Lord's Day Service
TODAY'S PROGRAM
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meet & Greet 10:50am
Meet and greet others. Enjoy light snacks & coffee.
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Welcome & Singing 11:05am
Transition from break to welcome and singing
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Message Opening Word 11:20am
Rev. 2:7; John 6:57; John 6:63.
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Small Groups 11:30am
Break into small groups and read & fellowship over one of the days.
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Overflow 11:45am
"What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up." (1 Corinthians 14:26)
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Closing Word 12:00pm
A brother will close the meeting & give further instructions.
Scripture for Today's Message
Rev. 2:7; John 6:57; John 6:63.
Verse(s): Rev. 2:7; John 6:57; John 6:63.
Rev. 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.
John 6:57 As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.
John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
Hymns
We will sing the hymn below today.
Group Time
Get into groups with the people around you and choose one of the days to read and fellowship together. We will have a little time to overflow afterwards.
Crucial Aspects of Matthew 5 through 7
Week 7
Entering through the Narrow Gate and Walking on the Constricted Way That Leads to Life, the Ever-blessed Condition of the Kingdom
Week 7 – Day 5
Rev. 3:14
And to the messenger of the church in Laodicea write: These things says the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God.
Rev. 3:16
So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spew you out of My mouth.
Laodicea is a distorted Philadelphia. When brotherly love is gone, Philadelphia immediately turns into the opinions of many. This is the meaning of the word Laodicea…Lao in Greek means “many people,” and dikea or dicea means “opinion.”
As soon as Philadelphia becomes degraded, the “brothers” become the “many people,” and its “brotherly love” becomes “the opinions of the many.”…When brotherly love is lost, the Body relationship is lost. The fellowship of life is cut off as well, leaving only the opinion of men. The opinion of the Lord is lost, and the only things left are the vote of the majority, ballots, and the show of hands. Once Philadelphia falls, it becomes Laodicea. (CWWN, vol. 50, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (3),” p. 784)
I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot” [Rev. 3:15]…Verse 17 says, “Because you say, I am wealthy and have become rich and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”…In the eyes of the Lord, the characteristics of Laodicea are lukewarmness and spiritual pride…Where does spiritual pride come from? It comes from history. Some were once rich, and they think that they are still rich. The Lord was once merciful to them, and they remember their history. But now they have lost that reality.
There is only one group of proud people—those who were Philadelphia and who had once kept God’s word and not denied His name. Yet the life which they once had is lost…They remember that they were once wealthy and had become rich and had need of nothing. But they are now poor and blind!
If you want to continue in the way of Philadelphia, remember to humble yourselves before God.
Laodicea means to know everything, but in reality to be fervent about nothing…It remembers its former glory but forgets its present condition before God. Formerly, it was Philadelphia; today it is Laodicea.
The God-ordained pathway for the church is the way of Philadelphia. (CWWN, vol. 50, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (3),” pp. 784-787)
The Lord’s counsel to the church in Laodicea [is] “…Buy from Me…” [Rev. 3:18]. Buying requires the paying of a price. The degraded recovered church must pay a price for the gold, white garments, and eyesalve, which she desperately needs.
First, the Lord counseled the church in Laodicea to buy gold refined by fire. In the Bible our operating, working faith (Gal. 5:6) is likened to gold (1 Pet. 1:7), and the divine nature of God, which is the divinity of Christ, is typified by gold (Exo. 25:11). We partake of the divine nature of God by faith (2 Pet. 1:1, 4-5). The degraded recovered church has the knowledge of the doctrines concerning Christ but not much living faith to partake of the divine element of Christ. She needs to pay the price to gain the golden faith through the fiery trials that she may participate in the real gold, which is Christ Himself as the life element to His Body. Thus, she can become a pure golden lampstand (Rev. 1:20) for the building of the golden New Jerusalem (21:18).
We know experientially that when we have the living faith, we enjoy the divine nature. And when we are in the divine nature, we surely have this living faith. Hence, these two things are combined and are both signified by gold. The church in Laodicea needs this gold—the divine nature applied, appropriated, by the living faith, which is Christ Himself. If we would gain this, we must pay the price. (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 195-197)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 47, “The Orthodoxy of the Church,” chs. 6—9
Week 7 – Day 6
Rev. 3:18
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed…, and eyesalve to anoint your eyes that you may see.
Rev. 3:21
He who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne.
