The Champions Spirit
Volume 68, Issue 35
Sept. 6, 2009
Be at Champions Day!
Next Sunday...September 13, 2009
Take advantage of the day to invite some of your friends to lunch following services. It will also be a great opportunity to invite someone to go with you that you aren’t as familiar with!
Bible Class - 9 a.m.
Morning Worship - 10 a.m.
Evening Worship - 6 p.m.
FAMILY MATTERS...
We welcome every visitor and guest to our services! You are special to us and we want to be of any help we can during your visit with us. Please complete one of the cards found by the song book rack or distributed by one of our young men prior to the services and put it in the offering plate when it is passed. We hope you will be back with us soon.
Sunday morning, Gordon and Karen Casey placed membership with us. Completing their family are 12-year-old twins, Landon and Lauren. We are blessed to have each family member with us as they have expressed their desire to be involved in service to the Lord! Get to know them.
Also, we were blessed to be able to pray with David Phelps. He requested our prayers as he had a difficult week in many aspects of his life. We are thankful for David as he reminds us all as to where we should look for strength in this life.
As noted above...be sure and be a part of next Sunday’s services. September 13th is “Be at Champions Day!” Make plans to be nowhere else!
Fireproof is returning! On Saturday, Oct. 3, there will be an encore showing of the movie Fireproof. In the weeks after that, there will be several small groups meeting in various neighborhoods. These one-hour studies will be on Tuesdays from 7-8 p.m. from Oct. 6 through mid-November. Each small group will have a video clip of the movie followed by a biblical discussion of the particular principles noted. These neighborhood Bible studies will provide a great opportunity to invite friends and neighbors to a gathering of Christians. There will also be an alternative study of Psalms offered during the same time period.
PARTING THOUGHT: An ounce of example is worth a pound of advice!
HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!
Jeremy's Junction
Cell phones are an interesting phenomenon.
If you think about it, the use of cell phones is still pretty new to our culture. During the early and mid 1990s, people had phones but many of them were of the “bag phone” variety. In the late 1990s and early in the 21st century, more and more people began using mobile phones, but these were still often much larger and less convenient than the phones we have today. Since about 2004 it seems to me like suddenly everyone has to have a cell phone. More and more people have turned off their land lines and use only their cell phone. Cell phones are so much more than phones now: They are basically little mini-computers that can do everything from connect to the Internet, play mp3’s and provide navigational assistance.
Recently, some new laws have been enacted related to cell phones. You can no longer talk on a cell phone (without a hands-free device) and drive through an active school zone. Also, texting while driving is now against the law in many areas.
Why is it we suddenly feel this intense need to have our phone on our person at all times? We talk, text and perform so many other tasks with them. It is hard for most of us to imagine life without them. Cell phones are a great communication tool. If you are ever in an emergency, you can count on someone near you having a cell phone. If you get lost, you have your phone. If someone else has an emergency, they can contact you more easily. Cell phones allow people to stay more and more connected. There are a lot of benefits associated with cell phones, but it is important to recognize that there are also negative aspects.
Here is another question. Why do we need them in church? People have gotten so addicted to their phones that for some reason they feel naked without them, even in church. Many people seem to have no problem texting during services and using excuses such as "I can pay attention to both." While we are worshipping God, ALL of our attention should be focused on Him: We shouldn't force Him to share our attention with our phones.
Realizing this, the youth group has recently decided to do something to help remove this temptation. One Sunday morning at the end of class, Lonnie Reed spoke up about his own struggle with using his cell phone during worship services. He decided that he was going to leave his phone in the classroom and let me lock it up. He recommended that everyone else do the same. Since then, the teens come into the classroom and leave their phones on the table. I lock the room, and they can come retrieve them after services. This was a decision made by teens that are way more addicted to their phones than many adults. This should make their decision an even more powerful example to us. Ask yourself this question: Why do I need my cell phone in worship? If there is an emergency, then people who know you know you will be at the church on Sunday morning and will call the building. You do not need to be texting people and taking focus from God during His worship. The truth is, you really do not need your cell phone.
Whether it is cell phones or some other temptation, if anything is diverting your attention from wholeheartedly worshipping God, take steps to eliminate it. If possible, simply remove the temptation. Of course, distractions may still occur. However, it is the habits we are focusing on, not a few random occurrences. Cell phones can be good. In this day and age people can use them in many positive ways. However, like most great inventions, people have found ways to pervert their benefits.
Resist the ways of the world, and use your cell phones and other possessions to the glory of God.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
—Jeremy Geurin
John's Jogs
LABOR DAY
Labor Day is one of those holidays that has different areas of significance to different people. Even its origination has a questionable purpose. According to Encyclopedia Britannica: May 1 was the date generally selected by the trade unions, socialist parties and labor organizations in general for celebrations. It is observed by a portion of the population of all industrial countries except the U. S., Canada and Italy. May 1 was an official holiday in the USSR. In Great Britain the celebration generally takes place the first Sunday after May Day.
Labor Day is celebrated in the United States on the first Monday in September. Agitation for the celebration of the day was started by the Knights of Labor who, in 1882-1884 paraded on the streets of New York. In 1884 the organization adopted a resolution that the first Monday in September be considered Labor Day and steps were taken to have it recognized as a holiday. Workmen of all organizations aided in the movement. On June 28, 1894, a bill passed through congress making it a legal holiday, throughout the union.
In Canada most of the provinces observe the day regularly by law; in others it may be observed by the governor’s proclamation. Celebration in the U. S. and Canada differs from that in Europe in that all classes participate and is marked by closing of virtually all commercial, business and industrial firms and by meetings, picnics, parades, speeches, athletic events and other holiday activities. In the U. S. it usually begins the political activity toward elections. It’s often considered the transition marker between summer and fall. In Michigan, I usually put the storm window in and cleaned up the yard getting ready for winter.
The scripture has a lot to say about labor. The Lord himself rested on the seventh day after his six days of creation. Ex. 34:21 says “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh you shall rest: in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.” Mt. 20:1-15 Jesus told the parable of the householder who went out hour after hour and hired men to come labor in his vineyard. At the end of the day he paid them all the same wage. He told the grumblers he paid them according to their agreement – if he desired to pay others the same it was not their concern. Luke. 10:7 “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” Acts 29:35 “I have showed you that laboring you ought to support the weak...the Lord Jesus said, it is more blessed to give than receive.” II Thess. 3:10 “If any would not work, neither should he eat.” I Tim. 5:8 “If any provide not for his own, especially those of his own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”
The message is that man must work but he also needs to rest and recreate to restore his energy and renew his mind to be more effective as he goes forward.
—John Qualls