[Biblemat] Walking in the Light (11/18/07)

Sun Nov 18 20:08:27 CST 2007

Walking in the Light

"For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light."
"The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the
simple." 

"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another...."
(Psalm 36:9; 119:130; 1 John 1:7a)

November 18

www.thetfordcountry.com <http://www.thetfordcountry.com/> 

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INFORMATION: My WEB Site  <http://www.thetfordcountry.com/>
www.thetfordcountry.com has just been updated to include the articles and
sermons listed below. All the sermons posted each week to my web site are in
.pdf format.  The PowerPoint charts are also included with ALL the sermons
that are posted to the web site. To access the sermons page, visit the site
and click on "Richard's Page" and then click on "sermons." Please visit the
"Reference Works" links page for updated links to various Bible study
resources. If you are a newcomer to the area or wanting information
concerning the San Juan church of Christ here in Montrose, Colorado, then
click on the San Juan church of Christ Web Site at
<http://www.sanjuanchurchofchrist.org/> www.sanjuanchurchofchrist.org. Thank
you for visiting my web site and as always, your comments are welcome. 

If you know of someone that would like to receive the "Walking in the Light"
electronic bulletin each week, please send an e-mail message to
<mailto:Richard at Thetfordcountry.com> Richard at Thetfordcountry.com  with their
name and e-mail address and I will add them to the list.

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CONTENTS:

"Thanksgiving - More Than A Holiday" (Richard Thetford)

"How Thankful Are We?" (Richard Thetford)

"Jesus Saves" (Richard Thetford)

"Almost" (Dick Millwee)

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THANKSGIVING - MORE THAN A HOLIDAY

Richard Thetford

This coming Thursday the nation will celebrate together a time of
"Thanksgiving" for this country that we live in. The word "thanksgiving" is
mentioned several times in the New Testament. We would not get a chance to
celebrate the upcoming "Thanksgiving" holiday if God had not created earth
and man to begin with. Paul writes to the Corinthians and says "you will be
enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing
thanksgiving to God" (1 Cor 9:11). Paul was stressing to the Corinthians
that the true reason why wealth was bestowed was not for self gratification
but in such a way as to cause thanksgiving to God. Yes, we should always
want to have a spirit of thankfulness in our hearts to our God. We are told
in Philippians that we are to be "anxious for nothing, but in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
God" (phil 4:6). We are also told to have "...an attitude of thanksgiving;"
(Col 4:2). The true attitude of thanksgiving is an attitude from our heart
that says "I am truly thankful to God for everything that He has given me to
enjoy and use while on this earth". Yes, "Thanksgiving" is more than just a
holiday, it's an attitude. An attitude Christians should always have on
their heart year round realizing that all one has is from God, and as a
result, is truly thankful!

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HOW THANKFUL ARE WE?

Richard Thetford

This coming Thursday is the day that is set aside in our wonderful country
as a national day of Thanksgiving. As Christians we have so much to be
thankful for and it should be very easy to find reasons for being thankful.
Besides having so much of this world's goods, we have all spiritual
blessings which can only be realized by being IN Christ (Eph 1:3). But how
thankful are we? There are others in the world that certainly do not have or
ever will have the material things that we are blessed with in our life. Yet
we still find ways to complain and wish that we had even more. In addition
to all the physical things that we are blessed with, we should thank God
every day that we have learned about Jesus Christ, obeyed Him, and are
striving to live a faithful life on this earth until we die. We are promised
that heaven is waiting for us to possess it IF we are faithful to the very
end (Rev 2:10). Now that is something we can truly be thankful for.

As We Bow

As we bow our heads in prayer to God this coming Thursday, before we eat our
meal, let us truly be mindful of all the wonderful things that God has
allowed us to enjoy here on this earth. We should be thankful for our
prosperity and for being able to worship God unmolested at any time. Let us
thank God for our health and that He may bless us with many more years of
faithful service in His kingdom. May we thank God for those that have had an
open heart to receive His Word, and are now determined to serve Him for the
rest of their life. We should thank God for the opportunities that He
presents to us to share His Word with others. Let us also thank God for our
children and pray that we raise them completely in the training and
admonition that He dictates to us. May we thank Him for the congregation
here at Valley and pray that we can all strive to continue to build each
other up, keeping one another motivated for the cause of Christ and for each
other, longing to be with God and each other forever in heaven. As we bow,
there are so many things that we can be thankful for.

