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Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,
Do you ever wonder why our heavenly Father doesn’t answer some of our prayers more quickly, and in the way that we hope and expect? Do you ever contemplate why our lives are so often fraught with difficulties, and why many times there is one challenge heaped upon another with little time to breathe in between? Why can’t our lives as believers in Christ be easier? Why all the struggles? Why the perpetual adversities? What good do they accomplish? How is our Lord glorified, and how are we benefited in and by our many problems?
And then, we could ask ourselves about temptation and sin. Why doesn’t the Lord at once remove all of our spiritual enemies and those things that tempt us so powerfully? Why don’t we have a quicker victory over those pesky sins that seem to hunt us?
To be sure, these are good and appropriate questions that each of us have wrestled with. And the good news is that they are answered for us in the Word of God. One place where the solution becomes visible is the Book of Judges. In the opening chapters of this Old Covenant story of the nation of Israel, we find some answers to these troubling questions. For example, consider Judges 2:20-3:2. In this section of the book’s introduction we discover something that will help us to understand the divine purpose for our trials and temptations. 2:22 speaks of the Lord’s desire to “test” His people. And then 3:2 describes the Lord’s intention to “teach war” to His people.
Testing us and teaching us to fight! This is what the Lord is doing in all of our experiences, particularly the ones that are the most difficult, troubling, and even tempting! In a most unexpected way, it is in the Lord’s ‘school of affliction and combat’ that we find the most wonderful blessings of all!
On Sunday, we will consider these things from the Book of Judges, especially 2:11-3:6. I hope you will have some time to read these inspired words, mediate upon them, and pray that the Lord will bless us as we come together to hear them proclaimed.
Speaking of warfare, before I go let me encourage our Men and Young Men to take advantage of our Fall Bible Study that is now underway. We had a wonderful beginning last week as we took up the subject of moral purity. With our Bibles open before us, we are specifically tackling the issue of pornography. Our desire is to arm ourselves against this deadly enemy, and to better equip our men and young men to fight for sexual integrity, all for the glory of our Lord’s Name. It is not too late for you to join us! We will meet for the next three Sunday afternoons from 2:30 to 4:00 PM at the Church. We would love for you to enter into the fight with us!
I love you all with all my heart!
Upcoming Events:
September 17, 2:30 PM – Men’s Fall Study
September 17, 4:30 PM – Youth Group
September 19, 6 PM – Women’s Evening Study
September 20, 9 AM – Women’s Morning Study
September 20, 12:00 PM – Senior Fellows visit to Lincoln Village
September 20, 6:00 PM – Diaconate meeting
September 21, 6 AM– Men’s Morning Bible Study
September 24, 4:00 PM – Children’s Choir
Order of Worship:
You can access this week’s Order of Worship by clicking here
The songs for this week are:
How Deep the Father’s Love For Us
Fairest Lord Jesus
To Thee I Come
Come Thou Fount
Announcements:
Meals for Joyce Bosley: Hello Church Family! Joyce Bosley is at home now recovering from being treated for pneumonia. A meal schedule has been set up for her and if you would like to provide a meal for sweet Joyce click on the link below. Please contact her neighbor to coordinate meal drop off. Her name is Cindy Richardson and her number is 334-467-7159. Thanks so much!
www.TakeThemAMeal.com/FCSN8843
Erica McNeese
256-468-6951
Fhornist1@gmail.com
Help Needed: Volunteers are needed to give an elderly church member a ride to and from church. Her apartment is near the intersection of South Parkway and Martin Road. Volunteers would need to pick her up around 8:40. If you would be interested in volunteering please sign up in the Narthex or on the church website. For more information, please see Norman Dean or Judi Fikes. You may sign up by clicking on the following link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090444a9a92ca7ff2-volunteers
Men’s Bible Study: The Fall Men’s Bible study continues Sunday at 2:30 PM at the church. The subject is maintaining purity. All men are encouraged to participate, and please invite guests.
Senior Fellows: On Wednesday, September 20 the Senior Fellows will visit Lincoln Village Ministries located in a former textile mill area of Huntsville. This community helps project was started by Southwood PCA Church in the early 2000s. We will meet at 12:00 PM, in the Conference Room of Lincoln Academy, 1110 Meridian Street, Huntsville. Carpools will leave the Church at 11:15 AM. More information on Lincoln Village Ministries can be found at www.lincolnvillageministry.com. We will have a late lunch following the visit.
Women’s Ministry Survey: Please take a moment to fill out a short survey that the Women’s Committee has created in order to better serve you. This is especially important for us to know if any of you would like to host, lead, or co-lead our various events. We are looking for those willing to serve in our ministry and for new ideas!
Email Sarah Burgess with any questions at scburgg@yahoo.com
Plug in by contacting any of our leaders as shown on the Christ Pres Ministry Webpage (Women, Flower Guild, Healing Hearts).
Church Work Day: We will have a Church Workday Saturday, October 28, starting at 8 AM. The purpose is to perform needed maintenance including landscaping and cleaning at the Church and Church House. In doing this we will have a great time of fellowship. We need the help of about 20 -25 adults and teens to help with this job. We also need tools. Please sign up to help and to bring designated tools in the narthex starting Sun, Oct 1. We will provide a light breakfast (coffee and donuts) and snack food. We plan to finish around noon. If the weather is bad, our backup day will be Saturday, November 4.
Prayer Requests:
Healing: Please pray for the health of the following individuals: Chris Smotherman, Elizabeth Holton, Janet Chou, Ramona Edwards, Nolan Osmer, Frances McQuay, George Boyd, John Baxter, Joyce Bosley, and Sondra Behmer
Expecting: Please pray for the Bryant family, expecting in December, and the Staffords, expecting in April.
Ministries: Please pray for the following missionaries and ministries: Seth and Jessica Lewis (Ireland); Steve and Rita Williams (New Zealand); Vinnie and Molly Athey (RUF at UAH); RUF at Alabama A&M; Ken and Angie Burnett (FCA); Franky Garcia (seminary student).