Announcements

MEMBER ALERT:

Mark your calendar for our fall gospel meeting with Allen Webster which starts this week on Wednesday, November 13^th and runs through Sunday November 17^th

Allen teaches at the Memphis School of Preaching, Georgia School of Preaching, and is the editor of House to House Heart to Heart. He's also a director for Polishing the Pulpit. Mark your calendar!

Sunday, 11/17/2024 10 a.m. The Greatest Command (Mark 12:30)

Sunday, 11/17/2024 11 a.m. The Greatest Text (John 3:16)

Sunday 11/17/2024 6 p.m. Seven Motivational Quotes, Five Powerful Verses, One Penetrating Question

If you cannot attend in person, join us via Zoom:

https://zoom.us/j/99914262031?pwd=STZLR3dUcEl3QW1uSTUzWjBqZXdBQT09 Meeting ID: 999 1426 2031

Men’s Bible study: THIS Friday, November 22rd, 7 PM, at the church building. Deric Foster will lead the study. The subject of discussion will be shared soon. Look for an email. Zoom will also be available: https://zoom.us/j/99914262031?pwd=STZLR3dUcEl3QW1uSTUzWjBqZXdBQT09/; Meeting ID: 999 1426 2031; Password: 139492 or Dial: +1 301 715 8592.

Bible study for the ladies on the English-speaking side: THIS Saturday, November 23rd at 10 AM via Zoom. For additional information, contact Winnie Sylvester or Rosemary Dayie

Another Men’s Bible study: Friday, December 20th at 7 PM, at the church building. Zoom will be available if you can't attend in-person. Volunteers to lead/facilitate future Bible studies are needed. Contact Bob Greene for more information

Wednesday night Bible will remain at 7:30 PM each week!

Sign-up sheets are on the bulletin board for hall monitors, Sunday morning greeters, meal contact persons and Bible class substitutes and assistants on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Bible class teachers and assistants are needed, see Arnoldo Velásquez or one of the elders if you desire to serve in this capacity

Pray for our shepherds and the flock (our congregation): that we may all submit to the Lord's will and His design for His Church that He purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28, 31; 1 Thessalonians 5:11-24; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; 5:1-21; Titus 1:6-15; 1 Peter 5:1-11).

Pray for the congregation in Ecuador, for the security of that country and for all people who are suffering through no fault of their own.

MEMORY VERSES

Lev. 11:45: 'For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.'" NASB1995

1 Cor. 11:22: What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you. NASB1995

Every Deed Will Be Tested

“For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

THE LAST VERSE IN ECCLESIASTES GIVES US THE REASON WHY WE SHOULD FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. Reverence and obedience must define the way we live because “God will bring every deed into judgment.” All that we do is going to be tested, not by the trial of any human evaluation, but by the judgment of God Himself. Not wanting to deal with it, we may pretend this testing won’t come, but we will be tried by it nevertheless.

It is not just some of our deeds, but “every deed” that will be brought into judgment by God. Even “every secret thing” will be judged by Him. “No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). This truth should jolt us. We may present to other human beings only what we want them to know, but God knows even the most secret contents of our hearts.

Our deeds will be judged “whether good or evil.” Just as we may temporarily deny God’s judgment itself, we may also deny the existence of objective right and wrong, but our denial doesn’t make it go away (any more than closing the blinds makes the sun go away). There is an eternal, unalterable difference between good and evil, and it has its origin in God’s own character.

Because He is our Creator, God has a right to bring us into judgment. Having given us life and a free will, He will hold us accountable for the use of our freedom of choice between good and evil. Think of it in terms of “stewardship.” Having been entrusted with great gifts, we will answer for our faithfulness in using them. Surely it is the right of the Giver to conduct such a reckoning.

At the final judgment, and even before, we won’t be able to hide from that which Thomas Merton called “the implacable light of judgment.” Apart from the forgiveness of God, which is what the gospel of Christ is about, none of us has any hope at the judgment. But if we won’t face reality, not even the gospel can help us.

“What we need is not a false peace which enables us to evade the implacable light of judgment, but the grace courageously to accept the bitter truth that is revealed to us; to abandon our inertia, our egotism and submit entirely to the demands of the Spirit” (Thomas Merton). https://wordpoints.com/every-deed-tested-october-31

THINK ON THIS!

1. So live that even your secret hours can bear the Lord's inspection.

2. Attachment to Christ is the secret of holiness and results in detachment from the world. *https://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/lochurch/bullfill.htm