Author: janicevance

What does the empty tomb mean for us?

              If you have driven through Cookeville, you have surely noticed the large cross on the side of the interstate.  When we see a cross such as this, we think of Jesus’ sacrifice and death on a cross.  Each Sunday, we remember the Lord’s death, burial and resurrection as we partake of the emblems of the Lord’s Supper just as the early church that came together on the first day of the week to break bread in His remembrance as we see from Acts 20:7.

Do you ever think about the empty tomb and what it means for us?  Jesus tells His disciples in Mark 8:31 that He would suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and after three days rise again.  Matthew 28:5-6 says “But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.  Come see the place where the Lord lay.”

We see in Acts 2:24 that death couldn’t hold Him.  Jesus tells Martha in John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”  In John 14:6 He says “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  The empty tomb points to the resurrection of the body of Jesus and assures us that if we have obeyed His commandments, death isn’t the end of our journey with Him.  What does the empty tomb mean for you?

by Justin Morton

Easter Sunday is only one week away. Many people may be planning to attend a church service on that day. Why not use this opportunity to invite a friend, neighbor, coworker or loved one to come worship with you at Walter Hill? You might be surprised at the response to your invitation. Andrew issued his own invitation to his brother, and the result of that invitation led to one of the leaders of the early church (Jn 1:40-42). What results might come from the invitation you extend to someone? You just might invite someone whose life will be transformed by the power of God. 

Some of our members are in Amory, MS this weekend helping serve those affected by the tornadoes. We are thankful for those who have traveled as well as those who provided various resources for their trip. How can you help someone in need this week?

This coming weekend a few of our young people are participating in the Lads to Leaders convention at the Opryland Hotel. Lads to Leaders is a wonderful program designed to help young people develop skills for their service to God. We are so proud of our young people who are participating this year, and the hard work and time they have put into L2L. In the coming weeks you will hear more information about our L2L plans for next year. We would love to have more children participate in this program, and we also can use additional adult volunteers. Will you consider participating in this great work?

Being a part of God’s family provides each of us with some unique opportunities to invite, to serve and to learn. Will you make the most of this week’s opportunities?

            Jesus told a story recorded in Luke 16:19-31 aimed at the Pharisees “who were lovers of money” (Luke 16:14). Whether this is a parable or a true story is not an issue since it was spoken by Emanuel and His parables were always true to life. There are many lessons to be gleaned from this great story of reversal but I want us to notice three realities of death.

            Faithful children of God will enter divine rest upon their demise. Lazarus was evidently an Israelite and “was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” (verse 22).

            On the other hand, sinners who have refused God’s redemptive measures – as apparently the rich man had – will enter into torments within the Hadean world (the intermediate state of the dead).

            Our eternal destiny is sealed at death. A great gulf will forever separate the godly from the wicked (verse 26).

            While this story verifies Paul’s statement in 1 Timothy 6:10 about the “love of money”, it should impress upon us the need to make our “call and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10). We don’t want to miss heaven!

            There are many details about death and beyond that I don’t know but the New Testament reveals enough that I want to avoid hell and spend eternity in heaven. Yes, heaven will be a place devoid of tears, sorrow, pain, and death (Revelation 21:4). By contrast, hell will be an “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). And, unless Jesus returns first, our deaths are assured – and then the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

            But whether we’re alive or dead when Christ returns, faithful Christians – those in Christ – have this promise from 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 – “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” And that’s where Lazarus will be!

by Justin Morton

Good Morning! Welcome to Walter Hill. We are so thankful you have chosen to be here this morning. We hope and pray you will find our service both uplifting and according to the truth. If you have any questions about your visit, just let one of the shepherds or ministers know. We’d be happy to answer any questions you may have. We invite you back any time you have the opportunity to be with us.

Ladies’ Day: Yesterday several of our ladies participated in our annual Intergenerational Ladies’ Day. I know everyone who attended was blessed by this occasion. How great it is that ALL our ladies had the opportunity to come together for study, worship and fellowship. If you missed out this year, certainly make plans to attend this wonderful event next year. You will be glad you did.

