Prayer for Sasha and Kiev Church

This screenshot is what the North Atlanta Church of Christ received from Sasha Prokopchuk in the church of Christ in Kiev four days ago. Keep praying for Sasha, Victoria, and the church their in Kiev.
 
Here is a prayer request list that was sent to us from a connection of Tommy Crosslin’s in Archana, Ukraine. Use at your discretion.
1) Pray we can hold Kyiv
2) Pray we can see and be a part of God’s army to share the love and compassion of Christ. 
3) Pray about Mariupol invasion and taking it back. 
4) Pray our properties would be protected in all locations. 
5) Pray for protection for travel as we mobilize to help others.
6) Pray for travel and logistics provision as Ruslan spends days gathering supplies. 
7) Pray for wisdom to know when and if Arch & the girls need to leave and the decision they face to separate as a family. 

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Sermon Notes: 02/27 – True Identity #1

True Identity #1: Your Choice

Galatians 1:1-12

WELCOME: Welcome to Central Church of Christ, not a place, not building, not a creed, or religious system, but a people called out by God in the Upper Cumberland to Show God’s Love, Tell God’s Story, and Be God’s Family.  Today we start our new sermon series called, TRUE IDENTITY as found in the book of Galatians.

GALATIANS Background:

Where are we?

Upon arriving back in Antioch from his first missionary journey after eighteen months on the road, Paul received a report that the churches he had started in Galatia had fallen into hard times—specifically, they had fallen into error. A group of Judaizers—those who sought to make living under the Mosaic Law a requirement of the Christian faith—had gained an influence in the Galatian churches. Paul wrote the book a few months before his attendance at the Jerusalem Council in AD 49, a meeting where the apostles would take up this very topic (Acts 15:1–30).

Why is Galatians so important?

In advance of the Jerusalem Council, Paul’s letter speaks wisdom and clarity into the first real controversy that plagued the church in its early years—the relationship between Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles. Paul’s aggressive tone shows just how important it was to him that the people embrace unity in Christ, no matter their racial distinctions. For him, this was no minor issue, as he went so far as to call the Galatians deserters of Christ, people turning from the truth toward a gospel contrary to the one they had received from Paul (Galatians 1:6–9).

What’s the big idea?

When the Galatians fell away so quickly from the gospel of grace Paul had preached to them, they also made clear their disloyalty to Paul’s authority as an apostle. Therefore, Paul began the letter to the Galatians by spending two chapters defending that very issue. Only in chapter 3 did he begin to get to the heart of their error; namely, that these Galatians sought to be justified by the Mosaic Law. In contrast, Paul presented his argument that justification comes to people by faith in Jesus Christ, not by their works under the Law.

In Galatians 1:10 he writes: “am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

  John said it this way: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other….” Matthew 6:24

Galatians 3:27-28 Paul told them “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.       (i.e. you don’t need to do anything else) There is neither Jew nor Greek (i.e. you don’t have to become a Jew 1st) there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

“even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:8-9

Roughly half of Americans believe they will go to heaven if they are “generally good” or “do enough good things” (2020) https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/michael-foust/wakeup-call-for-the-church-half-of-americans-say-good-deeds-get-you-to-heaven-poll-shows.html

Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of NY https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/michael-bloomberg-i-have-earned-my-place-in-heaven/437457/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share&fbclid=IwAR0HxuonfPAuO2vHR9RSK2Rkg34u1fLmmJtIOLmESoFVkP4mMAHYzW2cETw said it this way: “I am telling you, if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven.”

Romans 3:10 Paul writes: “as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one’”

“I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I RECEIVED IT BY REVELATION from Jesus Christ.” Galatians 1:12

“our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do THE OTHER SCRIPTURES.” II Peter 3:15-16

 

Jesus described it in what we’ll talk about in our growth group meetings tonight.  “Why do you call me ‘Lord’ when you don’t do what I say?”  – Luke 6:46

 

CLOSE: I want introduce you to a person who has chosen their identity in Christ.

