Church News And Upcoming Events

Menlo Church of
Requests Pray for Trinas Mother who has diabetes and isnt taking good care of
Christ
Corner of Sherman & 3rd
P.O. Box 134
Menlo Iowa 50164
menlochurchofchrist.weebly.com/

self.
Pray for Sandys Mother whose condition is deteriorating.
Pray of thanksgiving for Jenny, Alex, and Familys safe arrival.
Pray for Jesse who is having blood pressure problems.
Misc. Pot Luck and Singing May 31

Mens Meeting June 7th!

Phone: 515-210-0465
Betty Scales (Hip)
Pray For:
Church growth spiritually and Brady Burke (Possible cancer)
Carole (health)
numerically
Diana (diabetic & shingles)
Health

Jesse S. (Kidney Stones)

Martha V.E. (testing for COPD)
Sandys mother (cancer)
Reba Miller (recovery from broken thigh
& from knee surgery)
Alex Huaracha (Shoulder pain)
Larry Glade (health problems)
Chris (Health issues)
Kimberly Dixon (broken ankle)

Tobin Huaracha (seizures)

Diana Ss Grandmother (cancer)

Thanksgiving:

The spread of the Gospel

Elaines safe return
Benjamins visit

Bereavement:

Tuesday

Bible class ~ 9:30 AM

Morning assembly ~ 10:30 AM
Afternoon assembly ~ 1:00 PM

Bible study ~ 7:00 PM

Benjamin as he is otr.

Spiritual:
Our personal growth.
Ben Scales, Klynn Salazar, Steve and

Dave Renslows, and Branden and Trey

Scales return to the Lord

Aid & Strength

Carole R. (personal issues)
Martha V.E. (strength, aid)

301 I Will Sing the Won6 - A Mighty Fortress

52 Blessed Be the Name drous Story
742 When I Survey the
Wondrous Cross

church one must...

BELIEVE in God (Hebrews 11:6) and
His son Jesus Christ (John 8:24).
REPENT of all past sins (Acts 2:38,
17:30) .
Openly CONFESS faith in the Lord
(Matt.10:32, Rom.10:10).
Be BURIED in water for the purpose of
obtaining remission of sins (Rom.
6:3,4; Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21), understanding that by such obedience

Traveling:

Songs Well Sing:

To become a member of the Lord's

one becomes a part of the family of
God, the Church of the Lord.
Live Faithful until death (Heb. 2:1-4; II
Peter 1:1-10; Rev. 2:8-11)
A Christian has neither the need, nor
the desire, to affiliate with human,
sectarian churches that are unknown
to the New Testament.
Can you find the church of which you
are a member in the New Testament?

The Encourager
Volume 6 Issue 21

Sunday

M e nl o Chu r c h o f Chr ist

50 Are You Washed in

the Blood

Those Privileged To
Serve!
AM Worship
Prayer: Chris Songs: Levi
Lesson: Chris Table: Kenny
Closing: Jesse

