Tinney Chapel Today

MORNING WORSHIP SERVICE, 9:00 A.M.:

Pastor: Rev. Duncan Graham

Greeter: Roger Schneider.

Sound: Bob Deitering.

Ushers: Gerry Privette & Roger Schneider.

Music:

Song leader: Angela Wylie.

Piano: Jean Anderson for Pat Hollingsworth.

HYMNS:

Send The Light, Fill My Cup Lord, Just A Closer Walk With Thee.

Call to Worship & Opening Prayer

Morning Prayer & Lord’s Prayer:

LITURGY

Offertory Prayer

Doxology

Gloria Patri

Apostles Creed

GIDEONS INTERNATIONAL MESSAGE:

Brother Albert N. Wheeler of Mineola delivered our annual message from The Gideons International. For background on that organization, click here

“It’s my pleasure to be here at Tinney Chapel this morning,” said Brother Wheeler, who explained that he is not a preacher, but would give a report about The Gideons. “We would like your prayers in three areas. First, that we collect the money necessary to buy the Bibles. Two, that we find the people who need these Bibles, and get the Bibles to them. Three, that we recruit good men to help us in this ministry.

“The most famous, of course, are the hotel and motel Bibles provided by The Gideons,” explained Brother Wheeler. “Here in Wood County we provide Bibles to the motels, and also quite a few to the Lake Fork fishing camps, which we also consider motels. Some of you might remember Dr. Reeves, who was a Gideon: He found a Bible up there that was all torn up, but he also noticed some writing in that Bible. It said something like: I came up here to this motel to kill myself, but found this Gideon Bible and I want to thank whoever put it there because it saved my life. So it does work.

“There was a man named Lowell Paxton, who owned the Home Shopping Network, a very successful person,” added Brother Wheeler. “He and his wife were about to have a 30^th wedding anniversary, and the kids were going to have a big to-do out in Las Vegas, and they got it all together. Just before it all came together, his wife told Lowell Paxton that she didn’t want to be married anymore. That took him by surprise, but he noted that since the festivities were already planned they should go through with all of it. Perhaps it would make them feel better.

“So, he went out there, and was gambling and carrying on, but eventually decided that all that sort of thing just wasn’t working for him,” added Brother Wheeler. “He got up in his room and there was a Gideon Bible. He opened it in the front, to the page that provides chapter and verse matched to topics, offering help with whatever problems or questions might be bothering readers at any given time. He started there, and stayed up all night and came to accept the Lord from that Gideon Bible.

“He went back home, sold the Home Shopping Network and started Pax TV, which has nothing but quality shows like “Seventh Heaven” and “Touched By An Angel and shows like that,” explained Brother Wheeler. “That came from a $5.00 donation for a Gideon Bible. We started passing out Bibles in 1908 at the Superior Hotel in Iron Mountain, Montana, and it took us nearly 30 years to pass out the first million Bibles. Today, we pass out over a million a week!

“Most of them are the small New Testaments with different colored binders: white to medical personnel and red to 5^th grade school children,” said Brother Wheeler. “We ask for your prayers that we will be able to continue this practice. We are very lucky that Wood County is one of the few counties in which The Gideons are allowed to do this. Most towns around here, especially bigger cities such as Longview, Tyler and Sulphur Springs will not let us in the schools to pass out these Bibles. So, keep it on your prayer list that we can continue to pass out Bibles in all six schools in Wood County.

“A powerful testimony came from one of the little school girls in West Virginia,” added Brother Wheeler. “She brought her Gideon Bible home and was reading it. Her dad, who was a miner, took it away from her and told her she didn’t need to read that, but should instead be studying, so she could get an education and get out of West Virginia. Next day the little girl retrieved the Bible from the garbage and was reading it again. Once more, the father took it away from her and threw it away. This continued for several days.

“Eventually, the father tore the pages of the Bible, but otherwise left it entirely intact,” added Brother Wheeler. “Once again, the little girl retrieved the Bible and taped all the torn pages together. When the father saw her reading the repaired Bible again, he relented and said, Sweetheart, if that Bible means that much to you, you can keep it. She hugged his neck and when she did she dropped the Bible in the bib of her father’s overalls.

“That day, there was a cave-in at the mine where her father was working,” said Brother Wheeler. “They found him four days later, with his daughter’s Bible clutched in his hand. On the Bible, he had written this message: Katie, I’ll see you in Heaven. And a $100 donation buys enough Bibles for any school here in Wood County.