Preaching Minister – Sasha Prokopchuk

The minister says he gets a bit embarrassed when people in this eastern Ukrainian city recognize him as “that preacher on TV” who walks around town in a turtleneck, talking about the problems that vex Ukrainians and offering free Bible lessons.
Standing in the TV ministry’s “response center” — a converted apartment in a crumbling, Soviet-era building — Prokopchuk takes a letter from the top of a stack and reads it. A viewer wants to receive a magazine produced by the ministry and is interested in what the Bible says about love and marriage. Similar requests come, via letters and e-mail, from across the country — and from other former Soviet nations, including Russia.
For Prokopchuk, who has preached on the airwaves of Ukraine for more than a decade, those requests make the notoriety worthwhile.
“I don’t feel like I’m a TV guy — never,” he says. “God created this.”
Prokopchuk grew up in the Soviet Union as an atheist. He and his wife, Victoria, were newlyweds when his government called him to serve in the Red Army. He later worked in a Soviet hospital but earned little money. He tried coal mining and truck driving to support his family. When the Soviet Union collapsed, they lost what little money they had.
Frustrated and depressed, Prokopchuck read to take his mind off his problems. One night, unable to find a newspaper, he picked up a “black book with a cross” that his wife had bought from a beggar woman in a train station. He flipped through the pages and found a passage in which the author lamented that all of his life’s pursuits — from drinking wine to amassing riches — had proved meaningless. “I realized, ‘This book is about me,’” he said.  
He kept reading the Bible, and found encouragement in Jesus’ teachings about prayer and repentance. His relationship with his family improved — including his mother-in-law, who was housing them at the time.
After two years of studying on his own, Prokopchuk and his wife met Denny Kruse, a U.S. missionary in Donetsk. Kruse baptized Prokopchuk on May 2, 1995, and encouraged him to preach.
Prokopchuk served as minister and elder for the Petrovsky Church of Christ in Donetsk, which grew to nearly 400 members, he said. In 2004 he helped plant the Transfiguration Church of Christ, where he now ministers, in the city’s downtown.
He launched the TV program in hopes of reaching more lost souls. The episodes are filled with the life lessons he learned from studying the Bible. In 2001, Kruse helped secure funds to broadcast the show nationally.
“People like the episodes about human emotions,” Prokopchuk said. “We go through conflicts and worry … the Kingdom of God, peaceful life.” A key focus is making God’s word understandable, he added.


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3 Events Tomorrow!

Don’t forget that Men’s Breakfast is at Robert’s Diner at 8am, Women’s Breakfast is in the annex at 8am, and Youth Workday starts tomorrow morning.  Text Patrick for details. 

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Sermon Notes: 02/20 – Patrick Lankford

John 4:24

Significance of Mount Gerizim- https://www.gotquestions.org/mount-Gerizim.html

Definition of worship: To ascribe worth/qualities to something or someone.

From the Greek-

proskyneo: to throw a kiss toward, to bow beforeMatt.28:9

Latreia: sacred service

 

Rom. 12:1

To worship God is to serve God to the glory of His name, in both word and deed.

Col. 3:13

Worship-

Worship is a response to who God is and what He has done for us.

In Spirit-

To worship in Spirit is to worship with an attitude that reflects our dependence on God and thanksgiving for the salvation He has given us.

In Truth-

Worship must be done according to God’s will. 

John 4:20-22

What does this all mean?

  • Worship is service done to the glory of God.
  • Worship is a response to who God is and what God has done.
  • Worship must reflect the character of God and His will.
  • Worship must edify the church.

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Sermon Notes 2/13: How Do I Love Her?

Scripture Reading: John 21:15-17

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.”                                                      (I Corinthians 13:4-8)

 

God gives us an example of what true love is like.

Ephesians 5:25-27 says “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

https://www.southerndigest.com/article_3bcfe8ad-7fbf-5c6c-a400-46cde8907d8e.html

 

https://www.openbible.info/topics/the_bride_of_christ

Ephesians 5:25-27 ESV / 639 helpful votes

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

 Revelation 19:7-9 ESV / 580 helpful votes

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

 2 Corinthians 11:2 ESV / 416 helpful votes

For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

 Revelation 21:2 ESV / 412 helpful votes

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

 John 3:29 ESV / 322 helpful votes

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.

 Revelation 21:9 ESV / 304 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

 

FOCUS SCRIPTURE OF LOVE: Look again at John 21:15-17

“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter,

‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?’

‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’

Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’

Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me?’

 He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’

Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’

The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’

 Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.’”

 

 “Now the overseer (an Elder) must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.  He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?” 1 Timothy 3:2-5 

 

Steven Curtis Chapman asked this question in his song, “How Do I Love Her?”

