THE MANCHESTER CHURCH OF CHRIST, MANCHESTER, N H Mar 18, 2009 PAGE 1 All Together now! THE BULLETIN Manchester Church of Christ 66 Mammoth Rd. Manchester, NH 03109 603.623.5559 [email protected]www.mhtcoc.org Elder’s Link: March Lee Davis – [email protected]547-8876 Larry Glass – [email protected]887-1741 If you have any concerns that the elders should be aware of, or need to speak to with them, please contact Lee or Larry this month. Our Worship Services Sunday AM: 8:30 & 11:00 Bible Class: 10:00 Sunday PM: 6:00 Small Groups: West Side Small Group: 6:15PM at Doug Paul’s Merrimack Small Group: 6:00PM at Stuart Peacock’s Nashua Small Group: 6:00PM at Paul Mosier's Wednesday PM Devotional/Bible Classes: 7:00 News Items? Please submit before 11AM each Tuesday. This past Sunday was a unique experience in the life of this congregation, due to the condition of our building — we met in a movie theater. If you missed the experience of meeting with the whole congregation, you missed a really great event! We haven’t met together as a whole congregation (because of our numbers) for years. This Sunday we did — and maybe we ought to do it more often! There were some adjustments that we had to make and there were a few (but only a few) logistical hiccups; but what a great time of worship and fellowship. We certainly find ourselves substantially inconvenienced by the sewer backup, but our little exercise in flexibility and getting out of our ruts has also been a fresh breath of air and makes us appreciate the blessings that we have in a place to meet. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard and helped to make it possible. This Sunday, being the fourth Sunday, one of our shepherds was scheduled to speak at the pulpit; but we’ve rearranged the schedules a little and I (Park) will be in the pulpit. The shepherds will, instead, take the pulpit on April 5, when I’ll be out of town (celebrating a certain little boy’s second birthday). This Sunday’s sermon will center around the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Sunday evening will be a sermon on 2 Timothy 2 — a chapter full of excellent counsel about the Christian life, not just for evangelists, but also for every Christian. If you’re not going to a small group study on Sunday night at 6PM, be sure to join us to worship the Lord and learn from God’s word.
Transcript
T HE MA NC HESTER C H URC H OF C HRIST, MA NC HESTER, N H Ma r 18, 2009
elders should be aware of, or need to speak to with them, please
contact Lee or Larry this month.
Our Worship ServicesSunday AM: 8:30 & 11:00
Bible Class: 10:00
Sunday PM: 6:00
Small Groups:
West Side Small Group: 6:15PM at Doug Paul’s
Merrimack Small Group: 6:00PM at Stuart Peacock’s
Nashua Small Group: 6:00PM at Paul Mosier's
Wednesday PM Devotional/Bible Classes: 7:00
News Items? Please submit before 11AM each Tuesday.
This past Sunday was a unique experience in the life of this congregation, due to the condition of our building — we met in a movie theater. If you missed the experience of meeting with the whole congregation, you missed a really great event! We haven’t met together as a whole congregation (because of our numbers) for years. This Sunday we did — and maybe we ought to do it more often! There were some adjustments that we had to make and there were a few (but only a few) logistical hiccups; but what a great time of worship and fellowship.
We certainly find ourselves substantially inconvenienced by the sewer backup, but our little exercise in flexibility and getting out of our ruts has also been a fresh breath of air and makes us appreciate the blessings that we have in a place to meet.
Thanks to everyone who worked so hard and helped to make it possible.
This Sunday, being the fourth Sunday, one of our shepherds was scheduled to speak at the pulpit; but we’ve rearranged the schedules a little and I (Park) will be in the pulpit. The shepherds will, instead, take the pulpit on April 5, when I’ll be out of town (celebrating a certain little boy’s second birthday). This Sunday’s sermon will center around the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Sunday evening will be a sermon on 2 Timothy 2 — a chapter full of excellent counsel about the Christian life, not just for evangelists, but also for every Christian. If you’re not going to a small group study on Sunday night at 6PM, be sure to join us to worship the Lord and learn from God’s word.
