Highland Lakes church of Christ

WEDNESDAY PM BIBLE CLASS

March 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe Winnett

March 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cary Miller

BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES

Mike Udam – Partnership in the Gospel

There are frequently quoted passages where the apostle Paul shows fondness for words compounded with the prefix “syn‟ (meaning ‘with’). These compounds have two main functions: one, to emphasize Paul’s union with the crucified and risen Christ, and the other, to emphasize his fellowship with other Christians, especially those actively engaged in propagating the gospel. Our congregation is blessed to have fellowship with so many fellow workers.

This shares a note from our good brother Mike Udam in Nigeria, thanking us of our partnership in the gospel. Keep all of our fellow workers in your prayers. For the elders, Ken D

WE ARE GRATEFUL

Today, my wife and I spent some quality time together and reviewed the giant progress we have made in the vineyard even though as unprofitable servants and we have no option left than to thank you all for allowing yourselves to be used by God to support our work out here. To God be the glory.

Photo by Mike Udam

For 7 years and 8 months now, your support has expanded the impact of the gospel in Northern Cross River state of Nigeria and beyond.

From 27 souls in 2013 July, my congregation has grown numerically to over 250 as of today and the number lost not up to 10 due to sin.

We have impacted the village and indeed the results coming from there is making us not mind the very bad road and all the harsh condition of working there.

We are indeed grateful to you for having faith in us and supporting our work.

Our current needs are a strong vehicle to move around the villages and good health to do the work.

We don’t lack food and shelter. We equally don’t lack the resources to care for the school needs of our three children. Your support has blessed us beyond expectation and we are truly grateful.

Keep us in your prayers and for sure, we will work tirelessly in the vineyard of the Lord as long as the Lord lives Lord willing.

WEDNESDAY PM BIBLE CLASS
March 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Troy Futrell
March 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kynn Maxwell

THOUGHTS ABOUT LAST WEEK . . . .
• “I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.‟” — Lewis Carroll
• “One kind word can warm three winter months. — Japanese Proverb
• “To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold.” — Aristotle
• “A snowflake is one of God’s most fragile creations, but look what they can do when they stick together!” — Unknown

BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES

SUNSET INTERNATIONAL BIBLE INSTITUTE REPORT

We recently received a report from Tyler Meredith, whom we help support at Sunset preaching school. Keep Tyler in your prayers. For the elders, Ken D

Wow! This holiday season was so nice. I got to spend Thanksgiving in Texas with my fiancée’s family, I traveled home to Ohio for Christmas, I started and finished up my second term of my final year here at SIBI, and I continued some of the ministries I have been involved in.

Photo by Tyler Meredith

Classes started back up over the last few weeks of October, and they finished up the third week of December. The classes that I got to take were: our second Teaching lab, The Gospel of John, Isaiah, Galatians, Hebrews, and Family and Youth Ministry Framework. Our teaching lab helped us to become better at teaching in a group setting. The class over the Gospel of John is a break-down of the book of John. In our Isaiah class, we studied the prophecies and life of Isaiah. Galatians was a well-crafted class about the epistle written to those in Galatia. Hebrews was a great class about the book of Hebrews. Family and Youth Ministry Framework helped us to design our youth program in a way that the family can be strengthened and greatly affect the kingdom.

One of the really big ministries to me since this summer has been preaching at local congregations. Since I was out of town for several weeks I did not get to visit many of them. Although, I did get to visit with a few of the brothers over the holiday season. Some of the churches I was privileged to preach at were: Lockney, TX, Rotan, TX, and then my home town of Piketon, OH. I love getting to preach at local congregations, and it was so nice to get to preach in the presence of my family and friends in Ohio as well! Preaching has been a challenge ever since COVID broke out. All of the social distancing and mask wearing has made preaching at local congregations difficult, but I am still greatly blessed to still get to visit with all these wonderful men and women of God.

All of this would be impossible without the help of my supporters. Thank you all so much for making my life down here in Texas possible. I am so grateful for the encouragement and love that I receive every day. Thank you all once again for the Wonderful blessing that you have been to me and continue to be for me.

THANK YOU NOTE
“Dear Church Family
We thank you for the prayers, cards and text messages after Dad’s surgery. He continues to recover. We are grateful for the support.”
Bless you all! – Valerie & Dale Cook & Billy Hazlewood.

WEDNESDAY PM BIBLE CLASS
Feb. 24 . . Bible Lands Video: Northern Israel
March 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Troy Futrell

BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES

GOSPEL CHARIOT

BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES
We have been blessed to support Gospel Chariot for its work in Africa for many years. The global COVID pandemic has hampered that effort, but the Gospel is still being spread in other ways and in other places. Pray for this work! For the elders, Ken D

Hi Everyone,
This is our International update as we spread our wings into other countries and especially with discipleship training and church planting and all this expansion during the most trying year of COVID.
You will see what God is doing in India and also in the Philippines, USA, Mexico and Australia and we hope to grow this by 10 new countries this year of 2021. PLEASE PRAY for multiplication of disciples and churches everywhere. Thank you, Thank you.
INDIA – The amazing multiplication training is taking place in India. This is so encouraging because this is a Hindu nation and we are teaching the kids, the moms, the dads, the youth, the grandmothers and the grandfathers. The educated and the uneducated. Those in the city and those in the villages. Bottom line: we are now not just focusing on teaching the best to be better, but help every Christian and even the young ones before baptism, to understand how to be farmers for Jesus. We are in the homes of the Hindu people. Watch this space in the coming year. God is Good. Brethren, I have never even been to India in my life. How is this all happening. It is God and you brethren, that have helped this work over the years. I hope to visit India after COVID, but even if I don’t, a disciple movement has begun.
It all started with me doing online Zoom training and equipping online. Now we are working with 73 village Churches of Christ and our goal is equipping Indians to equip other Indians with simple discipleship tools. Our goal and prayer is to take all this equipping to the other regions in India as well. This is so exciting. Please pray with us.
To God be the Glory.
In Him. Love, Brother George Funk

