October 3, 2017 Volume 50 Issue 40

Ministry Team: Jill Crandall

Bruce Daughtry Tammy Frintz

Brian McGonagill Glen Moore

Eleanor Nelson Mark Schinnerer

Charlie Weatherford

DEACONS Travis Crandall

Johny Harris Larry Mitchell Mike Owens Virgil Smith

Glenn Wells

SHEPHERDS Barry McDowell

Jimmy Neatherlin J. R. Stroble

Our Door is Open Anyone wanting to meet

with our Elders is en-couraged to contact any of the elders to set up a

time.

Sunday Services

Sunday Bible Class 9:00 am

Morning Worship 10:00 am

Evening Worship

5:00 pm

Wednesday

Fellowship

Ladies Bible Class 10:00 am

Wednesday Night Meal

6:00 pm

Bible Class

7:00 pm

I’m pretty sure I used to be cool.

I talked cool, I acted cool, I even dated someone cool and had cool friends—I was pretty much living the life. I was open-minded about everything because I cared, more than anything, that people thought of me as someone cool, accepting and easygoing.

By the world’s standards, I was pretty cool. I had a cool Instagram and on a good day would get an above average amount of li kes (for me that meant like 130 likes). I would go out on the weekends with my friends, make appearances at house parties and bar hop around town.

And then on Sundays, I would go to church. I always loved going and was usually pretty moved by the worship and fairly challe nged by the message.

But Monday would come, and I went on living my cool life.

Even if I didn’t realize it, I viewed God as a nice thing to have in my back pocket for when I felt like praying or needed to feel good. Calling myself a Christian was like filling in the “occupation” line on a health care form—it was just something I did.

In my heart of hearts, I wanted to be closer to God, but I really wasn’t compelled enough to do anything about it. I was indi fferent, bland and lukewarm.

Last year I read the book Good or God? by John Bevere. In the book, he challenges readers to know the difference between what seems good and what is really God. He details the person of God in a way I had never quite grasped before: showing him as a Holy God who is worthy of our w orship and adoration, and even, our righteous fear. He explained what the biblical fear of God really is:

To f ea r G od i s t o l ov e H im s o much we ar e a f ra i d to be away f r om Him . W e l ov e H im and v a l ue H i s pr es ence above a l l . O ut o f rev er enc e f or H im , we c hoose to l ov e what He l ov es and ha t e what He hat es . I n t he end, the f ear o f t he Lor d can be i dent i f i ed by one s im pl e t h i ng : obed i enc e.

That book changed me and challenged me.

I realized what a dishonor I had been doing to my Heavenly Father by not treating Him with the utmost fear He rightly deserve d. Saying I was a Christian yet not picking a definitive side and living as though He were a toy I could pull out of my purse when I was bored, was a disgrace to what Jesus did on the cross for me.

The Lord allowed me to see that I was not put on this earth to be “cool.” Jesus didn’t die on the cross so I would look cool to others on the outside; yet suffer silently and rebelliously on the inside. I realized how wrapped up I was with how people saw me and what they thought of me.

I was faced with this truth: Our call as Christians is to live in the righteousness Christ died for us to have, to live in tr uth, to pick a side.

“So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” – Revelation 3:16

Jesus said those words. That is serious language and strong imagery. He’s not messing around.

It grieves me to admit that this was really me. I was born in a Christian home, raised on the mission field, had pastors for parents, served in church my entire life, knew every Bible story like the back of my hand … and yet, this was me.

Here’s how Matt Henry breaks it down in his commentary:

Luk ewarm ness o r i nd i f f e r enc e i n r e l i g i on i s the wors t t em per i n t he wor l d . I f r e l i g i on i s a r ea l t h i ng , i t i s t he mos t exc e l l en t t h i ng , and t her e f or e we shou l d be i n good ear nes t i n i t ; i f i t i s no t a r ea l t h i ng, i t i s t he v i l es t im pos t ur e , and we s hou l d be ear nes t agains t i t . I f r e l i g i on i s wor t h any t h i ng, i t i s wor t h ev er y t h i ng; an i nd i f f e renc e her e i s i nexc us ab le … Chr i s t ex pec ts t ha t m en s hou l d dec l ar e t hems elv es i n ear nes t e i t he r fo r h im o r aga ins t h im .

