Gospel meetings are an opportunity to fellowship and learn together
Published 8:25 am Friday, April 19, 2019
By TONY HOSS
This Sunday the Centerview Church of Christ is privileged to host a gospel meeting. Many individuals refer to these meetings as revivals. This is an opportunity that we have to fellowship one with another as we feast upon the Word of God. We as members should never take lightly this opportunity to study God’s Word. Nor should we take lightly the opportunity we have to invite all of our family and friends to join us as we study the Word of God. The series of meetings take place Sunday at 10 and 11 a.m. and Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m. Our speaker is Brother Steve Canup from Max Meadows, Va.
While these meetings offer us a great opportunity to study the Word of God they also allow us another means of teaching the Word of God to those who are Christians. Therefore it is with great zeal that we approach this week with great anticipation of great things. During the week the Gospel of Christ will be presented in TRUTH with all PASSION and CLARITY. It is a time for us to rejoice, reflect, and show our love for God and for one another. For these reasons we want to invite all our readers to join us for one or all of the meetings.
While it is sad it is true that many look at gospel meetings as relics of days gone by. Many disapprove of such gatherings stating that the gospel meeting is not what it once was. If that is one’s attitude toward a meeting then that is exactly what it will be. I believe this says more about the attitude of individuals toward God and His Word than it does Gospel Meetings themselves. However we at the Centerview Church of Christ see this as an opportunity for teaching the lost and reinvigorating Christians.
Do you delight in the preaching and teaching of the gospel? I hope so for our attitude makes a great difference when planning for and attending a gospel meeting. All good works start with good attitudes. All works that are destined for failure involve at one point or another attitudes that relegate those works to failure. We are resolved in our hearts and our minds to have the proper attitude toward this gospel meeting and let everyone know that we appreciate and love the gospel!
For these reasons we want to invite all our friends and neighbors in the North East Tennessee area to our gospel meeting. We invite you to come and enjoy fellowship with one another as we all learn more perfectly how to serve and worship God. It is our desire to offer this invitation to be a part of our Gospel meeting where you will be treated as honored guests. The opportunities we have to fellowship with like minded individuals should never be taken for granted. Just as it is important to spend time with our physical families it is also important to spend time with our spiritual families.
We offer this opportunity to our community because of our love for all humanity. While there are many Christians in this community there are also many lost souls. These have a need for the saving message of the Gospel of Christ. If you have a friend in spiritual peril, invite them to join us for this week of meetings. More important, why not be the guide, the inspiration for your friends in need as you plan to attend with them.
If you have a desire to live for God, if you need to revive your own spiritual life or have a friend who is in need please plan to attend. Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33 KJV) We believe in this statement of Jesus. God can and will supply all our needs if we will place our trust in Him. Yes, our gospel meeting is a time for zeal, fellowship, evangelism, and love for God. As we read in Hebrews 10:19-25, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
(Tony Hoss is minister at Centerview Church of Christ, Elizabethton.)