First Christian Church - Elizabethtown, Ky

Each spring more than 200 players are drafted onto NFL teams. These young men become part of a team, but in name only. They have yet to learn what will be required of them to become an active player on a team’s roster. People who choose to accept Jesus as their Savior are in those same shoes. They have been given the wonderful opportunity for great rewards. Their everlasting future is assured, but accepting Jesus as your Savior is only part of the bargain; there is much to learn about being a true disciple. The NFL draftee must learn to submit to the coaching staff. He has to study the playbook. He has to understand the time and effort it takes on the practice field, as well as the weight or film room to truly become an NFL player for a team. The new (and old) Christian must learn to become more like Jesus on a daily basis. That’s what discipleship is – learning to become more like Jesus. Just as every coach or veteran player has an obligation to help new players become valuable team members, each Chris

Jesus is the way, the truth, the life and the only way to the Father. We need to help people understand that truth and share with those who do not know. For most of us, it seems a bit scary to think about sharing the truth of Jesus Christ. We learned a long ago to share. As early as kindergarten, we shared crayons, space in the sandbox and toys. Growing older, we learned to share time with others, give money or items of clothing. And what do we share in church? Meals. We take food to the church potluck or to someone’s home. None of those are scary. In fact, sharing in those instances can be fun. However, none of these examples of sharing are really very personal. They’re not about our feelings or about our actions. Sharing our personal thoughts and feelings does not have to be scary. Sharing the Gospel does not have to be hard to do either. When we tell stories of our lives and experiences and how Jesus worked to change us – that is sharing the truth. Don’t let those life stories be told as if it was all

“Don’t walk past it.” You may have seen these words on a safety sign in a factory or on a slide during a training class on customer service. The concept is simple. Don’t ignore things that need attention. Take action. Oil might be spilled on the floor in a factory. Choosing to walk past it could result in a co-worker slipping and being injured. A shopper is wandering around the aisles struggling to find an item. If a sales clerk doesn’t stop to help, the customer may go the store across the street. Seeing a need is usually easy. Taking action is often a challenge. The third part of our Life on Mission series includes a very familiar character—the Good Samaritan. Unlike two people who walked past it, he stopped to help a mugging victim. As Jesus finished telling the story, He asked a question. “What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?” “The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded. Jesus said, “Go and do the same.” Luke 10:36-37 (MSG)

How many people do you know who are far from God? A couple? Ten or twenty? Are they individuals you know well or know well enough to realize they are not Christians? Are they in your workplace, your immediate or extended family, your neighborhood, your classes at school, your fitness center, your children’s sporting events, your barber shop, or your doctor’s office? Are they your good friends or someone you barely know? As Christians, what is our responsibility to these individuals? Pray for them? Sure, we need to pray for them. Introduce them to a minister so he can talk to them? Sure, that could work—if you can find an occasion to do that. In the lyrics of Matthew West’s song “Do Something,” there is an answer to a world full of trouble and a world full of people who need Jesus. He asks “God, why don’t you do something? He said, ‘I did, I created you.’” Instead of just praying for those who need Jesus or instead of introducing them to a minister, let’s do what Jesus did. He went where they were (Matthew 9:1

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV) Every year, Eleanor, a third grade Sunday School teacher, had her students memorize the verses known as The Great Commission. This was a number of years ago when memorization was deemed more valuable than perhaps it is today. However, these words from Jesus sum up what we, as Christians, are to do each and every day. We are to step out in faith and spread the Good News. We are to make disciples who will in turn continue to spread the Good News as the first disciples did. In this way, The Great Commission is perpetual. Eleanor knew this and wanted her students to know and understand this most important direction given by Jesus Himself. We don’t

A new study performed by UCLA reveals that the increase of use in digital media has led to a decline in social skills among children. Face to face interactions between people are decreasing as more time is being spent with digital media through computers, smart phones and tablets. The study points out the use of non-personal technology for general and relational communication is decreasing our sensitivity to emotional cues. We’re losing the ability to understand the emotions and needs of other people. We only see the surface and often have to guess what feelings stand behind the words we see on our screens. But Jesus called us into a personal relationship with Him and others. Jesus spent three years of intimate face to face time with his disciples teaching them His ways. He prepared them to carry on His mission after He was gone—even though they would face many difficult times. The early believers understood the value of being together. From Acts 2 we read “Every day they continued to meet together. The