And then he said this, as though he were saying:

… t hey m ay ca l l t he i r l uk ewarmness char i t y , meek nes s , m oder a t i on , and a l a r geness o f s ou l [ o r as we woul d c a l l i t nowadays : o pen-m indednes s and acc ep t ance ] ; i t i s naus eous t o Chr i s t , and m ak es t hos e so t hat a l l ow t hems elv es i n i t . T hey sha l l be re j ec t ed , and f i na l l y r e j ec t ed; f o r fa r be i t f r om t he ho l y J esus t o r e t ur n t o tha t wh i c h has been t hus r e jec t ed.

My inner dialogue went something like this: “Um, excuse me, what? Jesus, you’re supposed to be loving and kind and accepting of everything and everyone! How can you say you will reject me?”

But when we take a closer look at how Jesus walked on the earth, we see that this is true. Jesus was not open -minded toward the moneychangers who were corrupting the temple. He was not open-minded toward the rich young ruler who wanted to keep all his possessions, yet say He was a follower of Christ. He wasn’t open-minded toward the strict law of the religious people of his day. He was not, and is not, open-minded toward people who would rather yield to themselves over yielding to Him.

Do you believe that God is who He says He is? Do you believe that God will do what He has said He will do? Do you fear Him, w ith a righteous fear, with a fear that recognizes His majesty and kingship and holiness as the one true God?

Jesus wasn’t cool by the world’s standards. He was polarizing, He was absurd and He was outlandish.

We have a responsibility as Christians to not only hear the Word of God, but to know it. We have to do the work it takes inte llectually and spiritually to understand the Word of God. Do you know what God has to say about certain topics and issues we would like to brush over? Do you find you rself picking and choosing the things you want to believe about God without facing the truth in His word? I know I did.

But I have found that we are called to be deeply rooted, well -watered doers of the Word (Matthew 13, James 1:22). We were created to know God, to love Him and

to have communion with Him. We are called to obey Him out of our love for Him.

My challenge to you is this: Find out who God is; who the real Jesus is. Do so by seeking Him in His Word, by praying, by sur rounding yourself with a community of believers. Ask yourself: Do I want to be cool, or do I want to be obedient?

Since leaving the “cool” life, I have lost much. I have lost friends, relationships and status. I have also lost my pride, my plans and my selfish desires. And what have I gained? Ah, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” – Philippians 1:21

“Part with sin and self-sufficiency, and come to Christ with a sense of your poverty and emptiness, that you may be filled with his hidden treasure.” — Matthew Henry

~Anonymous

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Terry Wilson is back at Scott & White to change his medication.

Remember the following as they continue to heal: Lisa Calderon, Bruce Daughtry, Jan Groom, Travis Ives, Lorie Mitchell, Maureen Thompson, and Brady Tigert.

Shut-Ins: Grace Autry, Bob and Velma Brown, Durees Carriaga, Pauline Crisman, Audrey Fisher, Vivienne Garner, Kay Oakley, and Richard Titus.

Prayer Connection Cards: Phil Lairson, The Martin Family, The Family of Steve Billeck, and Dave Slaten.

This Week’s *Anniversaries & Birthdays:

October 3rd-Kourtnee White

October 4th-Monet Calderon

October 5th-Charlie Weatherford, Pat Woolf

October 6th-Sydney Harper, Patti Johnson, *Dave & Kay Oakley

October 7th-Joyce Smith

October 8th-Johny Harris, Donna Hays

Lay Down What’s Good, Find What’s Best

There is a song that has spoken straight to my heart since the first day I heard it on the radio. It’s

called Breathe, by Johnny Diaz. The song describes the typical break-neck busy life that is com-

mon to most all Americans these days, and the verses are sung with a sense of panic and urgency.

Then, the chorus starts, with the sound of a heartbeat in the background, much slower, calmer,

and soothing than the verse.

“Breathe, just breathe. Come and rest at my feet.” I love these words and their message that

came straight from God when he told us to lay our burdens at His feet. What peace He gives us in

this crazy world.