Prayer Is Important

The importance of prayers of Thanksgiving to God is taught to us clearly in
the Bible. Notice the following:

Psalms 50:14 "Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most
High."

Psalms 105:1 "Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; make known
His deeds among the peoples!"

Psalms 106:1 "Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever."

Colossians 3:15 "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also
you were called in one body; and be thankful."

1Thessalonians 5:18 "in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus for you."

Hebrews 13:15 "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of
praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name."

Ephesians 5:20 "giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ,"

When we look at God's Word, we can see where our duty is evident. We know
that we have received many blessings from our creator in which we should be
eternally thankful. Prayer is important because it is through prayer that
God can clearly see in us what kind of children we really are. A prayerful
child is one who talks to their father. God wants us to talk to Him and
express to Him how truly thankful we are for all the blessings He has
bestowed upon us. Can it be seen in us by our expression to God in prayer
that we really are thankful for what we have, both physical and spiritual?

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JESUS SAVES

Richard Thetford

In the religious realm it would seem that man would figure out that it is
only through God's son Jesus that man can be saved. By the way many act and
carry on today, one would think that man has this power to save. In Matthew
1:21 it says "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." Jesus is the ONLY one
that can save us and this being the case, why is it that many, many who call
Him Lord, will not do EXACTLY as He has asked them to do (Matt 7:21-23)?
Jesus saves us from our sins (Eph 1:7). He has never claimed to save us from
our temptations (Jam 1:2), but will allow a way of escape for us (1 Cor
10:13). It is up to us to take that way of escape and flee from sin! He will
not save us from difficulties of life (2 Tim 3:12) or from death (Heb 9:27).
Jesus offers us SALVATION in Him and Him alone. His salvation is complete (1
Thes 5:23), and eternal (Heb 9:12). He was able to offer us this salvation
by His life (Rom 5:10), His blood (1 Pet 1:19), and through His beloved
gospel (Eph 1:13). Are you allowing Jesus to save you?

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ALMOST

Dick Millwee

In the 26th chapter of Acts we read of Paul presenting his reasons for being
a Christian to King Agrippa. While presenting his defense he skillfully
preached Christ crucified with the hope of converting the king. After
hearing what Paul said, the king made this statement, "almost thou
persuadest me to be a Christian". The scriptures do not tell us why he
didn't obey the gospel. Perhaps he felt he would incur the disfavor of Rome,
or maybe there was too much wealth to give up, or perhaps he was just
prejudiced toward the truth. His reasons for not obeying are left to the
realm of speculation. However, the point is, he failed after hearing the
truth concerning Jesus to obey the gospel.

Countless times today, this very same thing happens. The gospel is presented
to those who are lost and without hope, and they reject its teaching. Many
of these individuals manifest a desire to go to heave; but, alas, they turn
their backs to that which will prepare them for it. They reject God's word
for the material things of the world or because of some petty prejudice that
has stagnated their mind.

How sad that they, along with king Agrippa, will look back when they have
entered eternity and have found themselves separated from God forever, and
have the agonizing thought, "I almost became a Christian and I almost went
to heaven" - Almost, but Not Quite!

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SERMON

Thanksgiving (with PowerPoint Charts)

Sermons can viewed at my web site:  <http://www.thetfordcountry.com/>
www.thetfordcountry.com

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Meets at:

1414 Hawk Parkway, Unit C
Montrose, CO   81401
(970) 249-8116

 <http://www.sanjuanchurchofchrist.org/> www.sanjuanchurchofchrist.org

ASSEMBLY SCHEDULE

SUNDAY
Bible Study....................10:00 A.M.
Worship.........................11:00 A.M.
WEDNESDAY
Bible Study......................6:30 P.M.

Evangelist
Richard Thetford

(970) 626-5558

E-Mail:  <mailto:Richard at Thetfordcountry.com> Richard at Thetfordcountry.com

Web Site:  <http://www.thetfordcountry.com/> www.thetfordcountry.com

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Richard Thetford

E-Mail:  <mailto:Richard at Thetfordcountry.com> Richard at Thetfordcountry.com

1491 Canyon Drive, Ridgway, CO  81432

Home: (970) 626-5558

Please visit my web site:  <http://www.thetfordcountry.com>
www.thetfordcountry.com

Evangelist, San Juan church of Christ

 <http://www.sanjuanchurchofchrist.org> www.sanjuanchurchofchrist.org

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