Tinney Chapel Today

Pastor: Rev. Duncan Graham

MORNING SERVICE, 9:00 A.M.

Greeters: Clay Spears & Roger Schneider

Sound:

Ushers: Roger Schneider & Clay Spears

MUSIC

Pianist: Pat Hollingsworth.

Songleader for hymns: Pastor, Rev. Duncan Graham

Songs: Standing On The Promises; Take Time To Be Holy; Sanctuary; Leaning On The Everlasting Arms.

SPECIAL MUSIC

Praise Be The Name Of Jesus/Glorious Is Thy Name by the Tinney Chapel UMC Choir.

Today’s choir singers, included Pat Hollingsworth, director; Clay Spears, Stacey Stanley, Randy Stanley, Derrell Hollingsworth, George Jordan, Linda Hallman, Emmaline Hallman, Bobbie Hollingsworth and Sadie Jordan.

Call to Worship & Opening Prayer

Morning Prayer & Lord’s Prayer:

LITURGY

Offertory Prayer

Doxology

Gloria Patri

Apostles Creed

CHILDREN’S SERMON TODAY:

Pastor Duncan Graham began the children’s sermon with a reference to some directions that Jesus offers in the 14^th Chapter of John’s Gospel: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know." Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

“No one comes to the Father except through Me: That was a strong, bold statement that Jesus made,” declared Pastor Graham. “In your lives today, many will try to point life’s way to you, and some of their directions may look like fun, but may not be The Way that Jesus proclaimed, and if it is not the Way of Jesus, their directions can destroy your life. All of us have probably, at some point, had some experience on a wrong path, and some of us have perhaps walked a wrong path, at least for a while. Jesus says: Follow Me, I am the only Way of Truth, the only Way to Eternal Life.

“Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Life, and when we remember that, we will ultimately get the Final Reward,” added the Pastor. “We all want to get to heaven, don’t we? When compared with hell, who wouldn’t choose heaven? We know the Way to get there is to follow Jesus.”

In his closing prayer, Pastor Graham called on our Gracious Lord to keep His Hand firmly on the children, to bless and help them, so that they may stay firmly in the Way of Jesus, to rejoice in the Life that He has planned for them. “For all this we give thanks in Jesus Name. Amen.”

ADULT SERMON TODAY:

Rev. Duncan Graham’s sermon title, “Transformation,” was based on John 3:1-15. To view the King James Translation of today’s Scripture Lesson, click HERE

“Today’s Scripture and sermon takes us back to some of the basics of our faith: What it’s all about,” declared Pastor Duncan Graham. We never know: Some may have not heard it, or perhaps it did not register.

“Nicodemus was probably a member of the Sanhedrin, and he was certainly a Pharisee,” explained the Pastor. “He was a man who was recognized as one of the elite religious leaders of Judaism. He was well-respected. He was someone that others listened to. He likely did some teaching, and would have been very familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures, which was all they had at that time, from Genesis to Malachi. He would have been very familiar with the Law as given to Moses, then interpreted and re-interpreted by the Jewish rabbis. Nicodemus was a pillar of the temple and the synagogue. He would likely have commanded attention, in much the same manner as suggested by the old brokerage advertisements for E. F. Hutton: When he spoke, people listened!

“So, it’s important to recognize that a man of that stature came to Jesus,” reminded Pastor Graham. “He came to discuss, to dialog, to find out what the doctrine meant, for enlightenment. And, he came by night, a fact that has caused some to suggest that he did so in order that others of his stature might not know about his visit with Jesus. But that is probably not true. It would not have been unusual for a man of his stature to be in a discussion with Jesus, and both Nicodemus and Jesus were probably busy during the day.

“Jesus had already performed miracles and drawn crowds, so the nighttime visit could have been to assure a private audience, and to allow them more time to discuss ideas,” added the Pastor. “We must applaud his coming at all to Jesus, and it was also very important for him to come when he could have the full attention of Jesus. Yet, he comes in a seemingly meek and humble manner to find out what Jesus has to say and what He has to offer. For instance, Nicodemus says: ‘Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him’. So, we find here that Nicodemus recognizes the God-given authority of Jesus.

“This was a bold, telling statement for Nicodemus to make, because so much of what Jesus taught, although it represented completion of the Old Testament, made it seem to many that He did not fit the mould,” said Pastor Graham. “By His works, Jesus answered the Old Testament. Nicodemus recognized something about this Man, Jesus, that told him He needed to be heard.

“The problem with the Pharisees of that day was that they thought they knew all the answers,” added the Pastor. “This reminds me of a poster I once gave someone. The poster pictured an ape with the caption: ‘Just when I think I have all the answers, you change the questions.’ Well, that’s life! That’s the way it was for Nicodemus when faced with Jesus Christ. He was a well-trained scholar, but then he encountered Jesus, who told him: ‘Nicodemus, every person has to be transformed!’

“If you want to experience the Kingdom of Heaven, you have to be born again: transformed,” added Pastor Graham. “Nicodemus did not quite grasp the meaning of what Jesus told him, but it was not because the term, born again, was unfamiliar. That was definitely not a new concept to the Jews, who believed that every proselyte to Judaism was born again. But that the concept applied to a Jew? To Nicodemus, that would have been kind of like saying the same thing today to a good Methodist, who has been in church all his life, perhaps with perfect attendance, regular offerings and at least one turn at all the offices of the church.

“That’s a good way for us to imagine what Nicodemus was going through in this conversation with Jesus,’ said the Pastor. “I have to be born again? Any good Baptist, Methodist, Catholic or whatever, might respond in like manner: Yes? Well that offends me. Yet, isn’t it interesting that Nicodemus registers no offense! Instead, he wants to know more! He wants to know what it means to him. Jesus says it’s just like it is for the proselytes: A step for all, even the Jews have to be born again!