A few days ago, as I was driving, this song came on the radio, but today a different part struck my heart and I’ve continued to

have it on my mind since then. When something stays with me like this, I have to ask God if it is from Him. I believe, many

times, that it is. The words were these: “Lay down what’s good, and find what’s best.”

I am almost sure that those of you who will read this don’t struggle with a choice between horribly evil activities and good

activities. I am almost sure that most of you find your struggles lie more in choosing too much good. As we choose how to

spend our time, the good choices are innumerable, and if you are like me, you try to do them all. But what is best?

Martha tried this as well. How amazing would it be to host a dinner party with Jesus as the main guest?? Everything would

have to be perfect! There would be cooking, cleaning, pressing the linens, and on and on, until you forgot to spend time with

the special guest. Mary forgot about what was good-all of the details for making this a perfect dinner party-and she chose

what was best.

We are overloaded, even in our small town, with choices for how to spend our time. Sports, clubs, birthday parties, opportu-

nities to volunteer, and the list goes on and on. How do we choose what is best?

Yesterday, I awoke to news of the mass shooting in Las Vegas. So many lives ended way before they expected. If your life

was to end today, tomorrow, next week, what ways would you choose to spend your time? Ask God, how do you want me to

spend my time? Good+good+good+good does not equal best. I want to teach my kids by example that they don’t have to do

EVERYTHING that is good. We only have to do what is BEST!

Praying we can all keep our eyes on Jesus as we search for what is best. Praying we have the strength to sacrifice some of

the good to make room for the best. Praying our kids learn to do the same. Love you all, Jill

We need your help in keeping our Blessing Box stocked so if you could bring canned goods, pasta, or anything that is non-perishable and put it in the red tub in the foyer it would be greatly appreciated.

Socktober: The month of October we will be collecting packaged socks for men, women, and

children for the Homeless Care Bags. We are also collecting toothpaste, lotion, toothbrush,

mouthwash, soap, Kleenex, feminine products, shampoo, conditioner, hand sanitizer, bottled

water, combs, one gallon Ziploc bags, wipes, razors, cheese in crackers, and nuts. All need to

be travel sized. Thank you all for being God’s hands and feet.

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Working Together to Bring People to Jesus

“[God] reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians

5:18b NIV).

You and I have been given the same mission that Jesus had. It’s one of the most critical acts of mercy

we can take. The Bible says, “[God] reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Co-

rinthians 5:18b NIV). Your mission is simply to pass on to others the same Good News about God’s love that somebody told

you. But God doesn’t expect you to fulfill your mission on your own. He gives you other Christians to support you. In fact, evan-

gelism is something you can do as a small group.

God has given us a wonderful example of this in Luke 5:17-26. It’s the story of a group of friends who brought someone to

Jesus. They couldn’t find a way to get into the house where Jesus was, so they lowered their paraplegic friend through a hole

in the roof on a stretcher, right in the middle of everyone and in front of Jesus. Jesus was impressed by their faith and told

the man to get up and walk, and the man immediately did! The people were amazed. In this great story God gives us five prin-

ciples for how your group can reach out to other people and how you can fulfill your God-given mission in the world.

1. The Principle of Compassion: This small group cared enough for a helpless friend to do something about his pain. Mercy is not just a

feeling. It is love in action.

2. The Principle of Cooperation: God has assigned each of us a task in evangelism. Paul says, “I planted the seed and Apollos watered

it” (1 Corinthians 3:6 BSB). In other words, you don’t have to do it all yourself, but you do have to do your part. And God w ill reward you

for it.

3. The Principle of Faith: Jesus says that the faith of the paraplegic’s friends leads to him being healed. Nobody is beyond the reach of

God’s love. God specializes in doing the impossible. So don’t give up on people you care about. Have faith in what God can do in their

lives.

4. The Principle of Action: The friends had a plan, and they put it into action. The paralyzed man needed other people to bring him to

Jesus because he couldn’t get there on his own.

5. The Principle of Persistence: The friends could have been discouraged when they couldn’t get into the door because of the crowd, but

they didn’t give up. They showed determination. They said, “Whatever it takes, we’re going to bring our friend to Jesus.”

