South Gibson Star-Times

B-6 Church Tuesday, Januar y 16, 2018 South Gibson Star-Times CHURCH Continued from page 5 For more information about our worship service or other ministries, call 812-729- 7230. Come be our guests. We would love to see you! OLD UNION CHRISTIAN CHURCH Hwy. 165 S. of Johnson Baret Fawbush, Pastor Bible study 9:30 a.m.; worship 10 :15 a.m. OWENSVILLE FIRST GENER AL BAPTIST CHURCH Corner of Brummitt and Mill Rev. Bob Douglas Sunday school 9:30 a.m.; Sunday service 10:30 a.m.; Sun- day worship 6 p.m.; Wednesday night worship 6 p.m. Bible study, prayer meet- ing and men's prayer group meet 8 a.m. every Sunday. All men welcome. Disciples and Jr./Sr. youth meet every Sunday evening at 7 p.m. All youth are invited to attend. OWENSVILLE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Corner of Third and Brummitt Owensville Pastor Marsha Bishop Sunday school for all ag- es 9:30 a.m.; worship 10 :30 a.m. Transportation is avail- able for all by calling the church or call 812-724-4041. Everyone is welcome to worship with us! SOUTH GIBSON APOSTOLIC CHURCH 6144 S. 1075 W. Owensville James Freels, Pastor Sunday worship times are 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Wednesday 7 p.m. prayer and Bible study. For more information about the church servic- es, home Bible studies and transportation to the church, call 812-729 -7231. PRINCETON BETHEL MEMORIAL CHURCH 1520 S. Main St. Princeton Pastor Kevin Wilson Asst. Pastor Kyle Powell Phone 812-386 -6202 for information. Services: Sunday 8 a.m., 10:40 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Wednesday Children's Youth Ministry (Awana) 6 p.m.; Adult Bible study 6:30 p.m. FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF PRINCETON 800 W. Faith Blvd. Princeton Jim Saunders, Senior Pastor 812-635 -9200 Sunday school 9 a.m.; Sunday worship 10 :30 a.m.; Sunday evening worship 6 p.m.; Wednesday evening service 6 p.m. OUR SAVIOR LUTHER AN CHURCH (ELCA) U.S. 41 and State Rd. 64 Princeton Sunday worship 9 a.m.; Sunday school 10 :30 a.m. SALVATION ARMY CHURCH (non-denominational) 201 S. Gibson St. Princeton Capts. Alex and Ai- mee Norton Phone 812- 386 -6577 Sunday morning breakfast 9 a.m.; Sunday school 9:30 a.m.; morning worship 10 :45 a.m.; evening service 6 p.m.; Wednesday Bible study 6 p.m.; Men's Club and Home League at 7 p.m. Ask about boys' and girls' clubs. WARRENTON ST. STEPHENS COMMUNITY CHURCH 12152 S. 200 E., Warrenton Pastor Brian Pullum Sunday Worship 9 a.m.; Sunday School 10 a.m. Two Minutes With the Bible by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam John 3:16 Insight by Dave Ingler You Are the Salt of the Earth "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for any- thing, except to be thrown out and tram- pled by men." (Matthew 5:13) As Jesus sat on the mountainside and taught the crowds, He set forth a prin- ciple that still applies to Christians to- day—believers in Him are the salt of the earth. Give careful consideration to the words of our Lord on this sub- ject. Though His teaching on the sur- face appears simple, the depth of disci- pleship required to fulfill our purpose is impossible should we tackle the task in our own strength and ability. Much is at stake if we fail to surrender and be dependent upon the Holy Spirit in this matter. We may find ourselves amazed that the life of a believer is compared with something so seemingly insignificant as salt. The oceans are full of salt yet no one pays any special attention to that fact until they feel its effect upon their skin or taste it by accident. And in our soci- ety, salt is cheap and many people with health conditions avoid it completely. Why then would Jesus compare the life of a Christian to something as mun- dane as salt? To understand what Jesus was say- ing we must look at this passage from the perspective of those He was talking to. Salt was not cheap but was a very precious commodity. What we take for granted was a special product to those listening to Jesus. Salt was considered to be among the purest of all things. There- fore, when Jesus called his listeners salt He was paying them a great compliment and gained their attention. We today must grasp these truths that Jesus was trying to get the first believ- ers and the early church to understand. We are valuable in the eyes of God. When we begin to doubt our value and worth we need look no further than the cross of Calvary. We are so valuable in the eyes of God that He sent His Son in- to this world to pay our sin debt and give us eternal life. We are agents of change. Salt applied to food causes a change in its taste. Like- wise, wherever you go there is to be a change in your environment for the bet- ter because of your presence. Salt kept in a box never changes the flavor of anything. We must realize that Jesus has ordained Christians as agents of change in our society and despite the attempts of this world to silence the name and influence of Jesus, we must be true to the calling that is ours. Your life is to preserve. Your life is to add season- ing and flavor into the people that you come into contact with. Your life is to make others thirsty for a deeper knowl- edge of God. Prayerfully consider the responsibil- ity of your discipleship and start being salt today. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that who- soever believeth in him should not per- ish, but have everlasting life." Do you believe it? With all your heart? Do you believe that God gave His Son because He loved the whole world? Do you believe that whosoever be- lieves in Him receives everlasting life? Gentiles as well as Jews? Do you believe that John 3:16 applies to this age? So do we! With all our hearts! We emphasize this because we have been charged of late with putting a dis- pensational question mark opposite John 3:16. We not only believe that John 3:16 applies to this age, but that it is more pertinent today than when our Lord first spoke it to Nicodemus. But first let us turn to two other Scriptures, just as plain, though less frequently quoted. In Matthew 15:24 we have the plain words of our Lord, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Is- rael." In Matthew 10 :5,6 we read "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and command- ed them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." How can we reconcile these Scrip- tures with John 3:16? John 3:16, — "The world…whoso- ever." Matthew 10 :5,6; 15:24, — None but "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." The