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,” Ephesians 2:19, NAS95.
T HE MA NC HESTER C H URC H OF C HRIST, MA NC HESTER, N H Ma r 18, 2009
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Our FamilyOur Family
Prayer Concerns
Health: Doreen Lee, Pat Arel, Bill Waisnor, Rosemary Landry, Dawn & Kassidy Law, Deniza Chase’s niece, Marge Simon, Penny Ranger, Manley Jones, Michael Anderson's brotherLeadership: Ministers, Elders, DeaconsEvangelism: Bible studies in progress, our website, MNFMReturn to the Lord: Brethren who have forsaken the assembly
Worship LeadersSunday, March 22, 8:30AMSongs .........................Doug P.Prayers ....................Mark C. & Larry G.Scripture ....................Mike M.Lord’s Supper ............Stuart P.Coordinator ...............Stuart P.
Sunday, March 22, 11:00AMSongs ........................Gerry M.Prayers ....................Pete S. & Barry F.
Scripture .....................David S.Lord’s Supper .............Rick G.Coordinator ................Pete S.
Sunday, March 22, 6:00PMSongs...........................Ken B.
Wednesday, March 25, 7:00PMSongs..........................Mark C.
Coming up in March...
Special contribution Just a reminder that next Sunday, March 29th will be a fifth Sunday, which means a contribution will be taken for our building fund.
Teen devo There will be a devotional at the Moser's on Friday, March 27th at 7pm. Girls bring snacks, guys bring drinks.
What else?
Help needed The Lauzon's will be moving to Dublin, NH on April 18th and could use some help moving. Please let Peter or Debbie know if you are available.
Directory updates Lisa Marchesseault.....44 Montelona Rd., Goffstown, 03045, 497-4010 Tony & Julie Casella.... [email protected] Betty Baron.....622-4199
Myron & Gloria Potter.....232-3866 If your email or phone numbers have changed since the printing of the directory please let Kim know. We don't want anyone to be missed when there are important messages.
Service opportunity Doug Paul is still in need of volunteers to take the Lord's supper to shut- ins. Sign up sheet is on the bulletin board in the foyer.
This and that...
Sonshine basket There is a basket in the foyer marked for Doreen Lee. She is quite depressed so it would be nice if we could fill this basket for her. Little wrapped items could include: note cards, chocolates, nice pens, small journals, lotions, & magazines. Please bring items by Sunday,March 29th.
Pantry revival Please continue to bring items for our food pantry and place them in the box in the foyer. The requested items for
this week are peanut butter, rice, and rice mixes.
Attention ladies There is a ladies day next Saturday, March 28th in Biddeford, Maine. See the bulletin board in the foyer for more information.
Gander Brook The winter of 2007-2008 brought such a heavy snow load on the porch that it almost collapsed. The damage is so severe that the whole porch needs to be replaced- for $90K. There is a flyer and forms in the foyer if you are interested in helping with funding.
T HE MA NC HESTER C H URC H OF C HRIST, MA NC HESTER, N H Ma r 18, 2009
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Li fe Af t e r Li fe (Pa r t 2) Pa r k Li n s c o m b
Well, a couple of weeks and a minor disaster has passed since the last installment of this series, but life goes on — and indeed, that is the point of this series of bulletin articles, life does go on. In the first installment of this series I talked about the three realms of existence that the Bible tells us about: this physical realm in which we now live, a realm called Sheol or Hades in the Bible, and what we will call the eternal realm. This week I’ll talk about death.
