into the programs and activities of the congregation with an excitement and enthusiasm that is contagious and that makes it impossible to be a failure.
Because of our rigid insistence on sticking to the biblical doctrines, we are often accused of being cold and unemotional. Sometimes the accusation is justified. Therefore, our concept of Passionate Pursuit is a great answer to that idea. There is nothing wrong with and everything right and good with having and showing emotion not only in our life but also in our worship.
Most of our programs and activities are part of an overall plan for a quarter or year. Each of them is a vital link to the overall program. Therefore, let us passionately support each of them. Whether we preach, teach, pray, sing, give or take communion let us do it with passion. Let us Pursue with Passion, Christianity and its Christ!
—John Qualls