MDO Xtreme teaches “stranger danger”.

The students were taught if a stranger approaches them,

they should say “NO” just “GO.”

The police officer asked questions:

What if a person says your mommy is sick and they have

come to pick you up?

Say “NO” just GO.”

What if the person has candy?

Say “NO” just GO.”

What if the person has a puppy?

Say “NO “ just “GO.”

The MDO Xtreme children know the word “NO.”

We all know there are times when a parent cannot pick up a child.

The Jacksboro Police Officer taught the children that they should have a

“password” only the child and the parent knows.

If a stranger knows your “password,” they were sent by mommy.

The Jacksboro Parish

Jacksboro Parish

A combined ministry of the Memorial Christian Church and the First Presbyterian Church.

115 North Knox, Jacksboro, Texas 76458

Telephone: 940-567-3735

www.jacksboroparish.com

jackparish@att.net

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Peanut

Help

Butter

Backpack

Month

Buddies

1

YG @6:00PM

CR @7:00PM

2 3

Football

Breakfast

See Jon

4

5 6 7 8

YG @6:00PM

CR @7:00PM

9 10 11

12 13 14 15

BB @ Noon

YG @6:00PM

CR @7:00PM

16

PC @6:30PM

17 18

19

MDO Bake

Sale in the

church Foyer

20 21 22

YG @6:00PM

CR @7:00PM

23 24 25

26 27 28 29

YG @6:00PM

CR @7:00PM

30

MDO

Costume

Parade

31

October 2014

CR-Celebrate Recovery YG-Youth Group BB-Bible Babes PC-Parish Council

The new school year is off to a good start. We are implementing some

changes this year which we think will be beneficial to everyone. Because we

have a few classes with only one or two children, we have been in discussion

with the Methodist church about combining some of our classes. They are also

excited about the possibilities.

Beginning next week, the preschool (age 3-kindergarten will meet at MCC

in the room beside the nursery. The 1st and 2nd graders will meet in the new

wing of the Methodist church with Tim Miller leading that class and the 3rd-5th

will also meet in that wing with Marcia Jackson leading that group. The Jr. High

and High School students will be meeting in the Student Center with Cindy

Hackley coordinating those lessons and teachers. The young adults will also be

meeting at the Student Center with Brian Davenport leading those lessons. Liz

Spears will continue to lead another adult study at the MCC building. We will be

working with the teachers from the Methodist church to provide teachers and

assistance where needed.

Sunday School times will include gathering and visiting from 9:30-9:45 and

classes running from 9:45-10:25. We hope you will support the Sunday School

program by attending and bringing your children. Because we need to give

people time to pick up children and get to church on time, it is helpful if classes

are able to start no later than 9:45.

Recently, in a Sunday School class I had a child who had never heard of

God and had no idea what wondrous things God has done for us. That tells me

that our work is not done. There are still people who need to hear the message

of his love. If we let our Sunday Schools fail by not supporting them, how will

these little children ever have the opportunity to know God’s love! We hope you

will take advantage of the opportunity to fellowship and study God’s word.

Karen Davenport,

Christian Education

How Great Thou Art 1885

For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and

made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited:

“I am the Lord, and there is no other.”

Isaiah 45:18

arl Boberg, a 26-year-old Swedish minister, wrote a poem in 1885 which he called “O

Store Gud”—”O Mighty God.” The words, literally translated to English, Said:

When I the world consider |Which Thou has made by Thine almighty Word

And how the webb of life thou wisdom guideth | and all creation feedeth at Thy board.

Then doth my soul burst forth in song of praise | O, great God, Oh, great God!

His poem was published and “forgotten”—or so he thought. Several years later, Carl

was surprised to hear it being sung to the tune of an old Swedish melody; but the poem and

hymn did not achieve widespread fame.

Hearing this hymn in Russia, English missionary, Stuart Hine, was so moved he modi-

fied and expanded the words an made his own arrangement of the Swedish melody. He later

said his first three verses were inspired, line upon line, by Russia’s rugged Carpathian

Mountains. The first verse was composed when he was caught in a thunderstorm in a

Carpathian village, the second as he heard the birds sing near the Romanian border, and the

third as he witnessed many of the Carpathian mountain-dwellers coming to Christ. The final

verse was written after Dr. Hine returned to Great Britain.

Some time later, Dr. J. Edwin Orr* heard “How Great Thou Art” being sung by Naga

Tribespeople in Assam, in India, and decided to bring it back to America for use in his own

meetings. When he introduced it at a conference in California, it came to the attention of

music publisher, Tim Spencer, who contacted Mr. Hine and had the song copyrighted. It was

published and recorded.

During the 1954 Billy Graham Crusade in Harringay Arena, George Beverly Shea was

given a leaflet containing this hymn. He sang it to himself and shared it with other members

of the Graham team. Though not used in London, it was introduced the following year to

audiences in Toronto.

