Towpath Family Church of the Nazarene

Towpath Family Church of the Nazarene The Towpath Family Church of the Nazarene is a growing church in the community of Canal Fulton, OH. Sunday Services:
Sunday School: 9:45am
Service: 10:45am

06/15/2026

Critical Influence
Jun 14, 2026 09:24 pm | H. Lamar Smith

Recently my two pastors said something that dovetailed in a beautiful way. “When you don’t follow God, it affects other people”, Pastor Tim Campbell. “There are souls attached to your obedience”, Pastor Bonnye Campbell. These two statements reflect truths that we seldom think about. We think it is just “Jesus and me”; that is never true. We have families; we live in communities. We have influence; everyone has followers. Someone looks toward you or looks to you that you do not know about. When people come to a church they have people they look up to. I have seen how a local church has been hurt over the years for people who just decided to walk away, or slowly drift from the church to their favorite leisure. Some who watched followed them out. We are our sisters’ keeper; we are our brothers’ keeper. We are our neighbor’s anchor; we are our friends’ rock. Lord, may I not fail you; may I not fail them!

06/14/2026

By Twos
Jun 13, 2026 09:15 pm | H. Lamar Smith

Jesus sent disciples on mission by pairs (Mark 6:7, Luke 10:1). These evangel companions could encourage each other while being accountable to stay true to the mission. Paul and Silas, Mark and Barnabas, imitated that on their missionary journeys. There were many coworkers with these pairs, but it seems the pairs were strategic. Our extreme individualism downplays this. Could there have been a Samuel without Eli? A David without a Jonathan? A Ruth without a Naomi? A Peter without an Andrew? Some churches have an effective pastor and wife team, even if both are not ordained. I have seen pairs of men and pairs of women in the church make a big difference in the life of the church and the effectiveness of its mission. Blessed is the church that benefits from these parings.

“Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.” (Luke 10:1 NASB)

06/12/2026

Enough Love
Jun 11, 2026 09:40 pm | H. Lamar Smith

Siblings often fight to have the most affection, attention and love from their parents. What they fail to realize is there is enough love to go around. Real love is not diminished when one more child comes to the family. Social groups sometimes only have enough love for their group and little for newcomers. Children on the playground leave other children out; oh, yes, adults in the workplace leave other adults out. Disciples of Messiah are to be ambassadors of love. They are to have big hearts with room enough for the left out, overlooked, neglected and abandoned ones. The Bible is full of commands about tending to the widow and the orphan; these were the ones that always were left out. These commands were saying, let no one be left out of the care of community. There is enough love to go around from the inexhaustible ocean of God’s love; dipping in it is not going to run it dry.

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:10-12 (NASB)

06/11/2026

Law and Love
Law and Love
Jun 10, 2026 08:18 pm | H. Lamar Smith

“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8–10 NASB). The law of Moses was trying to correct the people’s behavior so they could live together in peaceful ways; it involved respecting property, truth, family, human life and human relationships. There were also laws to keep the rich from taking advantage of the poor; there were laws meant to protect the aged, etc. Jesus taught us that love is the fulfillment of the law; Paul echoes the same thing in the verses here cited. You don’t have to have a lot of laws for the person who loves God completely and his neighbor as himself. What a wonderful world that would be, if it were made up of people like that! I expect it would look like the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

06/10/2026

Not My Job
Jun 09, 2026 08:43 pm | H. Lamar Smith

It is not my job to condemn folks; Jesus said it was not His job either. It must not be our goal to run around pointing out other people’s faults; it is our job to love them all. Do you realize that when we are pointing out another person’s fault, we are either suggesting our own superiority or how they are unworthy of our friendship or love? I am not to be “searching” another person’s lives; I am to be searching my own life. If I am self-aware of my own shortcomings, I will have no time to be noticing yours. The person who is a faultfinder seldom draws folks to the salvation Jesus offers.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:17 (ESV)

