The Jackson Drive Reporter - December 25, 2005

Welcome To The Jackson Drive Church Of Christ Website!

Audio Sermons Available Online

Schedule Of Services:

Sunday Morning:
Bible Study 9:00
Worship 10:00

Sunday Evening:
Worship 5:00

Wednesday Evening:
Bible Study 7:00

Jackson Drive's Address:

1110 Jackson Drive

Athens, Alabama 35611

(256) 232-1609

Preacher:

David Deason

Elders:

Malcolm Andrews

Owen Griggs

Billy Lovell

Deacons:

Tim Hamilton

Paul Loggins

Dwight Thompson

December 25, 2005

Two Ways To Keep Members Faithful

by: Bill Hall

There are two ways to keep members of the church "faithful." The first way is to be sure everyone is involved. Have a project for each member, and make sure that he feels important in his role. Praise him for the good job he is doing. Make him feel needed; make him feel that the well-being of the whole congregation rests firmly on his shoulders. That will keep him "faithful."

There are two problems with this method. In the first place, it encourages the creation of projects that are not remotely related to the work of the local church. One member plays on the church ball team; another member leads the Boy Scout troop; another is an active member of the "Dorcas Society"; another plans the program for the men's luncheon. Everybody is busy all right, but in activities that are not authorized in the New Testament.

In the second place, members are often given roles for which they are not qualified. A lady is chosen to teach a class not because she is qualified, but because she needs to be involved. A man is appointed a deacon to help him to be "faithful." Another man is appointed to serve the Lord's Supper for a month in order to encourage him to be present each Sunday that month. This method thus places "the cart before the horse," for no one should ever be assigned any work in the Lord's service who is not already faithful and qualified for the work to be done (II Timothy 2:2).

The second way to keep people faithful is to develop within them a genuine love for the Lord. When people love the Lord, they will be faithful, and it won't take some kind of "special" project to keep them faithful. They will also be involved: in worship, in study, in godly living,, in sharing the gospel with a friend, in helping the needy. I have known literally hundreds of Christians who have never in their lives been appointed to any special work, but whose love for the Lord alone keeps them faithful. There is no superficial faithfulness on the part of these; theirs is a faithfulness that is real.

Special responsibilities are fine for those who are qualified, but the man who requires some special duty to be faithful has never learned what true faithfulness is.

The entire disciples' prayer must be something that flows out of a truly committed heart. It ought to be a definition of your spirit, your attitude toward God, what is inside you. An unknown author put it this way:

	I cannot say "our" if I live only for myself.

	I cannot say "Father" if I do not endeavor each day to act like His child.

	I cannot say "who art in Heaven" if I am laying up no treasure there.

	I cannot say "hallowed be Thy name" if I am not striving for holiness.

	I cannot say "Thy kingdom come" if I am not doing all in my power to hasten that wonderful event.

	I cannot say "Thy will be done" if I am disobedient to His Word.

	I cannot say "in earth as it is in Heaven" if I'll not serve Him here and now.

	I cannot say "give us this day our daily bread" if I am dishonest or seeking things by subterfuge.

	I cannot say "forgive us our debts" if I harbor a grudge against anyone.

	I cannot say "lead us not into temptation" if I deliberately place myself in its path.

	I cannot say "deliver us from evil" if I do not put on the whole armor of God.

	I cannot say "Thine is the kingdom" if I do not give the King the loyalty due Him from a faithful subject.

	I cannot attribute to Him the power if I fear what men may do.

	I cannot ascribe to Him the glory if I am seeking honor only for myself, and I cannot say "forever" if the horizon of my life is bounded completely by time."

	--from Jesus" Pattern of Prayer by John MacArthur.

Those In Need Of Our Prayers...

At Home	In The Nursing Homes
Bennie Lovell	Rosella Pugh
Buford and Valerie Franklin	Marjorie Gray
Malcolm Andrews	Opal Johnson
Hiram Hutto	Doug Grubbs
Ules Reid
Betty Montgomery

“Where there are no good works, there is not faith. If works and love do not blossom forth, it is not genuine faith, the Gospel has not yet gained a foothold, and Christ is not yet rightly known.”

– Martin Luther

“Every new day begins with possibilities. It's up to us to fill it with the things that move us toward progress and peace.”

– Ronald Reagan

"Things like a man of action, act like a man of thought."

-Henri Bergson

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