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God’s Common Cure for Pain (Esther 9) Chris Altrock – Oct. 15, 2017

This entry is part [part not set] of 1 in the series Front Page

 

Crying Out

            In October 2017, the day after what was then the worst mass shooting in America, Bishop Joseph Pepe of Las Vegas hosted a prayer service to mourn the 59 dead, to pray for the more than 500 injured. More than 800 people attended.[1]

When we are crushed by affliction, we instinctively cry out to the Almighty. We often do not know what else to do. Unable to make sense of what’s happened on earth, we reach out to heaven.God’s Common Cure for Pain (Esther 9) Chris Altrock – Oct. 15, 2017

Go 901: Sharing Jesus by Asking Questions (Mk 10) Chris Altrock – Sept. 24, 2017

This entry is part [part not set] of 2 in the series Go 901

Questions Shaped my Life

Do you believe Jesus is the Christ?

         Would you preach this Sunday night?

In many ways, those two questions shaped my life from 1984 to the present.

In 1984 Marlon McWilliams asked me that first question as we stood in the baptistry on a Sunday night at the Cloudcroft Church of Christ: “Do you believe Jesus is the Christ?” I answered “Yes!” and Marlon baptized me. That one question gave birth to my salvation.

Later, in 1986, Wesley Lane asked the second question: Would you preach this Sunday night? He wondered if I’d be willing to deliver the Sunday evening message at the services of the Cloudcroft Church of Christ. Barely a Christian a couple of years, but eager to give it a go, I answered “Yes!”

It was my first sermon. I prepared diligently. I hand wrote pages of notes. I was certain it would take up the full 30 minutes I’d been allotted. My delivery was a blur because I was so nervous. When I stepped down, and we sang the invitation song, and I looked at the clock on the back wall, barely ten minutes had passed from the time I began my sermon to the time we sat down after the invitation song. Still, it was my first taste of preaching. Something I’ve done now for 25 years.Go 901: Sharing Jesus by Asking Questions (Mk 10) Chris Altrock – Sept. 24, 2017

Go 901: Sharing Jesus by Praying Prayers (Eph. 6:19-20) Chris Altrock – Sept. 17, 2017

Praying for Cesar

A few weeks ago I ate Mexican food with Doug, a friend of mine, in Selmer, TN. Selmer is a small town in middle TN. Perhaps fifteen years ago, that might have been an impossibility–eating authentic Mexican food in a small town in middle TN–unless you count Taco Bell as authentic Mexican food. But these days Selmer boasts three family owned Mexican food restaurants.

Doug introduced me to Paula, whose family ran this restaurant. They moved to Selmer from Mexico. Paula introduced us to her daughter, Jessica, an eighth grader, who helped around the restaurant. She introduced us to her son, Cesar, a senior. Cesar played football for the local high school. My friend Doug had taught both Jessica and Cesar in school. Cesar had recently been coming to the church Doug works part time for. A fellow teenager at school, a member of that church’s youth group, had reached out to Cesar and invited Cesar to start coming to church with him.Go 901: Sharing Jesus by Praying Prayers (Eph. 6:19-20) Chris Altrock – Sept. 17, 2017