The Gospel Meeting and You

We have just completed another good week out at the Huron County Fair, and we certainly hope that you enjoyed yourself as you spent some time talking to people in our local community about the Gospel of Christ and inviting them to our assemblies. You may feel a natural tendency to let down a little bit; it is an understandable feeling, but we must remember that our fall Gospel Meeting will be upon us in a short three weeks! Let us spend some time today talking about the Gospel Meeting and how you should be preparing for the event.

What is the Gospel Meeting?

The Gospel Meeting is an opportunity for Christians to come together and to hear lessons every day for a week. We have invited Dan Peters, who preaches for the Tenth street congregation in Rockford, Illinois, and he will present material to encourage saints in the faith and also to introduce the faith to those who are unbelievers or part of denominations. It is a great opportunity to gain encouragement from the brethren!

Why the Gospel Meeting?

The elders have determined to host the Gospel Meeting to provide encouragement for the saints here in Norwalk, and we have sent announcements to other churches in the area also. The Gospel Meeting is not only designed for the saints, however; we also have put material together to hand out to people in the community: family, friends, co-workers, and many other people. From Sunday through Friday we will meet every evening; this means that hopefully, there is a time for anyone to come who would want to know of God.

No one from the community will come, however, unless we, the saints in Norwalk, do the best we can to promote the meeting and invite our families, friends, co-workers, and other people with whom we come into contact in the community. Let us follow God's command for all of us as it is written in Matthew 28:18-20:

And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, "All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

What Can I Do?

You can show up every evening, prepared to be encouraged, and do all you can to invite and encourage people whom you know to come also. Let us have a good meeting!

Ethan R. Longhenry
evangelist@norwalkchurch.org

Jonah's Prejudice

One of the stories that most of us learn as children is the story of Jonah and the big fish. We learn that Jonah tried to run away from God and God's plan for him, and because of that God sends a big storm on the sea, Jo nah is cast overboard from a ship, and he is swallowed by a big fish (Jonah 1).

Many times, however, we continue to think of this story in the same way that we did while we were children. The story of Jonah, nevertheless, has a powerful message for those who have grown. Why is it that, as it is written, "Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD" (Jonah 1:3)?

The book of Jonah reveals this, from Jonah's mouth himself, in Jonah 4:2-3:

And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, "I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I hasted to flee unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and full of compassion, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live."

Why did Jonah flee from God? Jonah heard God's command, that he should go to Nineveh and warn the Assyrians that God would destroy them if they did not repent, and Jonah knew that the Assyrians would repent and that God would be merciful toward them. Jonah hated the Assyrians so that he would rather flee across the world than to carry out God's command.

How tragic! Unfortunately the story is all too familiar. Are we often guilty of the same crime as Jonah? Do we see people around us and think that they would never hear the Gospel, or, God forbid, think that certain people are not worthy of the Gospel? If God were to command us to go and preach the Gospel to people whom we did not particularly like and who were our enemies, would we follow God's command or would we run as far as we could (Matthew 5:43-48)?

Let us not be guilty of the prejudice of Jonah, and let us preach the Gospel to all!

Ethan R. Longhenry
evangelist@norwalkchurch.org

Gospel Meeting

The church of Christ in Norwalk, Ohio

Thank you for reading the electronic version of our bulletin, Good News for Norwalk. If you live in Norwalk or happen to be traveling in the Norwalk area, we would certainly love to have you visit one of our assemblies!

Our location:

386 North Edgewood Drive (just off US 250 just north of Norwalk's city limits)
Norwalk, Ohio 44857

Our assemblies:

Sunday morning assembly: 10:30am
Sunday evening assembly: 6:00pm

Our Bible studies:

Sunday morning Bible study: 9:30am
Wednesday evening Bible study: 7:00pm

For More Information

If you have any questions or comments about anything you have read here, or desire more information, please contact our evangelist, Ethan Longhenry, at evangelist@norwalkchurch.org.

Please click here to return to the 2006 archive of Good News for Norwalk, or click here to return to the main page of Good News for Norwalk. Thanks!