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Give Yourself
To The Lord
–
Second Corinthians Eight –
Paul wrote
about churches in
Titus was to be sure that these brethren did
in fact follow through on what they had promised to do earlier. It was time for
the Corinthians to act on what they had promised concerning giving to help the
poor. Paul spoke of giving as "a grace." By giving we prove the
sincerity of our love. We should be like Jesus in our giving. He gave and we
should give also. God judges our giving based on what resources we have.
Paul wanted to be sure that there was no
question about honesty in handling this money. He avoided any gossip
about his role
in the collection by sending
Titus and his companion to collect it, and accompany Paul in carrying it to
First gave themselves to the Lord – 2 Corinthians
8:1-6: Paul
made known to these brethren that he considered both the opportunity to give
and their willingness to give to be of the grace of God.
The Macedonian Christians
did not have much to give, but they did have a very
generous spirit. They gave far beyond what Paul was hoping for. They
gave what they could afford and even more and they did this willing of
themselves. Paul said they, "first gave themselves to the Lord, and then
to us by the will of God." They first trusted God and also trusted Paul
and his companions. The Corinthians had likewise promised to give. Now Paul
urged Titus to collect the gifts they had promised.
There must be a willing mind – 2 Corinthians 8:7-12: The Corinthian brethren seemed to
have thought of themselves as abounding in faith, utterance, knowledge,
diligence, and in love. Paul now encouraged them to abound in the grace of
giving also. He said, "Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith,
and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see
that ye abound in this grace also." (2 Corinthians 8:7) The ability to
give and the heart to give come from God and from His grace. Grace shines in our
giving more than in others aspects of Christian living. You cannot love without
giving. God loved and He gave. (John 3:16) Our giving tests the sincerity of
our love. Do you loved like others loved? This is proven by your giving.
Jesus gave up heaven for
outward earthly poverty in order to save us from sin. We can have a share in Jesus'
heavenly wealth, because He came and took a share in our earthly poverty. A
year before, the Corinthians were the first ones
to
make a commitment to give to help the needy at
That there may be equality – 2 Corinthians 8:13-18: The spiritual
abundance of
Paul recommended Titus to
them to collect their gifts. It was in his heart to glorify God and to do what
was right. There was also another brother that was to accompany Titus in this
matter. We do not know who the brother was. Possibly it was Luke, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy or
someone else. It really does not matter who the
brother was. He was a brother with a good reputation among the churches. This
would remove any suspicion that the funds might be misused.
Providing for honest things – 2 Corinthians 8:19-24: The churches chose
this brother to help
administer
their gifts. It was Paul's goal to avoid any blame in
this matter. He did not want anyone to find fault with the way they
handle their generous gift.
Paul took the
necessary steps so that no one could blame him with financial impropriety. He said that he was, "Providing for honest
things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men." (2 Corinthians 8:21)
Paul
even sent a third brother with Titus and the other brother. This brother had
shown many times that he was helpful in the Lord's work. He wanted to help now
even more than ever because he trusted the Corinthians so much. He knew they
would do what they promised.
Paul said that Titus was his partner that
worked with him to serve the church at
Jesus died
so that you can go to heaven. Will you obey Him NOW? To become a Christian you
must hear the gospel (John
---- Charles Box
News
& Notes
1. Prayer
List:
2. Sympathy Expressed: Our love and sympathy is expressed to: (a) Wayne
Herring and his family in the death of his sister, Edna Herring and (b)
Johnny Cole in the death of his uncle, Bill Cole.
3. Congratulations: Congratulations to Felice
Kendrick on the birth of a grandson.
4. Graduated: Congratulations to William Phillips who graduated
May 6th from the James I. Harrison School of Pharmacy at
5. Please Pray For: The following people are serving
in
6 Birthdays: Celebrating birthdays this week are: May 11th Bill
Hammonds, and Walter Johnson, May 12th Ann Smith, and May
17th Mary Lawrence.
7. Ladies Night Out: There will be a ladies night out here at the building on
May 12th at
8. Graduation Invitation: The Senior Class of Greenville High School (Kayla Lynn and
Kristi Marie Garlock and Rebekah
Ann Stallings) announces its Commencement Exercises Friday, May twenty-third two thousand eight at seven
o’clock in the evening Greenville High School Tiger Stadium.
9. Thank You: Dear Christians, Thank you for your prayers and money for the
10. Crowne
Health Care: We provide items for Crowne
Health Care’s “Yard and Bake Sale”. Our goal is to have at least 25 baked items
(cakes, pies, cookies) and lots of good yard sale items. Have all items at the
building by
11. Thursday Class Changed At Crowne: Our class that was scheduled for May
15th at Crowne Health Care has been
changed to May 29th at
12. Graduation Party: Our graduates, Mitch Bozeman, Kayla & Kristi Garlock and Rebekah Stallings,
will be honor after services on Sunday night, June 1st in the
multipurpose room.
13. Put These Dates On Your Calendar: (a) May 18th–21st – Gospel Meeting – College
Street Church of Christ, Greenville – Sunday 3:00 p.m. and weeknights 7:30
p.m., (b) June 1st–4th
– Gospel Meeting – Sasser Church of Christ – Speaker
Garland Elkins – Time Bible Study 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Singing 1:30 p.m.
and Worship 2 p.m. and weeknights 7:30 p.m. (c) June 22nd–26th – Vacation Bible School –
Walnut Street Church of Christ – Time 6:30-8:30 p.m., and (d) July 6th-11th
– Backwoods Christian Camp – Please participate! (e) September 14th – Ladies Day
–
A Penitent Spirit
Penitence is a sad and humble
realization and regret of sin. It is the gut-wrenching feeling you that you get
inside when you want to do right, but you know you’ve done wrong. It was a
penitent spirit that caused David, after his sin with Bathsheba, to say, “Wash
me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge
my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.” (Psalm 51:2-3.) And it was
Paul’s penitent spirit, which motivated him to say, “For I am the least of the
apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the
Anyone
who has a fervent desire to do what’s right surely morns his or her sin. It is
this remorse, which brings about repentance. Now, it is possible to realize and
regret sin without true repentance. Paul said in 2 Corinthians
When
we maintain our penitent spirits in conjunction with repentance, the Lord will
remain ready and willing to forgive us. However, if we allow sin to remain in
our lives it can harden our consciences and snuff out any trace of godly
sorrow. Sin that is tolerated in one’s life can scar the conscience as if it
had been seared with a hot iron, taking away from the heart its ability to
mourn. (1Timothy 4:2.) It then leaves a
fleshly body that “cannot cease from sin,” and that is bound for an eternity in
hell. (2 Peter 2:14.)
Anywhere
there is a desire to get to heaven there must also be a penitent spirit. One,
which drives us to do what we should, refrain from doing what we shouldn’t, and
return to the sheepfold when we go astray.
-
- - - Darrell
Powell
-
He who cooks
up trouble usually lands in a stew of his own making.
Don’t just own a Bible; read it!
(334-382-3001)