key to this question is found in Acts 3:25,26 where Peter says to the house of Israel, "Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, say- ing unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." The Old Testament abounds with prophecies that salvation would go to the ends of the earth through Is- rael. This is why our Lord confined His earthly ministry exclusively to the house of Israel. This is why Peter said to the people of Israel, "Unto you first…" It was no secret that salvation would go to all the world, but remember that it was to go through the covenant peo- ple. We must not forget that John 3:16 was spoken to "A RULER OF THE JEWS." This makes the words of our Lord doubly significant. It would not be at all amiss to paraphrase them thus: "For God so loved the world, Ni- codemus — not only Israel, but the world— that He gave His only begot- ten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have ever- lasting life." Sad to say, the rulers of the Jews re- jected Christ. The glorious message of John 3:16 would never have reached the Gentiles if God had waited for Isra- el to proclaim it. As a nation they themselves reject- ed God's Son. They even persecuted those who preached Christ and Saul of Tarsus became the leader of the op- position. It was in this crisis that God arrested Saul and saved him so that He might unfold His secret purpose of grace to him and through him. We quote a few Scriptures from Paul's letters: "Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but… the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant…that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereaf- ter believe on him to life everlasting" (ITim.1:13-16). "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned…so might grace reign" (Rom. 5:20,21). "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mer- cy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judg- ments and his ways past finding out! " (Rom.11:32,33). "For He is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us… for to make in Himself of twain one new man…and that he might recon- cile both unto God in one body by the cross" (Eph.2:14-16). This message of grace abounding, of grace reigning was revealed from heaven by the Lord Jesus Christ to the apostle Paul. He says in Ephesians 3:2,3: "If ye have heard of the dispen- sation of the grace of God which is giv- en me to you-ward, how that by revela- tion he made known unto me the mys- tery." This was God's eternal purpose, "kept secret since the world began" (Rom.16:25), "hid in God" (Eph.3:9), "in other ages not made known," (Eph.3:5), "hid from ages and from generations" (Col.1:26), "The Mys- tery" (Rom.16:25; Eph.1:9; 3:3,4,9; 6:19; Col. 1:26,27; 2:2; 4:3). And now, thank God, though Israel, through whom the nations should have been blessed, gropes in darkness and staggers in unbelief, any poor sinner, Jew or Gentile, may rejoice that "God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever be- lieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." striving to become more effective for all future mo- ments. The prophet Isaiah says of himself, "The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught." This is key. The teacher is to be, at the same time, a learner. Day by day, our store of learning can be increased, our understanding deep- ened, our ability to convey that knowledge and under- standing expanded. We can become like that scribe of which Jesus spoke, one who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven, who is like "a householder who brings out of his trea- sure what is new and what is old." REFLECTIONS Continued from page 5 Casino Night at Holy Cross Cafeteria Please join us on Satur- day, Jan. 27 from 5 to 11 p.m. at Holy Cross Cafeteria for our Annual Casino Night. Free Admission. Texas Hold'em Tourna- ment participants call 812- 753-3548 for reservations. Five card straight-up, pad- dlewheel, ½ pot, Black Jack, Silent/Chinese auctions, Bingo and more entertain- ment will be scheduled. Chicken and BBQ dinners will be available. Must be 21 to enter. Sts. Peter and Paul Outreach Committee to have chicken dinner Jan. 28 Sts. Peter and Paul Out- reach Committee will be serving a chicken dinner on Sunday, Jan. 28, in the school cafeteria at 210 N. Vine Street, Haubstadt at 10 :30 a.m. On the menu will be fried chicken, dressing, mashed potatoes with gravy, dump- lings, green beans, slaw, dessert and drink. Adults $ 9, Children 10 and under $4.50. Carryouts available. Donations of non-perish- able items will be collect- ed at the door for the Lord's Pantry. you can learn a lot from the Newspaper! Encourage your children to make reading the newspaper a part of their everyday routine for lifelong learning. Newspapers are living textbooks, helping students develop reading, math, social studies and language skills while exploring the issues affecting our world today. 1 Year Subscriptions start at just $27.00 for 476XX and 477XX Zipcodes 812-753-3553 or e-mail subscribe@sgstartimes.com South Gibson STOP it takes 3 MINUTES to subscribe to 812-753-3553 South Gibson SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY? CALL: 812-753-3553 Sisters offer stability talk The Oblates of the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand will hold their next meeting on Saturday, Jan. 20, from 1- 3 p.m. EST in St. Gertrude Hall at Monastery Immac- ulate Conception in Ferdi- nand. Anyone who would like to become a more spiritual person is invited to attend and learn more about the Oblates. Sister Celeste Boda and Oblate Carol Dunn will share a presentation about "Stability," from the Holy Rule of St. Benedict. Oblates are Christian women and men from all walks of life who associate themselves with a specif- ic Benedictine monastery, such as the monastery in Ferdinand. The spiritual- ity of St. Benedict can be adapted to the life of any- one seeking to live the Gos- pel message. The Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand guide and support Oblates by providing regular Oblate meetings, a quarterly news- letter and by various enrich- ment opportunities. For more information, contact Sister Brenda Engle- man, OSB, at 812-367-1411, ext. 2827, or email her at bengleman@thedome.org. We've been giving it to South Gibson and the surrounding counties for a long time, why not share what news you have with others? NEWS! 812-753-3553 South Gibson

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