A Word from the Pastor……
Have
you ever wanted to be used by God but then said, “there is no way I can do
anything for God?” So many people think
that you must be smart, good at speaking, like people, etc. to be used by
God. But as the Experiencing God Bible
study has shown us that is not the case.
In fact, God uses the weak things or the things of no value according to
the world to put the world to shame. A
perfect example is one of the Old Testament prophets by the name of Amos. In Amos 7:14, 15 Amos writes, “…I was no
prophet, nor a son of a prophet, but I was a sheepbreader and a tender of
sycamore fruit. Then the Lord took me
as I followed the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophecy to My people
Israel.’” What can we learn from Amos
today? I believe there are several
things we can learn from his example.
First of all we can learn that you don’t have to be in a high profile
position to be used by God. After all
Amos was just a sheep breeder and a tender of sycamore fruit. But the way, both were a common profession
back then. Secondly we can learn that
you don’t have to have a family heritage of being in the ministry. This street runs both ways because not all
children of a preacher or missionary are called to be preachers or
missionaries. God is the only one that
has the correct plan for each person’s life.
We as parents should educate our children, we should encourage our
children, but most of all we should pray for God’s leading, guidance, and
direction for our children and their lives.
I believe one of the worst things a parent can do is to put too much
pressure on their children to get into a certain profession. Third we can learn from Amos that to do
something special for God we must be called!
This goes back to the previous argument of not pushing your children
into something they are not called to do.
Too many people tell God what they are going to do for God without being
called by God. This is a tragic
mistake. Finally the biggest and most
important lesson we can learn from Amos on being used by God is this, be willing! Notice Amos never offered any excuses when
God called him. All he did was state
the facts about who he was. But when
God said follow, Amos said ok. God has
a divine and perfect plan for your life but you must be willing to submit to
His Lordship over your life. Then and
only then can He use you for the reasons that you were created, to honor and
glorify Him. You are never too old or
too young to be used by God. In fact
the only way that God can’t use you if you are one of His children is if you
aren’t willing to allow Him to work through you. God loves you and has a plan for your life. All you have to do is submit to His Lordship
over your life and when He calls say “yes.”
February 2008
Dates to
Remember:
Church Council Meeting Feb.10th
@2:30
VBS Informational Meeting Feb. 17th
@ 2:30
Chicken BBQ Informational Meeting Feb
24th@ 2:30
Prayer
Concerns
Be a Prayer Warrior….
“Lord
teach us to pray” Luke 11:1
Shut-Ins: Frances
Beard
Hospital: Keith Mullinex, Steven Perdue
In Care Facilities: Tommy
Patsel,
Gerald Lamb, Connie Newman, Helen Moore
Home Recovering from Surgery
or
Hospital stay: Ruth
Martin, Jimmy Collins,
David
Bishop, Melissa Carper,
Harold Chambers, Matt Ferris, Jewel Booth,
Faye
Mayberry, Fred St.Clair
Happy Birthday to…
Frances Beard 02/07
Lola Hudgins 02/23
Diana Hyler 02/15
Dot Morris 02/15
Brittany Palmer 02/12
Josh Patsel 02/22
Randy Thomason 02/24
Ask The Pastor……….
Question: How important
is an intimate, personal love relationship with God to a Christian? A church?
Why?
Answer: A personal love relationship
with God is the most important aspect of a Christian’s life. We must understand that we don’t pursue God,
He pursues us. If we were left to our own,
we would never go searching for God or want a relationship with God. But because He loves us so much (John 3:16;
Romans 5:8) God pursues us. The two
greatest commandments given to us by our Lord involve love, Matthew 22:37 says
that “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your mind.” That is the
first commandment, the second is found in Matthew 22:39, “You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.” Both of these
commandments were so important that Jesus said you can hang all the law and
prophets on them. In other words
everything the law was about and everything the prophets ministered about was
about love. The law told the Israelites
what they were to do and not do to show their outward love and devotion to
God. While the prophets’ ministries
were that of exhortation or teaching to get Israel back in line because God
loved them and wanted to bless them.
You can translate that forward into the church because Christ is the
head of the church. The head is to
control the rest of the body, not the other way around. Therefore we are to diligently seek out the
will of God and then join Him where He is working. The only way we can know the will of God is to have an intimate
relationship with Him. That starts with
prayer and Bible study. Prayer is the
tool that Christians use to communicate with God to share their needs and
burdens and seek direction from Him.