PM Worship
Prayer: Jesse
Singing: Chris
Reading: Levi
Table: Jesse Prayer: Levi

Scripture: Acts 22:1-11

Sunday, May 24, 2015

from The Washington Post, Elahe

on lifes sea.
Izadi, 4/30/15,http://
Peter warns the Christian about the possibility
www.washingtonpost.com).
of falling away. He says, For if, after they have
What a graphic illustration of someescaped the defilements of the world by the
thing that happens all the time in a
knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
I read the account of Ron Ingraham, who
spiritual sense. Paul urged Timothy to fight they are again entangled in them and are overwas lost at sea last December in the Pacific
the good fight, keeping faith and a good
come, the last state has become worse for them
Ocean off the coast of Hawaii after his boat
conscience, which some have rejected and
than the first. For it would be better for them not
had taken on a dangerous amount of wasuffered shipwreck in regard to their faith (1 to have known the way of righteousness, than
ter. He was presumed dead by the Coast
Tim. 1:19). At times, it can be very difficult to having known it, to turn away from the holy
Guard after he made distress calls and they
live the Christian life as the world assaults
commandment handed on to them. It has hapresponded, searching for four days, coverpened to them according to the true
ing 12,000 square miles, and
proverb, A dog returns to its own vomfinding nothing. 12 days later,
something that happens all the
it, and, A sow, after washing, returns to
while his friends were planning his
time in a spiritual sense.
wallowing in the mire (2 Pet. 2:20memorial, he was found weak,
22). Certainly, as John reminds us, we
hungry, and dehydrated, but alive. Family
our faith through temptation or persecucan live with blessed assurance (1 John 5:13),
and friends hailed it as a miracle, and Ron
tion. The trial may be internal, as we strugbut that is not for those who put themselves in
felt he was given a new lease on life.
gle with doubt or suffering. We may allow an peril by doing what will certainly shipwreck their
Then, tragically, near the end of April, Ron unhealthy relationship to do the damage. In
faith.
was fishing with a buddy when the 34-foot- so many different ways, we can suffer shipMay we live the beautiful prayer of Edward
boat they were on, The Munchkin, was
wreck to our faith. Sometimes, we can be
Hopper: Jesus, Savior, pilot me over lifes temsmashed against the reef after midnight
overtaken by one of these spiritual threats,
pestuous sea; unknown waves before me roll,
and totally broke apart. His friend found
leave and then return. We experience the
hiding rocks and treacherous shoal; Chart and
their emergency radio (EPIRB) in the
thrill of forgiveness, the peace of restoration, compass came from TheeJesus, Savior, pilot
wreckage, but there was no sign of Ingraand the hope of a new start. Then, we find
me.
ham. Now, a month later, it is almost cerourselves returning to the very thing that
tain that he perished in that water about a
upended us before. We must realize that
Taken from Neals blog at https://
mile from the cliffs of Molokai (facts
there is more than one hazard while sailing
preacherpollard.wordpress.com/

Right Back Into the

Deep By: Neal Pollard

Ladies Corner

Sister To Sister: Figuring

out Godliness Part One
By: Cindy Colley

The following was originally written for

PEARLS, a program in Lads to Leaders. Participation in the PEARLS event is just one of many
ways young people may grow spiritually through
Lads(www.lads2leaders.com). Here is Part One
of Figuring Out Godliness.
Cassie was in middle school. Walking home
from the bus stop one day, she was talking with

Lots of chances to evangelize; chances to make the

kingdom of God appealing to our friends are stolen
before they are even presented to us. People like
Bailey dont always mean to hurt the work of
the church. But people like Aimee sometimes get
their very first impressions about the Lords church
from people like Bailey. Sometimes its very difficult
to overcome those first impressions. Sometimes
people like Bailey may even keep people like Aimee
You might know Bailey Robelsky. Shes in
from ever learning the truth that saves. See, Bailey
my youth group Cassie replied.
is professing to be a Christian, but her appearance
Oh yeah, I have math with Bailey, but I would
and behavior dont match her profession.
have never in a million years thought she was a
Now lets take a look at a couple of key verses
religious personI mean the way she acts and
about the profession of Christian women:
dresses.
Aimee, a girl who had recently moved into
the neighborhood. They talked about their
classes and their ball teams and then the
conversation turned to religion. Aimee said, Do
you go to church somewhere? Cassie told
Aimee about the congregation she attended and
invited her to the youth devo. Does anyone else
at school go there? Aimee asked.

Sadly, this scenario is not too uncommon.

(Continued on page 3)

Page 2

T h e E n c ou r a g e r

Father, Son, and

Holy Scriptures
By: Steve Higginbotham

When it comes to any matter

of revelation, big or small, I
want to know the truth. And
knowing what the Bible teaches
about the work of the Holy Spirit is no exception. However, if
the title of this article piqued
your interest, and you followed
the link to see what side of the
Holy Spirit discussion I was going to come down on, then I
guess I will have to plead
guilty to bait and switch.
You see, this article isnt really
about how the Holy Spirit
works, but rather it is about our
attitudes toward brethren who
disagree with
our understanding of this topic.
Please consider these three
attitudinal points the next time
you study with, talk to, or write
an article about the work of the
Holy Spirit.
Represent each other fairly
and accurately. Straw men are
always much easier to defeat,
but such tactics are beneath the
integrity a disciple of Jesus
should possess (Titus 2:7). How
many times have we heard
someone paint a caricature of a
brothers understanding of the
Holy Spirit as, He thinks the
Holy Spirit is the Bible? or He
thinks the Godhead is the
Father, Son, & Holy Scriptures?' Then on the other extreme we hear people say
things like, He might as well
claim to speak in tongues, do
miracles, and write another
book of the Bible? Neither of
these caricatures are fair or accurate. If one believes the Holy
Spirit indwells representatively

