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TGOC'S WEBSITE PASSES
THE
2,000,000 HIT MARK!
In the June 26th, 2007 edition of our newsletter, we announced that Friday, June 22, had been a "banner day" at THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, because it was on that date that our Website passed the 1,000,000 page-hit mark. We pointed out in that newsletter that in 2006, we had 1.6 million page-hits for the entire year.
In this edition of our newsletter, we are pleased to announce that Thursday, September 13, was yet another banner day for THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, because it was on that day that our Website passed the 2,000,000 page-hit mark! [If we continue at this rate, it appears as if we will approach the 3,000,000 page-hit mark by December 31—which, by the way, has been our goal all year long.] Between January and September of this year, people from more than 120 countries around the world have visited the Website, which shows us that the site is doing exactly what it was designed to do—take the whole Gospel to the whole world.
Help us get the word out about the Website, would you? Recommend it to friends. Send people e-mails containing links to the site. Talk it up in church bulletins, on blogs, or in other venues. We believe that there is something of value on our Website for just about anyone—and especially for those people who are interested in expanding their knowledge of God's Word and how it can affect their daily lives.
TGOC ANNOUNCES
THE FIRST TWO LESSONS
IN ITS NEWLY REVISED
N.T. SERIES ON MATTHEW
As most of our readers no doubt know, we make available on our Website both video and audio presentations (with accompanying written transcripts and study questions) for each of the 27 books of the New Testament. It has been our goal for some time now to start a "refurbishing process" that eventually will result in a complete set of revised and updated programs for the entire New Testament. Today, we proudly announce the first programs that have been produced as a result of this refurbishing process.
In this new series, Ben Bailey presents a total of eight lessons on the Book of Matthew. Lesson one, which covers chapters 1-3, begins (appropriately enough) with the announcement in chapter 1 from the angel of the Lord to Joseph that his wife, Mary, would "bring forth a Son," and that Joseph and Mary should "call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins" (vs. 21). Ben then notes, "Matthew is a Jew writing to Jews about the greatest Jew Who ever lived. Matthew is all about the teaching of the King, Jesus Christ. In fact, one of the key words in the book of Matthew is 'kingdom.' Matthew uses the idea of the kingdom fifty-five times. He talks about the kingdom of heaven, which is a unique phrase that only Matthew uses. In essence, Matthew was showing the Jews—via their own Scriptures—that Jesus was the Messiah, and that He met every prophecy and every qualification necessary. So, the Book of Matthew is all about the life and teaching of the King, Jesus Christ."
Indeed it is! In fact, the Book of Matthew opens with these words: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham" (1:1) Those two descriptions would have been important to the Jews for two reasons: (1) to establish that Jesus was of the royal lineage of David; and (2) to establish that Jesus was tied directly to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation. God has promised David, "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish His kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever" (2 Samuel 7:12-13). Yes, as Ben correctly noted, "The Book of Matthew is all about the life and teaching of the King, Jesus Christ."
Ben also discusses in his lesson the critically important link between Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:22-23, where we find the prophecy of Christ's virgin birth and its fulfillment. Ben addresses Christ's birth, including Micah 5:2, which prophesied that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem (and the prophecy's fulfillment in Matthew 2:1,5-6). Ben also discusses the prophecy of Hosea 11:1 ("Out of Egypt I called My son"), another prediction that is fulfilled in Matthew 2 when Joseph and Mary took baby Jesus into Egypt to avoid King Herod's edict (Mt. 2:16) regarding the death of all Hebrew baby boys two years old and under. Ben then ends his discussion of the first three chapters of Matthew with an examination of the work of John the Baptizer, whose message was, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mt. 3:2).
In lesson two of his series on Matthew, Ben concentrates on a single chapter (4), in which we find the instructive account of Christ's temptation at the hand of Satan. There are a number of important aspects to this one chapter. First, as Ben points out, we need to understand that, yes, temptations will come to us—just as they did to the Son of God. But God's promise was, "I will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (1 Cor. 10:13). Second, we need to know that Satan will use "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life" (1 Jn. 2:16) to tempt us—just as he used these three things to tempt the Lord. Third, when temptation does come, we need to handle it in the same manner in which Christ handled His temptation—by rebuffing temptation through a proper use of the Word of God. Each time that Christ was tempted by Satan, He responded with "It is written..., It is written..., It is written..." (Mt. 4:4,7,10). As the psalmist said in Psalm 119:11, "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You."
