Tinney Chapel Today

GEORGE JORDAN & HIS VENTURA GUITAR.

Today's Special Music was by Tinney Chapel's own long, lanky, laconic troubadour, George Jordan, who has written countless songs over the years. Today's effort was titled, He Came, a seasonal song about the real Reason For The Christmas Season. How blessed we are to have a man of such rare multiple talents in the congregation of our quintessential country church! Thanks, George. Photo by Angela Wylie.


ANOTHER ADVENT EVENT BY JENNA AT TINNEY CHAPEL UMC

By now, we all know that the Advent Season is pretty special to Jenna Nelson, who has facilitated several workshops with that theme.

Recently, Jenna displayed some of her own traditional family Advent crafts, including one with truly special thumbprints and handprints, made, we assume, by a much younger Allison Nelson.

“This item comes out of the box and goes onto the wall every year at our home,” declares Jenna. “It’s based on the Biblical concept of: Before you were born, I called you by name.”

You pretty much have to see Jenna’s craft item to appreciate it fully, and you can do that on Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 7:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall, when Jenna does her Advent Event with this year’s slogan: “Wall Decorations To Welcome Christ.”

Remember: This Season’s Advent Event is Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 7:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. Be there!

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In One Accord

Opinion by Arnold Post

When we are worshiping our Lord, we as a group should be in one accord, praising God: Our hearts and minds focusing on our Lord and how good He is, how much He has given, and is giving, or making available to us.

It is our choice whether we receive what God offers. He says: I set before you Life and death. Choose Life!

It should be easy for us when in worship to be of one accord.

But, when we are not in worship, then division comes. The most common point of division comes from different opinions in business, or what is believed best for the church.

Pride enters in, and we hold our opinion above the opinion of others. We are right, and they are wrong. We know what’s best.

Pride!

Along with the demon spirit of pride comes many other demon spirits: envy, strife, jealousy, division, heresies, mumbling, groaning and so on.

These things are not pleasing to our Lord. They quench the Holy Spirit, and therefore, we are led by the flesh instead of the Spirit. When we quench the Spirit, it cannot operate within us nearly as well.

If this spirit of pride enters our worship, then our sacrifice of praise is stained.

If our sacrifice of praise and worship is stained, then the Light we are supposed to be as a church is dimmed.

May we let our Light be bright: May we be in one accord, lacking nothing!

Amen.

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CLASSES TODAY:

SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS TOPICS:

WISE ONES, Frankie Brewer: The Call To Follow God.

LADIES BYKOTA, Peggy Boyd: Relating To Others.

TINNEY CHAPEL MEN, Bill Knoop: The Case For Christ, a study by Lee Strobel.

OVERCOMERS: Jenna Nelson: The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

YOUTH: Stephen Graham: Purpose.

CHILDREN: Linda Hallman: Angels.

THE REMNANT CLASS, Joe Dan Boyd: God’s First Remnant 6: Noah Builds An Altar To The Lord.

The Remnant Class handout is below:

REMNANT RIGHTEOUSNESS (Life Lessons # 246)

Take home lessons from studying Genesis 8 and related Scripture:

1. If the theological heart of the flood account is found in the phrase “God remembered Noah,” it is clear that for God to “remember” is to act in deliverance, concludes Richard Davidson in the Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology.

2. Thus, the apex of flood theology is not punitive judgment, but rather divine salvific grace, further concludes Davidson, who points to parallels between the Bible’s accounts of Noah’s salvation and Israel’s Exodus deliverance (Exodus 6:5).

3. God’s “remembering” Noah was the return of God’s mercy to mankind, suggests John Wesley, founder of Methodism.

4. When God made a wind to pass over the earth and cause the floodwaters to go down, the Targums call it a wind of mercies or a wind of comforts.

5. The dove sent out from the ark by Noah is regarded by some as an emblem of the Gospel tidings of peace, pardon and righteousness, while Noah’s act of bringing the dove back into the ark is viewed by some as representing Christ’s reception of true believers.

TODAY’S DATE: 12-05-04

Tinney Chapel UMC
The Remnant
Sunday School Class
Winnsboro, Texas

ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT SUNDAY: 12-12-04

READ GENESIS 9:1-17

Afterwards, reflect upon these things:

1. Be fruitful and increase.
2. Post flood diets.
3. Post flood justice.
4. The Covenant with Noah.
5. The sign of the Covenant with Noah.
6. Rainbows follow the rain.

