2015 MINISTERS MEETING

Transcription

1 November Tuesday Thursday 2015 MINISTERS MEETING Shoal Creek Primitive Baptist Church 174 Fields McGhee Drive Canton, GA Pastor: Elder Randall Cagle

2 Elder Freddie Boen Mt. Paron Primitive Baptist Church Fordyce, AR Elder Carl Staten Little Flock Primitive Baptist Church Rogers, AR Elder Silas Ford Bethany Primitive Baptist Church Suwanee, GA Elder Marty Smith Union Primitive Baptist Church Roswell, GA Elder Dickie Halbgewachs Oak Hill Primitive Baptist Church Austin, TX Elder Shannon Whipp Radnor Primitive Baptist Church Nashville, TN Elder Gary Harvey Point Remove Primitive Baptist Church Russellville, AR Elder Vernon Johnson Denton Primitive Baptist Church Denton, TX Elder Charles Kitchens Zion Rest Primitive Baptist Church Jasper, AL Elder Dolph Painter Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church Roanoke, VA

3 Tuesday November 10, 2015 Wednesday November 11, :00-9:30 Introduction 9:00-9:15 Welcome 9:30-10:15 Prayer Meeting 9:15-10:15 Elder Vernon Johnson 10:15-10:30 Break 10:15-10:30 Break 10:30-11:30 Elder Charles Kitchens 10:30-11:30 Elder Silas Ford 11:30-12:00 Q & A 11:30-12:00 Q & A 12:00-1:00 Lunch 12:00-1:00 Lunch 1:00-2:00 Dialogue 1:00-2:00 Dialogue 2:00-2:15 Break 2:00-2:15 Break 2:15-3:15 Elder Freddy Boen 2:15-3:15 Elder Gary Harvey 3:15-3:30 Break 3:15-3:30 Break 3:30-4:30 Elder Dickie Halbgewachs 3:30-4:30 Elder Carl Staten 4:30-5:00 Q & A 4:30-5:00 Q & A 5:00-6:00 Open 5:00-6:00 Open 6:00-7:00 Supper 6:00-7:00 Supper 7:00-8:00 Elder Dolph Painter 7:00 Worship Service Thursday November 12, :00-9:15 Welcome 9:15-10:15 Elder Marty Smith 10:15-10:30 Break 10:30-11:30 Elder Shannon Whipp 11:30-12:00 Q & A 12:00 Lunch

4 Elder Freddie Boen Understanding the Purpose of the Church This year s Ministers Meeting theme is very important. I am hearing some very good preaching in this modern day but I wonder where the conviction is. Are people s lives being changed by the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth ~ Romans 1:16. If there is no power in the pulpit, how will there be power in the pew? On the other hand if there is no power in the pew, how will there be power in the pulpit? We all need more instruction on the power at our disposal through the Holy Spirit that abides in us. We certainly need instruction as to the purpose of the church. Of course, we know it is to honor God but how we can do that, and why, is the thing I see needed today. Elder Silas Ford Church and State: What is Our Responsibility? We will attempt to answer the following questions: Why do we have governments? What scriptural examples do we have for dealing with civil authority? How should we respond when things go bad? Is revolution the answer? At what point is civil disobedience authorized? As we embark upon the next election cycle, politics will increasingly become a large part of our members conversations. It is vital that we know how to answer. Elder Dickie Halbgewachs The Gospel, the Purpose and Power of the Church None of us really has it all together, ever. Someday something in our lives will spin out of control; either marriage, kids, finances, career, or health. Though we naturally think that all life takes is doing the right things in the right way at the right time; this is no more than slavery to self. The church declares the gospel. The gospel frees us from self in the announcement that everyone in Christ is already accepted by God because of Jesus work for them, not their work for Jesus. The purpose and power of the church is the gospel of Christ s It is finished massaged into new and deeper regions of our unbelief every day. The gospel melts hearts and changes one from the inside out. Whatever progress the church makes, whatever going onward the church accomplishes, whatever pressing forward the church pursues the direction will always be deeper into the gospel. Matthew Henry says, The joy of the Lord will arm us against the assaults of our spiritual enemies and put our mouths out of taste for those pleasures with which the tempter baits his hooks.

