Prayer
List
Mark Morris
still needs our prayers.
Brenda
Williams, A.C. Quinn’s daughter is home recovering from a heart
attack.
Don Boyd’s
cancer has returned.
A friend of
Greg Counts’, Ronnie Brown is a diabetic and is losing his sight.
Andy LeDane,
Eddie Griffin, James and Florene Griffin, Jimmy Griffin, Jerry and
Betty Harris, Don Hickerson, Lester and Billie Phillips, Dan Tucker,
Mary Jean Turner, Armanda family, Jack and Diane Arnold, Betty Clark,
Doris James, Gary Hickerson, Bobbie King, Dan LeDane, Carol Moore,
Beryl Miller, Dean and Della Price, and Terry Turner.
Serving in
the military:
Dakota Smitherman has been deployed to Afghanistan.
Travis Counts has been deployed to Kuwait.
Faith Balzen
is in California.
Cody Blomstedt is in El Paso, Texas.
Let us pray
for our country and government leaders and those who are in harms
way, military and civilian personnel.
“The
effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much…
Pantry
Item: Sweeten Condensed Milk
Dec 25th
Prayers: Morning: Don Harrington – Robert Courtney
Evening: Charles Counts – Don Hickerson
Scriptures: Greg Counts
<<<<<<<<<<
Spectator
or Participant
By
David Shearer
In
Mark 14 we see the last few hours of Jesus’ life. We find
him with three disciples praying when a throng of solders, scribes,
Pharisees, Chief Priest and their cohorts come to arrest Jesus.
Now I had really never considered this before until I
studied this out in Mark that there were six hundred or maybe
a thousand present to take Him into custody when we compare the other
Gospels. That is why Judas prearranged to kiss and embrace Jesus so
they would know who to take into bonds. The soldiers were there
doing their duty and chances are most of them did know Jesus.
Let’s look at the spectators who were present. There
was Malchus. He was a servant of the High Priest. Now it was
possible that he was summoned to go along or it could be that he knew
something was going down and he wanted to be there to watch. At any
rate, I’m pretty sure that he was not expecting to get his ear
wacked off, therefore, he was an unwilling participant. John records
his name and that Jesus healed it. That surprised Malchus and
others, too, no doubt.
Now Peter was the participant that did the ear cleaving
on Malchus. Notice his bravery. Including Jesus, there was four of
them and yet he was willing to fight. Another one who was caught up in the ruckus was a young
man whom they tried to grab hold but he slipped out of his cloth and
fled. Most believe this to be Mark. After all he had an interest in
what was going to happen to Jesus. Mark’s account is only one that
tells of this man.
Take some time to read Mark 1 then ask yourself
some questions. Would I have been a participant or a spectator? We
know that all those that were close to Jesus fled. It was part of
the plan that He should die for our sins.
That deed has been accomplished. There is a song that
we sometimes sing that says “What will you do with Jesus?” Will
you be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord? 1 Corinthians 15:58 Will you accept Him? Reject Him?
Will you show your love to Him by keeping the commandments?
The way I see it God wants participants in His Kingdom
not just rubberneckers standing around watching, but doers of the
word. What do you think?
^^^^^^^^^
“Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest” (Matthew 11:28).