Brattleboro Church of Christ

11/28/2024

Happy Thanksgiving!
Whether up at the mountain top or down in the valley, look around. Start counting your blessings and you shall be amazed.
Give thanks.

02/28/2024

Mark your calendars!

This conference is a cooperative effort of churches of Christ throughout the Northeast. Our purpose is to provide opportunity and instruction in church growth. Manchester church of Christ: 595 Tolland Turnpike, Manchester, CT 06042

09/30/2023

From Dan

02/11/2023

Save The Date! March 24-25, 2023 For Inspire New England!
Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSejXp62vFlfQJ9wJ-hSniq5vqJi7ofvdzQFx4Q0pp1mD4T4JQ/viewform

05/21/2021

A Living God

A defendant was on trial for murder. There was strong evidence indicating guilt, but there was no co**se. In the defense's closing statement the lawyer, knowing that his client would probably be convicted, resorted to a trick: "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have a surprise for you all," the lawyer said as he looked at his watch.
"Within one minute, the person presumed dead in this case will walk into this courtroom."
He looked toward the courtroom door. The jurors, somewhat stunned, all looked on eagerly. A minute passed. Nothing happened.
Finally the lawyer said, "Actually, I made up the previous statement. But you all looked on with anticipation. I therefore put it to you that there is reasonable doubt in this case as to whether anyone was killed and insist that you return a verdict of not guilty."
The jury, clearly confused, retired to deliberate. A few minutes later, the jury returned and pronounced a verdict of guilty.
"But how?" inquired the lawyer. "You must have had some doubt; I saw all of you stare at the door."
The jury foreman replied: "Oh, we did look, but your client didn't."

Oops! It was evident from the way he acted that the defendant didn't really believe the victim was still alive. Let me ask you a
question: As the world looks at our lives, is it evident to them that we believe in a living God?
Oh, I know we've made the case, we've argued the evidence, we've proclaimed the truth that "Our God, He is Alive!" But the world may be looking not so much at the evidence we present, as our demeanor, to see if it matches what we say we believe.
"For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. These things command and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (I Timothy 4:10-12)
May it be evident to the people around us by the way we act, that we serve a LIVING God!

05/20/2021

Lack Of Knowledge

I heard about a preacher who was talking with a man, and he asked him, "Do you know the Bible?" The man said, "Yes, sir." He said, "What part of the Bible do you know the best?" The man said, "The New Testament."
The preacher went on to ask him what part of the New Testament he knew the best. The man said, "Well, I suppose I know the story of the Good Samaritan best of all." The preacher said, "Tell me that story."
The man said, "Well, as best as I can recall, there was a good Samaritan traveling down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell among the thorns and they sprang up and choked him and left him half dead.
"But a man came by feeding his swine and he said to the man, 'I will arise and go to my father.' So he took up his bed and walked. But while the soldiers were chasing him through the forest, he got the hair of his head caught up in the trees and he hung there 40 days and 40 nights, and the ravens fed him.
"Just then, Delilah came along with a big pair of shears and she cut off his hair and he fell on stony ground. But the good master of the house resurrected the man and he journeyed on his way.
"All of a sudden, he came to the wall of Jericho and there's Jezebel sitting on the wall and she mocked him. And he said, 'Chunk her down to the dogs.' And they chunked her down 70 times 7, and great was the fall thereof, and of the fragments that remained they picked up twelve baskets full, and whose wife shall she be in the resurrection?"

I would hope that no one's Bible knowledge here this morning is quite as bad as that, but I think it's safe to say that few of us know the Bible as well as we should.
Contrary to popular opinion, when it comes to spiritual matters, ignorance is not bliss. In Proverbs 19:2, Solomon said, "It is not good for a soul to be without knowledge." God has always stressed the fact that his people need to know his word.
In the days of Hosea, God said, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being priest for me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children." (Hosea 4:6).
What was the problem? It wasn't that they didn't have access to God's Word. They just simply didn't care enough about it to listen to it. Does it scare you just a bit to realize that God could possibly say the same thing about us - "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge"? Thom Rainer was accurate when he said, "Almost every home in our nation has one or more Bibles, but our citizens are biblically illiterate."
We need to be known as a people of the book, a people who study and know and love the Bible.