06/09/2026

Be Pro-Messiah (5)
Jun 08, 2026 06:26 pm | H. Lamar Smith

No Idols

The kingdom of God inspires us to “worship with reverence and awe”. When we are truly under the government of our Messiah King, it motivates us to love and worship. The history of man’s government is that it is fraught with various idols. Remember the gods of Egypt, the gods of the Canaanites, the gods of the Assyrians and Babylonians; the gods of the Greeks and Romans, as well as, the gods of this present age. The true worship of the Lordship of Messiah must always be lived out in the company of idols; “the faith once delivered to the saints” celebrates the one true Lord. The first two of the Ten Commandments demonstrate Israel’s ancient faith in the one true God; it was hammered out in the context of a world of idol worship.

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” 1 John 5:21

06/08/2026

Be Pro-Messiah (4)
Jun 07, 2026 09:03 pm | H. Lamar Smith

Messiah-Centered Church

Messiah is the Head of the church; which means, the church is to be centered in Him. Churches may be structured around social or family units. A Messiah-centered church is centered on the teachings of Jesus and putting these teachings into daily practice. When Messiah is the head, the life of the Son flows into every member of the body. When Messiah is central, there is a basis for unity. Unity just for unities sake seldom works. A church centered only in the fellowship of its members is not better than a social club; a church centered in Messiah will be both a place of transformation and spiritual fruitfulness.

“He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.” Colossians 1:18–20 (NASB)

06/07/2026

Be Pro-Messiah (3)
Jun 06, 2026 08:22 pm | H. Lamar Smith

Messiah’s Disciples

Discipleship must be built on patterning one’s life after Messiah Jesus. Is some quarters discipleship classes are little more than indoctrination into a particular churches belief system. In some quarters, it is little more than getting doctrinal ideas imbedded in the convert. Jesus talked about a discipleship that made the person worse off. Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees for their brand of discipleship that shaped proselytes liked themselves and making them “twice as much a child of hell as yourselves” (Matthew 23:15 ESV). The wrongly discipled one can be worse off. The goal of discipleship is to be shaped like our Rabbi. A profession of faith is not real unless we follow where it leads us, to the absolute Lordship of Messiah over our thoughts, words, and deeds. It is about following Jesus’ way of being in the world; it is about acting and reacting as He did. Christ followers are scarce; folks calling themselves Christian are legion. Self-denial and cross bearing is essential; it is not the easy way.

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23 (ESV)

06/06/2026

Be Pro-Messiah (2)
Jun 05, 2026 06:43 pm | H. Lamar Smith

Messiah’s Way

Messiah was supposed to beat up on the Romans; Jesus did not do that. We still love leaders that beat up on their enemies; we still don’t think Jesus, the real Messiah’s, way is the best. It is seen in the way we rejoice over violence against other humans, believing they got their due. Jesus’ theology on enemies is to love them and respect them as fellow humans. Giving them food, water and medical care is an imitation of Messiah; it is Christlike. It is the method of His kingdom and He blesses no other. Christ followers rejoice only in the ways of Messiah’s kingdom.

“Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:19–21

06/05/2026

Be Pro-Messiah (1)
Jun 04, 2026 08:12 pm | H. Lamar Smith

Aligning with Messiah

“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” (John 14:20–22 NIV).

When the disciples started following Jesus, even after they confessed Him to be the promised Messiah, they had to constantly change their view of what Messiah truly is. That is just as true for us; we have to grow into who the Messiah really is by behavior. That is as surely growth in grace as the spiritual disciplines; without adjustments to our lifestyle and thinking, based on deeper understandings of the nature of our Lord, probably means that our spiritual formation became stagnant a long time ago. Peter had to change his mind about the Messiah suffering.(Matthew 16:13-23). Judas would not accept this revelation and sold Him out. Judas, not Iscariot, had to grow into it like the other ten. We either grow into it, into real Messiah, or we shape Him like we want Him to be, and in the end sell Him out.

Address

771 Cherry Street E
Canal Fulton, OH
44614

Opening Hours

9:30am - 12pm

Telephone

(330) 854-3101

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Towpath Family Church of the Nazarene posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category