June 15, 2014 WELCOME! WE'RE GLAD YOU'RE HERE We are a group of believers who simply try to follow the Bible as a guide for all we do. Everything done in our worship service is something for which we have a Bible basis. You are welcome to participate as much or as little as you wish. We will sing hymns together and we will observe the Lord's Supper or Communion together. We will also have an opportunity to give to the work of God in this area. This collection is for the members here, and if you are visiting you should not feel and pressure to give. Our lesson time will be divided into two groups. The young children will go to our classroom area in the basement where they will be taught the Bible at a level they can understand. The adults will stay in the auditorium for a lesson at an adult level. We do try to serve the community, and if you have some needs that we can help you with, mention it to one of the members. Thank you for worshipping with us.

FAMILY NEWS

SOMETHING NEW IN OUR CLASSES: We are trying something new for our adult Bible class today and next Sunday. Instead of having our class in the auditorium in a lecture type of format, we are having a discussion class on the subject of submission in the fellowship area. We have the tables in a closed set up so we are all facing one another and we are discussing the topic. Bring a beverage. Study Hebrews 13:17; Ephesians 5:21 – 22; Colossians 3:18; 1 Peter 5:5; and James 4:7. There is also a sheet of questions available to prod your thinking.

SINGING TONIGHT: Richard Hoyt is out of town, and we are going to have a congregational singing tonight instead of our class. Come with a request for a song to be led, and a desire to unite our voices in praises of and in petition to our God.

TUESDAY NIGHT DEVO: The third Tuesday of the month we have a devotional with other Christians in the area at the home of John and Cynthia Clayton. This coming Tuesday at 7:00 we will have a time of study, singing, and prayer followed by some light refreshments and fellowship. If you need directions, see John or Cynthia.

TODAY'S LESSON

THE CHRISTIAN FATHER
John Clayton

THE BACK PAGE

“CALL NO MAN FATHER”

We have talked about being a father both last Sunday and today, and that has raised a question about Matthew 23:9 where Jesus says “… call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father which is in heaven.” We have quoted Ephesians 6:4 and Colossians 3:21 in which instructions are given to fathers, so is this in conflict with the teachings of Jesus? Anytime there appears to be a conflict between different verses in the Bible, there are two ways to resolve it. Looking at the context is one, and the second is to look at the original words to see what their real meaning is.

In Matthew 23 Jesus is talking about the hypocrisy of the religious establishment who made rules and demanded things that they themselves could not or would not do. He specifically condemns their desire to be praised in public (verses 6 – 7). Jesus tells his followers not to seek the praise of humans in any way; so he says that we should not wear titles — not “Rabbi” (verse 8) or “Master” (verse 10), or “Father” (capital F in verse 9). The Greek word used in Matthew is “pater” and was used as a focus of honor. In religion there has been a tendency to establish one human as being of more importance than another, and that is the context of Matthew 23 and has little to do with family.

Ephesians 6 and Colossians 3 are letters written by Paul to families about how the family should function. In Ephesians Paul uses a different Greek word for “a father” (small f) and starts out with instructions to children, then to fathers, then to servants, and then to masters. The context is how to be the kind of child, father, servant, or master that God calls you to be. Earlier in Ephesians he talks to wives and couples.

There is no conflict between what Jesus said and what Paul wrote. Our purpose in addressing fathers today is to encourage all of our men to be the best that they can be as they provide an example to children, to wives, and to the outside world who watches us as Christians very closely; but, we do not use the word “Father” as a title.

— John Clayton