05/19/2021

The Best Is Yet To Come

The sound of Martha's voice on the other end of the telephone always brought a smile to Brother Jim's face. She was not only one of the oldest members of the congregation, but one of the most faithful. Aunt Martie, as all of the children called her, just seemed to ooze faith, hope, and love wherever she went. This time, however, there seemed to be an unusual tone to her words. "Preacher, could you stop by this afternoon? I need to talk with you." "Of course, I'll be there around three. Is that ok?"
It didn't take long for Jim to discover the reason for what he had only sensed in her voice before. As they sat facing each other in the quiet of her small living room. Martha shared the news that her doctor had just discovered a previously undetected tumor. "He says I probably have six months to live". Martha's words were naturally serious, yet there was a definite calm about her. "I'm so sorry to...." but before Jim could finish, Martha interrupted. "Don't be. The Lord has been good. I have lived a long life. I'm ready to go. You know that." "I know," Jim whispered with a reassuring nod.
"But I do want to talk with you about my funeral. I have been thinking about it, and there are things that I know I want." The two talked quietly for a long time. They talked about Martha's favorite hymns, the passages of Scripture that had meant so much to her through the years, and the many memories they shared from the five years Jim had been with Central Church.
When it seemed that they had covered just about everything, Aunt Martie paused, looked up at Jim with a twinkle in her eye, and then added, "One more thing, preacher. When they bury me, I want my old Bible in one hand and a fork in the other". "A fork?" Jim was sure he had heard everything, but this caught him by surprise. "Why do you want to be buried with a fork?"
"I have been thinking about all of the church dinners and banquets that I attended through the years," she explained, "I couldn't begin to count them all. But one thing sticks in my mind -- At those really nice get-togethers, when the meal was almost finished, a server or maybe the hostess would come by to collect the dirty dishes. I can hear the words now. Sometimes, at the best ones, somebody would lean over my shoulder and whisper, 'You can keep your fork.' And do you know what that meant? Dessert was coming! "It didn't mean a cup of Jell-O or pudding or even a dish of ice cream. You don't need a fork for that. It meant the good stuff, like chocolate cake or cherry pie! When they told me I could keep my fork, I knew the best was yet to come!
"That's exactly what I want people to talk about at my funeral. Oh, they can talk about all the good times we had together. That would be nice. But when they walk by my casket and look at my pretty blue dress, I want them to turn to one another and say, 'Why the fork'?
That's what I want you to say, I want you to tell them, that I kept my fork because the best is yet to come!"

Truly, for a child of God, the best is yet to come.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you." (I Peter 1:3-4)

05/05/2021

Thinking About Quitting?

My first job was working in an orange juice factory, but I got canned because I couldn't concentrate.
Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe.
After that I tried to be a tailor, but I just wasn't suited for it. Mainly because it was a so-so job.
Next I tried working in a muffler factory but that was exhausting.
I wanted to be a barber, but I just couldn't cut it.
Then I tried to be a chef -- figured it would add a little spice to my life but I just didn't have the thyme.
My best job was being a musician, but eventually I found I wasn't noteworthy.
I studied a long time to become a doctor, but I didn't have any patients.
Next was a job in a shoe factory; I tried but I just didn't fit in. They gave me the boot.
I became a professional fisherman, but discovered that I couldn't live on my net income.
I managed to get a good job working for a pool maintenance company, but the work was just too draining.
I got a job at a zoo feeding giraffes but I was fired because I wasn't up to it.
So then I got a job in a gymnasium, but they said I wasn't fit for the job.
After many years of trying to find steady work I finally got a job as a historian until I realized there was no future in it.
My last job was working at Starbucks, but I had to quit because it was always the same old grind.

Seriously, though, why do people quit? Why do some people quit their jobs? Even more importantly, why do some Christians quit following Christ?
I have a great love for the book of Hebrews because it addresses that very question. It is written to a group of Hebrew Christians who were considering leaving Christ and going back to Judaism. Why?
There are several reasons that surface in the letter.
Some apparently missed the spectacular pageantry of Judaism ("Where's your temple? Where's your high priest?"). Others were influenced by family and friends who regarded them as outcasts when they embraced Christianity (Heb. 10:32).
Still others were apparently considering quitting because they were tired. Tired? Yes, tired. The road of Christianity is a long one, and sometimes difficult. There are times we have all considered just sitting down and giving up.
I remember when I was a boy and my family would go to the Blue Ridge Mountains to camp and hike. Hiking was great fun. We would walk down a waterfall and I was full of energy ("Don't walk so slow! Come on, let's go!"). But after several miles of hiking, coming back was a different story ("I can't walk another step. Just go on without me and leave me here by this rock to die!").
The same thing can happen spiritually. That's why the book of Hebrews is full of admonitions to "hang in there".
"...Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us....lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.....Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees." (Hebrews 12:1,3,12)
Ready to quit? Don't think you can take even one more step? Hang in there. Don't give up now. Home is just around the corner.

Alan Smith – Cruciform Church of Christ