 Weekly Events
January's Events January 21 @ 9 am January 29 - following 2nd service COMMUNITY GROUPS Mike McGovern & Jerry White Keith & Pennie Mobley Karl & Brenda Williams Aimee Baskett & Chris Sims Scot & Shelly Colwell Celebrate Recovery Marriage Enrichment
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Welcome!We welcome you to Christian Assembly! Every week the staff prays that God would give us visitors to whom we would be a blessing. We want to help you feel right at home and our hope is that you would feel welcome to worship with us. It won't take you long to discover that this Church is truly a family. Our doors are open, as well as our hearts. We have a number of ministries that could well be of spiritual benefit to you. We would be honored to serve you in an ongoing way and would be equally blessed if Christian Assembly would become a place you could call your spiritual home. Please feel free to call the church at 406.721.6884 if you have any questions regarding Christian Assembly or if we may be of any assistance. In the service of the Savior,
A Set Heart! "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation" (Psa.91:14-16). Like all the Psalms, there are a number of meanings and applications. This particular Psalm has Messianic truths. Christ, in His incarnate (made flesh body), made it very clear Who His love was set upon… Father God (John 14:31)! Does this earlier phrase remind you of something someone said to Jesus in His wilderness temptation…“He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone” (Psa.91:11-12; Mt.4:6). The other side of that is the application to the readers of that day and our own. A number of translations say, “…Whoever loves me, I will save. I will protect those who know me…” (9:14) NCV! This “set of the heart” has application to all those that set the affection of their heart on God. “Set” is rendered “delight pleasure and joined” in other verses of the Old Covenant. This “set” kind of love is an exclusive kind of love. It is a priority expression. When the heart gets “set” in love with Him, there is no rival…there can be no rival! Jesus repeats verbatim the “law” that says “…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt 22:37; Dt.6:5). That is not only the first and greatest commandment, it is the best thing we can do with our lives…love Him with abandon! Heart “set” on Him! Mike
Dedicated Since all these things will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people should you be? Your lives should be holy and dedicated to God. (2 Peter 3:11) GNT Pretty much, all of 2 Peter is addressing the second coming of Christ. The verse just prior to this said the Lord is coming as a thief in the night. The Apostle Paul says the same thing (1Thess. 5:2). The One who is coming said, “As the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matt. 24:27) That’s pretty quick…as we all have heard the term…“lightning fast!” The second coming however is not the subject of this comment nor is the suddenness by which He will come. Peter’s question is actually the thing that caught my attention. Since the earth and the heavens as we know them shall be burned up with fervent heat (v.10 & 12) and suddenly, “What kind of people should you be,” he asked? (v.3:11) He answers quickly and concisely, “Our lives should be holy and dedicated to God.” Peter’s answer is a great one, but living holy and dedicated lives to God would be the answer, even if He was returning on a slow boat from China. If Christ was not coming for a thousand more years and He even gave us the date, what other possible life could a genuine Christian live, other than a deep devotion to/for God? The person to whom Christ has been revealed is a captivated heart. It is a heart that says, what Peter said at an earlier stage in his walk to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (John 6:68).” A few other translations say, “Where can we go?” Whether Jesus is coming soon or not, when you have discovered Jesus Christ, there are no other options for you. I would throw in a translation that would say, “Why would we go?” Anything or anyone else would be a significant downgrade. Dedicated,
Stability! That is one fine word! Stability is something we all want “presumably” for our own lives. It is just as sought after in people we want to associate with. The only time the word “stability” is used in the whole English Bible is in Isaiah: “Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of your times…” (Isa. 33:6). In the context of Isaiah, it means something steady. The Hebrew word, however, is translated into other English words like truly, truth, faithful, faithfulness, and set! These are all good renderings, all of which point to something or someone that is firm and stable, bedrock. One translation actually says, “He will be the sure foundation for your times…” (Isa. 33:6) NIV. In constantly changing environments of life on Earth, it is a great source of comfort to know that He is the “sure foundation” of our times. His Grace on Your New Year! Mike