The Lord counseled the church in Laodicea to buy white garments that they may be clothed and that the shame of their nakedness may not be manifested. In figure, garments signify conduct. White garments here signify conduct that can be approved by the Lord. Such conduct is the Lord Himself lived out of the church…These white garments are not Christ as our objective righteousness for justification. Rather, the white garments are Christ as our subjective righteousness…When we have living faith and participate in the divine nature, this divine nature will eventually come out of us to be our living. This living is Christ lived out of our being…Yes, we all have been justified and have been covered by the first garment, the best robe put on the prodigal son in Luke 15. But after being justified, we must love the Lord, be on fire, and be absolutely for the Lord. If we are this kind of Christian, then we will have the living faith to participate in the rich, divine nature, which will become the Christ lived out of our being as the second garment to cover our nakedness. (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 197-198)
The Lord [also] counseled the church in Laodicea to buy from Him eyesalve to anoint their eyes that they may see. The eyesalve needed to anoint their eyes must be the anointing Spirit (1 John 2:27), who is also the Lord Himself as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Because she has been distracted by the dead knowledge of letters, the degraded recovered church also needs this kind of eyesalve for her blindness…We need more Spirit, not more knowledge…With this eyesalve, this anointing, we may have both foresight and deep insight to see things thoroughly. Then we will say, “Lord Jesus, because I now see what a treasure You are, I am ready to pay any price.”…Why are so many Christians unwilling to pay the price for Christ? It is because they do not see what a treasure Christ is. They do not see the preciousness, the worth, and the value of Christ. But once our eyes have been anointed by the divine, spiritual eyesalve, we will say, “It is worthwhile for me to pay any price for Christ. The price is too low. My self, my future, and my life are all worth nothing. I actually pay nothing to gain Christ who is everything.” If we would see this, we need eyesalve.
The gold, the garment, and the eyesalve are all Christ. Christ is everything. Our need today is Christ…Paul says that all the things he counted loss for Christ were just refuse, dog food (Phil. 3:8). In the church life in the Lord’s recovery, we are not for doctrine or merely for the so-called truths. We are here for the rich Christ…The degraded church does not need doctrine; she needs eyesalve. She needs revelation, vision, and great grace.
“To sit with the Lord on His throne [Rev. 3:21] will be a prize to the overcomer, that he may participate in the Lord’s authority in the coming millennial kingdom. This means that the overcomers will be co-kings with Christ ruling over the whole earth…Strictly speaking, all the promises in these seven epistles concern the coming kingdom. Any negative word regarding loss or suffering refers to a loss during the coming kingdom, and any positive word regarding gain or enjoyment refers to the enjoyment of Christ as our special portion during the age of the kingdom…Nevertheless, in principle, these promises may also be applied today, and we may pre-taste them now. There is no need to wait until we enter into the kingdom age to enjoy all these special portions. Today in the church life we are privileged to enjoy the kingdom. Praise the Lord for the church life! (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 199-200, 204)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 238
Purchase a copy at the Student Station or download the eBook.
Week 2 – Day 5
Matt. 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.
Heb. 12:14
here is no reason for us to turn to anything other than Christ.
Those who are strict with themselves, merciful to others, and pure toward God are peacemakers. They do not like to offend, hurt, or damage anyone…To be a peacemaker does not mean to be political, [which] is falsehood and hypocrisy. We must be righteously square, not politically round…The New Jerusalem is square, not round…Although we are righteously square, we are still merciful toward others. This enables us to be pure toward God and to see Him. If we are such a person, spontaneously, we will be peacemakers. Instead of fighting with others and hurting them, we will always maintain peace with those with whom we are involved. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 183-184)
Those who are peacemakers will be called the sons of God…All the sons of men fight against one another, but the sons of God, like their heavenly Father, are peaceful and always make peace with others. Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, as far as it depends on you, live in peace with all men.” However, this keeping of peace should not be merely an outward behavior. That is politics…We have a nature that makes us strict with ourselves, merciful with others, and pure with God. Because we have this nature, we spontaneously keep the peace with others…This will cause others to say, “These are truly the sons of God.” (Life-study of Matthew, p. 184)
The kingdom people do not sow seeds of discord. Instead, the kingdom people are peacemakers; they make peace among men.
There is no peace in the present age. People everywhere are scheming and struggling against one another; they are backbiting and devouring one another. There is discord in every group and family. There is discord among people, and there is discord within people. There is much self-blame, self-hatred, indignation, discontentment, restlessness, and uneasiness within man’s heart. Within man there is also the battle between reason and lust, and his conscience is full of condemnation. Man wants to do good, but he cannot stop indulging in sin. As a result, man has no peace in himself. Furthermore, there is no peace between man and God. Man has gone astray from God and even opposes God. Colossians 1:21 speaks of those who are alienated and enemies in their mind because of their evil works. John 3:36 says that “the wrath of God abides upon him.” Therefore, there is no peace between man and God.
The Lord Jesus came to the earth as the Son of God and brought peace to man. He made peace among men and peace between man and God. He is the Peacemaker. Therefore, someone living in the kingdom of the heavens must also be one who makes peace among men. He can live in peace with all men, and he can give peace to all who contact him. The blessing for the peacemakers is to be called sons of God, because they make peace like the Son of God.