Fourth, to use the words of James, we must learn to "resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Jas. 4:7). Fifth, we need to know that temptation will not last forever. As Matthew himself pointed out in regard to Christ's temptation, after the final temptation "the devil left Him" (Matthew 4:11). Satan very likely will return later to tempt us again, but with each successive temptation we should grow stronger in our faith—and thus be more readily able to defeat him. Sixth, we need to recall to our remembrance James 1:2-4 wherein James wrote, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." If we handle temptation properly, something good can come from it. There are rewards for those Christians who overcome Satan!
Both of these lessons are now available on our Website, where you will find them in video, audio, and written transcript formats. We invite you to examine them for yourself, and to share them with others.
PEOPLE VOLUNTEERING
TO TAKE QUIZZES?
YES!
AT THE CARTER COUNTY FAIR!
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A few months ago, David Tuttle and Grady Scott from Ravenswood, West Virginia, contacted us with an unusual request. They had planned to set up a booth at their local county fair, and wanted a way of attracting people to the booth. They asked if we could prepare a stand-alone Bible quiz (which did not require Internet access) that would work with a couple of laptops at their booth. They wanted a brief quiz of just ten questions, which they had carefully selected from the New Testament quizzes that were already in place on our Website. We were happy to help them by preparing a quiz that could be run from a CD or from the laptops' hard drives. When time for the fair came, the Bible quizzes turned out to be a real attention getter. Grady reported that people were drawn to the laptops in significant numbers.
We at THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST wanted to try this, too. For the past couple of years, the McLish Avenue congregation had been discussing the possibility of having a booth of its own at the local Carter County Fair here in Ardmore, Oklahoma, in order to put a "more public face" on the Lord's church. Once the decision had been made to set up a booth at the fair, we then refined the questions we had prepared for David and Grady in such a way that after the person taking the quiz had completed it, he or she would want to discuss the quiz's contents with one of our workers. Needless to say, we were quite curious about how this idea might work.
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The fair ran from September 5th through September 8th. At our booth (a combined effort of the McLish Avenue congregation and THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST), we set up two laptops containing the quizzes. In addition, we made available a brochure introducing our work at TGOC, plus two tracts written by Ben Bailey (What Must I Do to be Saved? and The Identity of the New Testament Church). We also handed out CDs and DVDs of TGOC programs. A total of 21 volunteer workers from the congregation staffed the booth (several of whom worked more than one day). We estimate that we talked to more than 1,000 people. And by the time the fair had concluded, we had set up approximately 25 Bible studies. We believe that our efforts were worthwhile, and that they helped us spread the Gospel message to the people of Carter county. [Click on this link or the small photo to see it full size.]
We want to take this opportunity to offer our new stand-alone, ten-question Bible quiz to anyone else who might be able to use it. If you would like a copy of the quiz, email us using the form on the "Contact Us" page of our Website, and we will be happy to make the quiz available to you completely free of charge. [You can view the quiz by clicking on this link.] |
LAST FOUR
TRUTH SERIES BIBLE QUIZZES
NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE
In our August 21 e-newsletter, we announced the addition to our Website of the first four Bible quizzes in our Truth Series. In this newsletter, we would like to bring to your attention the fact that the last four of those quizzes (out of a total of eight) are now available. Included in this offering are quizzes on: (1) The Truth about Abortion; (2) The Truth about Divorce; (3) The Truth about Alcohol; and (4) The Truth about Tobacco. Take a look at the quizzes and see what you think. The four new quizzes can be found on our Website at www.thegospelofchrist.com/quiz.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
From Email - The lessons you do on your web site are down to earth and enjoyable.
From Email - What better gift has mankind ever received since the Internet event? Your website is one of the greatest opportunities for human salvation. God bless you forever!
Jamestown, NC - I'm writing to express my sincere appreciation for the wonderful video lessons that are made available through your website. I was baptized in July for remission of sins, and since being added by the Lord to his church, I've had an insatiable desire to learn God's word. I'm using your sermons as tutorials to help me study God's written word. May God bestow many blessings on those responsible for "The Gospel of Christ" programs.
From Email - Your website serves a great need. Thanks for your work in helping people to better understand the Bible.
From Email - Your E-Newsletter was sent to me by a friend. I will be looking forward to receiving your newsletter and also sharing it with others. Thank you.
Owens Cross Roads, AL - Thank you for doing this. It is a wonderful tool and I am so blessed to be able to use some of these tools to grow my knowledge in the Word. God Bless
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