News & Announcements
Bible Bowl Winner
Congratulations to Rachel Platz (3rd from left) for winning the 2017 Bible Bowl at the Woodsfield Church of Christ. All children who participated were winners in the eyes of God. Special thanks to all the parents who helped their children prepare for the event.
Stepping Stones Update
The Monroe/Noble Stepping Stones chapter would like to THANK YOU for your most recent support of our fundraiser. The total collected for the calendars was $2560 from area churches (including you) and churches and individuals all across the United States. All of this money goes directly to OVU to support Christian education. Thank you for your generous support!
We will be electing new officers at our next meeting, having a bake sale ( yum yum) in Caldwell on Friday, April the 14th, and attending the conference at OVU on April 22nd. If you would like more information about any of these events, please ask Merna ☺
The theme for the conference this year is “Give Me Five.” The chapter hosting the conference this year is attempting to get our all time giving total from $4,938,360.42 to reach a grand total of $5,000,000. Now that’s a lot of bake sales!! In working toward this goal containers have been placed in the foyer for $5 donations toward the $5,000,000 goal. So if your heart is inclined – won’t you “Give Us Five”? Remember, not all students that attend OVU are Christians , thus by supporting efforts like this you are not only supporting Christian Education ,but also helping spread the very word of God.
Angry Words
How does the song go? ---“Angry words, O let them never from my tongi unbridled slip.” Angry words, for many of us, are a part of our daily struggle to understand and properly express our emotions. A couple of interesting facts about anger...
---Did you know that in the two hours after an angry outburst, the chance of having a heart attack doubles?
---Repressed anger (expressing your anger indirectly or going to great lengths trying to reign it in) is linked to heart disease.
---One study found that in the two hours after an angry outburst, there was a three times greater chance of having a stroke from a blood clot 0r bleeding within the brain. For people with an aneurysm in a brain artery the chances of rupturing this aneurysm was six times higher.*
Any way you look at it, anger is dangerous---if you express it inappropriately, it’s harmful, but if you don’t express it at all, it’s harmful too. What do we do with anger? It’s not a sin in and of itself---Paul tells the Ephesians “be angry and do not sin...” (4:26). Jesus was angry. God gets angry often with the Israelites. It’s not the anger that’s the problem---it’s why we’re angry, how we handle it, and what it can lead to that becomes the problem. This morning, we’ll talk about a few facets of unhealthy anger, and what Jesus says about anger in the Sermon on the Mount. Facts on anger taken from: everydayhealth.com/news/ways-anger-ruining-your-health
It Doesn’t Depend on You!
...Not having a righteousness of my own...but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
--Philippians 3:9
Aren’t you glad that it doesn’t depend on you‘? Our salvation is given to us based on the righteousness of God, not our own. God sent His only Son Jesus to rescue us from our sin; you and I couldn’t do enough good to make it on our own. Only the blood of Christ makes us good enough. Have you ever watched a child try to color? Even though they may be doing their best, they can’t stay in the lines, don’t use the right colors, or produce a uniform look. I imagine that’s probably what God sees when we try to measure up on our own. It’s cute, but it still falls short. Even on our best days, we’re just children coloring...
It is tempting, though. If we’re not careful, even though we might know it’s impossible to do it perfectly, we try. We try to do enough, to be perfect enough. At some point, however, we need to stop. Just stop. It’s not that we stop being obedient to what God asks us to do, but we stop relying on our attempts to be perfect to be what we’re trusting in. If we’re trusting in our own righteousness, we Won’t make it. The picture won’t be perfect enough. What are you trusting in?
Scott
Introduction of Our New Minister
The Woodsfield church of Christ would like to introduce Scott McFarland. Scott joins the ministry staff at the Woodsfield church of Christ as their new Preaching Minister. He is originally from Westminster, Maryland, and is still trying to adapt from being raised as a Maryland Terrapin to an Ohio State Buckeye fan!
Scott attended Ohio Valley University in Vienna, WV, where he met his wife Abby and graduated in the spring of 2010 with a B.A.in Bible and minors in Christian Counseling and Biblical
Languages. He is currently working on his Masters of Divinity through Harding School of Theology in Memphis, TN. Scott and Abby have a daughter, Hannah, and recently moved to the area after working with the church of Christ in Marysville, Ohio as their Youth and Family Minister.
Scott enjoys spending time with his family, lifting weights, fishing, working on cars and houses. He looks forward to getting to know and working with the people of Woodsfield and Monroe County. Scott will be speaking Sunday mornings with worship beginning at 10:00 AM, and leading bible study classes Sunday evenings at 6:00 PM and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 pm. The Woodsfield church of Christ welcomes anyone who wants to learn about God’s word.
One Final Word From The Past Preacher's Pen
Wow. It sure seems hard to believe that one year has passed since I last stood before the Woodsfield congregation. You have been through a lot. Shannon and I have been through a lot. Some years of our lives we may not mind the chance to relive, this hasn't been one of them. Not long after my departure, calls and texts came in letting me know of the passing of Larry, Fred, Chester, Ruth, Mary, and more, and more still! You lost parents, grandparents, spouses -- some expected, some sudden and tragic. Then there was the news of Keith's cancer returning and Randy's cancer. Others too were diagnosed. I guess I should be thinking, "I got out of Dodge just in time", but I actually wish I had been there to experience it all with you -- the good and the bad. Let's pray 2017 is better.
