Robert Smelser
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On Church Unity
In Acts 2:41, the Jerusalem congregation began with about 3,000 members. It was a daunting undertaking, but they allowed the Lord to direct them. That direction led to further growth (Acts 2:47). Furthermore, several nationalities were represented in this group (Acts 2:9-11). This, of course, meant their were several cultural and social diversities along with… Continue reading
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A Life of Prayer
We need to be a people of prayer. We often become concerned about pattern and format of our prayers, the frequency we should pray with, and what is appropriate to pray for. I Timothy 2:1-2, Paul lays out various elements that could be included in our prayer life. Despite our concerns, we sometimes avoid prayer,… Continue reading
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The Other Commissions
A couple of lessons ago, we drew a contrast between defending our faith and sharing our faith. We are usually prepared to go one the defensive regarding our faith and practices, but we sometimes fall short on being able to simply share our faith. This lesson will expound on this concept some more as we… Continue reading
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The Importance of Sound Doctrine
The first century church gives a pattern that we should follow as New Testament Christians. Acts 2:42 points out the basic outline for our worship services and what the source of that pattern is – teachings of the apostles. This pattern was consistently held to by these Christians, and it is a pattern we should… Continue reading
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Extreme Faith
Many products today are geared toward the “extreme” generation. It carries a particular approach to life, but, in religion, we don’t necessarily want to be extremists. This lesson will focus on three points on which the Bible seems to expect us to be extremists on despite the atmosphere of the religious world. Three Extreme Areas… Continue reading
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More On Kindness
Did you know that when you are nice to a sales associate/wait staff/service representative about a problem you are having, chances are you will get a better solution to said problem? It’s true: kindness begets kindness! People are more likely to go out of their way to help you if you are nice to them… Continue reading
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You Go To THAT Congregation
It never ceases to amaze me that, within the church, one can so easily be judged based on the congregation he or she belongs to. Now, before you read to much further, it seems to me that this is a problem pretty specific to the church of Christ, so if you are unfamiliar with the… Continue reading
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Be Nice & Help
I am feeling very long-winded tonight. It must be because I haven’t posted in over a week. This post will hopefully be more valuable than the last two… Anyways, at work a couple of days ago, I noticed a couple of our great third grade teachers trying to control what seemed to be a disproportionally… Continue reading
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Doing Good
So a man approached me at a gas station close to the school I work at the other day. He was pretty-big, African American, wearing baggy clothes, and he mumbled when he talked. He was asking people for a ride to a Lowe’s hardware store that was about a mile away. Pretty much reflexively, I… Continue reading
Simply Gospel 