Are you willing to go through the roof for a friend? Everybody needs to know Jesus! Without Jesus, people have no hope in

eternity. The Christian who doesn’t care about the lost is really saying to the world, “I don’t care about you. You can go to

Hell.” But the Bible says, “The Lord is . . . not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter

3:9 NKJV). Don’t get discouraged, and don’t give up. Keep praying, keep asking, keep inviting, and keep working to reach that

person for Jesus. Helping people get into Heaven is the greatest act of mercy you can do for them.

What friends (or family members) can help you “carry” someone to Jesus?

In your small group, agree on four or five people you want to bring to Jesus as a group.

Of the five principles mentioned above, where do you most want to see growth as you work together with others to bring people to Jesus?

The Sunset Ladies Retreat will be October 13th-15th at Mountain View Christian Camp. The theme for this year is Arise and Shine. The cost is $40.00 per person and includes meals, lodging, and a take home gift. Make sure to be bring your favorite snack to share on Friday night as we get settled in. Ladies of all ages are invited to come, so join as we get to know one another better. There is a sign-up sheet in the foyer or you may call Georgina Stroble at 575-361-3462 to reserve your spot or for more information.

Ladies 3D (dinner, devo, and dessert) will resume on Monday, October 9th. Kelly Weather-

ford will be our speaker. It will be in the Multi-Purpose Room at 6:00 pm and all ladies are

invited to attend.

Youth News: The Monahans Youth Rally will be on Sunday, October 15th. Bruce is needing

two parents to volunteer to drive so that the teens can go. Fallapalooza is Saturday, October

21st. On Saturday, October 28th we will be hosting our annual Fall Carnival and we need lots

and lots of candy. So when you’re at the store our teens would really appreciate it if you

picked up some candy and brought it to church. There is a bin in the foyer or you can bring it

by the office. This event is a youth fundraiser and a great outreach to our community.

Trunk or Treat will be on Tuesday, October 31st, Halloween night from 5:00-7:00 pm in the west parking lot. This is always a fun evening. Please plan on decorating the back of your car and joining us. Bring lots of candy.

Sunset Bulletin Sunset Church of Christ 1308 W. Blodgett St. Carlsbad, NM 88220

PERIODICAL RATE Sunset Bulletin (USPS 913-140) Published weekly, except the last two weeks in December, by the Sunset Church of Christ meeting at 1308 West Blodgett Street, Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220. Periodicals postage

paid at Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220. POSTMASTER SEND CHANGE OF ADDRESS TO: SUNSET BULLETIN, 1308 W. BLODGETT ST, CARLSBAD, NM 88220

Sunday, October 8 2017- 10:00 a.m.

Speaker:

Brian McGonagill

Worship Leader:

Mark Schinnerer

Welcome:

Charles Ausley

Scripture:

Travis Crandall

Communion Service

Mike Veilleux

Men To Serve Communion:

Todd Allison

Jon Barnes

Lanny Barnett

Martin Campos

Jeffery Carr

Justin Carr

Ron Clem

Kenneth Cruz Thank you for serving! If unable to serve during

worship, please call: Kelly Henry at 706-3304.

Sunset Church of Christ

Sunday Morning Bible Class

Sunday Morning

Sunday Evening 50

Wednesday, September 27th

Ladies Class 21

Evening Services

Greeters:

Green Team

Welcome Desk:

Marilyn Stade

Nursery Attendant:

Stephanie Wood

Checks: $11,640.00

Bills: $407.00

Change: $1.78

Online Giving: $755.00

Total: $12,803.78

Average: $10,217.13

Weekly Budget: $9,524.00

Weekly + or (-) $693.13

Kid’s Cash $167.29

Communion Service Schedule:

October 15th-Charlie Weatherford

October 22nd-Cameron Wells

October 29th-Rodney Williams

November 5th-Charles Ausley

Contribution & Attendance For Sunday, October 1st

The meal is at 6:00 pm and Bible class starts at 7:00

pm. Volunteers for Wednesday night meals

are needed. Sign up on the calendar in the kitchen or call the office at 887-1278.