Jesus taught by using many methods. He told parables, preached and performed miracles. He taught by example or modeling behavior that all should emulate. One of the subjects Jesus taught by example was prayer. He demonstrated several ways to pray. Jesus sought out opportunities to pray with those closest to Him. There were times when He prayed for others and times when He prayed for himself. He would often pray alone, seeking solitude, focus and connection with the Father. Matthew records one of Jesus’ greatest teachings on prayer. In Matthew 6:9-10 (NIV), His powerful lesson begins by telling us how to pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This lesson has been repeated countless times and has touched so many people with its simple, yet powerful meaning. This prayer is often very familiar to non-Christians. Most of us memorized the Lord’s Prayer as children. However, we must recognize the power is in the meaning of the prayer

The lady was well-known around town as being "sinful." That didn't keep her from coming to see Jesus. In fact, it was her sinful state that motivated her. She clearly understood she needed the forgiveness that only Jesus could give. When some of the more "religious" people pointed out her sinfulness, Jesus focused on her love and her gratitude. Here's the point we hope you understand. Today there are two kinds of people attending Back-to-Church Sunday at First Christian Church. There are sinners who have accepted Jesus' forgiveness. They will worship with grateful hearts, not because they are good, but because they are forgiven. There are also sinners who have not yet accepted Jesus' forgiveness. If you fit in this group, we welcome you and ask you to consider the words Jesus said to the sinful woman. "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Luke 7:50 (NIV) We can only speculate about why the woman was considered "sinful." It really doesn't matter. When she left Jesus, she was forgiven. While Back-to-Church

Have you tried to put together a toy at Christmas and become so frustrated that you almost threw it away? Then you remember—an instruction sheet came in the box. You dig it out, study it, put the toy together and it works! Isn’t that how life is sometimes? You encounter a difficult situation with co-workers or your marriage is on a bumpy road to divorce or a child is on a downward slope to disaster. You’re trying to solve the problem at work but no one seems to cooperate. You’re going for professional counseling to help with the marriage but you’re almost ready to move out. Your child finds his situation so tempting that he’s not willing to listen to you. Did you forget the instruction book for each of these situations—the Bible? Had you taken advantage of the opportunities at church to study it or had you opened, read and studied it for yourself instead of watching TV, you might be better prepared to handle life’s problems. 2 Timothy 3:14-17 (MSG) tells us that all Scripture is “useful one way or another—sho

A football team has a quarterback. A school has a principal. A school district has a superintendent. A company has a CEO. A bank has a president. With any group of people, having a leader is a must. Dwight D. Eisenhower, arguably one of the greatest American generals, led over 200,000 allied troops during World War II. General Eisenhower once used a simple string to demonstrate his theory on how to lead: he would place the string on a table and say, "Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all." You can’t use force. You've got to lead. Fortunately for Christians, God laid out exactly how He wants the church to be led, and those guidelines haven’t changed in over 2000 years because they work! The position of elders and deacons are laid out quite clearly in the New Testament. “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” (1 Timothy 5:17) “Deacons, likewise, are to be men

Let’s face it, our jobs can be really frustrating and often times boring. We sometimes feel as though we are not appreciated, not paid enough, or we work harder than our coworkers. We do the same thing day after day. Our attitudes can be affected by this. Maybe we don’t feel as though we are making much of a difference in the world with our line of work and there has to be something better out there. The church in Colossae had a similar line of thinking. Paul tells them in Colossians 3:23-24 to “work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” No matter what you do for a living, you are working for the Lord. You do not have to be a missionary or a staff member of a church. Where we are right now is where we are serving God. The reason we can say this, and be joyful in this, is because our reward is not a promotion or pay raise. Our reward is not being employee of the month or a bonus. Our reward is eternal life. This reward can never be taken away and has muc

