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News The Pine Grove AME Church Lay Fellowship Holiday Social Saturday, November 19, 2005 6 p.m. The Pine Grove A.M.E Church Lay Organization and the Church’s auxiliaries, cordially invite the Pine Grove Church family to share in an evening of fellowship, dinner, and praises. The event will be hosted at the Columbiana Conference Center (formerly the Sheraton Hotel) located on Bush River Road. All members are invited and encouraged to attend. The Cost: $5 per person The Dress: After Five |
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President:
Niovia Davis
Vice President:
Evon Whitt
Secretary:
Toretha Wright
Treasurer:
Bob Gardner
Pastor:
Rev. Stephen SingletonLinks
 | SEVENTH EPISCOPAL DISTRICT |
Weekly Devotion
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October 17, 2005
http://www.sclm.org
Not Far From the Kingdom
And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him,
“You are not far from the
Mark 12:34 (ESV)
I
had a friend in college who loved to go to class and actually liked taking
exams, but he hated the lab. He refused to participate in the practical but
messy application of the information. He failed that course.
The
religious leaders are set against Jesus. They try to catch him on the horns of
every dilemma. They question his authority. They cringe when he identifies with
the Son of David. They are appalled when he forgives sin. Now one of them
questions him on his understanding of the whole Old Testament. “What
commandment is the greatest?” he asks. Jesus gives the most complete
summary and conclusion ever given of biblical history. “God is one. Love
him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength…the second is: love our
neighbor as yourself.” The questioner agrees that this is the right
answer and receives a commendation from Jesus for his class work. “You
are not far…” But that is not the same as being in the kingdom.
I
am afraid that many of us may be close to the kingdom, but still not in. We
have been led to believe that knowing the facts is enough to be accepted into
God’s world. Actually he came to give us a life, not some facts. Until we
are living the life he gave we have not embraced the kingdom. It is not about
having the right answers to the test, because the real issue is not just
getting into heaven when we die. It is about living in conscious fellowship
with God now. Too many of us know so much about Christian doctrine and
methodology, but too little of Christ as our life. Jesus came so we could know
the Father like he knows him. The Holy Spirit works so that we can know the Son
the way the Father knows him. Embracing the
It
is not good enough to be “not far from the kingdom”.