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SUNDAY WORSHIP TODAY:

MORNING SERVICE, 9:00 A.M.

Greeters: L. R. Kemp and Roger Schneider.
Soundman: Bob Deitering
Ushers: Roger Schneider & L. R. Kemp.

MUSIC

Pianist: Pat Hollingsworth.
Songleader for hymns: John Futral.

Songs: Go Tell It On The Mountain; There’s A Song In The Air; O Little Town Of Bethlehem; Sweet Sweet Spirit.

SPECIAL ORIGINAL MUSIC BY GEORGE JORDAN and his Ventura guitar:

“He Came”

See separate item and photo on today’s Special Music feature at top of this page.

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Morning Prayer & Lord’s Prayer: Pastor Duncan Graham

LITURGY BY ASSOCIATE PASTOR GENE MILLER:
Call To Worship
Offertory Prayer
Doxology
Gloria Patri
Apostles Creed

LIGHTING OF THE SECOND ADVENT CANDLE: PEACE.

David and Mollie Stanton brought light to the Second Candle of Advent today. They presented devotional readings associated with the promise of Peace on Earth and read from Psalm 72.

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CHILDREN’S SERMON TODAY:

Senior Pastor Duncan Graham’s topic today was the Second Sunday of Advent: “What candle did I give you last week?” asked the Pastor. “It was Hope, and today’s Advent Candle is Peace. One significant thing about Advent is the Star. How many of you remember the rhyme: Star light, star bright. First star I’ve seen tonight. I wish I may. I wish I might. Have the wish I wish tonight. None of you? Well, perhaps it’s an older folks thing. My brother and I used to recite that rhyme upon seeing a star in the sky after milking the cows.

“But there was another star of hope and peace when Jesus was born,” explained Pastor Graham. “It actually led the Wise Men to the place where Jesus was born, and there is real significance to that. I’m passing out something to each of you. Among other things, this handout features a crossword puzzle about the birth of Jesus. There’s also a Word Jumble game.

“When you think of Christmas, think of the star which told of one of the most significant events in the history of the world: The birth of Jesus. The only thing more significant than that was the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus!”

In his closing prayer, the Pastor said: “Gracious Lord, always keep the light of that Star in our hearts during all of our lives, as children and as adults. Help us remember that He is the reason for the season. Christmas is not about Santa Claus or gifts, but rather the center of Christmas is our hope of salvation in Jesus, our King. In His Name, we pray. Amen.”

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TODAY’S ADULT SERMON:

Senior Pastor Rev. Duncan Graham’s sermon title was “Article 3 of the Apostles’ Creed: I Believe, Part 2” based in part on Matthew 16:15-19:

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15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

---King James Version

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Pastor Graham began his sermon today by indicating that it would be a follow up to last week: “Our focus will be on ‘I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins’ from the Apostles’ Creed,” he explained. “In this case, the phrase has nothing to do with the Roman Catholic Church. Rather, here the word catholic means universal, as in a church universal in nature and composed of all believers in Jesus Christ who have accepted Him as Lord.

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“In today’s Scripture Lesson, Jesus tells Peter that He will build His church on this rock,” said Pastor Graham, who described the Lord’s church as having no denominational perimeters. The church is greater than Methodism. The church transcends being Baptist. The church is bigger than Presbyterianism. The church is beyond the Pentecostal movement. The church includes all Roman Catholic churches. The church is universal in scope. The church is composed of people of all denominations who are true believers and committed to following Christ.

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“When we recite the Apostles’ Creed, we are saying we have a faith in Jesus Christ, Who will return to claim those who have believed in Him, regardless of their labels, which do not matter to Him,” added the Pastor. “Denominational labels are like grocery story labels: You know that some products will cost you more because of the label, but you also know the product is no better than those with other labels. In the church, it’s not the label; it’s the faith that matters.

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“The universal church is a holy church, but that does not mean it is pure,” said Pastor Graham. “Holy means set apart for the service of the Lord in the world in which we live. It does not mean we have all arrived. I used to say I’d like to serve the perfect church, but I am imperfect. You would have the same problem: There is no such church in existence. But, the church is to do the service of the Lord. It is to look to itself, and strive to get in position to do those things.

