Bible Verse for Sunday Service November 03, 2024
1 Corinthians 15:17
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
Announcements:
We are planning the annual Thanksgiving Dinner for November 17 were we look forward to a delicious meal and a special musical treat. During both the morning worship service and after the dinner, the Gospel quartet “Next Journey” will provide the music. Please sign up on the foyer table if you plan to come and for what food you can bring.
Just a reminder that we will again be participating in the Samaritan’s Purse Christmas Child Box program. We have received all of the items for the Awana children to pack in the boxes in November. Thank you. Now, we are only requesting funds for shipping the boxes.
Ladies have asked about restarting the Secret Sister program, a ministry of encouragement to each other. If you are a Secret Sister, you commit to sending notes of encouragement and share small, inexpensive gifts on special occasions. Next week, we will provide forms to to sign up.
November 5th is the last day to vote, if you haven’t already voted early. Voting is a great privilege and a great responsibility we have as citizens of this great land.
Sermon:
Pastor Jim spoke to us on a collection of verses centering on our allegiance in a sermon he titled “Pledging Our Allegiance.” Pastor selected Romans 13, 1 Timothy 2 and Titus 3 to elucidate for us what pledging our allegiance means within the context of being Christ followers. Such an allegiance consists of submission, prayer and lifestyle. Pastor explored these duties in three points.
Firstly, Pastor looked at our submission to the law required by Romans 13:5-7. He explained that our submission is required. It is not optional as it is commanded by the Lord. We use our consciences in this submission to make sure we are submitting correctly, yet also not submitting to immoral laws in consistent with the Bible. Another way of putting this is to say the effect of submission triggers the need for conscience. We cannot submit blindly to everything. Our consciences and and knowledge of the Bible, God’s law, then guide us in the extent of our submission. As Peter so eloquently put in in Acts 5:29, we must obey God not man when man orders something against God.
Next, to successfully pledge our allegiance, we must pray for our leaders. Prayer is our priority in that it should be our first response to any government edict. Perhaps we should pray for wisdom for our leaders as they consider legislation. Alternatively, perhaps we should prayer over our response to a law that perhaps contradicts God’s law, for wisdom. Does it really conflict with God’s provision? We must not look for a problem where one doesn’t really exist. In our praying, we should consider the power of prayer. We can pray for good laws and the ability to lead a quiet and peaceable life. It is a blessing to us to continue to enjoy freedom to worship.
In closing, Pastor encouraged us to live out our faith. If we do so, because we are faithfully following God’s plan, we will be good citizens ready to do good works in addition to sharing God’s word. But, also we will be good neighbors too. Pastor concluded by discussing a church in Ukraine with large wood fired ovens that undertook a bread baking ministry in the community. That church is being salt in its community. It is getting out of the salt shaker. We should too.
Accessing the Service, Bulletin and Sermon Outline:
Here are the pages from the bulletin, click on the images below to see them full size:
If you would like to have the sermon outline, you can download it here, a pdf file.
If you would like a link to this service you can find it here. It starts a little later as we had difficulty with our camera at the start of the service. Perhaps you would like to share it with your friends. You could also share that link on social media, if you use any of the providers. We use Rumble, a safe alternative to Google’s YouTube.