My primary motive for writing this is to thank you so much for the packet of sympathy cards and all the Christmas cards we have received from you. (I intend to respond to each individually, but intentions don't always turn into actions). Shannon wants you to know that she found great comfort in reading each and every one, as did I. Experience suggests that unfortunately our communication with each other will wane over time. I wish differently -- that just seems to be how life works. But for now, thanks for keeping in touch. Your correspondence has made life more tolerable and me less homesick.
I have to say that when we first began our relationship in 2006, I considered myself just your paid preacher, an outsider filling a position. I did not plan on getting so attached to so many of you. I was never fond of the preaching position, but I sure fell in love with the people! Thank you for continuing to be our friends.
You are about to embark on a new relationship with a new minister. By all accounts, including my own conversation with him, he is a fine, young, conscientious Christian servant. He will do you well. No doubt, you will grow spiritually and numerically. You will treat him as kindly, and with as much love and patience as you did Shannon and me. Always remember...what matters most is not that he is your preacher, but that he becomes your friend, and your fellow laborer for the Lord.
With Christian Love,
Chuck
Preacher Search
The preacher search is over and God has delivers the family with an outstanding young couple who is excited about coming to Monroe County and serving this community with the Lord's message. Scott, Abby and Hannah McFarland have decided to make Woodsfield their home.
We thank the church for their prayers and encouragement. May we all continue to serve and honor God by winning souls and encouraging one another in all the ministries. Let's work hard to make 2017 the best year ever for the Lord's church.
Paul will be filling the pulpit until December 11th or whenever Scott gets moved in.
Covenant Christian Academy Update
Covenant Christian Academy started last year with 2 students and 1 teacher in one of the class rooms in the education building. Two more students joined us with the year and we moved upstairs to share a room with Scottie. This year we have 21 students and 6 staff members. We are located at 185 Shady Ave., Woodsfield, OH. We are registered with Ohio Department of Education under Non-Charted Non-Tax schools. We are working on our accreditation which is a three year process and 501C3 status. Please pray for us in these endeavors.
You Probably Should Be Paying Attention
A while back, Jeff Seidler invited the Woodsfield congregation to hang around after a Sunday evening service so that he could give a lesson in administering CPR and operating the AED device, which I assume remains mounted in the back of the auditorium. A small percentage of the church attended the class. I suspicion what some of you absentees were thinking was, "I'm never going to need this,” or "If something happens here in the building, we have Jeff, or Kevin, or Rick, or somebody who can do CPR." Possibly, some of you were like me - you attended Jeff's class but you didn't pay as much attention as you should have. You were just there because you didn't want to look bad by not being there. Maybe you thought it was kinda like your high school algebra class - I‘m here because I know I should be here, but I'm never going to use this. What I can say now is thank you Jeff Seidler for your time. And thank you Lord for putting me at the front of the Woodsfield auditorium on that evening. As it turns out, I would be in need of it
Evening services here at the Aberdeen church of Christ had just ended. Chairs and tables were being rearranged in preparation for an upcoming fellowship when suddenly a brother in Christ, by all physical appearance a picture of health, collapsed on the floor and began gasping for air. In the crying and the chaos, Shannon looked at me and said, “You know what to do, Darlin" I really didn‘t, but I remembered enough of what Jeff taught us to try something. For fifteen minutes we pumped and pumped. (Ended up breaking two of his ribs in the process). When the EMT's took him from the building into the ambulance, I thought it was all for not. He looked bad. In fact, for the next week, things didn‘t look good. However...I‘rn writing this on a Sunday afternoon two months after that evening, and I am pleased to report that Glen Sayles served today on the Lord's Table, very alive and very well. God is good!
You know, there's just some lessons in life, some conversations, that truly do deserve our undivided attention, none more so than God's message to us. Something tells me we may need it later. How to accept the grace of God, how to live like His Son, how to share his love with others - we should be listening and learning. The day will come for all of us when we will find out this was all more important than high school algebra, or even CPR.
I know what your excuse is because I've‘ used the same one - the preaching is boring, the teaching is dry and uninteresting. It's just too hard to pay attention. Other things in life are more interesting, more captivating. Brethren, what ever you have to do, you must get it, you must learn it It is a matter of life and death. If you have to change congregations to find a preacher who interests you, then do it. If you have to have a bible study in your home on Sunday nights rather than go to the building, then do it. If you have to buy a Bible that has pictures in it, D0 IT!
By the way, you want to know something interesting about Jeff's CPR/AED class? l didn't recall his teaching style. When I was hovered over that gasping, dying brother on the church floor I did not recall whether Jefl' was an exciting or boring teacher. I didn‘t remember what shirt he was wearing, or what tie he wasn't wearing. I couldn’t remember whether he used good English or bad slang. What came to my mind were his words, his instructions, "Put your hands like this, pump like this, breathe like this.” Pay attention to what God has to say. Listen to the preaching and teaching of his word. Someday you'll either be glad you did, or wish you had.
~Charles Schultheisz - Aberdeen, WA, 2016
VBS
We had a very successful Vacation Bible School this summer. Check out the video.
