What is the Silver Spring Church of Christ?
A better question would be who is the Silver Spring Church of Christ? We are a body of people who believe that Jesus Christ is Lord -- meaning that God lived on earth in the form of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus Christ taught us how to live, died for our sins, rose from the dead (to demonstrate that He really was God) and now sits at the right hand of the Father.
Our congregation consists of people from every race, of many languages and nationalities (about 25 nations represented on a typical Sunday morning!), of all ages, educational levels, marital statuses, and economic levels.
We are all sinners who have thrown ourselves on the grace of God, and we live with a joy and peace because God graciously forgives. God's Holy Spirit lives in us, and changes us from what we should otherwise be without Him.
"Keep On Keeping On"
The Old Testament Book of Job is filled with so much wisdom for our lives today. If you have not read it, either ever or for a long time now, may I urge you to read or reread it. In the last chapter, number 42, Job gives you and me the story of his great decision to serve God better than he ever did before. With great honesty he says in verses 5 and 6 of chapter 42, "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." Am I saying that Job needed to repent? No, he, Job, said he needed to repent. How did Job come to this conclusion? After a lengthy talk with Job the Lord convicted Job of his personal need to draw closer to God than ever before. In the verses quoted above, Chapter 42: verses 5 and 6, Job says he has moved from just hearing of God to seeing Him. Guess what, dear readers, so do we need to make that move. Everyone of us, no matter how long you may have been a Christian believer, needs to grow closer to our personal Heavenly Father. How is that possible for you and me? Read on my fellow Christians and others reading this article.
This congregation of the Lord's Church arranges for Bible Classes on both Sundays and Wednesdays. The elders urge upon each member to take advantage of these opportunities to learn and grow in our knowledge of God's Word, His holy and divinely inspired Word. As we learn about God and His will for our lives we shall come to the same conclusion Job did, namely that we need to not just hear about God but see Him clearly as taught in the Bible. As a result we shall see our need to repent of those things which are not in harmony with God's will for our lives. We shall grow in our personal relationship with our God and be closer to Him than ever before in our lives. Praise the Lord God that He wants us to be close to Him. Wow! What a blessing that is!
May I ask a rather personal question of us, you and me? Where are we right now in our relationship to our merciful and gracious and loving God in heaven? Think about that question for some minutes and then read on. As I am sure most if not all readers know that God wants to be our living and personal Heavenly Father. He wants us to believe in and accept His Son, Jesus Christ, as our personal Savior from sin. He wants you and me to be honest with Him and ourselves concerning our need to repent of sins we have and are committing. He commands us to be baptized, immersed is the meaning of the word baptize. Then we all rise from the water forgiven by God's grace and the sacrifice of His Son. Check the truth of this by reading Acts 2:38 and Romans 6:3-5.
Even though I became a Christian and a follower of Jesus Christ many years ago I need to examine my heart and mind frequently and make sure I am not just reading about God but that my eyes are seeing Him more and more clearly each day and week and year. Thank You God for Your great love for us, not wanting any to be lost but all to come to the knowledge of the truth that makes us free. We are here to help anyone who wishes to start the Christian life and stand ready to help. Let us know and we shall respond ASAP. God bless us all to see our need for God.
Mike D Anglin, Elder
Silver Spring Church of Christ