The Source of Our Flame! On November 22, 1963, in the early afternoon, I can remember the silence as my Sophomore French class was interrupted by an announcement over the school intercom that President Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas, Texas. A few days later, the President was laid to rest in Arlington Cemetery. At the funeral, Jacqueline (Jackie) his widow had requested an eternal flame be lit marking her husband’s grave. According to her wishes, a temporary torch was lit and later a more permanent gravesite and torch were constructed. To this day the flame still burns! That was a sad page in American history (world history); our nation mourned for a beloved National leader. Other than a few momentary mishaps, that torch has not gone out. That permanent torch had an underground propane gas line installed that feeds that flame a steady stream of gas; otherwise that flame would have gone out decades ago. That moment of reflection in history causes me to think how many more moments of upset and turmoil I (we) have experienced in our nation since that November and, even more close to home, our own personal sorrows. More specific to my Kennedy memories, “how has my flame fared” during all the bullets I have absorbed (metaphorically speaking) through all these years that have followed? The straightforward truth is I have fared well. Like the eternal flame marking the President’s grave in Arlington, I have experienced moments when the flame seemed all but out—with a flicker here and there. One of King David’s greatest Psalms has been a flame of a different kind to me over the course of my life. Actually, it was true for David a thousand years before Christ took on human form at Bethlehem, the City of David.” David was scared…to death! He was having a Dallas/Arlington experience. “The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me. The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path” (Psa.18:4-5). How appropriate to our earlier history lesson. A nation was in shock, fear, anger! It would not be the last time we mourned as a nation...a world. But you ask, “Where is the flame burning?” I am glad you asked. “You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness” (Psalm 18:28). How David came to that declaration since the “ropes of death and the grave” were closing in all around him are the truths sandwiched in between verses 5 and 28. In David’s worst time, when his light/flame was going out, he retreated to God His Savior. “…In my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to Him reached His ears” (Psa.18:6). Here’s a good question for all of us as we enter the New Year 2012! How’s the flame in your life? What supplies the fuel for that flame? As cool and as touching as the eternal flame is at the Arlington grave of President Kennedy, that is an artificial and exhaustible source of gas overseen by a personal battery of government employees which we do not have, needless to say. David tells how he stayed connected to the Flame/Light…In distress he cried, he prayed to the LORD for help and God kept him lit. At the beginning, John’s Gospel records he states that the Word that was with God and was God is also the One who has Life in Himself…real Life in Himself and this “life is the light of men” (Jn.1:4). Later Jesus Himself says, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12). So what I am saying in a sentence is, “We have THE SOURCE of eternal flame and it isn’t a propane tank. A few minutes a day with this Source in 2012 can keep us from ever walking in darkness. Prayer feeds the flame, Mike
"More Than a Hallmark Moment …Born to you this day in the city of David…A SAVIOR, Welcome all of you this morning to Christian Assembly! We are so glad you are here for this Christmas Day Celebration! It seems foolish to say to a room full of Jesus Christ followers that He is what Christmas is all about, but I feel better for saying it! Way too many things crowd our focus every Christmas. It is good for us to get centered on the reason for the season, as some say. Two things stand out to me in the verse at the top…“Savior and Christ the Lord!” The “Savior,” is what the Lord Himself, told Joseph in a dream that Mary will bear a son and His name will be Jesus, “for he will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). “Christ the Lord” attaches the identification of Jesus being no ordinary man, but the long awaited God/Man prophesied for millenniums. May your time here this morning be way “More Than a Hallmark Moment,” may you experience Him in a new and lasting way! Merry Christmas!
Mike
Did God have To? My mother wasn’t big on explanations. I would ask my mother lots of questions. One of the more frequent ones was…you guessed it, “Do I have to?” Mother’s usual response was, “Because I said so!” But why? Danny, Patty, and Timmy don’t have to, why do I? Because I said so! When it comes to the centerpiece of Christmas…the Incarnation (becoming human) of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, I have lots of questions and really good Biblical answers. Why did God become man? Why did God do what He did this way? Why not just show up as an adult, why a baby? Why wait as long as He did to do what He did? Why Mary and this Joseph fellow? I have lots of straight, forward answers from the Bible on these kinds of questions and hundreds of others, but the question that I am thinking of at the moment, is one I don’t ever remember asking myself or anyone else… “Did God have to?” Why did God… why does God do anything that He did or does? Did God have to do anything the way He did, or did He have to do anything at all? Here’s one…”Did the Father God tell the Son of God He had to because He said to?” Silly questions huh? Still, did God have to do what He did? The Bible answer, in a very brief sort of way, is “yes!” He did have to do what He did, but not at all for the same reasons I had to do what my mother told me to do. Fear motivated what I had to do for mother, but God had other things driving Him to do what He did…”love.” That is not the only reason God had to do what He did, but it is a big reason. In that terrible Old Covenant with that mean ol’ God that some people think He was, He says, “…I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you” (Jer. 31:30). Yes, He had to do what He did, but all for reasons of His own! We love because He first loved us! Mike
