church of Christ at 26th and Connecticut
Joplin, Missouri

Phone
417-781-2326

1819 E 26th
Jopin, MO  64804

   Worship Schedule

Sunday
    Bible Class              9 am
    Morning Worship    10 am
    Evening Worship      6 pm

Wednesday
     Devotional & Class   7 pm

Upcoming Activities

REFLECTIONS

by Jake King

Welcome to the family, Kimberlea

We rejoice that Kimberlea G. was baptized Sunday morning.  This means that she was saved (Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21); all of her sins were forgiven (Acts 2:38); yes, her sins were washed away (Acts 22:16); she clothed herself with Christ (Galatians 3:27); yes, she entered into Christ and His death (Romans 6:3); and she was added to the body (1 Corinthians 12:13), which is the church (Ephesians 1:22-23).  Welcome to the family, Kimberlea.

Thank you, Bill J.

Thanks, again, Bill J., for the years you’ve spent serving this congregation as an elder.  We will miss you being one of our shepherds, but we know we will continue to see you serve the congregation in other ways.  As Paul said, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 ESV).  [And it’s great to know that Bill’s knee replacement surgery went well yesterday.]

Blessed with 16 additions this year!

On Monday, Bill Johnson told me that we’ve had 16 additions to our congregation so far this year (2009).  They are: [Baptisms:] (1) Matthew R.; (2) Melissa B.; (3) Zachary M.; (4) Krystyn H.; (5) Sydney M.; (6) Kimberlea G.; [Restoration:] (7) Alice H.; [Placing Membership:] (8) Frances H.; (9) Bob R.; (10) Sharrolyn R.; (11) Ryan H.; (12) Misty H.; (13) Mike J.; (14) Leah J.; (15) Addison K.; and (16) Joyce K..  Beside all this, we’ve been blessed with many visitors, including many repeat visitors.  We have much for which to be thankful!

Past Members

Last night I went to the Gospel Meeting at Carthage and met up with some of our past members.  I saw Don D. and learned that he’d been out of the country—in the Ukraine!  I know that Don continues to do great work for the Lord.  I also saw Bryan P. last night (in fact, this is the third time I’ve seen him at Gospel Meetings lately).  Bryan was leading the singing at the meeting, and he did a good job.  In visiting with him, I learned that he leads singing regularly at Carthage.  It’s great to know that former members continue to do great works for the Lord.

In Search of the Lord’s Way

In case you didn’t know, there is a good program called, “In Search of the Lord’s Way,” that airs Sundays on channel 7.1 at 7:30am, on Dishnetwork channel 259 at 6:30am, and DirecTv channel 364 at 6:30am.  The program also has a website, which is www.searchtv.org.  Recently, John Freeman gave me “Search”’s newsletter, which has the following article written by one of its speakers:  

“Some Encouraging News” from Phil Sanders

Some say churches of Christ are graying and dying, but are these claims true?  While some congregations have a majority of members that are retired, many more are filled with children and young adults.

            Churches of Christ actually have a larger percentage of young adults than the national average.  In fact, we rank #3 among religious groups having the most adults aged 18-29.

            According to the Pew Forum’s naitonwide survey last year, twenty percent of the American populaiton falls between the ages of 18 to 29.  This survey says churches of Christ have 22 percent in that category (“U.S. Religious Landscape Survey,” www.pewforum.org, 82-83).

            Statistician Flavil Yeakley, Jr. has studied trends in churches of Christ for decades.  He confidently says these things about churches of Christ: (1) We are the twelfth largest religious group in America; (2) we are the sixth fastest growing church in America; (3) we are fourth in the nation in the total number of congregations; (4) we are fifth in the nation in number of countries in which there is a congregation; (5) we are first in the nation in distribution of congregations; and (6) we are first in the nation in weekly attendance of adherants.  In fact, 76 percent of our adherents attends regularly, which is much higher than most mainline religious groups.

            According to a survey by Barna some years ago, churches of Christ were also first in the percentage of members who contributed to support the church.

            Let’s not be discouraged.  We are not pitiful and not dying.