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Christian Graces Archives - B. Thomas Free Bulletin Articles https://beethomas.com/tag/christian-graces/ Simple Solutions, Free Bulletin Articles and Free Website Content Wed, 17 May 2017 00:49:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.1 Mistaken Identity https://beethomas.com/mistaken-identity/ Sat, 13 May 2017 00:57:04 +0000 http://beethomas.com/?p=1258 At a Noah’s Ark themed Vacation Bible School my son attended a couple years ago, I heard a very interesting conversation. A parent came in the door and saw her teenage daughter dressed in a costume. The first words out of her mouth were, “What are you?” Her daughter answered, “A towns person.” The mother retorted, “I thought you were going to be a pig.” I believe that was a big case of mistaken identity.

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]]> This free church bulletin article was written by Brian Humek from Irving, TX. You are free to use this in church bulletins, church emails and on church websites. No credit needs to be given. Simply clicking the book link at the end of this free bulletin article will help more content to be placed on this site. Donate your own bulletin article here.

free Bulletin articles Bible Passage: 2 Peter 1:3-9

At a Noah’s Ark themed Vacation Bible School my son attended a couple years ago, I heard a very interesting conversation. A parent came in the door and saw her teenage daughter dressed in a costume. The first words out of her mouth were, “What are you?” Her daughter answered, “A towns person.” The mother retorted, “I thought you were going to be a pig.” I believe that was a big case of mistaken identity.

Has there ever been a case of mistaken identity in your life? If you are a Christian, someone should be able to watch an hour of your life and say, “Hey, you’re a Christian.” There should be no doubt about it. I don’t know if anyone would be able to say that about me. I guess it all depends on what hour of my life they decide to watch. If someone decided to watch me while I sleep, they may look around my room and see some books on Christianity, a couple of Bibles, and some ties which have a Christian message on them. But, what about when I’m awake? That may be a different story.

There is a key to being the everyday Christian God wants us to be. I think a lot of it is found in 2 Peter 1:3-9. But before we can do the things mentioned by Peter, we have to be willing to lose control . . . of our lives that is. We have to be willing to make Jesus our Lord. That involves submitting our lives to him, all parts of our lives. We need to be an “out of control” people, which means letting someone else have control. That someone else is Jesus. I admit I’m not as out of control as I should be. Can the same be said of you?

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]]> Patience – Church Bulletin Article https://beethomas.com/patience-church-bulletin-article/ Fri, 12 May 2017 14:13:44 +0000 http://beethomas.com/?p=1210 I hate to admit it, but I waited for years to have a girl fall in love with me. I always had bad experiences with girls. In 5th grade Andrea really acted as if she liked me. We were going on a field trip to Brookfield Zoo near Chicago. She gave off all those 5th grade signals of affection. Of course, receiving those signals loud and clear, I offered Andrea some of my M&M’s.

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]]> This free church bulletin article was written by Brian Humek from Irving, TX. You are free to use this in church bulletins, church emails and on church websites or as sermon illustrations. No credit needs to be given. Simply clicking the book link at the end of this free bulletin article will help more content to be placed on this site. Donate your own church bulletin article here.

free Bulletin articles Bible Passage: Psalms 40:1

I hate to admit it, but I waited for years to have a girl fall in love with me. I always had bad experiences with girls. In 5th grade Andrea really acted as if she liked me. We were going on a field trip to Brookfield Zoo near Chicago. She gave off all those 5th grade signals of affection. Of course, receiving those signals loud and clear, I offered Andrea some of my M&M’s.

Upon entering the zoo, we were separated by our teachers into different groups. After our exhausting day at the zoo, we climbed back on the bus for the trip home, but where was Andrea? She was not sitting with me like she had on the trip to the zoo. I confronted Andrea and you know what she told me? She said, “I was just using you for your M&M’s.” My love life didn’t improve for ages.

High school was an absolute disaster. There were a couple girls that liked me, but the like wasn’t mutual. It always hurts when the one you like doesn’t like you back. That was the case in high school. In my high school memory book, I wrote that I’d be alone forever. Poor me.

My love life didn’t improve after high school either, at least for a few years. I was impatient. I wanted everything on my own time schedule. I’m still that way sometimes. Eventually, I met someone. We began going out. She wrote me a note a few days after our first date. She wrote, “I wouldn’t mind marrying you.” That sounds a bit sappy, but she was in love, I guess. Something like that.

The point of this tale is that God has his own time schedule. I wasn’t happy about that. God’s time schedule was fine. That is not what caused so many tears to flow down my cheeks during high school and the few years afterward. It was my insistence that God do things according to my schedule. That can cause a lot of sadness. It still happens in my life today. I want things done my way and I want them done now. That’s not the way God works. I think I’m way too old to just be figuring that out now. I love our Bible verse for today. It’s a verse that I understand better with my mind but don’t often embrace with my heart.

“I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.”

I’m just not so great at waiting, no matter how much I know that patience is a virtue.

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]]> What We Say Really Matters https://beethomas.com/what-we-say-really-matters/ Mon, 24 Apr 2017 02:00:45 +0000 http://beethomas.com/?p=1164 God gave us good hearts. If we understand that truth, the logical conclusion is that we should speak good words, encouraging words, helpful words and words that demonstrate Christ’s love in our life. How often do we do this?

