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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 7, NUMBER 32, AUGUST 12, 2007 WHY IT’S A BLESSING TO BE A MEMBER OF THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY CHURCH OF CHRIST
I am guilty far too often of not focusing on my blessings and taking them for granted. I allow trials that come from the world and trials within the church to weigh me down far too often. One incredible blessing that I often take for granted is being a member of the Northern Kentucky Church of Christ. It is truly an incredible blessing to be a member of the Northern Kentucky Church of Christ. You simply cannot experience the blessings if you just attend and take up a pew to the extent that you can as a member. The following are just a few of the reasons that came to my mind as to why it is such a blessing to be a member here. We have, by my count, 46 children who regularly attend our classes and more in the auditorium who will be in those rooms before we know it. Parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents – keep up the good work. Many thanks to so many of you for your wonderful example to our children. We have members who willingly give up a great deal of their time to teach our children the pure and undefiled Word of the Almighty God. These fine brothers and sisters make our jobs as parents a little easier. There are so many members here who care deeply for the condition of our souls. When a member here needs to be uplifted spiritually, prayers are offered to our Father, cards are sent, phone calls are made, and words of encouragement flow like a river towards that brother or sister. I know of one dear sister who prays for each of us every single night. How can that not lift you up to know that when your day has not been very pleasant you are being prayed for by someone in your midst every single day? May we follow her great example. Her character reminds me of the great prophetess Anna (Luke 2). Our worship services are scriptural, edifying, and provide us with a great deal of spiritual nourishment. Our Bible studies are thought-provoking and, if we allow them to be, wisdom-producing. We have many members who use their God-given talents to accomplish a tremendous amount of work in the Lord’s kingdom. Meals are cooked. Financial support is provided. Physical labor is performed. Visits are made. They truly understand the meaning of the word servant. We have Paul-like bold and effective preachers of righteousness. May the Lord’s church be filled with more like them and their wives. Excuse me for this one. I’ll leave myself out of this one. We have a fine group of hard-working dedicated deacons. While their work often goes unnoticed by brethren, the Lord sees their hard work and the hard work of their wives as well. We have a number of wise, older members. May we all do a better job of talking a little less about what we think and listening to their wisdom a little more. We have elders who have shown us how much they love us by their willingness to protect our souls, even under the most difficult of circumstances. The Lord’s church would be far better off if it had more elders like our elders. God bless them and their faithful wives! Most of all, it is a great blessing to be a member of the Northern Kentucky Church of Christ because the Lord is with us. He is in charge and that brings me a great deal of comfort. He has continually poured out His blessings onto this local body of His church over the years. May He bless us even more in the future. May our candlestick never be taken away. If you’re not a member, look what you are missing out on! The Lord is pleased with those who are hard-working, dedicated members of a local body of His church. Is He pleased with you? Are you a Christian? If not, can’t you see that you are missing out on so many incredible blessings that come with being a Christian? Can’t you see that one day you’ll miss out on heaven? Obey the Lord Jesus Christ this very day. Eric Saylor |