Do you remember the first date you had with your spouse? You were probably a little excited and maybe somewhat apprehensive. But you enjoyed it. That’s why there was another date, then another and another. Pretty soon you found yourself falling in love. The chemicals in your brain kicked in and you felt an emotional high. There was passion and elation when you were together. Those feelings led to discussions of marriage. You were certain you’d met the man or woman of your dreams. You wanted to spend the rest of your life with them. You got married, had a wonderful honeymoon, moved into an apartment or bought your first house and then kids came along, jobs changed and time demands occurred. Your life with your partner was completely different than it was when you met, fell in love and began life together. At some point in your marriage, you may have begun to wonder what was missing in your life. In some ways, you thought your spouse might be holding you back. In your mind, you might have considered you

“Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish and then it is disgusting.” Dave Barry Fishing is often repetition…casting, reeling and casting, reeling again. When hooking a fish doesn’t get added to this equation, fishing is pretty boring. Let’s add young children to the mix. You are teaching them to fish. It’s boring so they fidget and whine. And now comes the wisdom from Dave Barry--that young child actually hooks a fish. The fight is on! Action, excitement, squeals and finally the landing of that fish (or maybe minnow is a more apt description). It is slimy, smelly and yucky. The child is not going to touch that trophy. The day of fishing mercifully comes to an end. Kids are dirty, tired and sleepy. It’s off to the house you go. They will tell mom what a horrible day they had and beg her to never make them go fishing again because it’s boring. Much to your surprise their stories of the boring day pop with excitement. That five-pound trout put up a huge fight; they battled it to the bank. Fish

People are passionate about sports. We appreciate great performances by athletes. We’re amazed by those who make incredible physical feats look easy. In Kentucky “string music” doesn’t necessarily originate with a violin. We enjoy the sound and cheer loudly for the people who create it. But the sound that creates the cheer doesn’t begin with the shot. Many times it began in a child’s room with a rubber ball the size of an orange and a plastic hoop hanging on the door. It continued with parents giving instructions under a goal in the driveway. “Look at the goal.” “Square up to the basket.” “Follow through.” At this time children have no idea about mechanics. But they’re learning them just the same. They are learning mechanics that will serve them well when they get bigger and stronger and the games get more intense. And it does get more intense. Coaches, teammates, and fans all yell “play hard!” We love it when people play hard. But there comes a time when all of the training, the running and lifting to

“I am so bored,” is often a phrase one will hear throughout the course of summer. It’s such a common phrase for children, teens, and adults alike. How is it we can become so bored with our own life? We sometimes look at our lives, and only see what we don’t have. We focus most of our attention on what is missing. Whether it be a brand new iPhone or a bigger house, we seem to always covet something bigger and better. Why is it that we judge our standards by material possessions instead of seeing how truly blessed we are? God is constantly trying to show us that we are more blessed than we could imagine despite the fact that our phones may be outdated or our house may never be big enough by our standards. God desires for us to know that we are blessed with everything we have, because He is the one that gave it. There are seven billion people on this planet and nearly 80%, if not more, of the world’s population is living in poverty. Most of the stuff we complain about are things those 80% would love to have. Fin

Samson was a biblical superhero--seemingly super human and invincible. But after he gave in to sin, he became a humiliated slave of the enemy. The Philistines gave glory to their god, “Dagon” for helping them capture their great enemy. The people called for Samson to be brought to entertain them. They thought that Samson’s blindness made him weak. They didn’t know that God had forgiven him and restored his strength. “Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that help up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands, he prayed, ‘Let me die with the Philistines.’ And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people.” (Judges 16:29-30 NLT) God did not abandon Samson, but he did allow Samson’s poor decisions to stand. We may choose to be close to God or to go our own way; however, there may be negative consequences from our choices. In spite of Samson’s past, God still answered his prayer and he destroyed the pagan temple and worshipers. God still loved him. He was willing to hear

Hard work can be hard. And when we have accomplished some big task or finished a significant project it is just natural to step back and admire our work. What was built, done, or completed was from our work and we want to take credit for that effort. We might just deserve a little attention, a little admiration. We may drift right into taking all the credit, pushing God aside and forgetting our place. Our pride may just conquer our ability to be humble; we may forget where our talents and skills really come from, who provides, and the role we really play and the role God plays. And it can happen to the best of us. Samson took some credit for a deed when he said, “With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.” (Judges 15:16) And true enough he was the one swinging the jawbone; he delivered those fatal blows. But, Samson follows up the declaration of his victory in battle with a cry to God to satisfy his great thirst. He cried out, “You have given you