The Mississippi enterprise. (Jackson, Miss.) 1938-current, 1958-01-25
SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON
JANUARY 26, 1858
BY Rev. Geo. A. Harper,
Sill Avenue G.,
Greenwood, Miss.

ORGANIZATION OF THE
CHURCH.
Acts 6: IT; Romans IL: 3-8; /
Timothy 3; 5:17-22 Print Ro-
mans 1898; | Timothy 3:1-10.
MEMORY SELECTION y
Take heed therefore unto your
selves, and to all the flock,
over thee which the Holy
Ghost hath made you over
seers, to feed the church of
God, which he hath purchas-
ed with his own blood. - (Acts
20:28.) The Holy Spirit either
directly or through the organ
lied church appoints men to
the position as leaders of
Gods flock. Those who are
called to this position have
double responsibility, even
first in relation to their own
lives and conduct, and second
ly, in relation to Gods flock
which are the Christian peO-
pie. These saints are preci-
Gus unto Christ because they
have been redeemed through
His precious blood which
makes it a great responsibility
for those who are shepherds
over the flock. These leaders
should exercise great care in
relation to themselves and also
to the flock, then pray much
for themselves and Gods re-
deemed sheep.
SOBER THINKING EN-
JOINED:
For l say, through the
grace given unto me, to every
man that is among you, not to
think of himself more highly
than he ought to think; but to
think soberly, according as
God hath dealt to every man
the measure of faith" - High
mindednesS is a definite OBJ
struction to any person who
tries to present himself liv-
ing sacrifice unto God in rea-
Sonable service. Christians
are to keep their estimation of
themselves to minimum;
they are not to be high-mind-
ed or think themselves to be
better than other people. On
the contrary.
Christians are to be sober
thinkers, realizing that it is
through the grace of God we
are what we are.
c H RIS TIAN MEM
BERSHIP::
For as we have many mem
bers in one body, and all mem
bers have not the same office"
- Another reason Christians
are advised to think of them
selves so highly is the fact
that every Christian is but a
member of one body. He is a
par: of the whole, but mas
much as 'the whole is greater
than any of its parts and equal
to the sum of all its parts" No
one of its parts has preemin-
ence over the others. $50 we
being many, are one body in
Christ, and every one mem
bers one of another" - There
are many members which con-
stitute the body of Christ, but
each of them has its own func-
ton to perform. Having then
gifts differing according to the
grace that is given to us,
whether prophecy, let us pro-
phesy, let us prophesy accord
ing to the proportion of faith"
The position each of us oc-
cupies in the total member
ship and brotherhood has its
own unique Importance. Each
function is necessary in the
total operation of the church
as a body. cor ministry, let
us wait on our ministering: or
he that teacheth, ON teaching
- Ministering to the neces-
sity of the saints as spoken of
here means rendering service.
"Or he that exhorteth, on ex-
hortation; he that giveth, let
him do it with simplicity; he
that ruleth, with diligence; he
that sheweth mercy, with
cheerfulness." - 1t may seem
a bit strange that these latter
functions are considered by
Paul as gifts, yet they may
well be regarded as such. Eff
fective exhortation is a gift
and those who do not have it
as gift do not succeed in per-
suading others to accept or a.
dept the ideal life.
QUALIFICATIONS OF A