In the New York Crusade of 1957, it was sung by Bev Shea ninety-nine times, with the

choir joining the majestic refrain:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

*See the story behind the hymn “Search Me, O God.”

The above story was taken from “Then Sings My Soul” by Robert J. Morgan

C

Unwavering Conformity—a yearlong study in stewardship

Invitation to Obedience—Matthew 19:16-28

This passage in Matthew is one of the ‘hard sayings’ of Jesus, sayings that are difficult

to understand on the basis of cultural, historical or theological difficulties. In this passage,

Jesus is calling a rich young man to discipleship, but the command is confusing, and how

does it apply to our present day? Author and speaker Margaret Feinberg wrestles with the

issue of obedience in her book The Organic God.

Despite God’s wildly infallible nature, I don’t always choose to obey him. The book of

Matthew tells of a rich young tycoon who approaches Jesus for his perspective. He asks

Jesus a simple but penetrating question, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal

life?’!

Only when the tycoon presses Jesus with deeper questions does he uncover his own

heart issue. He loves the goods—his material possessions—more than God.

The tycoon really wanted to know what Jesus thought. He wanted instruction from the

rabbi. He wanted his perspective, but he didn’t want it bad enough to actually do something

with it once he got it.

The Scripture abounds with God’s wildly infallible wisdom and insights, and like the

tycoon, God wants to answer our questions as we pursue him through study and prayer. Yet

it’s possible to ask God about an issue that could change us forever, and after receiving the

answer, still walk away from the transformation process. That’s why Romans 12:2 reminds

us not to be conformed to this world but rather be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

You can know God’s perspective and still not do anything with it. This kind of thinking leads

to the worst possible religious life—one that welcomes hypocrisy and self-righteousness.

I wonder how often I am like the tycoon. I pursue God through prayer, asking what’s

really going on in a situation, but once I uncover the core issue, I move on in a been-there,

done-that, non-transformational kind of way. Or worse, I wonder how often I’m like all those

who followed Jesus from a distance and never bothered to ask for his perspectives at all!

I’m slowly discovering that God’s wild infallibility is actually an invitation to obedience;

in fact, his infallibility makes me want to obey him all the more. His perfection exposes my

own imperfections, his wisdom uncovers my own foolishness, and his infallibility reminds me

of just how fallible I am.

He alone can be trusted. It’s the entryway into the best possible and most costly life—

the one he designed from the beginning of time. Like the tycoon, we are given insight into

what God thinks so that we will think like him. He invites us to action. God’s truth, if taken

seriously, will not just transform our minds and hearts but also our behavior. It will become

action points for obedience.

MDO Xtreme Fundraisers

Bake Sale

MDO will be hosting a Bake Sale after Church on

October 19th. All proceeds go directly to our

MDO Xtreme Scholarship Fund. Please

stop by the Fellowship Hall Sunday,

October 19th and

support MDO

Xtreme.

Go Tigers-Head Band Sales

Stop by the church office or MDO office and pick up your “GO TIGERS” Head Bands in time

for the cooler weather. They are $5.00 each. All proceeds go directly to MDO Xtreme

Scholarship Fund.

Who are we and what do we believe?

Christian Church

The Christian Church is organized to:

-help each member participate to the fullest

-help the church function effectively as a

whole.

THREE EXPRESSIONS OF THE

CHURCH

CONGREGATIONAL

Each local church has its own program of

worship, mission and service. Members

choose officers, send representatives to

regional, general assemblies.

REGIONAL

Regional bodies in the U.S. and Canada

help start churches, relocate ministers and

assist congregations.

GENERAL

General Assembly is made up of

congregational and regional

representatives and ministers.

General Board is a small deliberative body

that does spadework for the

Assembly.

Each level is:

INDEPENDENT-determines its own

programs, staff, finances.

COOPERATIVE-morally responsible to

each other, but without a “pyramid of

authority.”

Presbyterian Church

The Presbyterian church is a

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

governed by elders elected from and by the

congregation.

Authority resides with the duly elected

representatives of the congregation in the

appointed church governing bodies. The

local church governing body is the SESSION.

The overall church structure consists of 4

GOVERNING BODIES:

SESSION or local governing body. Ordained

ministers (ministers of the Word) and

elders—all elected by the congregation.

PRESBYTERY—Elders and ministers from

congregations who oversee the local churches.

SYNOD—Representatives elected from each

Presbytery to oversee several Presbyteries.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY—The national

governing body made up of equal numbers of

lay people and clergy chosen by the

presbyteries.

Local sessions oversee the day-to-day work of

the church and supervise:

DEACONS—elected to conduct the temporal

and charitable ministry of the church.

TRUSTEES—(in some churches) elected to

manage financial, legal and property affairs

of the church.

Both of the articles on this page were taken from the pamphlets in the foyer. The Pamphlets are

produced by the Channing Bete Company. You may pick up a Pamphlet from the foyer and read

more about the Christian Church and the Presbyterian church.