January 2021 - In This Issue:
  • SOMETIMES THE SHIP SINKS
  • FANTASTIC CHRISTMAS PROGRAM
  • CARTOONS
  • BIG MAC OR TEN COMMANDMENTS
  • MOUNT UP WITH WINGS AS EAGLES
  • KING OF THE JUNGLE
  • MEN'S DAY
SOMETIMES THE SHIP SINKS
Sometimes the ship sinks, sometimes the bottom falls out, and sometimes the wheels come off! We live in a troubled world and we live in a world filled with trouble.
Job lamented – “Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble”!

Sometimes we feel like Charlie Brown, who once told Lucy, “I’ve got so many troubles that if anything happens to me today, it will be two weeks before I can worry about it.”

Life is like a voyage and the circumstances of life are like the weather. Sometimes there’s smooth sailing and sometimes there’s storms. We’re caught up in these storms because we are sailing on the sea of time and eternity.
The Apostle Paul was in the will of God when he ended up in a terrible storm, but being in the will of God doesn’t always mean smooth sailing. You can count on contrary winds! They come to all of us; suddenly and unexpectedly.
They come from different directions and often unsuspecting directions. Wouldn’t it be great to say that every time you sailed into a storm that it ended before it began? You didn’t have to endure any anxious moments or suffer with bouts of fear. Wouldn’t it be great if when the factory is closing, you still get to keep your job? Wouldn’t it be great if when everybody else got sick you stayed healthy? The truth is that sometimes the ship sinks!

• The car is repossessed
• The house goes into foreclosure
• The business goes into bankruptcy
• The savings go down the drain
• When it rains it pours

Sometimes the ship sinks! Sometimes God will allow the thing we fear the most to happen.
Job 3:25 “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”

• Divorce
• Health Crises
• Death of a Loved One
• Loss of Income

Yet God uses those things like He used the storm in Paul’s life to spread the gospel. From Paul’s sinking ship came a series of miracles.

• No one on the ship died
• They all made it safely to shore
• They saw miracles of healing

So in our crises, even though the ship sinks; God has a greater plan and purpose.
FANTASTIC CHRISTMAS PROGRAM
The Sanctuary Choir and Cast gave an outstanding performance in our annual Christmas musical.
A Smoky Mountain Christmas was humorous and heartwarming. The musical numbers, under the direction of Beth Baker, were meaningful and memorable, they brought an old fashioned Christmas to life!

We so enjoyed a rare time of fellowship with our annual Christmas party. The food was delicious and being together with everyone was priceless.
A BIG MAC OR THE
TEN COMMANDMENTS?
Which can you name first?

(1) The Commandments found in Exodus 20

(2) The ingredients of a Big Mac Burger from McDonalds

Most Americans when surveyed did a better job naming the seven ingredients of a Big Mac: two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.

80% knew about the all-beef patties but only 60% recognized “Do not kill.”

Only 45% knew “Honor your father and mother,” 34% knew “Remember the Sabbath day,” and only 29% recognized “Do not make for yourself an idol."

Americans know their hamburgers...….but are shaky about the Ten Commandments.
Isaiah 40:30-31
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

King of the Jungle
There was a young lion who wandered from his father to test whether or not he would get the same respect from the other animals as his father did. As the young lion approached some monkeys, he roared and asked, "WHO IS THE KING OF THE JUNGLE?" The monkeys, being afraid, responded, "YOU are!" The lion replied, "And don't you forget it!" The lion repeated this to each animal in the jungle and got the same response until he came across a herd of elephants. The little lion roared and asked, "WHO IS THE KING OF THE JUNGLE?" The big bull elephant walked closer to the lion, swooped him up in his trunk, swung him around and around and threw him in the river. Battered and wet, the little lion replied, "Just because you didn't know the answer to the question didn't mean you had to get nasty about it!"

Most of us roar through life without God in the same way - as if we are kings of the jungle - until life throws us in a tail spin and shows us that we are not.
MEN'S DAY 2021
Our annual "Men's Day" will be held on Sunday January 31, 2021. Our theme this year is: "Be Strong, and show yourself a man."

Our guest speaker will be WNC State Evangelism Director Bishop Matt Gunter. He has served as youth pastor, evangelist, fire chaplain, pastor, state council member, evangelism board member and currently serves as our state evangelism director.
 
We are looking for an associate minister, possibly someone retired and looking for a place to continue to use your
gifts without the pressure of pastoring. If interested contact the pastor.
Matthews Church of God
517 E John St.
Matthews, NC 28105
704-847-5625
COME WORSHIP
WITH US!
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