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free Bulletin articles Bible Passage: Matthew 12:33-37

I may have mentioned before that our congregation has been encouraged to read through the first four books of the New Testament each month. We’re on our way to reading through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John for the third time this year. I am guilty of not reading these accounts of Jesus and his life as much as I have read other parts of the Bible. During my readings, one verse that has really hit home (not somebody else’s home, but my home) is the latter half of Matthew 12:34.

“For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”

What has been in your heart lately? Think about what Matthew wrote. His words can pierce even the coldest of souls. If we tend to speak more unkind words than kind, what does that say about our heart condition? If we speak more about the negative than the positive, that too says a lot about our heart; it may demonstrate our need for a heart transplant or a need for a lot more time in prayer with our Father.

God gave us good hearts. If we understand that truth, the logical conclusion is that we should speak good words, encouraging words, helpful words and words that demonstrate Christ’s love in our life.

Let us pray together that our mouths will prove that are hearts are indeed full of goodness and love.

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]]> No, I Don’t Know – Free Bulletin Articles https://beethomas.com/no-dont-know-free-bulletin-articles/ Mon, 24 Apr 2017 01:34:07 +0000 http://beethomas.com/?p=1147 Gossip is a killer. I know I partake in it in some way because, like most people, I don’t know where the fine line between fact and gossip exists. Over the years, people have come up to me and said, “You know about so and so, don’t you?” More often than not, my reply has been, “No, I don’t know.”

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free bulletin articles Bible Passage: Proverbs 11:13; 16:28; 18:8; 20:19; 26:20; 26:22

Gossip is a killer. I know I partake in it in some way because, like most people, I don’t know where the fine line between fact and gossip exists. Over the years, people have come up to me and said, “You know about so and so, don’t you?” More often than not, my reply has been, “No, I don’t know.” Now let me make one point clear. The people who have wondered if I’ve heard about so and so aren’t necessarily those who are gossiping. Many of these individuals just assume we’ve heard what they’ve heard.

There’s no telling how many times this has happened to me over the years. These occurrences were not at the workplace or at school; they were at church and concerned church members. Unbelievable huh? You’re shocked aren’t you? You’re not? I didn’t think you would be.

My wife and I have both told people that we don’t know about “so and so” or about a particular situation. We either run with the wrong crowd or we just aren’t overly interested in gossip which also constitutes slander at times.

There are times when church members can’t help themselves. When a negative story floats around about Little Miss Perfect or about the son of Mr. High and Mighty, the temptation to tell someone is often times too great to resist, especially if we don’t like that person.

Well, I declare today that we must resist that temptation. If Christians are going to exhibit real love, then we better start going to the object of every piece of juicy gossip and confront that person instead of talking about them. This gossip could be in the form of personal or theological matters and all points in between. We need to stop murmuring and mumbling and just go directly to the source.

Unless you yourself are living a mighty exalted Christian life right now, you probably have someone you should confront. I know I do. Let’s do it together this coming week. We can get on our knees this weekend and pray that we have the guts to stop the rumors, gossiping, murmuring, and mumbling, and clothe ourselves with the love God wants us to exhibit to others.

Amen?

Finally, listening is part of the problem. Even if I declare I won’t tell another soul about a piece of juicy gossip, my listening is half the problem. Gossip doesn’t happen unless there is someone to talk and another to listen. Forgive me God for those rare times I listen to gossip and thank you for the strength I’ve had to change the subject when I’ve needed to do so. By the way, some of you receiving this email have seen me listen to gossip and I ask God for forgiveness for those times I’ve been interested in gossip.

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]]> Be Prepared is Not Just a Boy Scout Motto https://beethomas.com/be-prepared-not-just-boy-scout-motto/ Mon, 24 Apr 2017 00:46:58 +0000 http://beethomas.com/?p=1116 Sometimes things become so piled up that a person can’t find their way through life. Demands from the office, school, friends, church, and family sometimes look like mountains of commitments. There are times when we barely have enough energy to climb up a small hill, more less a mountain.

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free Bulletin articles Bible Passage: Genesis 41:15-36

Sometimes things become so piled up that a person can’t find their way through life. Demands from the office, school, friends, church, and family sometimes look like mountains of commitments. There are times when we barely have enough energy to climb up a small hill, more less a mountain.

In our passage today, Pharaoh has had two dreams that no one can interpret. Then Joseph comes along and solves all the problems of Pharaoh. Joseph interprets the dreams (actually they are one dream says Joseph) correctly by telling Pharaoh that there are going to be some good times, then bad times, and that Pharaoh better be prepared. “Be Prepared” is not just a Boy Scout motto. It should be a theme that resounds throughout our entire life. Joseph told Pharaoh to be prepared and Pharaoh agreed with Joseph’s plan for preparedness.

I know it sounds un-American but we need to slow the pace of our lives. Either we can slow our lives down voluntarily or that slower pace will come upon us when we don’t want it to. I think this is where preparedness becomes important. Let us use our time more wisely. If there is something we know we’ll have to do tomorrow, do it today if possible. If there is work to do next week, get it done earlier. We won’t always have time to get ahead but when we do, take advantage of it. I think we all know the opposite of “getting ahead” and of course, that is “getting behind,” and that is not a pleasant feeling.

One day we will all be slowed down involuntarily. We will be slowed down by sickness to ourselves, our parents, our children. We’ll be slowed down by extra work projects, unforeseen emergencies, and other needs that come up from time to time. I say let us be proactive and “get ahead” so when we choose to slow down, we will be right on time.

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