October 31^st 2021

9:30 am Bible Study & 10:00 am Message---------------------------------------Messages by Clay Curtis

*** Saturday Workday!! Please come and help us clean our building and grounds for our upcoming meeting.

We Glory In Tribulations Also – by Clay Curtis

. . . “We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” – Romans 5:3-5

Why would a believer glory in tribulations which cause us so much sorrow? In the trial God sweetly forces us to trust Christ to save us and by doing so God makes us a little more patient to wait on Christ in the next trial. Through patience, God proves to us more clearly that we have no strength and the grace of God is truly sufficient. This is the perfect work James speaks of when he says let patience have her perfect work. God sheds his love in our hearts by the Spirit and grows us in hope so that in the next trial we are a little less prone to put our hand to things below but instead “flee for refuge to lay hold upon the Hope set before us.” This is why we thank God for the school of trial and affliction. John Bunyan expressed this glorying when writing of his 12 years in prison, “I never had, in all my life, so great an insight into the Word of God as now; insomuch that I have often said, Were it lawful, I could pray for greater trouble, for the greater comforts’ sake.”

DOGS – by David Eddmenson

Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

-- Matthew 15:25-27

My wife and I have a little dog. We love that little dog. That little dog serves no real purpose in life, she only desires to be the object of our affection. She begs for food. Sometimes she has to be cleaned up after. She is totally dependent on us and without our constant care, she will die. She is somewhat a liability. Yet, in spite of her liabilities, she brings us great joy. She is always glad to see us when we return from being away. She loves us dearly and desires to be with us every hour. We go to great lengths to make sure every need of our dog is provided for. We see to it that she is treated with compassion and tender care. Regardless of all her endearing qualities, at the end of the day, she is still a dog. She still acts like a dog. I think she enjoys being a dog. Many dogs in this world do not fare so well as our dog does. From my perspective, being OUR dog is a wonderful privilege. I have seen other dogs that do not fare as well as our dog. It seems that the quality of a dog’s life depends on who their master is.

I rejoice greatly that I, the dog that I am, belong to that Master who constantly sees to it that I have all I need and yet much more. My Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, requires only one thing from me in return. What does He require of me? Nothing but my love, adoration and worship of Him. How wonderful and life sustaining it is to constantly eat of the crumbs that fall from His table. Child of God, I like being my Master’s dog! Don’t you?

Forbearing And Forgiving -- by Henry Mahan

"Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another. . . even as Christ forgave you.” – Colossians 3:13