“Today, we might say that even church members must be born again,” added the Pastor. “The temple will not save us. The synagogue will not save us. Church membership will not save us. Only Life in Christ will save us. Jesus talked of being born of water and the Spirit. I truly believe that one may accept Jesus as Savior and, when baptism is not possible for one reason or another, be saved without being baptized. But, for most, I think that something works in conjunction with water baptism that we don’t fully understand. It’s a working of the grace and mercy of God that goes on in our lives. I say you need to experience that.

“Several years ago, a man was expected to die in the hospital, and I went to see him there at someone’s request,” recalled Pastor Graham. “I prayed with him, and when he accepted Jesus, since I had taken my water with me to the hospital, I baptized him there. Now, I had rather have dunked him in a bathtub! I know that Scripture tells of being sprinkled with water, but we understand immersion as representing our own burial and resurrection with Jesus. When Jesus speaks of being born of the Spirit and water, he is referring to water baptism.

“In other Scripture, we read of baptism by Spirit and fire,” added the Pastor. “We are not a new being until a new Spirit indwells and transforms us as nothing else does. It’s the Spirit that assures us we are the Children of God. Yet, we may be able to picture a man who has done it all, and appears to be a model of a man of God, yet is lacking in the transformation experience, which is what makes us a new creature, a new person, leads us into righteousness, leads us into Truth, leads us into God’s Mercy, leads us into the Kingdom of Heaven.

“You must be born again,” emphasized Pastor Graham. “One of the greatest difficulties in the organized church, regardless of the denomination, is the great problem, time and again, of people who grew up in the church and think they have been born again because of that. But, you are not born again until you are broken-hearted over your sins, accept Jesus without reservation, turn your life over to Him, and allow Him to do His Will, and not your own, in your life, which you agree to live His Way rather than your own.

“I’ve said this here before, but you can’t get into the Kingdom of Heaven by anyone’s coat tails, not the coat tails of your parents or grandparents,” added the Pastor. “Not until you have been touched by Him personally, made your confession and received the indwelling Spirit of God, of Jesus, you are not born again! You can go to church 100 years, but until that happens you have missed the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. This is what it’s all about in the church. That message accepted from a Savior who longs to save souls, regardless of who or what we are. He is always the Way, the Truth, the Life, and we must be born again!”

In his closing prayer, the Pastor called on Our Gracious Heavenly Father that His Word burn deep in our hearts and flow richly out of our mouths, that others feel His Being in their hearts: “We know You desire that every person be called to serve You, and we pray that we see Salvation come to many, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, for it’s in His Name we ask it. Amen."

CLASSES TODAY:

SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS TOPICS:

WISE ONES, Frankie Brewer: Living In Harmony.

LADIES BYKOTA CLASS, Peggy Boyd: Heeding The Word of The Lord.

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, Ronny Ellison: Life Lessons from 1 & 2 Peter, a study by Max Lucado.

CHILDREN, Linda Hallman: You will Be My Witnesses.

REMNANT, Joe Dan Boyd: Proverbs 6: Seven things the Lord hates!

The Remnant handout is below:

REMNANT RIGHTEOUSNESS

Life Lessons # 264 from studying Proverbs 6 and related Scripture:

1. Be wary of signing a friend’s note, and don’t ever become a partner with a stranger.

2. Hold fast to your friends and steer clear of your enemies.

3. Avoid laziness, and use spare time wisely, especially to study the Word of God.

4. The self-presentation of a Christian should be straightforward and unambiguous: sincere, gentlemanly, respectful, holy and honorable. God is not mocked.

5. Men of good will may disagree and reason together without fostering strife.

6. “God is love but He hates evil,” says commentator Vernon McGee, who says all of us should hate the 7 things that God hates. “God is love, but by the same token, God is hate, and Scripture adequately states the case.”

7. God hates a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that hatches evil plots, feet that race down a wicked track, a mouth that lies under oath and a troublemaker in the family.

8. “The heart blazes the trail that the feet will follow,” paraphrases commentator McGee.

9. “We should try putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes more often,” advises the Proverbial Woman online commentary.

10. We should show equal respect for the teachings of our mothers and our fathers.

11. “Satan is crafty; he likes to lure us through the weakness of our flesh into the lusts of the eye or the pride of life, and lead us into an occasion for sin,” paraphrases the Gospel Chapel website commentary.

TODAY’S DATE: 04-24-05

The Remnant

Sunday School Class

Tinney Chapel UMC

Winnsboro, Texas

ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT SUNDAY: 05-01-05

FIRST SUNDAY HEALTHY CHURCHES LESSON:

Characteristic # 1, God’s Empowering Presence (from Chapter 2 of Stephen A. Macchia’s Becoming A Healthy Church)

The healthy church actively

seeks the Holy Spirit’s direction

and empowerment for its daily

life and ministry.

In seeking to understand and implement God’s will,

the church:

• articulates a clear understanding of who God is

• teaches the whole counsel of God, and relates it

to the contemporary Christian church

• emphasizes a supernatural-reliance instead of a

self-reliance

• creates enthusiasm about being a part of the

Kingdom of God

• prays for God’s initiative and anticipates that

God will act

• encourages its leaders to be change-agents

under God’s guidance

• desires the fruit of the Spirit for all its members

• seeks the gifts of the Spirit within the Body

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we

are God’s children.

---Romans 8:16

BIBLE READINGS TODAY:

Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter: Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14.