The Bible is one of the tools that God uses to give His people the
answers to their prayers. If we as the
body do not have a personal relationship with God, how will we know when He is
speaking to us or how will we know when He answers our prayers? The answer to those questions is simply, we
won’t know. But as we have a personal
love relationship with God then He speaks to us, we hear Him, we know His will,
and then we go out and share the love of God with others as we are commanded to
do. But the number one prerequisite for
all of this is, you must have a personal, love relationship with Jesus Christ,
God’s son! If He is not Lord of your
life and your personal Savior, then you unfortunately will know nothing about
true love.
ASK THE PASTOR ??…Many
times we all have questions that we don’t have the time or opportunity to ask
the Pastor about directly. Each month
we will select a question at random and pose it to the Pastor. Please e-mail
your questions to sdewwjd@yahoo.com; you
don’t need to include your name. There is a box on the back table if you would
rather place your questions there.
Got a question? E-mail the Pastor or send it
to me at sdewwjd@yahoo.com
RECIPE FOR A HAPPY MARRIAGE
1 c. consideration
1 reasonable budget, generous
1 c. courtesy, dash of cooperation
2 c. flattery, carefully
concealed
3 tsp. pure extract of "I'm sorry"
2 c. milk
of human
kindness
1 c. contentment
1 gal. faith in God & each
other
1 c. each confidence and encouragement
2 c.
praise
1 c. blindness to each other's faults
1 c small pinch
in-laws
1 c large
or several small hobbies
Flavor with frequent portions of recreation and a dash of
happy memories. Stir well and remove any speck of jealousy, temper or
criticism. Sweeten well with generous portions of love and keep warm with
a steady flow of devotion. Never
serve with cold shoulder or hot tongue.
(The editor would like to thank the member of the congregation for taking the time to send this to me. Thank you once again.)
Getting to know you …… 
HELLO! My name is Sylvia St.Clair
I teach the Bethany Sunday School Class,
married to Gerald and we have three children and six grandchildren. Our
daughter, Cheri, plays the piano here at East End. I work part-time at
Olde Colony Realty, Inc. in Vinton. I have attended East End since I was
6 years old and I will be 69 in June. When Gerald and I got
married in 1959, we moved to Richmond and lived there for three
years. Our favorite thing to do is to go to the BEACH! Also, for
the past two years, we have gone on a cruise and that is addictive! We
love that too! My favorite pastime is being with my grandchildren!
Right now I am doing the "Experiencing God" study, under Justin, and
that is so inspiring.
I
count it a privilege to be a part of East End Church. This is a loving
church and has reached out to so many people and I know that I can count on
anyone here if I was in need of anything.
We
are going to be a part of something great here at East End!
I LOVE YOU ALL! Sylvia
Thank you
so much so much Sylvia and family.
A Christian is …… A keyhole
through which others see GOD!
Notes from the Editor
Got
News???
Have anything to share, please send it to sdewwjd@yahoo.com, or phone
966-4210, or better yet bring it with you to
church, and give it to Steven or Kathy Elkins.
Pastor Justin Likens
Cell- (540)312-4280
e-mail-JND4CHRIST@JUNO.COM
www.eastendchurch.com
Secretary: Kathy Elkins
(540)966-4210
e-mail-sdewwjd@yahoo.com
Choir Director
& Pianist: Cheri Williams
Deacons: Steven Elkins, Ronnie
Harper, Gerald St. Clair, Bob Flora, Kersey Harper, Oscar Fix, Nolan Cassell
Editor: Steven Elkins (540)966-4210
E-mail sdewwjd@yahoo.com
Sunday - 9:45a.m. Sunday School
11:00a.m. Morning Worship
4:00p.m. Experiencing God
Bible Study
Tuesday- 10:00a.m.
Experiencing God
Bible Study
Wednesday -
6:30p.m.Prayer & Bible
Study
7:15p.m. Adult Choir
Practice
We
Welcome Our Newest Members:
Randy & Terri Obenchain.
Welcome & May God Bless You Both.
The
following was sent to the editor, thank you so much for the contribution……..
Church Bulletin bloopers
“The
Fasting and prayer conference includes meals”
The sermon
this morning” Jesus walks on water” the sermon tonight “Searching for Jesus”
Ladies
don’t forget the rummage sale! It’s a
chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house;
Bring your
husbands!
Next
Thursday will be tryouts for the choir; they need all the help they can get.
Low self
Esteem support group will meet Thursday at 8pm. Please use the back door.
The bean
supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall, music will follow.
Happy Valentine’s
Day!
Thursday,,
February 14th!!