through the Word, dont misrepresent him by saying he

doesnt believe in the indwelling. That just simply isnt true.
You may have a disagreement
with him as to the manner of
the indwelling, but you dont have a
disagreement on whether the Spirit
indwells. Likewise, if one believes in
a personal indwelling, dont misrepresent his view by accusing him of
leaning toward Pentecostalism.
Such doesnt necessarily follow.
Dont be so quick to make disagreements a fellowship issue. That is
not to say there are no errors that
are fellowship issues, but it is to say
that not every disagreement, not
every blind spot, and not every misunderstanding among brethren is a
reason to divide and break fellowship. In Romans 14, Paul addressed
issues in the first century over
which brethren disagreed. Furthermore, he expounded
on which side was correct and
which side was incorrect in their
understanding (Romans 14:1415). Yet, even after his explanation,
he called for patience, understanding, tolerance, and love. While we
should always strive to know and
practice truth, not every misunderstanding of Gods will is a fellowship
issue. Several years ago, a preacher I
knew was calling for brethren to
disfellowship another preacher because of a disagreement he had
with him on the Holy Spirit. I asked
this brother why this mans
misunderstanding required a
breach of fellowship. I asked him
what the criteria was for disfellowshipping one brother for an error
and not disfellowshipping another
brother for a different error. He had
no answer to that question. If one
hasnt even worked out a criteria for
fellowship and disfellowship, he
might give pause before being so
eager to disfellowship another. The
consequences of believing we must

V o l u m e 6 , I s s ue 2 1
agree on everything to remain in
fellowship with each other will force
us to draw our circle smaller and
smaller. Eventually our circle will be
so small we wont even be able
to worship with our spouse and children.
Be more concerned with the conclusions of your study than the
camp into which your study puts
you. When someone with a denominational background studies with
us, we continually encourage them
to follow truth, even if it means they
must make difficult changes. Why
wouldnt this good advice also apply
to us? Stop worrying about who
takes what position on the Holy Spirit. Instead, do your own diligent
study. Be content with the answers
God gives, and stop looking for answers to questions God never asked.
So there you have it. While I dont
have all the answers to all the questions that can be asked about the
Holy Spirit, I do believe I have answers as to how we should approach this subject. What do you
think?
Article was taken from Steves blog at http://
preachinghelp.org/

(Continued from Page 3)

wearing will coordinate perfectly with what I am
saying: I am a Christian and I want to do all I can
to avoid anything that wars against my soul or the
souls of others (I Peter 2:11). Friends dont tempt
friends to sin.
And a word of wisdom to the guys: As you make
your dating decisions, make it easy on yourself.
Choose girls who look the part. If you want to end
up marrying a faithful Christian,someone who
will help you go to heaventhen date girls who
dress to reflect godliness. In our society, a young
woman who consistently dresses modestly is
making quite a statement. She is saying I want to
be Christ-like even if it means making unpopular
choices.

Taken from Cindys blog at http://

thecolleyhouse.org/category/bless-your-heart

The Encourager

S un da y , M a y 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

Ladies Corner

(Continued from Page1)

In like manner also, that

the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with
braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing
godliness, with good works (I Tim.2:9,10).
This passage tells us that there are some
outward indicatorsthings people will notice
right off the batwhen girls are godly on the
inside. Girls should try to be characterized by
these things. Guys should look for these identifying traits as they date and eventually
choose their marriage partners.

Do Your Clothes Match?

The first indicator is the way women dress.
Our clothes should match! Matching clothes, in
this passage, doesnt mean no plaids with
checks. It means what we wear should match
or reflect the godliness that we are professing.
Then the Holy Spirit goes on to become the
wardrobe consultant for all Christian women.
He says, first, that our clothing should be
modest. Modest apparel is clothing that
doesnt draw undue attention to the wearer.