Photo by Gospel Chariot Missions

WEDNESDAY PM BIBLE CLASS

Feb. 10 . . . . . . . . . .Troy Futrell

Feb. 17 . . . . . . . .Kynn Maxwell

WITH SYMPATHY

We feel deeply with Tina Brewer, Lesa Ledbetter and John Brewer as they grieve the untimely death of Tina’s and Lesa’s cousin, Charles Sachsenmeyer, last week in Clyde, Texas.  We send to them and to the extended family our love, heartfelt prayers and condolences, may they find rest in the assurance that God will fill them with comfort and hope as they trust in His goodness.

WELCOME, NEW MEMBERS!

Jeff and Peggy Hale placed membership with us last Sunday, January 31^st. They come to us from the McLewis Church of Christ in Orange, TX. We welcome Jeff and Peggy! We are happy that you decided to come to our congregation to work and worship with us. May we be an encouragement to each other and may God bless us in all we do. Their directory information is available from the church office.

BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES

NIGERIAN EVANGELISM REPORT

BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES

When Paul wrote to the Galatians, he reminds them of how God uses belief and faith together with repentance and baptism to bring people of often different backgrounds to be one in Christ. “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:26-28 ESV We continue to thankfully rejoice as new brethren are brought into the oneness in Christ. Brother Mike Udam shares recent new births into the kingdom. Please pray for the church in Nigeria. For the elders, Ken D

Beloved, Today, the Lord added two more souls to the kingdom of his son. Within January alone we have recorded 14 baptisms. We are glad that our message is making the needed impact in the village. Pray for us. Our 2021 Couple Retreat will be this weekend. We strongly believe that stabilizing the home front will keep the church strong. God Bless you all, Mike Udam

THANK YOU NOTE
January 18th, 2021
Hello —
Thanks so much to Mary Smith to reach out to me regarding my dad, Carroll Norman. We continue to speak of the kind and caring people there that were so loving to my mom, Dorothy, while they lived there. Can’t believe the many years have passed quickly.
Dad is still alert and talkative when he feels good. He continues in the Assistant Living, but has been isolated — and I haven’t been in since March (his birthday-month — he will be 97 this year). Health issues and “time” can sure limit people!
He moved around the corner from his other room and is now in.
He got his first COVID immunization, so maybe, they will open up soon — most stay in their room — so sad.
Thank you again for sending him the bulletin — at least, he gets some mail!!
Jan Nuckols (daughter)

(His room and phone number are available from the church office.)

WEDNESDAY PM BIBLE CLASSES
Feb. 3 . . . . . . . . . . . Ken Darnell
Feb. 10 . . . . . . . . . . Troy Futrell
Feb. 17 . . . . . . . . . . Kynn Maxwell
Feb. 24 . . . . . . . . . . Video – N Israel

BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES

SHARING JESUS

BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES
A good message from good brothers helps us see the need to share Jesus. Pray that we all do the same. For the elders, Ken D

A powerful church
Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. – Acts 13:1
The church in Antioch was preparing, as the events of Acts 13 unfolded, to take the lead in bringing the gospel to the Gentile world. Jerusalem would remain the mother church – although not in the sense that denominationalists think today – but Antioch would be the leading voice to the greater part of the world.
The men mentioned in our passage were the leading men of the church – the prophets and teachers who were responsible for the church’s fantastic growth.
Some may have been elders in that congregation as well, such information is not made known to us. We do know that Saul would not have been among the elders in that his marital state precluding serving in that capacity.
An interesting question concerns how those prophets and teachers came to be in Antioch. We’re not sure about Simeon, Lucius or Manaen, but we know about Barnabas and Saul.
Barnabas was sent to check out the work by the leaders in Jerusalem and, upon seeing its extent and the need, promptly went to get Saul to come and help.
I wonder if we think about churches in the same way. We often describe churches positively as friendly, outgoing, scriptural, faithful or loving, but do we describe churches as evangelistic?
If an evangelist (not a professional preacher, but someone with giftedness in evangelism) came to the church where you are worshipping, would he or she feel welcome to stay or perhaps even go find another evangelist to invite into the work?
What about those in the congregation? Is evangelism by the membership encouraged or are we quenching that gift? My considered assessment is that much of the giftedness in our churches is being quenched by an attitude of professionalism in our society. We have professionals handle many of the tasks people used to handle themselves. Are we doing the same with the work of the church?
One does not have to be able to expound on the intricacies of the LOGOS as revealed by the Apostle John, nor expose in detail the errors of pre-tribulation rapture theology in order to be an evangelist. One only needs to tell people what Jesus has done.
— Jay Kelley is the evangelist for the Austin Street Church of Christ in Levelland, Texas.

One of our Nigerian brothers recently shared the truth from Jay’s thoughts. ——

This is one of the sisters in Ugbogbo congregation in Igarra. She sells ground nuts (peanuts). And she sells them by hawking from street to street with a tray on her head. At the same time, she shares tracts along with her customers. That way, she is taking part in our Market Evangelism strategy.
In this and other ways and methods we are trying to disseminate the ‘seed’ of the word of God to as many as possible. And God has been encouraging us with increases! We had a total of 47 converted into Christ through our various outreach ministries in the last quarter of the year 2020. The power indeed is in the word!
— Sylvester Imogoh, Ugbogbo church of Christ, Igarra, Edo State Nigeria

Photo by Sylvester Imogoh