Urgent Prayer Requests
* Pete Koelling, health concerns
* Brida’s daughter-in-law, Dawn
* Special prayer for Zachary
* Cynthia Wordlaw, need for a kidney
* Health of Cynthia’s mother and mother-in-law
* Dennis fighting kidney failure
* Sandy & Rachelle, working many hours (plus Rachelle is under the weather)
* Julie at Mizzou plus problems with ex-boyfriend.
* Dan, health concerns
* Marilynn Norvell
* Gene & Lois Schulze at home
* Mark & Julie Johnson and the situation with their Illinois home
* Our church and need for revival
Upcoming Activities
1. Bible Study (Brief Books) and Prayer
Meeting, Wednesday, 7 p.m.
2. Sunday school, Sunday, 9:15 a.m.
3. Worship Service, Sunday, 10:30 a.m.
including the Lord’s Supper.
4. NO Discipleship Training this Sunday.
Concerning the sanctification and preservation of believers, John Owen wrote the following:
“If He (God) doth it not, none other can do it. … He doth it of Himself, from His own grace; by Himself, of His own power; for Himself, of His own glory.”
Ministry to Afghan Soldiers
The women’s ministry is doing a project involving sending items to Afghan soldiers. Since there will be more than one box, we expect the postage to be costly. We wanted to give everyone an opportunity to participate in the mailing of these boxes. If you wish to contribute, please write “postage” on your check or envelope and drop it into the offering during the next two Sundays. Thank you for helping us bless these soldiers.
Also, we will be including homemade cookies. If you would like to bake some cookies (any kind) to include in these boxes, give them to Debbie by December 1st. We will also be including letters, cards, and pictures drawn by the children to thank them for their service!
Upcoming Facility Changes
In case you did not notice, our church sign is gone! Several of our members spent their Sunday afternoon a week ago removing the sign in preparation for our new sign scheduled to arrive at the end of the month. We thank those who took the time to remove the old sign.
Also, Harry and Audrey are donating an organ and piano to the church. Some of the men are working on moving these new instruments from their present home in Chesterfield to our auditorium. Thank you, Harry and Audrey, for your gift. And thank you to all the men involved in moving these instruments!
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification. … For God has not called us for impurity but in holiness.”
1 Thessalonians 4:3,7
Sermon Extras
“… may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
For centuries this verse has played a significant role in the discussion of man’s being. Is man a two part being composed of a body and soul (or spirit)? Is man a three part being composed of a body, soul, and spirit? The theological term for stating man is a two part being is “dichotomy”. Similarly, “trichotomy” views man as a three part being. Obviously, verse 23 appears to teach a trichotomous nature for man.
Without getting into a lengthy debate in our newsletter, there are other possible interpretations of Paul’s words in this verse. Here are three of the more popular ones.
1. Man is, indeed, a trichotomy.
2. Paul is describing the nature of a believer in v. 23, men who have a body & soul (like all men). But believers also have the spirit of God.
3. Paul is making a general statement to refer to the entire nature of man. It would be like you and me describing something about ourselves by saying “from the top of our head to the bottom of our feet”. Hopefully we are more than head and feet!
In the context of 1 Thessalonians, I believe view 3 above is the more reasonable understanding of the phrase. Paul is telling us that his request is for those believers, in every part of their being, be sanctified and preserved by God.
Ultimately, whether you are a dichotomous or trichotomous supporter on the nature of man, we can agree man has a material part and an immaterial part. When God sanctifies and preserves us, he preserves both parts completely!
Hallelujah!
Nominating Committee
Let each of us use the gifts and abilities the Lord has given us to serve Him through our church next year! How would the Lord have you serve Him? Contact the Nominating Committee (Sandy Brandel and Debbie Walker) and let them know.
Thanksgiving Fellowship
Join us this Sunday morning after worship for our Thanksgiving Fellowship potluck dinner! The church is providing all the meat so, bring a side and dessert (and yourself) and enjoy a time of giving thanks to our God for all of His man blessings!
Pastor’s Postscripts
We’ve completed 1 Thessalonians and will begin 2 Thessalonians in January. In the meantime, Sunday will find us in the book of Revelation. Please pray for me as I prepare for a message I have entitled “Worthy are You!” God is indeed worthy of all our praise and thanksgiving!
May Christ be glorified in your life and ministry this week!
I rarely bring this up at church since (1) I recognize I have a fringe view for our denomination and (2) agreement on this issue isn’t really necessary to understanding Scripture, but I fall in the minority that holds man is trichotomous in nature. In other words, I believe that man has three parts, not two.
Scripture and empirical observation both point that direction. Obviously we have a physical body, so I’ll presume that requires no defense. Scripture tells us we also have an eternal soul, so I’ll presume that also requires no defense.
But I believe we have a third part: a mind.
Scripture says our spirit behaves as something with thoughts and consciousness even when apart from the body (1 Corinthians 2:11, 1 Samuel 28, and Luke 16:19-31 as just three examples). And science has shown that cognitive therapy or learning new skills–in other words, working with the mind–can alter the physiology of the brain. So the mind cannot belong to the body.
At the same time, brain damage, drugs, or electrical stimulation can alter our thoughts and personality. Heck, we lose consciousness when we sleep! If the mind was purely part of the soul, then drugs and brain damage couldn’t affect the mind anymore than a bullet can kill the soul.
But if the mind cannot belong purely to the soul or body, it must be either a third part of who we are or an emergent property of the soul and body coming together. (For anyone not familiar with the phrase, an “emergent property” isn’t a thing you can point to or touch. It’s the idea that things can come together and take on properties they don’t have when alone. For an easy example, think of how wheels, an engine, and a frame can come together to become a car, even though none of them are a “car” when separate.) But an emergent property seems unlikely, since the mind seems to continue operating in full force, even when the body is dead. So if the mind requires a body, how can the soul continue thinking?
All of that aside, I’d like to emphasize that I agree with Bruce’s exposition of this passage. I don’t use Paul’s reference to “soul” versus “spirit” as evidence for a third aspect of our being (as best as I understand it, they’re interchangeable words in the Greek). The context also makes clear he’s talking about our whole selves, including both material and immaterial aspects, not trying to establish a go-to list for our anatomy. It’s like how 1 Corinthians 12 lists spiritual gifts, but I believe he’s giving examples to point out that many talents come from the same God. But his point is to show why we ought to work together in harmony, not to create an exhaustive checklist of every possible gift God could give.
* As a sort of footnote: A workaround has been proposed that the mind may belong solely to the soul, but the brain acts as a sort of lens through which the soul’s thoughts act upon our body. It’s kind of like how your eyes let you see, even though they don’t create light. I don’t subscribe to this theory, but explaining why would make this novel-length post even longer.