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Today’s Epicureans

July 16, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

In Acts 17 Paul ran into a group of philosophers in Athens known as the Epicureans. They were followers of Epicurus who lived 341-270 BC and taught happiness was to be found in freedom from fear of God and death and practicing what brings one the most pleasure in this life. Does this sound familiar? The popular approach to life by the masses today is similar to Epicureanism. Stumpf said Epicureanism, “was a new direction in moral philosophy, for it focused upon the individual and his immediate desires for bodily and mental pleasures instead of upon abstract principles of right conduct or considerations of God’s commands.”
Epicureans
Acts 17:16 describes Athens as a “city wholly given to idolatry.” The idol among the Epicureans who resided in Athens was man himself. Romans 1:25 says that the Gentiles, “worshipped and served the creature more than the creator,” which is exactly what Epicurus did and what many have done today. The focus has been shifted from what God wants to what man wants.
Whenever man is put in the place of God, moral degradation occurs. This is because there remains no objective standard for right and wrong in the minds of those who reject God as the standard for goodness. Epicurus taught against excess, claiming that it did not lead to the greatest happiness, but if man’s pleasure is the barometer for goodness, then who is to say that any self-restraint is more pleasurable than excess? The entire issue of good and evil becomes subjective and what each individual regards as the most pleasurable wins out. With God removed and man placed on the throne, every man does that which is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25).
Jeremiah 10:23 says, “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” Whether it is the Epicurus himself, the Epicureans Paul challenged a couple centuries later, or people today, man, left to himself, is too self-centered and sinful to do what is right. Paul concluded his sermon in Acts 17:30-31 by appealing to them to repent and follow the ways of the true God so that they will be prepared for the judgment of Jesus Christ that awaits all mankind. Instead of turning a blind eye to death and God’s commands, true happiness is found in preparing for death by following God’s commands. God knows what is good and right for us. He rightfully belongs on the throne; He is the righteous judge (Acts 17:30). When we sin we pull God off the throne of our hearts and sit on the throne ourselves, worshipping our own desires. Let us set the Lord alone on the throne of our hearts and make His ways our ways (1 Peter 3:15).

-Mark Day

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Lesson Audio – Dealing with the Disorderly

July 12, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

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07.12.15 pm – Mark Day – Dealing with the Disorderly
Scripture Reading – Steve Wallace – II Thess. 3:6-15
https://flatwoodschurchofchrist.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/T060_07.12.15-pm-Mark-Day-Dealing-with-the-Disorderly.mp3

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Lesson Audio – Men of God

July 12, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

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07.12.15 am – Mark Day – Men of God
https://flatwoodschurchofchrist.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/T059_07.12.15-am-Mark-Day-Men-of-God.mp3

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Numbering Israel

July 9, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

In 1 Chronicles 21:1, Satan tempted David to number the people of Israel. David commanded Joab, the captain of the host, to take a census of the people. Joab recognized what king David was thinking by taking a census. David’s numbering was for the purpose of ascertaining the military strength of his people so he could bask in the pride of being the head of such a great fighting force. The motivation for David’s asking was wrong. Joab tried to reason with David, asking, “May the LORD make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?” (1 Chronicles 21:3). Joab, in essence, was calling upon David to examine his heart in this matter and answer why he was delighting so much in numbering the people. But Joab’s cautions could not prevail against the king. David was set on the census being taken, so Joab gave David a sum (1 Chronicles 21:5). God was displeased with David and punished Israel; David then quickly saw his sin (1 Chronicles 21:7). Instead of being submissive to God and giving Him the glory, David’s heart had a moment of pride that caused him to number the people.

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While it is not intrinsically sinful to take a census or count attendance, I wonder if the attitude David had in this instance is not sometimes among God’s people today. When we think of a healthy church what comes to our minds? We know that a healthy church has Christ as its head and foundation (Matthew 16:18-19; Ephesians 1:22-23; 1 Corinthians 3:11), is evangelistic (Matthew 28:18-20), edifies each of its members spiritually (Ephesians 4:15-16), and follows the pattern of scripture in its teaching and practice (Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26). However, this image often goes out the window when we start looking at statistics. It is not wrong to note statistics and even look at the attendance trends. We have a section in the bulletin called “Gauging Our Faith” where we track such numbers. By inspiration, Luke mentioned that 120 disciples were gathered together after the Lord’s ascension (Acts 1:15), the number baptized on Pentecost day were about 3,000 (Acts 2:41), and by Acts 4:4 the number of men in the Jerusalem church was about 5,000. However, numbers are conspicuously absent in the rest of the New Testament. Other than the initial growth of the first congregation in Jerusalem, where is there any scripture that gives the numerical size of any New Testament congregation of the Lord’s church?

Much of the New Testament is addressed to congregations of the Lord’s church in order to help them maintain spiritual health, but the measure of spiritual health obviously goes beyond head-counting. We must be careful we do not get trapped into thinking that a congregation is healthy merely because it is growing numerically. “Church growth” is a term that is almost always used today to refer to numerical growth. Such thinking is over-simplistic because numerical growth can take place for the wrong reasons. In John 6, the multitudes followed Jesus because they were fed (v. 26), but when they heard hard teaching from the Lord many of them left and walked no more with Him (v. 66). Haven’t we all seen churches in the denominational world grow for the wrong reasons? While spiritual growth is perceptible to the spiritually-minded person, it does not always fit into our simple quantitative measures that we like to put down on paper. Instead of boasting in numbers, let us glory in congregations that are made of people becoming more like God, no matter how many or few their number.

–Mark Day

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the Herald bulletin July 12th edition

July 9, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

the Herald bulletin July 12th edition

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Flatwoods Church of Christ
PO Box 871
2100 Argillite Rd.
Flatwoods, KY
41139

606.836.4207

Service Times

Sunday Bible Study - 9:45 am
Sunday Morning Worship - 10:45 am
Sunday Evening Worship - 6:00 pm
Wednesday Evening Worship - 7:00 pm

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