March 9, 2014 Big Sandy Church of Christ 614Tyler Street PO Box 705 903-636-4941 REMEMBER IN PRAYER JANIE SMITH - Rm 415 @ Legend Oaks, Gladewater NELL LOVELESS - Rm 109 Haven Care, Longview EPSY - Rm 105 @ Legend Oaks, Gladewater VIOLET SNOW @ Wesley House DONNIE ARCHER Rm 411 @ Legend Oaks, Gladewater Barbara Ohlhausen’s mother, Donnie Archer, fell and broke her pelvic bone and is now in Legend Oaks nursing home in Gladewater. MIKE OHLHAUSEN, Dean and Barbara’s son had an accident in Oklahoma on his dirt bike and broke his leg just below his knee and just above his ankle and also his heel. Tina Beall’s grandfather, Becky Waller’s father, passed away last Thursday Alma Fitzgerald, Brad and Melinda Bradshaw, Juanita Smith, Phillip Smith, JoAnn Green, Sherry Phelps, Joan Hawkins, Danny Shinn, Red and Kay Hall, Glenda Hardwick, Leon and Nell Loveless, Charlie Langford, Kenneth Vaughan, David Smothermon (Sharon Gray’s brother), Melissa (Brad and Melinda’s daughter) -------------------------------------- Christ Our Hero Lyle Hinsdale 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. —Acts 3:15 31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. —Acts 5:31 10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. —Hebrews 2:10 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. —Hebrews 12:2 The New Testament uses the title ὰρχηγος four times to refer to Jesus Christ. However, ὰρχηγος can be particularly difficult to translate. Three of the four times it is used, the NIV translates it as ‘author’ (Acts 3:15; Heb. 2:10; 12:2) while the fourth instance is translated as ‘prince’ (Acts 5:31). To get the full semantic range of ὰρχηγος, it is helpful to explore how it is used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT. The word is most often used to translate a Hebrew word that means ‘leader’ or ‘ruler’ (Exod. 6:14). Sometimes it is used to refer to one who goes on a campaign or an exploration of an area no one has explored before (Num. 13:2). It can also refer to someone who takes the lead going into battle, a hero or a champion. Uses of the word outside of the Bible refer to someone who begins the first of a series of things and someone who is the founder or originator of something. While we need to be careful of overloading a word with all its possible meanings and we need to remember that context determines the meaning, it is possible and prudent to understand each of these meanings in relation to Christ. Jesus Christ is our ruler. He is the trailblazer who laid out the path to salvation. He is our champion, our hero. He takes the lead in our fight against sin and leads us to freedom. He is the first son, who ‘bring[s] many sons to glory’. And he is the founder of our faith, because he is also the foundation of our faith. We can say with confidence that Jesus Christ is our hero. He loved us and redeemed us before we in the 21st century were ever born. He loved us and rescued us when we had no other hope. He loved us and liberated us from sin. While he is the ultimate hero, we can and should mimic him to be heroes ourselves by pointing others to him. ---------------------------------- Chuza Chuza (or Cuza) was a steward of Herod Antipas, a position of wealth and renown. His wife, Joanna, was one of the women that provided for Jesus (Luke 8:3). ------------------- Claudius Claudius was the fourth emperor of Rome. He ruled for thirteen years (A.D. 41 to 54). His name is mentioned twice in the Book of Acts, and is mentioned as Caesar a third time. He commanded all the Jews to leave Rome (Acts 18:2). Among those exiled were Aquila and Priscilla who went to Corinth and met up with Paul (Acts 18:1-2). Acts 11:28 refers to a severe famine all over the world and it happened under Claudius. ------------------- Cleopas (or Cleophas) Cleopas is one of the two disciples who talked with Jesus on the Road to Emmaus, after Jesus resurrection. Emmaus is a village seven miles from Jerusalem. Cleopas and the other disciple did not recognize Jesus at first, but after they invited Jesus to stay with them, due to the late hour, they realized Who he was while breaking bread with him at the table. Jesus vanished at that point. So the two disciples returned to Jerusalem to tell the eleven Apostles and those with them, that they saw the resurrected Jesus. While they were still speaking about this, Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst and said Peace be with you. (Luke 24:13-36). In John 19:25, there is a person named Mary, a witness to the crucifixion, who is identified as having a husband named Cleopas. But it is unknown if he is the same Cleopas who witnessed the resurrected Jesus.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 05:43:35 +0000