ANDERSON CHURCH OF CHRIST
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ANDERSON CHURCH OF CHRIST HOME | BIBLE CLASS | BULLETINS | MINISTER | OUR MEETINGS | PROGRAM | SERMONS |
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SOBERING STATISTICS By Carl McMurray The world’s population has passed 6.6 billion souls today. The U.S. Population Reference Bureau in Washington D.C. said that in July 1999, (over ten years ago) the world population passed the 6 billion mark (6,000,000,000). Eleven countries on the planet now have populations exceeding 100 million. Of the population in those 11 countries, 93% live outside the U.S., not counting Japan, with the vast majority living in dire poverty. These poverty stricken people like “Lazarus, full of sores” are laying outside our door so that we are faced daily with blessings and responsibilities. What can we do so that we will not hear the same words the rich man heard, i.e., “child, remember that during your life you received your good things and likewise Lazarus bad things, but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.” Luke 16:25. I can PRAY. It costs me nothing to discipline my heart to remember hurting souls who need the gospel as much as we do. On the other hand, praying about the matter not only draws our Father’s attention, but focuses my own mind on the situation and makes me more aware of opportunities to help when those doors open before me. I can pray for lost souls, for teachers to reach out to them, for supporters to send those teachers, and for peace among the nations that borders might be crossed with ease. That’s a pretty good start. I can GIVE. Not only has this writer regularly visited outside our borders, but any number of men are traveling throughout the year or have taken their families to live overseas for extended periods. Every trip costs thousands of dollars and support for some of those men is hard to raise by letter and/or email. If you’re looking to begin a commitment to this type of work, the web site www.EvangelismUpdate.com frequently lists sound teachers looking for help in overseas efforts. If you can’t go, will you send someone? I can ENCOURAGE. Soviet bloc countries and third world nations are lonely places for most Christians to live. It is quite easy to feel like one of the “aliens” or those “scattered abroad” that Peter or James wrote to in the first century. Cards, letters, greetings from classes, and emails are some things that encourage those living and working overseas. We help to support one man, Alex Seregine and his wife, Natasha, in Moscow, and Alex has personally stated to me some of the fears and loneliness that he has faced, even as a citizen of that country. BTW, if you’d like to write Alex (he and his wife speak and read English), you can address mail to him or Natahsa by writing... Russia, 117513, Moscow Leninisky Prospect, House 123, flat 118 Seregine Alexander Sergeevich
I can START. In the first century the gospel went into “all creation” (Col. 1:6, 23), but it did so in stages. It started in Jerusalem with people inviting and speaking to one another in their community. It went from Jerusalem into Judea, then into Samaria. It went into Israel as a whole and then into the whole world. I can start taking the gospel to the world by taking it to the person I work with or my best friend or schoolmate. I can start by telling them how much I care about them and how important this truth is to them. I can invite others to Bible class and worship. The magnitude of our task is overwhelming. Will we, like Jesus, preach the gospel to the poor? God help us not to become so comfortable, wrapped in our blessings, that we fail to remember that we are less than 1% of the world and the Great Commission was intended to go into all nations, not just ours. |
