March 31, 2019 Schedule of Services: Sundays @ Meadows Cof C (9195 Dishman Road): Morning Worship 9:30 AM Bible Class 10:45 AM Evening Worship 5 PM Monday Night Bible Study @ 9195 Dishman Road: 6:30 PM Tuesday Ladies Bible Class @ 9195 Dishman Road: 9:30 AM Fellowship / Class Wednesday Night Devotional & Bible Class @ 9195 Dishman Road: 6:30 PM Senior Living Services: Spring Creek Nursing Rehab 2660 Brickyard Road (Bmt.) Sundays @ 2 pm / Jerald Bass Lucas Place Sr. Living 2910 Toccoa (Beaumont) Sundays @ 3:30 pm / Mike Culver Church Mailing Address: Meadows Church of Christ P.O. Box 5126 Beaumont, Texas 77726 409-892-7063 Office 409-892-6420 Office 409-892-7068 Fax On the web: Meadowschurchofchrist.com All bulletin requests must be submitted to the office by 10 AM on Thursdays to be published in the following Sundays bulletin. Requests can be made by phone 409.892.7063 or email to [email protected] Vol. 3 No. 13 Meadows Church of Christ Leadership Information: Elders: Derrell Hart (409) 769-0099, Donnie Landrum (409) 842-3236, Brad Mansfield (409) 781-3987, Carl Sundgren (409) 658-0027 Deacons: Jerald Bass, Bobby Case, Joey Case, David Owens, Daryl Phelps, John Scott Pulpit Minister: Rick Walker (303) 359-9160 email: [email protected] Welcome Station Workers Sundays AM & PM 3/31 … Jackie Smith, Reba Riggs 4/7 … Margie Tinsley Martha Richardson 4/14 … Brad & Vicki Mansfield 4/21 … David & Connie Owens Meadows Church of Christ serving Southeast Texas Attendance & Contribution: Sunday AM Worship 3/24 . . . . . . . 172 Sunday Bible Class 3/24 . . . . . . . 104 Sunday PM Worship 3/24 . . . . . . . 75 Wednesday PM 3/27 . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Online & Weekly Collection for 3/24: $10,004.95 2019 Weekly Budget: $9,900.00 Meadows Family: Bettie Bibb (Heart A-fib issues) John Davis (Health) Raye Dorrell (Kidney disease) Eva Garza (Health) Barbara Hood (Health issues) Frances Howard (Rec from hip repl) Frankie King (Health) Steve Lyle (Health issues) Vicki Mansfield (Health) Ron Miller (Bonne Vie Rehab for 3 weeks to gain strength) Erskine & Alexis Reliford (Health issues) Connie Ruppart (Heart issues) Shirley Sturm (Heart issues / stress test) Royce & Betty Whitehead (R=Summer Place rm # 118B Rehab) Jerry Whitten (Breathing issues) Members Unable to Worship With Us: John & Jane Beard Floyd & Georgia Guillory Ed Hart Hubert & Dot McCray Dianne Nevils Sherry Reagan Jerri Stroud Our Friends & Family: Terry Ayres Rebecca Burch Steve & Gloria Bean Margaret Clark Kobee Cohen Gary Corzine Vel Dickerson Joan Estes Grey Gallier Sharon Hood / Cancer Yvonne Kenner Esaw Peavy Ray Russell Cristy (Runnels) Stanford Robert Tankersley Ray & Cindy Tyrone Robert & Shirley Watkins Whitney Underwood Prayer Warrior List Birthday’s this Week... 4/2 James Coatney 4/2 Darline Harrell 4/4 Kevin Barry 4/7 Doug Smith April 2019 Food Committee Head: Jayma Delaney Linda Landrum, Vicki Mansfield, Rinda Phelps, Cathy Henley, Reba Riggs, Terry Stevens, Caralee Thompson, Linda Thompson, & Courtney Boullion Anniversaries: 4/5 Hubert & Dot McCray 4/6 Duane & Tami Browning “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth ” “Be Perfect . . . !” “Well, nobody’s perfect” was how I used to excuse my misbehavior when I was younger. Now if we use “perfect” as a synonym for “sinless,” then (with the exception of Jesus) I was correct. But the Bible uses “perfect” to mean more than just being sinless. Let’s look at three other Bible usages for this word. Sometimes the word “perfect” is used to mean “mature.” In Matthew 5:48, Jesus says, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Jesus had just told us how the Father, “…causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends His rain on the righteous and the unrighteous,” v. 45. Thus, a person who is perfect/mature will demonstrate their maturity by treating all people the same. For that is what God does and thus it is what we should do too! On other occasions, “perfect” is used to mean “complete.” When speaking to the Corinthian church about miraculous gifts, Paul writes, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away,” 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 . We understand in order for something to be “complete,” all of its parts must be in placed (jigsaw puzzles, bicycles, engines, etc.). Notice that whatever is now complete/perfect is made of its various parts. So if we have all “knowledge” (see 2 Peter 1:3) and all “prophecy” (see Revelation 22:18- 19), then the “perfect” which now has “come” (1 Corinthians 13:10) is the “complete word of God.” The third usage of “perfect” is one which means “suitable for a purpose.” When discussing God’s purpose for trials, James writes, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing,” James 1:2-4. When we don ’t have access to our tools, haven’t all of us used knives in the place of screwdrivers and shoes in the place of hammers? They “sort of” work. But they are NOT fit for that purpose. Yet to make our lives fit for God’s purposes, He uses various trials to prepare us to be suitable/perfect for what He has in mind for us. Therefore, it is possible for us to be “perfect,” if we are growing in our maturity in Christ, if we are complete regarding the pieces of our lives, and if we are being made suitable for God’s purposes! Now understand, not one of us “has arrived.” We must continue to grow in each of these areas so God can make us “perfecter” (as you can see, I still have a ways to go in my English vocabulary – but that will be an article for a later bulletin). Rick Walker Blessings in Disguise There was a single survivor of a shipwreck who was thrown upon an uninhabited island. After a while he managed to build a crude hut in which he placed the things he had salvaged from the sinking ship. He prayed to God for deliverance and anxiously scanned the horizon each day to hail any ship that might chance pass by. One day, upon returning from a hunt for food, he was horrified to find his hut in flames. All that he possessed had gone up in smoke. But that which seemed to have happened for the worst was, in reality, for the best. In God’s infi- nite wisdom, his loss was for the best - that for which he prayed. The next day a ship arrived. “We saw your smoke signal,” the captain said. Can we not take our seeming calamities and look for God’s best in them? In the face of trials and disappointments, we should remember the assuring words of Paul to God’s children: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Author Unknown “The happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others”