            Lyrics

Well, you know it’s not the first time
And it will not be the last
When you find me here, on my knees
Praying for the storm to pass
But what I am really needing
Is much more than just relief
I am crying out for wisdom
Only You can give to me
Cause it’s such a mystery
I’m a clueless man, when it comes
To knowing how to love a woman

How do I love her
How do I let her know
She means more than anything to me
How do I love her
How do I love her
Love her

Out of all of the gifts You’ve given
Besides the very gift of life
There is none as precious to me
As the treasure of my wife
And still, all the love in my heart
Is like a raindrop to the sea
When compared to Your love for her
And that’s why I’m asking please
Will you teach me what she needs

How do I love her
How do I let her know
She means more than anything to me
How do I love her
How do I love her
Love her

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzSvDqBerHs

 

 

“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” – Ephesians 2:22

Ephesians 4:29 says that we Christians should “…not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” – Matthew 18:15

 

 

Helen Keller, who completely lost her sight and hearing at 19 months from a severe infection, tells how she learned the meaning of love from Ann Sullivan, her teacher, who was half blind herself.

Helen told about their 1st meeting 3 months before she was 7 years old.

“The morning after my teacher came she led me into her room and gave me a doll… When I had played with it a little while, Miss Sullivan slowly spelled into my hand the word,  D-O-L-L. I was excited when I finally spelled the word myself. And I ran downstairs to show my mother.”

  Several days later, Helen told of how Miss Sullivan pumped cold water on her hand and spelled out water on her hand and spelled out W-A-T-E-R.

  After learning to spell hundreds of words, one day Miss Sullivan spelled out he word, L-O-V-E in Helen’s hand. Perplexed, Helen spelled back, “W-H-A-T I-S L-O-V-E?”

That’s our objective as members of Christ’s bride… to trace into the hands of the people around us the love our Savior Jesus.

https://www.awakin.org/v2/read/view.php?tid=379


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Braydyn Taylor is out of surgery successfully!

Braydyn is out of surgery as of 7:40pm on Friday night.  Here’s the latest update from her mom, April. 
“Ok, I figured I would write this here so everyone would be updated and no misinformation. Braydyn is out of surgery after a eight hour surgery back into the ICU unit. Her father and I met with her Dr who describe it has a very detailed , difficult surgery as to where the tumor was located. He felt that it was a successful surgery. We told him the amount of prayers that he was receiving today. He stated “ that he could feel those prayers when he was working on her during the procedure. Shout our Lord and Savior’s name.
Next he has told us that they will do an MRI in the morning to make sure they got all of it. We will be also waiting for the pathology back. So I need my prayers warriors to make those two specific prayers. 1. The mri in the morning shows that all of it was removed 2, the ALL pathology comes back clear.
The Dr. said that she was through a very intensive brain surgery and will need time, patience, and healing. The unit is calling her a little Rock Star. She has opened her eyes and moved all her arms and legs, she told then who she was, where she was at ,and what she it was, what year it was.( I still mess that up)
Please keep the Prayers coming!!! #prayforbraydyn #11 💜💜



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Give Blood

Help neighbors through a tough time by giving blood through our local provider. These blood drives help serve many of our friends who are undergoing surgeries, battling cancer, or have had a traumatic accident. Sign up to be someone’s MVP for this Sunday’s drive at Central Church of Christ from 12-4pm. Do it for someone you love. We have 12 spots left! http://bloodassurance.org/CCOC

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Blood Drive: Give from the Heart

Give a gift from the heart for Valentines’ Day this year. Donate Blood in the parking lot of Central Church of Christ with Blood Assurance, a local organization that serves local hospitals. Message Topher for any questions.

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Sermon Notes: 02/06/22 – Matters of the Heart1

Scripture Reading: Philippians 1:6-11

Blood Drive – Feb 13th, 12-4pm – bloodassurance.org/CCOC

“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”

“If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two:  I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.” Philippians 1:22-24

Link in Google Books:  In Jesus’ Strong Hands: Victors Instead of Victims

ILLUS: There’s a legend about a wealthy merchant who traveled thru-out the Mediterranean world looking for an opportunity to meet the Apostle Paul. After a time, he encountered a disciple of Paul’s named Timothy, and Timothy arranged a visit. But at the time (according to the legend) Paul was a prisoner in Rome, living in a jail cell.

  Stepping inside the cell, the merchant was surprised to find a frail old man. But as he talked with him (and they talked for hours) he found Paul to be a man of deep peace and power.

Finally the merchant left Paul… and outside the prison, he asked Timothy “What is the secret of this man’s power? I have never seen anything like it before.”

  “Oh, didn’t you know?” replied Timothy. “PAUL is in love.”

  The merchant looked bewildered. “In Love?”

  “Oh yes,” Timothy answered, “Paul is in love with Jesus Christ.”