For the fun of it

Search Me
1. Davids uncle who was a
counselor, a wise man, and a
scribe. ____________________
2. Who was King Hezekiahs scribe
that he sent to Isaiah.
__________________________
3. This person denounced
scribes.____________________
4. This scribe wrote to King Artaxerxes because he opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
__________________________
5. Who was given a scroll to read by
Hilkiah? _________________
6. He was appointed by Nehemiah as
treasurer of the storehouses.
______________________
7. He kept the muster roll of Uzziahs
host of fighting men. ____________

Page 3

There are at least a couple of ways that we can

draw attention to ourselves by the clothes we are
wearing. One is when we dress in outlandishly
wild or weird kinds of clothing. I once knew a lady
who wore giant hats with various wild colors of
wigs to services each Sunday. She was not modest. Gothic clothing is immodest in most circumstances because it shouts Look at me!

in his heart. Understanding that adultery is a work

of the flesh and those who practice this sin cannot
inherit the kingdom of heaven (Gal.5:19-21), the
seriousness of this statement cannot be overemphasized. But Jesus was talking about sin that
happens in the heart of a guy. What does that
have to do with the way a girl dresses? Lets examine that question.

I think the more common way girls dress immodestly today is by wearing clothing that is
sexually provocative. The verse tells us that we
are to dress modestly with propriety. The original
Greek word for propriety according to Strongs
Greek Lexicon means with bashfulness. Thayers
Greek Lexicon says it means having a sense of
shame. Our wardrobe Consultant is telling us that
there are some types of clothing we should be
embarrassed to wear. Then He tells us that we
should dress with moderation. The original word
there means with soundness of mind. It means
sensibly or with discretion. The Consultant is
giving us some guidelines, but he wants us to use
the good sense He has given us to be certain our
clothes match our profession of godliness.

A few years ago my husband was teaching a

class of high school boys at a large summer camp.
He asked the guys this question: What is your
most difficult temptation as you try to be like Christ
this week? The unanimous answer was Its the
way the girls dress. When asked to elaborate the
young men explained that its really hard to concentrate on the devotional talk when a girl comes
in and sits down in front of you on the bleachers
and you can see her exposed lower back and
maybe even her underwear. They explained that
tight clothing, low-cut tops, clothing that sometimes
exposes a girls middle, and short skirts were all
great distractions as they tried to keep their minds
focused on Gods Will and avoid the sin of lust.

Jesus made an amazing statement in Matthew

5:28. He said that when a man looks at a woman
to lust for her, he has already committed adultery

8. To whom did Jeremiah dictate his

prophecy? __________________
9. This scribe read the book of Moses
law from at a wooden pulpit.
__________________________
10. Who called in a kings scribes and
dictated letters to be sent throughout
the kingdom? _________________

Answers (05/03/2015) Thankful

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Sometimes girls who profess godliness may be

unaware of the effect of immodest dress on the
thinking of guys around them. But thats why Gods
Word instructs older women to teach younger
women to be chaste and discreet (Titus 2:3-5).
Thats what Im hoping to do in this chapter. It is
simply a proven biological fact that normal men are
far more visually oriented than women. To put it
bluntly, normal men are naturally excited, both
physically and psychologically by a scantily
dressed woman. Thats why Jesus statement
about looking and lusting was addressed to men.
Christ was, by implication, commanding guys to
guard their eyes in order to maintain purity of
thought.
But does that mean women bear no responsibility in helping our brothers (as well as men, in
general) abstain from fleshly lusts? Of course not!
If you were walking through a room full of nitroglycerin with someone you love, would you light a
candle? Christian guys in America today are
navigating a treacherous path. There are visual
temptations all aroundat the beach, the mall, at
school and at the movies. Guys who are guarding
their thoughts have to learn to look the other way a
lot. But fellow disciples should be part of the solution, not part of the problem. If I am really about
helping my brothers go to heaven, I will be less
concerned about what is fashionable, what makes
me look good, or what is comfortable (those things
are all selfish wardrobe factors), and more concerned about helping my brother avoid temptation.
In this way, my clothing will match! What I am

(Continued on Page 2)