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“We can glean some of those things from Scripture,” added the Pastor. “To be a Holy catholic church means we are here to do God’s Will, and not to exclude others. We are a part of the Body of Christ. The differences may include things like a distinctive governing body in our church, a distinctive worship service or a distinctive building design. But these are mere trappings that were not a part of the early church, and man has added them to the church. The great seeds for organization came later, especially in the Second Century, when groups began to split off and form denominations. It was a struggle in an attempt to recognize the approval of God, but these things were not the Will of God.

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“The Will of God is to love, to serve and do the works of God in the world,” added Pastor Graham. “To say this, means we say that others are no less children of God than are we. We found our unity, our commonality in the Lordship of Jesus Christ and not in wearing the ‘right’ labels. That is, in the communion of saints: When we say that, we celebrate the Eucharist, the shed blood of Christ and the need to remember while joined by a host of people: past and present from all over the world.

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“Those who accept the sacrifice gather for Holy Communion, where the emphasis is on the fellowship with believers all over the world: past, present and future,” declared Pastor Graham. “Maybe some have become believers because of our testimony, but I think of a Scripture from Ephesians 4:2-7:

2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

---King James Translation

“All who accept that Scripture are in communion with one another,” declared the Pastor. “Jesus said that where two or more of you are gathered, I am there also. So, communion extends even to Jesus. Recently, many of us met a Christian from Russia, and enjoyed fellowship with him through our common faith and belief. We can have the fellowship with those who live far away and who lived a long time ago. We receive their testimony that has been handed down. It is the communion of saints with the word saints meaning believers. Look now at your neighbor and say: You look wonderful! There, did you feel a sense of communion doing that? I think so! We should do it more.

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“When we realize that communion extends to generations past and future, we get a sense of the universality of our existence: That we, through Jesus, belong to the ages and have a more far-reaching effect than we otherwise realize. For instance, where would you be today without the testimony of family or teachers from your past and the Apostles of long ago who were willing to die for the faith? I’ll answer that: You’d be the same place I’d be: Lost! So, it’s important that we participate in the communion of saints, past and present.

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“Who was it, John Donne, who said that no man is an island. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee,” the Pastor asked, rhetorically. “Our existence has far more possibilities than we have thought. The way we relate to others has a far greater impact on their lives than we realize. We are a blessed and privileged people because He has called us. Around Tinney Chapel, we talk a lot about saints and sinners, but we are all saints, even though we all sin at times. As believers, it no longer sends us to hell. We are holy, set apart. I am a saint. In Scripture, saints are believers, not supercharged types. You and I are no longer sinners, but we are the saints of God.

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“I don’t even want to confess that I’m a sinner because of what Jesus Christ has done,” added the Pastor. “As I have often said to others: I know Jesus and I know you, so I’m on the winning team. I know who the winner is. I know who has the power. You and I are just privileged to be on the team: Invited. We are wanted to be on this team: All we had to do was say, Yes! It’s part of the communion of saints; not the communion of sinners, but believers united in the forgiveness of sins. We are so blessed that we have all our sins forgiven. It is not deserved, but we are forgiven. Those sins had us dead and buried in guilt before we were forgiven.

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“Jesus Christ would have died to save only one of us had that been necessary,” added Pastor Graham. “We have to realize that we are not worthy of blessings, but turn to Him and accept the forgiveness he so freely offers. Repent, say I’m sorry, turn and walk in a new way with Him. And when we do that, we can say: I believe in the forgiveness of sins. Love is all about caring for sinners. Godly love is all about caring for sinners. If you have to wait until I am perfect to love me, then you will never love me or your spouse or anyone in your family. Aren’t you glad we have a God who has not waited for us to be perfect to love us. Remember when we were still in the muck and mire of our sins, and He put us on a solid highway, cleansed us and called us His children! I believe in that kind of love which we recite in the Apostles’ Creed.”

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In his closing prayer, Pastor Graham said, “Oh, gracious Heavenly Father, out of Your wisdom, mercy and grace, you have let us be Your children and sent the Perfect Sacrifice. Because of You, it has happened, and Lord, we thank You for it. Help us to walk in joy, victory, communion and faith as You bring out all the possibilities in others and in ourselves. In Jesus’ holy Name we pray. Amen.”

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