“Most of the Testaments now that we deliver are overseas, in 182 countries and 80 different languages,” explained Brother Wheeler. “Of those 182 countries, only 9 are self-supporting. The U.S. provides 80% of the funding for the Gideon Association around the world, and it is churches like Tinney Chapel that provides that funding. We appreciate that, for past years and in the future.

“You also have an insert in your bulletin about our memorial Bible plan, by which you can give Bibles in memory or honor of someone,” said Brother Wheeler. “We also have a rack in the foyer today with cards you can fill out and mail with your donation to The Gideons anytime of the year that you want to participate in the memorial Bible plan. After today’s service, we will have a collection plate at both doors if you’d like to give to The Gideon ministry. Thank you so much.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:

(Pastor Duncan Graham is on vacation.)

Today’s service was conducted by Rev. Gene Miller, who immediately asked the children if they knew that today is a special day. Next, he asked them if they had ever flown a kite. They had. Then, Rev. Miller asked them what makes a kite stay in the air, and he was quickly rewarded with a correct answer: “Wind: That’s right,” he said. “We are celebrating a very special day today during which the wind was brought into play. That special day was Pentecost. And a violent wind came from Heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

“Then they saw tongues of fire come down and land on each one of them,” added Rev. Miller. “God was sending His Holy Spirit to those people who were assembled there on that day. And that’s what we pray for in this church: That the Holy Spirit will be with us each day to guide our lives, help us and see us through all kinds of trouble.

“You know, it’s a lot of fun to watch a kite fly in the air, and the wind keeps it up there,” said Rev. Miller. “You know, you can’t see the wind, can you? Blow on your hand. You can feel it, can’t you? You know the wind is there by the way it feels blowing against your face or the way it shakes the leaves on the trees.

“Today, we celebrate the Day of Pentecost, when God sent the Holy Spirit to those who were assembled there, and 3,000 people accepted Christ as their Savior,” added Rev. Miller. “So, what we need to think about, every day, is that the Holy Spirit guides our lives and pray that His fire be alive in us. So let us pray now.

“Father God, we thank you for sending Your Holy Spirit, even though we can’t see Him. We are thankful that we can hear Him speak to our hearts. Feel His Presence in our daily lives. And feel Him, like the wind, moving, that we may do His Will. Amen.”

ADULT SERMON:

“Our Scripture this morning is in two parts,” said Rev. Gene Miller, substituting for the vacationing Pastor, Rev. Duncan Graham. “The first is 1 Corinthians 12:1-13.” To view the New Living Translation of this first Scripture, click HERE

“The second Scripture is Galatians 6:7.” To view the New Living Translation of this second Scripture, click HERE

“Today is Pentecost Sunday,” began Rev. Miller. “Perhaps we would do well to remind ourselves of why it is so important to us as members of the church. The Jews had a long history of keeping Pentecost. Back in those days it was called the Festival of Weeks because it was a week of weeks: 7 weeks plus one day. Pentecost is 50 days. After the Sabbath of Passover.

“Historically, it had two purposes,” added Rev. Miller. “To celebrate the giving of the The Law to Moses on Mount Sinai, and to present the first fruits of the barley harvest before God. It came at the right time. The weather was as beautiful as it is today. Travel was pleasant. No one worked on Pentecost because it was a holiday. The streets of Jerusalem were crowded with more people than at Passover, many of them God-fearing internationals. There was a festive spirit in the air. It was a religious party time.

“But this Pentecost was different from all the others,” said Rev. Miller. “What happened on that day became a turning point of history and gave birth to the church. God used that Pentecost to bring new Power to the earth. Shortly before His Ascension into Heaven, Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Promised Gift: Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Ten days went by, and they were all in one place.

“Then the Miracle happened,” added Rev. Miller. “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from Heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each one of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as The Spirit enabled them, Acts 2:2-4. Everyone heard them in their own language. A few made fun of them, accusing them of being drunk.

“But, many others, who had also heard the sound of the fierce wind and seen the flaming tongues of fire were amazed, including the disciples,” explained Rev. Miller. “Remember, this mighty Miracle had come from God. Pentecost means the gift of new power for Christ’s disciples. It also means a new message. It came from The Father, Who was credentialed by The Spirit and focused on The Son.

“Peter led into his sermon by answering his accusers,” said Rev. Miller. “He said, these men are not drunk. Then he quoted King David’s prediction that The Messiah would come. Our faith has its roots in Old Testament history. Not a fly-by-night cult founded by some charismatic Johnny-Come-Lately. Christ is the core of Peter’s sermon. He accuses them, along with wicked men, of crucifying Jesus, whom God had accredited by Miracles, Wonders and Signs.