Jonah Sermon Series: Today, we begin week 3 of our sermon series “Jonah: Reluctant Prophet, Relentless God.” I hope and pray our study of this book has been both challenging and exciting. After all, it’s about so much more than just a man and his experience of being swallowed by a great fish; it’s really a story about God and His amazing mercy.

Like Jonah, we all have been commissioned to go and preach to people whose wickedness has gone up before God. They are on a path that leads to destruction and separation. Will we be like Jonah before his fish experience and run from God’s call to go and share His message with such people? Or will we respond like Jonah after his fish experience and go and preach the message God has given us to proclaim? The choice is ours. What will you do?

With the time change today, Bible classes start at 6:00 this evening.

Last Sunday, a new quarter of Bible class began.  We are blessed with good teachers who study a lot each week to prepare for class.  There are classes for all ages, from infancy through the oldest adults.  There is a list of available adult classes below on the front page of the bulletin.  As winter turns to spring, this is an excellent time to take part in a Bible class.

After the water pipe burst on Christmas Eve, it is nice to see the building starting to get back to normal.  The small dings and dents in the walls have been repaired and a fresh coat of paint has been applied.  Soon, Adult 1 and Adult 2 will be available for use again, as will the small kitchen.  We have experienced a little inconvenience, but that will make us appreciate the facilities we have even more.

The appearances we look for in buildings are different than the appearances we should look for in people.  The Pharisees in Jesus’ day focused on the outside appearance of man.  The Pharisees put on a good front, looking religious when they were around people.  They wore special attachments on their clothing, they made a show of their giving and praying, they ceremonially washed their hands before eating.

In Luke 23, Jesus looked into their hearts and compared them to whitewashed tombs.  Jesus went on to say that outwardly, they appeared religious, but within, they were full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

As we examine our own lives, it’s appropriate for us to project a good outside appearance to those around us.  Jesus also wants us to have clean hearts and minds as his disciples.  Does anyone need to do a little spiritual spring cleaning?

by Justin Morton

Good Morning! Welcome to Walter Hill. We are so thankful you have chosen to be here this morning. We hope and pray you will find our service both uplifting and according to the truth. If you have any questions about your visit, just let one of the shepherds or ministers know. We’d be happy to answer any questions you may have.

New Sermon Series: Some passages of the Bible are rarely taught in our Sunday School classes. Maybe these biblical accounts are a little too mature for young children, and we need to wait for them to get older before we address those tough topics. Then there are the other stories—the stories we only seem to hear in children’s classes or during our yearly VBS. It’s as if we’ve determined these stories are only for children and not for adults. For the next several weeks, let’s spend some time looking at a book of the Bible that we often treat as a children’s story. Today we are beginning a new sermon series called “Jonah: Reluctant Prophet, Relentless God”, where we will take an in-depth look at the story of Jonah. I hope you will make plans to attend as we study this exciting book together.

New Bible Classes: Don’t forget, our new quarter of Bible classes starts this evening. If you have not been attending a class, tonight is a great opportunity to start. If you have been attending the same class for a while, why not look and see if a different class catches your attention? Going to classes with different people and teachers can challenge all of us to think about the Bible in distinct ways. What a blessing that Walter Hill has so many willing and able teachers who study and share God’s Word with us!

by Justin Morton

Have you ever gotten more than you bargained for?  As Christians, we all go through times when our actions bring about serious consequences.  Consider Adam and Eve. Their decision to eat of the forbidden fruit probably seemed fairly harmless. After all how much bad could come from eating fruit? However, their small act of disobedience brought far more than they bargained for. Their actions led to serious consequences that are still being felt today (Genesis 3:16-24; Romans 5:12).

We all have acted in ways that bring about negative ramifications. While we can always seek forgiveness (I John 1:9), our actions can have long term consequences. Like Adam and Eve, our decisions may seem rather harmless in the moment, but they may bring about a lasting negative impact. Yes, we can be forgiven, but the damage still remains. Our ungodly actions and decisions can destroy our influence among others and cause a great deal of pain along the way.