5 Elder Gary Harvey Bible Descriptions of the Local Church and what They Teach Us My subject will be on what the church is, that is, the local assembly and how it is described in scripture and most importantly, the full responsibility this entails on each local assembly. Elder Vernon Johnson Four Important Areas of Evangelism 1. The church body 2. The evangelist 3. The pastor of the church 4. Personal individual evangelism Elder Charles Kitchens The Importance of Doctrine During this presentation, I will try to answer several questions: What is doctrine? Did Jesus have doctrine? What about the apostles doctrine? What did Paul have to say about doctrine? Is doctrine important for us today? If doctrine is important, then what doctrines should we teach? Elder Dolph Painter One Anothering One Another and the Other Ones Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well ~ 3 John 5-6. For the past years, I ve encouraged church members to one another one another which I believe Gaius did to brethren. For the past months, I ve encouraged church members to one another other ones which I believe Gaius did to strangers. Both acts bear witness, both acts bring forward, both acts are godly, and both acts are doing well.

6 Elder Carl Staten Climate Control for all Ages I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. ~ 2 Timothy 4:1-4 The pulpits of the modern Church have degraded to the soapbox for the religious politician, the stage for the spiritual performer, and the podium for the professional motivational speaker. I fear ours are no exception. The word of God has once again been chained to the pulpit as a coded message too high for the common sinner in the pew without the benefit of languages or revelation to unravel the hidden meanings. Rather than a plow to cultivate the seed of the gospel in the heart of the child of God, it is used as a sword or hammer to fight the imagined opposition of men s agendas and traditions and drive the stake in the heart of demons of change. Paul charges Timothy, before God, the Judge himself, with the word of God to so be declared successful or a failure. The message is one for all seasons and circumstances of life. It can warm the ice cold heart under the influence of self lust or cool the soul tormented by the fires of hell. What is the power and purpose of the pulpit in the Church and the responsibility of those men that fill it? To that end we seek. Elder Marty Smith TBA

7 Elder Shannon Whipp The Importance of the Church of Jesus Christ The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is perhaps the greatest institution of God. Jesus Christ said that He would build it and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. God purchased it with His own blood (Acts 20:28) and Christ gave Himself for it (Eph. 5:25). So intimate is God with the church that the prophet writes that those who touch the church touch the apple of God s eye (Zech 2:8), and Christ said to Saul of Tarsus that inasmuch as Saul persecuted the church, he persecuted Christ (Acts 9:4). God and Christ s attitude toward the church is sobering. The Church of Jesus is very important to God and Christ. But how important is the church to the members? I am afraid that too many have a take it or leave it mentality. Church attendance indicates that to many the church is just not that important. Paul thought it so important that he was willing to spend and be spent for the church. Paul's custom was to assemble together with people where the word of God was read and to reason from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ (Acts 17:2). Even the Lord Jesus Christ had the custom of assembling together with the saints to read the word of God and hear it read and expounded and to expound it (Luke 4:16). Among Radnor Church about 28% of the membership do not attend regularly. Some we have not seen in years. I realize some are not attending because they are not physically able, but most of this percentage choose not to attend. Thy don t come because they don t want to. The decision not to attend and do something else indicates that these people just don t see the church as important as they should, and certainly not as the Lord does. The church is important enough to God that He commands His people to attend it. The church is important enough to God that He has made it His special and perpetual habitation. Not only this, but the church is also the preeminent place where God is to be worshipped. It is also in the church where God has provided pastors and teachers to provide His sheep and lambs with spiritual food that will nourish and grow their souls. It is in the church that the Lord has provided His people help to live godly lives in this present evil world. If the church is this important to the Lord should it not be just as important to His people? Should not His people want to be where the Lord dwells and gives so much of His attention? I think so.