“They are guilty of murder, he said, but God raised Him from the dead because death could not hold Him,” explained Rev. Miller. “Further, God exalted Jesus’ own writhing hands in Glory and in Power. The message of Pentecost is that Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose on the third day and ascended to God. No one else can atone for our sins. Salvation is found in no one else. For there is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we may be saved. On that day, 3,000 were added to the number.

“Peter had made the good confession months before: You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” added Rev. Miller. “Jesus responded: On this Rock, I will build My Church. And the gates of Hades will not overcome it. That posture of Promise came true: The Church was born. Church is what happens to us when we are saved from our sins and are given the Gift of the Holy Spirit. We become a part of His Spiritual Family: The Household of God.

“Today, we remember our roots,” added Rev. Miller. “And we celebrate the Church’s birthday. If Christ died for the Church, then it must be important to Him that we be a part of it. Who is the Church? We are the Church. Not this building. Or the land. Or the new building. But you, the children of God. If there were no members here, this would not be Tinney Chapel Church. It would just be Tinney Chapel.

“Happy Birthday, Church,” declared Rev. Miller. “Christ promised to return to us. In the meantime, stand firm. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. For you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Unfortunately, many of us who have been baptized and received the Holy Spirit still have a way to go.

“We seem to be plagued by Lilliputian sins,” added Rev. Miller. “What are Lilliputian sins? Let’s go to the second portion of this message. Most of us remember Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. It’s more than a children’s story. That masterpiece was the most brilliant, as well as the most virulent, of Swift’s most biting satire. Divided into four parts, the account tells how its hero, Lemiel Gulliver, embarked on a series of travels to remote nations, only to be cast upon some strange land as a result of calamities such as a shipwreck.

“Book One takes him on his voyage to a place where he finds himself fettered to the ground by a horde of tiny Lilliputians, who viewed him as a man mountain. Swift was insisting that his fellow citizens needed to awaken from their slumber and realize they had been hamstrung by a multitude of minor threats, long ignored or dismissed as inconsequential: avarice, faction, hypocrisy, cruelty, rage, madness, hatred, lust, ambition. He called Great Britain, and her guide as a nation, immobilized by Lilliputian sins that had corrupted its future.

“Let us inquire where this strange tale remains today in our time as well,” suggested Rev. Miller. “With advances in micro technology, we know there is a host of tiny, invisible kingdoms that constitute our very foundation of physical reality. In this realm of the miniscule lies the invisible dust that gives color to a sunset. The pollens can activate our allergies. Also, in the domain of the unseen, lie a host of bacteria, the most dominant life form on earth. As Sue Hubbell put it in her writing, we humans are a minority of giants, hovering around in the world of little things.

“In Galatians 6:7, Paul stated with categorical finality a law of nature, that whatever you sow, that you will reap,” said Rev. Miller. “In other words, spiritual issues often begin as tiny as a seed. We usually depict evil in grandiose terms, such as a dragon with a pitchfork, horns and a tail. While we should more likely view it as microscopic spores in the soil of life. The very size of Lilliputian sins cause us to let down our guard, convinced there is nothing to worry about, precisely because we are dealing only with Gremlins that can easily be brushed aside.

“Seldom are we confronted with clear issues painted black or white,” said Rev. Miller. “More often, our decisions are compounded out of innumerable choices, each so small that it goes unnoticed. Rarely do we turn a corner or choose a fork in a road at one decisive moment. Many of us are told that we can easily conquer the little sins, whereas the big, mortal sins may be too much for us to handle. I suspect the opposite is nearer the truth: That we don’t go through a day without some sort of sin in our lives.

“Faced with monstrous evils, such as murder and rape, we are seldom tempted, and our choices are usually clear,” said Rev. Miller. “It’s when the Gremlin sins begin to infiltrate that we prove the most vulnerable. After all, no one will rebuke us or arrest us or cause us any problems if our sin seems to be insignificant. The significance of Lilliputian sins: We assume we can handle a mere handful of sins, particularly of the modest variety, just as we can handle a few drinks without getting drunk.

“Preachers tend to get accused of legalism when they warn of apparently trivial matters, trivial patterns of conduct,” added Rev. Miller. “Selection of the speed of that small beginning may have a significance all out of proportion to their size. From pastoral counseling lessons, we learn that the alcoholic never sets out to become a captive to the bottle. He only wants a sip of a social drink. A young unwed mother never intends to become a parent without a partner. She only barters a fleeting moment of ecstasy. The embezzler never seeks to bankrupt his company. He only borrows some needed funds he intends to repay fully as the company prospers.

