Tinney Chapel Today

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Revelation Bible Study Returns To Tinney Chapel
After an absence of seven years

Our church's new Wednesday evening Bible Study text is Revelation And The End Times, subtitled "Unraveling God's Message Of Hope," by Ben Witherington III.

According to notes on the back cover of the book, author Ben Witherington III has sold close to a half million books, and is the Amos Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.

A summary of this 112-page book also appears on the back cover and says, in part:

"The Bible contains passages of great beauty and comfort and some that may strike you as bizarre, bewildering, or even frightening. The book of Revelation is filled with this rich and perplexing symbolism, yet its message is one of hope for all Christians...Ben Witherington will guide you into a deeper understanding of the truths found within Revelation's often mysterious text, so that you can feel more secure in your faith."

This book, published by Abingdon Press, Nashville, (c) 2010, is expected to require at least five weeks to complete. Table of contents include:

FOREWORD
1. THE CHARACTER OF BIBLICAL PROPHECY

A. The Nature of Prophecy
B. The Nature of the Apocalyptic
C. And So?

2. THE RETURN OF THE KING

A. A Royal Visitation and a Royal Welcome
B. Timing is Not Everything
C. Snapshot---What Happens When Christ Returns
D. And So?

3. THE OTHER WORLD--HEAVEN AND HELL

A. Jesus on Heaven and Hell
B. Paul on Heaven and Hell
C. Satan and His Minions
D. Revelation--The Book of Martyrs
E. And So?

4. RAISING THE DEAD

A. Resurrection Is Not Reincarnation, Going to Heaven, or Immortality of the Soul
B. Jesus on the Resurrection
C. Paul's Views on Resurrection
D. And So?

5. THE AFTERLIFE--THE RAPTURE, THE MILLENNIUM, AND THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH

A. The Origin of the Specious--The Rapture Notion
B. The Book of Daniel as Background
C. Paul on the Afterlife
D. The Millennium
E. The New Heaven and the New Earth
F. Multivalent Symbols
G. The Gematria Game and How Numbers Count
H. And So?

NOTES

You can still join this class even though Lesson One was completed today, Wednesday, January 25. Students will read a chapter of the book each week, and the class format is a short video followed by group discussion, facilitated by questions and guidance from Rev. Sue Gross, Pastor of Tinney Chapel UMC.

FYI: Tinney Chapel UMC also conducted a 22-week study of the book of Revelation during 2004-2005, facilitated by David Stanton and Joe Dan Boyd, based on the massive, 1,000-page work, Revelation Today, by Claude W. Gifford. Each of those classes ran for 90 minutes.

Click on any image above to view it in larger format and/or click on the arrow below to view Pastor Sue Gross' sermon.



Tinney Chapel Congregants Remember Their Baptisms Today

On this "Baptism of the Lord" Day, Pastor Sue Gross provided sparkling seashells in a bowl of Jordan River water, from which all dipped a finger and took a seashell to remember the Day of their original baptisms.

Hymns for this occasion included Victory In Jesus, Leaning On The Everlasting Arms and Sweet Sweet Spirit. The choir sang Spirit Song to the accompaniment of pianist Molly Mathis. Songleader was Angela Wylie. Lay Reader Linda Hallman read Genesis 1:1-5 from the Old Testament. The Gospel reading was Matthew 3:13-17. Georgia Goggans gave the sermon for Kids Time and Pastor Sue Gross' sermon title was "New Birth."

Acolyte was Blaine Moore, who--along with Joe Matthews--served as ushers for the offering of the day.

Matthew 3:13-17

New International Version (NIV)
The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be bahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Link for above reference:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+3%3A13-17&version=NIV

Click on any image above to view it in larger format and/or click on the arrow below (at bottom of this post) to view part 1 of the video of Angela Wylie's sermon, "New Beginnings."


New Beginnings Preached by Angela Wylie
Certified Lay Speaker

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

New International Version (NIV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Footnotes:

2 Corinthians 5:17 Or Christ, that person is a new creation.
2 Corinthians 5:21 Or be a sin offering

Link to resource page above:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5%3A17-21&version=NIV

Click on any image above to view it in larger format and/or click on the arrow below to view part 2 of the video of Angela Wylie's Lay Sermon, "New Beginnings."



This video is the second half of the video of the same name, "New Beginnings," which was begun in the preceding post for this date.

New Beginnings, Part 2, A Lay Sermon
(based on Psalm 102:18-28 & 2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
Preached by Angela Wylie
Certified NTC-UMC Lay Speaker

Psalm 102:18-28

New International Version (NIV)

18 Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the LORD:
19 “The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death.”
21 So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalemhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship the LORD.

23 In the course of my life[a] he broke my strength;
he cut short my days.
24 So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
your years go on through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence;
their descendants will be established before you.”
Footnotes:

Psalm 102:23 Or By his power

Link to above resource page:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+102%3A18-28&version=NIV

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GIVE THE WORLD A SMILE

‘For you shall go out in joy...’--Isaiah 55:12(a)

‘A joyful heart makes a cheerful face.’--Proverbs 15:13(a)

‘Rejoice always.’ -- I Thessalonians 5:16

‘Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it.’ --Proverbs 3:27

It isn’t often that a single SONG incorporates as much spiritual WISDOM as we find in these four SCRIPTURAL admonitions from the Old and New Testaments. But, consider the Stamps Quartet standard, ‘GIVE THE WORLD A SMILE,’ which celebrates its 87th BIRTHDAY this fall!

It has been the THEME song of EVERY Stamps Quartet formed since the late 1920s, including a modern INCARNATION led by J. D. Sumner--whose MEGA-BASS voice is widely heralded for its deep, dulcet tones. Lots of OTHER groups have adopted it as a THEME song as well.

It was almost certainly the FIRST gospel song to sell a MILLION copies in the era of the fragile 78 rpm RECORD. It was WILDLY POPULAR, thanks to record and RADIO exposure, rivaling ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ on PLAYLISTS for a time, according to Mrs. Frank Stamps. Her HUSBAND was bass singer and LEADER of the group which first RECORDED the song.

Throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, my brother TOMMY BOYD and I came in from FARM work on The Old Tinney Place, in search of rest, musical nourishment and BISCUITS made from American Beauty FLOUR--sponsor of the NOONTIME Stamps Quartet RADIO program of the day. It’s safe to say that we enjoyed the SONG and the BISCUITS five days a week until we we were old enough to leave HOME in the early 1950s.

The song suggests an intimate knowledge of the Bible’s several passages which deal with ATTITUDE: That it’s actually in our BEST interest to be CHEERFUL because it’s HEALTHY. That it’s also our DUTY to pass along our JOY in the form of an ENCOURAGING word and a bright, sunny SMILE.

The song’s WORDS were WRITTEN in 1924 by the late OTIS DEATON, a Hopkins County native, who spent much of his later life in WINNSBORO. ‘Give The World A Smile’ NEVER went out of style, and was also RECORDED by Ernie Ford, Chet Atkins, and Floyd Cramer. If you’ve FORGOTTEN--or never heard--the song, LISTEN to its MESSAGE on Bill & Gloria Gaither’s popular ‘Reunion’ CD:

‘Let your life so be, that all the world may see,
The joy of serving Jesus with a smile.’

With thanks to Rev. Brian Bosworth for inviting me, to Bonnie Gilmour for bulletin preparation, Jim Skaggs for lay leadership, Stanley Foster for sound engineering and to Charlie Epperson for still photography. Joe Dan returns to his home church, Tinney Chapel UMC, next week.