Merkel Church Of Christ

We are here today because we believe that life on earth is short compared to eternity. It is a vapor that appears a little while and vanishes (James 4:14). The length of our days is 70 years or 80 if we have the strength, yet their span is but trouble and sorrow for they quickly pass and we fly away…Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalms 90:10, 12). So we are ...

Gen 12:1

The smallest detail or item can not only capture our attention but overwhelm our thoughts and block our vision. We live in a world that seems to thrive on offering us more choices. There used to be 4 kinds of cereal, 3 kinds of chips. Etc… (This is overwhelming to returning missionaries – a trip to walmart.) What I love about hard physical labor is the exhaustion at the end of the day that removes all the obstacles and choices ...

  Believing is a difficult thing when it requires trust of us. We can believe Jesus did and said all the things that He did and said, but when it comes to believing that He is interceding for us and administering His blood in our behalf, sometimes we struggle. Jesus is exactly who the word of God claims Him to be and in order to benefit from that we must put our full weight down on His promises!

  The world around us is an ever-changing place. Social values change with the wind. Our circumstances change: we grow older, richer, or poorer, have more, and have less with each day. These things are part of life on this earth for Christians and unbelievers, alike. What Christians have that the rest of the world misses is Jesus Christ. Having Jesus Christ means we have an anchor in the midst of life’s uncertainties and storms, we have an anchor for ...

Numbers 11

Jay Don Poindexter

John 2:25

  Life John 3 in Christ, full of grace and truth He sees us, individually knows us not found in religious activity (temple cleansed) we chose receive, believing in His name, born of water and the Spirit, born of God born to eternal life, lived in newness with Christ

John 1:19 John 2:11

Our world is infatuated with the newest and most recent updated version of everything. Our pride is often in the complicated solutions and cures that our best scientist, doctors, and philosophers can boast of. While tasks of life are made easier with invention and the life of our bodies can be extended by good science, we dare not trust the salvation of our souls to anything less than the simple and true word of God. John 1:1-18 Mark 16:15-16

Disciplines — you have had many of these, some to your awareness some not. You have experienced these in the classroom, sporting events, the home, and the work place. Spiritual Disciplines — you’ve had many of these, some to your awareness, some not. Worship, study, and prayer. You have enjoyed the benefit of any of these that you have “put into practice”. You don’t have to understand all the benefits ahead of time, nor go through the painful trials of not ...

The Lord’s Supper is a spiritual discipline, given us by Christ, to help keep us strong to the end. In this supper we remember Him, we participate in His blood and body, and we examine ourselves so that we are not condemned with the world (1 Corinthians 3:9-11; 10:16, 21; 11:23-32).

A mother’s suffering brought us into the world. Her serving is the first experience we have with the nature of Jesus (Mark 10:45). Her teaching is NOT to be forsaken (Proverbs 1:8; 6:20). Her sacrifice is godly, she gives her best (John 3:16). IF YOU SEE a poster for this at “Career Day”? (you better read the fine print?) Life and Peace ( your suffering will provide it for others, who are mostly ignorant) A Servant (You don’t have one, you’ll be ...

Psalm 132 Isa 49: 8-10

The Lord’s Supper: Foundational Jesus Christ is our foundation and our covenant. The Lord’s Supper is in remembrance of Him. We need to improve our understanding of Him, our covenant and the Supper He gave us. We cannot improve upon the Supper, its emblems, or its purpose. 1 Cor 3:9-15 1 Cor 11:17-32

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, and Jesus told His disciples – unless you humble yourself as a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Humility allows us to avoid worry and share in our Master’s joy. Who better to teach us a lesson in humility than a humble child? 1 Peter 5:5 Matthew 18:1-4 Matthew 25:21, 23

Jesus will tell us to count the cost of following Him (Luke 14: 25-33), but then illustrates the purpose of discipleship by pointing out the widow’s giving of her two small copper coins (Luke 21:1-4). Though the world would not “count” her gift significant, Jesus says it was the watermark of discipleship, because she put in all she had to live on. Peter is another example of discipleship (Luke 5:1-11), when he puts out into the deep to let down ...

Consider Carefully How You Listen We may hear Jesus say these words and fall prey to the idea that there is some deep mystical way we are supposed to decipher the word of Christ that yields faith to the hearer (Rom 10:17). We also may have in mind that considering carefully how you listen means to precisely and accurately define or exhaust every possible translation, meaning, and application of any given text. I submit to you that consider carefully how ...