Mortality — the destiny of death and decay — is not the original state of man, but a result of the first sin of Adam and Eve (see Gen. 2:16,17; Gen. 3:19; Gen. 3:22-24). But since that time, death is an appointment that everyone, except a very, very few will ever avoid. Enoch walked with God and “was no more” (Gen. 5:24); Elijah was taken up in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11,12); and those who are alive when Jesus returns (1 Cor. 15:51,52). For all the rest of us it is an appointment (Heb. 9:27), which doesn’t always give us “fair warning”; the Bible is full of teachings about the uncertainty and fragility of life (for example, Isa. 40:6-8), though we often don’t give it much thought (Eccl. 7:2).
Essentially, death is separation. Physical death is separation of the physical body from the spirit or soul (for example, Psalm 146:3,4). Spiritual death (I’ll talk about that more in another article) is also separation: separation of our spirit or soul from the Lord. By the way, the terms soul and spirit mean pretty much the same thing (for example, Job 4:11; Isa 26:9; 1 Cor. 15:45; Philippians 1:27), although “soul” seems to carry the subtle difference of “life” with it, while “spirit” is more the substance of our soul. So, when death occurs, our spirits are separated from our bodies; our
bodies lose the spirit (given by God — Genesis 2:7) that moves or animates them, and our bodies begin to return to the dust from which we were made.
At death one’s spirit enters the realm of Hades or Sheol, the spirit world of all the dead that I talked about in the last article. Again, in this spirit world of Hades there is a place called Paradise (or Abraham’s bosom) and a place described as torment. Spirits of the dead who are innocent or saved go to Paradise, while the spirits of those who sinned and remained in their sins in the physical world go to the place described as torment (see Luke 16:19ff). In these separate regions of Hades our spirits stay (Luke 16:26) until the resurrection (Rev. 20:11-13), This logically implies that there is some form of judgment that must occur shortly after we die, a judgment of guilt or innocence. The final judgment (as in Rev. 20:11-15) is probably best understood as a kind of sentencing judgment, proclaiming our eternal destiny based upon the previous judgment of guilt or innocence, based on our deeds (for example, Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6; 2 Cor. 5:10) or our partaking of the Lord’s grace (for example, Titus 3:5; Eph. 2:8,9; and others) in the physical world.
Staying in one region of Hades or the other (Paradise or torment) is solid proof that the doctrine of Purgatory (from the Catholic Church) is erroneous and false. No matter how many prayers may be said on behalf of those who have died, the great fixed chasm (Luke 16:26) prevents any cross over, any changing of status. In other words, we must get right and stay right with the Lord in this physical world, because once we have died, our spiritual state is unchangeable.
A few questions are often
asked about death:
Are the dead conscious? According to Luke 16:19ff (see also 1 Sam. 28:8-19) the dead do have consciousness, though what they know seems to be limited. There are religious groups who advocate “soul sleep” — complete lack of consciousness in death — based on their misunderstanding of Old Testament passages speaking from the point of view of humans who observe the inanimate (and therefore unconscious) bodies of the dead.
Do the dead know what’s going on in this world? Again, according to Luke 16:19ff and 1 Sam. 28:8-19, there seems to be little knowledge of what is happening in the physical world. Samuel had to ask why Saul had disturbed him.
Is it possible to talk to the dead? There is only one instance of such a thing happening in the Bible (1 Sam. 28:8ff), but it should be pointed out that the necromancer or spiritist (one who claims to be able to communicate with the dead) in this story is actually surprised at Samuel’s appearance. God forbids such a practice (Deut. 18:9-14) and insists that everyone who follows Him must seek their spiritual information from His prophets (the writers of the Bible).
What about those near death experiences you hear and read about? Although some of the descriptions I’ve read seem fairly credible, the actual experience of death isn’t described anywhere in the Scripture — our only sure guide to matters of the spirit — so when asked, we ought to simply say that we don’t know.
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Tee n N e w s
• There is a devotional at the Moser's on Friday, March 27th at 7pm. Girls bring snacks, guys bring drinks.
Yo u n g A d u l t s• Come join us for Bible class on Sunday
morning!
T h e M a n c h e s t e r c h u r c h o f C h r i s t
