Have A Blessed New Year

May we be blessed in this New Year that is about to un-fold itself. We can already see the fulfillment of Gods gifts to our family as he has given us access to a wonderful building to hold our services and teach our children.

I am positive that this is only a glimpse into the exciting opportunities he has for all of us this coming year. Along with such opportunities I am sure that there will be some hurdles to over come. When they appear know that these are not just obstacles but doors waiting to be open. And when these doors are opened we will be given other opportunities to grow.

Also in this New Year we do not stand-alone. When facing a hurdle we have been given an ever-growing family to help us. And when meeting a goal or receiving a gift we are able to share these achievements with everyone. In doing so making us all richer

Just in the gifts mentioned above we are so rich and he has more for us. I ask you all before stepping into the New Year sit back and take a look at what he has given you this year. I do this about every 3 months, should do it more often, but the list is always AMAZING.

He is so generous. In case you need a place to start on your list.

1. You are here, which gives you the opportunity to serve others.
2. You had food on your plate.
3. You have cloths on your back.

This is just a starting place. I will be making my list today. I encourage us all to make a list and post it. The blessing that have been provided over the last year will be immense. And I guarantee you that we will not even be able to even scratch the surface.

May we all be blessed in good health, joy and love in this year to come, and may we not ever forget to give You, God, thinks for everything we have and will receive. For without you we have nothing. May we also remember to serve our fellow man kind, because through service and not selfishness we honor you.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas
&
Thank God for His Gift & Gifts to Us

Thank You Laura

Thank you Lord that Laura was able to open her house to our family/friends. Laura you are a wonderful hostess and Claire and I enjoyed your hospitality immensely. Hope your son is feeling better in the morning. We will be praying for him.

Sorry Zach that you and Susan were unable to make it. We have been praying for your tooth to get better. We missed you being there.

May every one have a great Christmas and a terrific New Year, and may God bless us as we enter the New Year and may we remember the blessing that have been given to us.

Jon (Zach hope you feel better soon)

Just heard about your tooth ache. Praying that it goes away soon or the problem is resolved quickly.

1 Peter 4:12

As I was reading my daily Bible selection, 1Peter 4: 12 and 16 point out that it will not be 'strange' for believers to have trials and tribulations in this world. But it also reminds us that it is for our maturation and for the Lord's edification. when Job refused to curse God but still praise Him, he was doing the same. Perhaps in this, my MS and Jon's asthma are examples of such trials. If this is the case, so be it. But it was comforting to know that the warnings are right there. :)

From Jon "God's Man"

b. For I know that my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth: This is another of the brilliant flashes of faith in Job's otherwise dark and bleak background of crisis and suffering. Perhaps as he considered that future generations would indeed look at his life and words, it stirred him to a triumphant proclamation of faith.

I thought about the statement made here “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth:” I do not believe that Job knew that his words would be looked or read by others. Though this was his wish. Instead I believe this is a proclamation of his faith. It is also a proclamation of a living God. His religion is not one that is based on series of acts but a living God that would indeed stand on this earth.

This is definitely, prophecy of Jesus Christ and his act to save the human race. The lesson of job is also set as an analogy to the lesson to come with Christ, and the importance Christ’s roll. I never looked closely at the word goel, Though I have heard its definition.

“A redeemer was a vindicator of one unjustly wronged. He was a defender of the oppressed. A champion of the suffering. An advocate of one unjustly accused. If you were ever wronged, a redeemer would come and stand beside you as your champion and advocate.” (Lawson)

I really set down at thought a lot about this statement. Christ was unjustly punished for our crimes. Though he was our goel. He himself after rising will in his second coming be his own goel as well as that for his family. This sounds a little weird but when you think of the Holy Trinity. It is possible for him to vindicate himself as a member of his own family. But more importantly he will be vindicating his entire family, “those of us in Christ.”

This might be hard to see by the definition for goel, which refers to one who vindicates for an unjustified crime. And yet we have committed many crimes. Christ realized this ignorance in humans when he said, 34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Note, not to take this out of context he was speaking about a direct circumstance that was happening, but as many things in the Bible the statement can be looked upon as a larger analogy of humankind's unworthy action of ignorance. In forgiveness, death, and rebirth he becomes our goel.