“Sin never shows us the consequences of our compromise,” said Rev. Miller. “Questions to ask in building a life of integrity: What invisible influences are at work in the very air we breathe? How many influences are slowly, but surely, tying down your spirit? Don’t let Lilliputian sins keep you from finishing the journey of faith to which God has called you. Ask the Lord Jesus what daily decisions that you make will also be considered at the Day of Judgment.

“The most common sin for all of us is the sin of self: Placing our own private desires and goals above the Will of our Savior," added Rev. Miller. “Jesus made it very plain. We must die to self in order to obtain Eternal Life. Are you putting yourself first? Or, do you want to put Jesus Christ first? Not only in your personal life, but also in the life of the community, the community of God, the community of the Church, which you call home. I would urge each one of you on this day: Remember the Day of Pentecost. Remember the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Remember the opportunity that was offered the disciples.

“They received the Power that Jesus told them would be greater than Him,” concluded Rev. Miller. “Wouldn’t that be great? I’d ask you to celebrate today by coming to this chancel rail, kneeling, praying if you will, that the Holy Spirit, rushing wind, tongues of fire, come down on this congregation, on this community, on this nation, on God’s World, and ask God to forgive us of the miniscule sins that keep us from glorifying Him every minute of our daily lives. If you will, come now. To revival in your own life. To Pentecost in your own life. To the Holy Spirit as your guide.”

In his closing prayer, Rev. Miller called upon Almighty God: “We are so grateful for Your Spirit guiding us. For the Presence of the Spirit on this day in this congregation. Send forth that Spirit as we go through this day. Let us feel Its Presence. Let us feel Your Presence in our lives. And let Your Pentecost Spirit start today with this community, with this church, with the whole world. We ask Your forgiveness, Your blessing, and we will be careful to give you all the Glory. Amen.”

CLASSES TODAY:

SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS TOPICS:

WISE ONES, Frankie Brewer: From Slave To Heir.

LADIES BYKOTA CLASS, Peggy Boyd: The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

TINNEY CHAPEL MEN, Bill Knoop: Faith for Earth's Final Hour, by Hal Lindsey.

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

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

CHILDREN, Linda Hallman: Pentecost.

REMNANT, Joe Dan Boyd: Becoming The Best You Can Be: Proverbs 8.

The Remnant Righteousness handout is below:

REMNANT RIGHTEOUSNESS

Life lessons # 267 from studying Proverbs 8 and related Scripture:

1. John Wesley suggests that Chapter 8 may be understood as the Wisdom of Christ, considered partly in His personal capacity, and partly in relation to His ministry of imparting the Mind and Will of God to mankind.

2. John Gill suggests that a primary lesson of Chapter 8 is the same as that in Isaiah 30:21: Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

3. Eugene Peterson’s Message Translation seems to analogize Chapter 8 to a lesson from Peanuts: Listen, you idiots—learn good sense! You blockheads---shape up!

4. Without question, Chapter 8 does emphasize living an exemplary, disciplined life, and striving, with Truth-ready minds and hearts, to be the best that we can be.

5. In addition to a personified Lady Wisdom, we learn in Chapter 8 the advantages of a companion named Prudence, which might best be regarded as a God-given ability to discern Wisdom’s most practical lessons.

6. Chapter 8 tells us, in no uncertain terms, that those who seek God find Him, particularly those who seek Him early in their Walk with the Lord.

7. Commentator McGee finds this message in Chapter 8: God promises us Wisdom if we meet the conditions: A diligent study and love of the Word of God, begun as early as possible.

8. Seekers will inherit substance, says Proverbs 8:21, or that which is, denoting the reality of God’s promise, says commentator Gill.

TODAY’S DATE: 05-15-05

THE REMNANT

SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS

TINNEY CHAPEL UMC

WINNSBORO, TEXAS

ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT SUNDAY: 05-22-05

READ PROVERBS 9

AFTERWARDS, REFLECT UPON THESE THINGS:

1. The 7 pillars in the school of wisdom.

2. Going in the way of understanding.

3. Rebuke a wise man & he will love thee.

4. Thou shalt be wise for thyself.

5. The school of the foolish woman.

BIBLE READINGS TODAY:

Readings for Pentecost: Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13; John 20:19-23 or John 7:37-39.