  The merchant scoffed. “Is that all?”

  Timothy smiled and then replied, “Yes sir. That’s all… but that is everything.”

Link in Google Books:  In Jesus’ Strong Hands: Victors Instead of Victims

Philippians 1:12-13 “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ”

“All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.” Philippians 4:22 

 

ILLUS: DARRYL BURTON: In 1984, a drug dealer was shot to death at a gas station in St. Louis, Missouri. The man who shot him was a light-skinned African American male, 5’5” in height. Police looked for suspects and even though Darryl Burton was dark skinned and 5’10” in height, he was summoned to a police line up. Two men came forward identifying Darryl as the murder. Both were awaiting trial, but were given a lighter sentence if they testified that Burton was guilty. Darryl Burton was assigned a public defender who spent only one hour with him before his trial and the jury convicted him in less than an hour. Darryl found himself being sentenced to life in prison without parole. He was assigned to the Missouri State Penitentiary, one of the most violent prisons in the U.S.  

Darryl remembers, “When I heard the jurors say guilty, I felt shock and disbelief. I just didn’t think, in America, an innocent man could be sent to prison, especially capital murder” explained Burton. He clearly remembers a huge banner that hung at the entrance of the penitentiary that said “Welcome to the Missouri State Pen. Leave all your hopes, family, and dreams behind.” “When I saw that banner, it deeply affected me and I lost all hope. I hated the place, the system, and anyone that had anything to do with it. It was hell on earth – filled with violence, evil, and hate.”

Darryl remained in prison twenty-four years from 1984-2009 and spent many of those days in the prison law library, dedicated to proving his innocence. He wrote over 600 letters to members of the government, nonprofit organizations, even Oprah Winfrey to plead his case. However, it was not until he allowed Christ into his life that he began to experience a change. Darryl discovered that anger and hate can be another prison, and that Jesus said we must love our enemies, pray for them, and forgive them. “Until I read that truth in Luke 23:34, I didn’t think that was possible,“ he said. Ten years prior to Darryl’s exoneration, he felt emotionally and spiritually freed. “God had to work something out of me (bitterness and hatred), in order to work something into me (love and grace), in order to do His work through me.”

After learning of a confession from a witness who admitted in 1985, “You have the wrong man, he’s too dark,” Darryl worked with Centurion Ministries to have his wrongful conviction overturned. Darryl often recalls a letter that he wrote to Jesus while imprisoned. It said “Jesus, if you’re real and help me get out of this place, not only will I serve you, but I’ll tell the world about you.”

Darryl now shares his nightmare story of adversity to help others and bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ. Since 2008, he has spoken about forgiveness, redemption, and hope at churches, conferences and lectures around the globe. Seven years after his exoneration, he never takes one day for granted. He didn’t just live for Christ when things were going well.  https://www.darrylburton.org/about

Philippians 1:29  “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.”

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” 1 Peter 4:12 

John 15:19 Jesus said: “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

 

Church Curmudgeon: https://twitter.com/ChrchCurmudgeon?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
“Usually when the writing is on the wall, it portends the death of a culture. But hey, fine, throw out the hymnals and use a projector.“ – CM

Philippians 1:9-11 “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ— to the glory and praise of God.”

 

CLOSE: KILL EM WITH KINDNESS  About 6 year ago, famous singer/actress Selena Gomez was going through some major challenges and catching a lot of tabloid criticism.  I love that she was in the midst of all that that she released a song that epitomizes Paul’s words on how to treat the world. Here’s the acapella version of “Kill Em with Kindness.”  Sung by acapella artist, Julia Westin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-03gGXtwwiM

The world can be a nasty place

You know it, I know it, yeah

See, we don’t have to fall from grace

Put down the weapons you fight with

And kill ’em with kindness

Kill ’em with kindness

Kill ’em, kill ’em, kill ’em with kindness

Kill ’em with kindness

Kill ’em with kindness

Go ahead, go ahead now

We’re running out of time chasing our lives

Everyday a small piece of you dies

There’s aways somebody you’re willing to fight, to be right

Your lies are bullets, your mouth’s a gun

No war and anger was ever won

Put out the fire before igniting

Next time you’re fighting

Please, kill ’em with kindness

Kill ’em with kindness

Kill ’em, kill ’em, kill ’em with kindness

 


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Class Notes – Biblical Ecclesiology – God’s Gifts

As mentioned in Bible class tonight, I am uploading my slide deck from Powerpoint for all those who like to take lots of notes. Let me know if you have any questions.

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