Going along with this statement above is the paragraph by Spurgeon below.

iii. Job was not afraid of judgment because he was confident that the charges against him were false, and that his Redeemer would vindicate him. However, our Redeemer also clears us of our true guilt. "There is another most comforting thought, - that our Vindicator will clear us from true charges as well as false ones. As for the false charges, what do they matter? It is the true ones that really concern us: can Christ clear us from them? Yes, that he can." (Spurgeon)
Christ knows we sin. He even knows of the sins we are not aware of but as our goel and one that took our punishment he clears us from those charges. With our slate being cleared he can truly be our goel.

Did Job know of this long-term analogy he was making? Probably not, but that does not mean that the words are not divinely directed. By no means are these words of just circumstance of the larger picture. In fact there is insight that these words are not circumstance for he says, “For I know” and one of the things he knew was that his Redeemer would stand on this earth.

I stop here because I can type a whole paper if I get going. But I think this is a good amount to start a discussion on.

We will not be meeting tonight...

I know that we have had some sickness in our group and so we are going to be taking a break this week. I also have to be at the church tonight about 8 to start moving things out of our CNNKTN building. You may or may not have known that this past Sunday was our last in the old building. We are sad to give it up but this is part of the process of us transitioning to the new facility next month.

Let us know of any prayer request you have this week. Also, I tried to email all of you the lesson for this week so you can spend some time on it.

Let's plan on doing our Christmas party next week. No need to do a gift exchange or anything like that, let's just plan a nice family meal together.

I hope you are all having a great week. Let me know if you need anything.

Blessings!

ZS

Lisa continues to recover

Hey family,
Just wanted to let you guys know that Susan went by and visited with Lisa Monday and she is continuing to recover. She has all of her drains out and is continuing to get stronger. Continue to pray for her healing and for Lindsey (I hope I spelled that right) as she is having a tough time right now.
Hope all is well!
Blessings!
ZS

Doing Better

I just wanted everyone to know that I am doing better, and will not have to go to the hospital. I still feeling a little sick and some of the after effects of be blocked up, but it over other than letting my system settle down.

Thank for the prayers.

Zack can you send me a copy of the outline Sundays Msg.

Thanks Again.

Please Pray " Jon Brooks"

My "IBS", only called that because there has been no other diagnosis, is acting up. This is really bad. The last time I got blocked up I was in the hospital. The time before that they did surgery. I been told if it happens again they will remove part of my intestines.

Any way I am doing last ditch emergency actions now to get my stomach doing the right thing. This will make me sick but better than the hospital. The hospital decision is probably 48 hours away. So I will post if things get worse. Hopefully I will be at church tomorrow, but like I said this treatment will make me sick if it works. It just how long it last and when it will hit.

Any way pray for my stomach to start moving stuff through.

Pray for Susan and I...

We will be heading to East Texas tomorrow (God's country). I will be speaking to a group of ministry students at East Texas Baptist University. It will be a great opportunity to speak of what God has been doing in our lives as well as the life of the church. If you think about it we would appreciate your prayers.

Have a great day.

Blessings!

ZS

A New Element To Our Group

So, John and I were discussing ways to stay connected throughout the week. Not just for the purpose of checking in on each other and making sure everyone is doing well, but also a forum to share thoughts, experiences, dreams, plans, prayer needs that come up in between our meeting times. So...here it is! I have pushed our group into the world of cyber space. What I would love to see happen here is for us to periodically post things on this blog during the week. Maybe, after you leave our time of discussion other things come to your mind that you would like to share with the rest of us...blog about it. Maybe, you get word that someone in your family is ill and in need of prayer...post it here. Maybe, you have an encounter with someone as you are living life everyday that made you say, "Wow, God was in the middle of that situation"...blog about it. Maybe something is heavy on your heart and you need an outlet to share...here is a place for that. Maybe you would just like to have a place to journal your walk with Christ daily, feel free to use this. Your words could be a huge encouragement to others. If a passage of Scripture you read really impacts you, share it with the rest of us.
My challenge to you is this, add our blogspot to your favorites or maybe even set it as your homepage so you will be certain to check it every time you set down at your computer. I think this will be fun and will really add another element to our family.
Everyone have an awesome day.
Remember last nights challenge. Look for opportunities to share truth with people, we live in a world that is constantly telling lies, the truth will set people free.
Blessings!
Zach