There are strife and discord in the church because the church lacks peacemakers…If we do not have peace with others, we cannot have peace with God…Because the Lord made peace among men and peace between man and God, we must do the same in order to be called sons of God.
Most believers think that it is quite high to treat others with love. The requirement of love is not as high as the requirement of peace. Someone may not have peace when he treats others with love, but he must have love in order to be at peace with others. In the church it seems as though the more love there is, the more there are strife and opinions. This is because people have love, but their flesh is not broken; they are not under the ruling of the heavens, and there is disharmony among the saints…It is not enough to merely have love. (CWWL, 1955, vol. 3, “The Living and Principles of the Kingdom People,” pp. 68-69, 71-72)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 158
VERSE OF THE WEEK
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed..., and eyesalve to anoint your eyes that you may see.
Rev. 3:18
Learn More About Us.
Join any of our Weekly Gatherings
The Church in Athens isn’t our name, it’s our description. As such, it’s an inclusive title, not an exclusive one.
We gather together simply as believers of the Lord in this city, and we receive as our brothers and sisters all who believe in Jesus Christ. Likewise, we warmly welcome guests and visitors who are not Christians.
Lord's Table
As believers in Christ who love and serve Him, we enjoy the Lord's supper each Sunday. Following our worship of the Father, we share with one another what we have enjoyed from God's Word in an open session of mutual teaching and encouragement.
Small Groups
Our home meetings are at the heart of our church life and community. These small group gatherings are characterized by a vital spiritual pursuit, an intimate loving atmosphere, and a committed goal of spiritual fruit-bearing. We warmly welcome you to join a group.
College Students
Our college students love to read the Bible, sing hymns, pray, serve in the church, preach the gospel, and shepherd younger believers with one another. If you are a college student in Athens, chances are that we have brothers and sisters in school with you!
Children
Our weekly children's lessons (Pre-K-6th) include an age-appropriate curriculum consisting of Bible stories, character lessons, and fun children's songs. We seek to help our little ones develop into young men and women who love Jesus Christ, know the Bible, and seek God’s kingdom first.
Young People
Our hope is that during their teenage years, our young people would develop a taste for the Word of God and grow in the divine life of God. We provide an atmosphere rich with God's Word, healthy companionships, and fun activities.
Special Events
We hold retreats, conferences, and special trainings throughout the year that are designed for your spiritual growth and Christian advance. Whether we gather in person or virtually, these events are open for all to attend.
Our Beliefs
We hold the faith which is common to all believers.
(1 Titus 1:4)
the Bible
The Bible is the complete divine revelation inspired word by word by God through the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21, 2 Tim. 3:16).
God
God is uniquely one, yet triune - the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (1 Tim. 2:5a, Matt. 28:19).
Incarnation
The Son of God, even God Himself, was incarnated to be a man by the name of Jesus Christ (John 1:1, John 1:14).
Crucifixion
Christ died on the cross for our sins, shedding His blood for our redemption (1 Pet. 2:24, Eph. 1:7a).
Resurrection
Christ resurrected from among the dead on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4).
Ascension
Christ ascended to the right hand of God to be Lord of all (Acts 1:9, Acts 2:33, Acts 2:36).
Repent & Believe
Whenever any person repents to God and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is regenerated (born again) and becomes a living member of the one Body of Christ (Acts 20:21, John 3:3, Eph. 1:22-23, Rom. 12:5).
Christ is Coming
Christ is coming again to receive His believers to Himself (1 Thes. 2:19).
OUR BELIEFS
We hold the faith which is common to all the believers
(1 TITUS 1:4)
the Bible
The Bible is the complete divine revelation inspired word by word by God through the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21, 2 Tim. 3:16).
God
God is uniquely one, yet triune - the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (1 Tim. 2:5a, Matt. 28:19).
Incarnation
The Son of God, even God Himself, was incarnated to be a man by the name of Jesus Christ (John 1:1, John 1:14).
Crucifixion
Christ died on the cross for our sins, shedding His blood for our redemption (1 Pet. 2:24, Eph. 1:7a).
Resurrection
Christ resurrected from among the dead on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4).
Ascension
Christ ascended to the right hand of God to be Lord of all (Acts 1:9, Acts 2:33, Acts 2:36).
Repent & Believe
Whenever any person repents to God and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is regenerated (born again) and becomes a living member of the one Body of Christ (Acts 20:21, John 3:3, Eph. 1:22-23, Rom. 12:5).
Christ is Coming
Christ is coming again to receive His believers to Himself (1 Thes. 2:19).
Find us Here
249 Waddell St.
Athens, GA 30605
Get In touch
706-540-3436
churchinathens@gmail.com
meeting hours
Sunday: 10am - 12pm
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Meeting hall address
249 Waddell Street
Athens, GA 30605
(Entrance to parking lot is from Hull St)
Contact Information
- Phone: 1-706-540-3436
- churchinathens@gmail.com
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P.O. Box 6767
Athens, GA 30604