No One Is Exempt From This One! “But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So, affectionately longing for you, we were pleased to impart to you not only the Gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us” (1 Thess. 2:7-8). Paul had a reputation in some sectors as an all-talk, no-action kind of guy. His words were real tough in letters, but his physical bearing and speech was no big deal (2 Cor. 10:10). There was a tough side to him and he warned that those “…who have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare” (2 Cor. 13:2). We are not told if he ever had to deliver on that threat, but I would not have wanted to mess with him! But Paul had a tender side to him and it is evidenced by his epistles abounding in relational language everywhere. Read again the phrases above—“Gentle…as a nursing mother…affectionately longing for you…imparting…our own lives, because you had become dear to us,” is very intimate language. The apostle had to be tough skinned, blazing the trails and planting “the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God” in very hostile environments. But toughness without tenderness is not something that people gravitate towards. People may fear toughness; they cannot love it. No one, no matter what vocation God calls you into (minister, mechanic, salesperson, or sailor), you will not represent Him well without “love.” Even if someone is a thundering, fearless prophet, that will be no license to proceed without tenderness. In fact, this same apostle will say, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing” (1 Cor. 13:1-3). No One Is Exempt From Love! Mike
Love Satisfies All
“Love does no wrong to anyone, so love satisfies all of God’s requirements” Today I was struck again by the simplicity of it all. Religion makes it so complicated. The Jews had thousands – literally thousands – of rules they had developed to try to live according to God’s law. Jesus said, “Love God with all your heart and love others like you love yourself. That should do it.” The Christians had already begun to develop a lot of rules about what they should and shouldn’t do, say, eat, drink, wear, or think. Paul reminds them and us again, “Keep it simple!” If you really love God and really love other people and if you speak and act in light of that love, you’ll get it right most of the time. It ain’t rocket science! Paul wraps it up with these words: “I am fully convinced, dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well that you are able to teach others all about them” (Romans 15:14). It’s not that we need to know a lot more to live the Christian life; it’s simply that we need to live what we already know. And we need to be reminded. How often? As often as it takes. It’s not what you know; it’s what you do with what you know! Prayer:
Fullness of Time “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law…” (Gal 4:4). That is a compelling thought…God does things in the fullness of time! There’s the rub, isn’t it? God does things in the fullness of time…His time! His time, if you have not yet discovered, doesn’t fit into any of the 24 times zones encircling the Earth. Time zones are uniform standards for legal, commercial, and social purposes devised by earthlings. God has His own calendar and timepieces and we call it His “will or purposes.” This of course doesn’t fit tidy in my “Outlook” schedule of events. When the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son. The prophets for centuries had been declaring the coming of the Messiah; in fact, the first mention of the coming prophetic Son was from God to the serpent (devil) right after Adam and Eve had sinned: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel" (Gen 3:14). 4000 years (earthling time) later, it was the “fullness of time” in God’s will. Notice the terminology in both verses refers to the offspring of the woman, not the man. “Born of a woman” (Mary) underscores the uniqueness of her Son. Luke informs us how unique her Son was: “…Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’ And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God’” (Luke 1:34-35). Fullness is a special word in the New Covenant. The word fullness is used to describe the Body of Christ. “…And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph 1:22-23). The same word is used to describe Christ and all the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in Him (Col 2:9). The word is also the same one used to refer to the amount of loaves and fishes that were gathered up after Jesus miraculously fed the 5000 “… and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes” (Mark 6:43). Fullness literally means that which is put in to fill up like…a container. It carries the idea of completion or room for nothing else. The Christ, the Messiah has always been the purpose in the mind and plan of God. The promise of His coming in the flesh at Bethlehem according to the prophet Micah (Mic.5:2; Mt.2:1-6); His being born of a virgin (Isa.7:14; Mt.1:20-23); the means of His death (Psa.22:16; Jn.20:25); the reason for His death on the cross to bear the sin of the world (Isa.53:5-6; 1Pet.2:24-25; Mk.10:45); His resurrection (Psa.16:10; Acts 2:27, 31)—absolutely nothing surprised God; all went according to His plan right on time…”in the fullness of time.” All this, of course, to the discerning soul allows for greater faith for the grand finale to happen right on time and just according to plan when the Son of God will come to earth on an entirely different agenda, His final coming in judgment and great glory (Dan.7:13-14; Mk.13:24-27). The preponderance of Biblical and extant historical documentation is overwhelming in evidence. As we celebrate this Christmas in remembrance of the reason for His first coming “in the fullness of time” may it buoy our faith to look for His final coming for a different reason “in the fullness of time” as well. Merry Christmas friends! Mike Homepage |
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