When we make poor decisions and act in ways unbecoming of a child of God, we destroy the greatest power we have over another person: our influence. Friends, it’s time we stop allowing our actions to give us more than we bargained for by causing pain and destroying our influence.  Let’s start making godly decisions others can model in their own lives.

“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.” (Philippians 3:17-18)

Have you ever used the terms – they; the church; the brotherhood; etc.? So often these terms get used in a negative way – they never do this; the church isn’t doing a good job at …; the brotherhood doesn’t do …. So often we are in the mindset that things just aren’t getting done or going the right way and it someone else’s fault. The Bible talks about looking into a mirror. If each of us would look into the mirror and ask the question, what am I doing to help any situation that I think is not right, we might look at things differently.

         If you do not think the church is spreading the gospel as it should, ask yourself the question, what am I doing to spread the gospel? If you do not think the church is visiting like they should, ask yourself, who am I visiting? If you don’t think the church invites people into their homes like it should, ask yourself, who have I invited into your home lately?

                These are tough question to ask ourselves. I have heard the speech JFK gave in which he said, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. The gospel asks a very similar question. It asks for action. We are the body of Christ and must be active. If we see something or someone in need, we should not look to others to fulfill the need then complain if it’s not, but rather we should take personal action.

                Be a person or family of action. Be a disciple, make disciples. A good way to bring God glory is to be an active member of His Son’s Body, the Church.

by Justin Morton

Today marks the one year anniversary of our family’s first visit to Walter Hill. What a warm welcome we received! We actually were late getting to our seats because so many of you stopped and welcomed us as we came in. I can’t help but think about the importance of that warm welcome as we consider our emphasis on discipleship. First and foremost we want to be disciples of Christ. But we also want to fulfill the Lord’s expectations and make disciples. In doing so, we are going to have visitors attend our services. We want these visitors to feel the warm Walter Hill welcome my family, and many of you, received when we visited for the first time.

All of us play a vital role in that welcome. Let me offer a few suggestions for how we can continue to promote a positive experience for our visitors: 1) When you see someone visiting, take the opportunity to speak with them. Your kindness and interaction will help make a good impression. 2) Ask visitors if they would like to sit with you or help them find a seat. Finding a place to sit as a visitor can be intimidating! 3) I know we all like our certain seats, but if at all possible make as much room as you can for others. Maybe that means scooting closer to the middle of the row or sitting right beside a brother or sister in Christ rather than several seats away. As we invite friends and neighbors to attend, we will need as much open seating as possible.

All of you here at Walter Hill made us feel welcome from the moment we stepped through the doors. Let’s make it a goal to offer a warm welcome to everyone who comes to worship with us at Walter Hill!

The State of the Walter Hill Youth Ministry

I consider myself so blessed to be the youth minister at this great congregation. It is such a blessing to work with these great teens and their wonderful parents. Thank you for supporting our youth ministry.  I wanted to take this opportunity to write an update and explain some important details of our youth ministry. God is truly blessing our youth and is doing awesome things through them.

One of my favorite aspects of youth ministry is seeing God work in the lives of young people. Seeing the fruits of their spiritual growth as they develop a deeper love for Jesus and a better understanding of His Word is incredible. Recently, I have noticed a greater interest in sharing the gospel with their friends, and an overall closeness among our youth at Walter Hill.

This spring will be busy with several opportunities for spiritual growth and fellowship. The main program our youth will participate in is YFO. YFO now stands for Youth Faith-growing Opportunity. This is where we meet at the building, have a devotional, and play fun games that help us grow closer together.  This is a great opportunity for fellowship and spiritual growth, and it is a time we will be using to prepare for Lads 2 Leaders (L2L).

L2L is a brotherhood-wide program we participate in to help prepare our youth to lead in the church. L2L helps prepare our youth to present lessons and lead singing; along with Bible bowl, debate, and even puppet shows. Even if your youth are unable to participate in L2L, YFO will still provide a great opportunity for spiritual growth. Please pray for these efforts to bear fruit in the lives of our teens.