Grant County church of Christ
June 24, 2007
"HOW SHOULD I DRESS FOR CHURCH"?
While on the recent door-knocking campaign I was asked the question "How Should I Dress For Church?" In an article written a few years ago brother Cecil May Jr. makes the following observation. “When the poor, the irreligious, or the un-churched, visit our assemblies and every man they see has on a suit, dress shirt and tie, they often feel uncomfortable and choose not to return."
In years passed, in the church, we have heard the question addressed as follows: "We dress up for weddings and funerals out of respect for the bride or the groom or the dead. We should dress up for worship out of respect for God." This argument sounds reasonable until one reads what the Bible has to say about the matter.
The only passage in the New Testament which deals specifically with the way one should dress for worship is James 2:1-17. "My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit here in a good place," and say to the poor man, "You stand there," or, "Sit here at my footstool," have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? …If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors."
Notice that James tells us in this passage that when we treat people differently because of the way they are dressed we have become judges with evil thoughts, commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors!
Why would God feel as if He were being disrespected by casual attire when He instructed us to show no difference between one who was dressed formally or one who was dressed casually? Experience has shown us that we are more likely to attract the sinful people of the world when some in the assembly are dressed more casually. As an evangelist, when inviting people to worship services I often receive questions about how one should dress. My answer is usually, "We don’t mind how you dress as long as it is modest."
There is no doubt that many of our congregates could more readily apply the biblical principles of modest (moderate) dress especially in the worship service as well as in their every day lives (See 1Timothy 2:8-10). Sensual or revealing clothing has no place in the assemblies or in the lives of Christians. However, it seems inconsistent of God to think that someone is being disrespectful of Him by not wearing a suit and tie, especially since He has told us that He looks on the heart instead of the outward appearance. "For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).
Jerry W. Carmichael
GOALS OF VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
1) To reach previously un-reached children and youth with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2) To bring those students who are ready to accept Christ as Lord and Savior to act.
3) To provide a rounded program of teaching that offers opportunity to study, to worship, to express learning, and to fellowship with Christians.
4) To provide a program of intensive Bible study - Vacation Bible School. Emphasis is to be on the Word of God, especially to those in Number 1 and 2.
5) To improve the relationships of church and home by getting the gospel into that home.
6) To create community awareness of the place of the church in our lives as citizens.
7) To provide a good at-church experience. This is important because we should teach so that it will make the child want to come back and be a part of the congregation.
OBJECTIVES OF VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
· Teach facts about the Bible.
· Make VBS a means of outreach for our congregation.
· Help pupils to increase their love for Jesus.
· Cover as much material in the lessons as possible.
· Teach pupils to relate to each other.
· Provide enjoyable Christian fellowship.
· Maintain good discipline within the group.
· Improve the conduct of the pupils.
· Help pupils make crafts that will carry the lessons over into the home.
· Help lead those who need to make a decision to give their life to Christ.
Binding and Loosing
Perhaps one of the greatest challenges mankind has faced since Jesus promised and built His church is to bind what has been bound and to loose what has been loosed. What we fail to realize is when this is violated we are usurping the authority of God. Since the Holy Spirit guided Peter as to what he should bind and loose, the same had already been done in heaven.
Why are there so many so-called faiths today? Because someone has been busy changing the original binding and loosing of the will of God. For example, Peter bound repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). Man came along and loosed this commandment and replaced it with "faith only" for forgiveness of sins. Jesus bound believing and being baptized to be saved (Mark 16:16). Man loosed this by teaching that one has only to believe. Paul bound that local churches are to have elders (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5). Man loosed this by having creating his own non-biblical forms of church government. Paul bound singing and making melody in the heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Man loosed this to include playing and singing.
There are two types of commandments found in God’s word.
Specific commandments : Specific commandments are those that represent the exact way God wants something done. Both the Old Testament and the New are filled with specific commandments. God specified to Noah the exact plans to be used in building the ark. God even specified the kind of wood to be used (Gen. 6:14). This was a specific commandment and it would have been disobedience for Noah to use any other type of wood. God gave a specific pattern for Moses to use in building the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. To change a single dimension would have been disobedience. "And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain" (Ex. 25:40). This was a specific commandment and Moses did not have the right to loose any of the pattern.
In the New Testament, the commandment of Jesus to preach to all the world also had a specific commandment. "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). When Peter used the keys to the kingdom, he bound preaching and obeying the gospel as the way to be forgiven of sins (Acts 2:38).
General commandments: General commandments are those that are NOT specified. If God had commanded Noah to build an ark with wood, then this would have been a general commandment. Noah could have chosen any kind of wood. If God had told Moses to build a tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant without specifying a pattern, this would have been a general commandment. However, God specified!
Therefore, we need to examine the commandments of God’s word. If a commandment is specified, it is bound in heaven and we will have to answer to God if we change it. If a commandment is general, we have no right to bind it. We should bind where God has bound and loose where God has loosed. We should not bind traditions and call them commandments (See Matthew 15:8-9) that God has bound, and we should not loose commandments that God has made binding.
Jerry W. Carmichael
VISITORS
We would like to thank all of our visitors who are with us today, you are our honored guests. Please complete one of the visitor cards in the back of the pew and place it in the contribution basket at the appropriate time. We welcome you back at anytime.
Guest Speaker and Song Leader
In Jerry Carmichael’s absence today Danny Eldridge from the Florence church will bring the message; and Gene Harlow from the Summit church will conduct the song service. We want to extend our warmest appreciation for their wiliness to work with the Grant County church today.
REMINDER TO OUR MEMBERS
We are in the process of updating our records and church directory with member contact information. We want to encourage each member to complete a member contact sheet located in the lobby on the table. You may forward the completed sheets to Sandy Mills or Jerry Carmichael. Thank you very much for your assistance.
UPCOMING EVENTS
June 30, 2007 - Work Day
10:00am – 2:00pm
We have been blessed with donations of classroom material from several congregations and need help with sorting and cataloging. If you are available next Saturday please add your name to the list located in the kitchen. Lunch will be provided.
July 15-18, 2007- Vacation Bible School
Theme: The Journey of Joseph -God’s True Servant
6:30pm – 8:30pm Nightly
Ages 3 to 6th Grade - Members of the Green Street church in Henderson, KY and the Seven Oaks church in Mayfield, KY will assist with this event.
Statistics
Sunday Attendance Contribution
June 17, 2007 AM PM
Worship 36 31 $369.00
Sunday School 30
Wednesday
June 20, 2007 37