Blessings to you, the readers of this page, in Jesus Christ our
Lord. May He guide you and protect you always.
Blessings to you, the readers of this page, in Jesus Christ our
Lord. May He guide you and protect you always.
Worship Service, Featuring "How To Be More Pleasing To God And Also Be More Successful In The World: Have More Empathy! "
Welcome to the online worship service at Internet Church Of Christ. Here is a good place to worship our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. You are invited and are welcome at any time. Blessings to you in Him.
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Empathy: In order to follow The Golden Rule ("Treat others as you would like to be treated"), we need to understand and care how other people feel in certain situations. The music video below is intended to help us understand and share the feelings of another person.Music video, music, and arrangement may all be copyrighted, used with implied permission.
MUSIC VIDEO at => http://youtu.be/fMfBKwCBgGI
http://youtu.be/fMfBKwCBgGISung By Eva Cassidy
What do you think Eva Cassidy was feeling as she sang "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" above?
Unframed view at http://youtu.be/fMfBKwCBgGI See more like this on our Christian music page at Christmusic.wsSee our HTML page for "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" with more info and links at => http://loveallpeople.org/somewhereovertherainbow.html
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O Lord, we come together in Your name,If you are a new Christian, we invite you to visit our page at http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/newchristian.html
And as You promised, we know You are here.AND SO WE WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS,
AND PRAY THAT YOU FIND PLEASURE HERE WITH US,
AS WE, YOUR LOVING CHILDREN WORSHIP YOU.We now invite You to reveal Yourself,
And share with us Your presence, openly,FOR YOU ARE EVERYTHING THAT WE DESIRE,
AND EVERYTHING WE HAVE, WE GIVE TO YOU.In Jesus' holy name we pray, Amen.
The Lord, Himself, taught us to pray like this . . .
Play Prayer Here =>
http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/lordsprayer2.mp3
Reading by Rev. Bill McGinnis - Public DomainThe Lord's Prayer Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. Source: Book Of Common Prayer, based on Matthew 6:9-13You can hear the Lord's Prayer on an MP3 file by clicking on internetchurchofchrist.org/binaries/lordsprayer2.mp3. This MP3 file, and the text on which it is based, are in the Public Domain, free for all people to use without restriction. As always, permission is granted to link to any of our files.
New American Bible (with notes and links) - http://www.usccb.org/nab/today.shtml
Daily Light On The Daily Path - http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/daily.light/
National Presbyterian Church (USA) - http://www.natpresch.org/one_daily_reading.php
The Apostles' CreedThis historic affirmation of faith comes to us from the early centuries of the Christian church.HTML page => http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/pearl-apostlescreed.html
MP3 audio file at => http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/binaries/apostlescreed.mp3 - free, Public Domain
Are you looking for a clear purpose in life? Do you wonder, "Why are
we here?" Do you think life is meaningless?
If so, then this is what you are looking for:
But the most important thing is love: He wants us to love other people
the same as we love ourselves.
The Bible states it very clearly, so there can be no possible
misunderstanding:
But what about love for God? Doesn't that come first? Yes, but God
accepts our love for others as if it were love for Himself. So when we
love others, we are loving Him at the same time. This is shown in the
Parable Of The Sheep And The Goats (Matthew 25:31-46).
But what about The Ten Commandments? Aren't we supposed to obey them?
Yes, but The Ten Commandments are only an approximation of what God
wants from us. The Pharisees obeyed all of the Ten Commandments, yet
God was very displeased with them because they did not have love. The
exact thing God wants from us is that we should love our neighbor as
we love ourselves. Everything else is subordinate to this.
But what about holiness? Aren't we supposed to avoid improper sex,
etc. and be pure and chaste? Aren't we supposed to deny our physical
selves in order to strengthen our spiritual selves? Yes, but our
feeble attempts at being holy do not even come close to God's high
standards. To Him, they are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). But if we
have love for others, God will overlook a multitude of our sins (1
Peter 4:8). And if we forgive others of their offenses against us, He
will forgive us of our offenses against Him (Matthew 5:14-15). Love
makes everything holy, since God is love (1 John 4:8, 4:16).
So all of God's laws boil down to this one command: "YOU SHALL LOVE
YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." If you truly do this one thing only, it is
enough. It then doesn't matter if you fall short on some of the dozens
of others. But if you do not do this, all of the others together are
not enough. This is the big one, more important than all the others
combined.
[1] If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a
noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
[2] And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
[3] If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but
have not love, I gain nothing.
[4] Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;
[5]it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable
or resentful;
[6] it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
[7] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
[8] Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues,
they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
[9] For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect;
[10] but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.
[11] When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
[12] For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know
in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.
[13] So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest
of these is love.
Your ability to apply these ideas in your own life is directly proportional to the amount of empathy you have for
other people: the more empathy you have, the greater ability you have to apply these ideas to your own life.
This is "The Law Of Love," God's most important commandment for all
mankind.
This is the starting point, the Scriptural Imperative
given many times in the Bible. (See also Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31,
Luke 10:27, Romans 13:8-10, James 2:8, 1 Peter 4:8.)
And who is our neighbor? Every other person is our neighbor. (See
Luke 10:29-37 for Jesus' answer to that same question.)
But sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we still don't like
the other person very much, or we still feel anger or resentment.
What can we do in cases like this ?
The most troublesome harmful emotion is the emotion of anger.
You can neutralize anger by making a direct conscious decision to
forgive the other person for whatever he may have done to cause
you to feel anger toward him.
("As you forgive, so you will be forgiven." See Matthew 6:14-15)
This the "The Golden Rule," our most important guideline for dealing
with other people.
The remaining eighteen ideas are specific applications
of The Golden Rule to different kinds of situations.
You like it when people smile at you and behave in a
friendly way. So do the same to them.
You like it when people are courteous to you. And
you dislike it when people are discourteous or rude to
you. So be courteous in all of your dealings with others.
You like it when other people remember and use your
name. So do the same for them.
Arguments are very negative. They poison good human relations.
You don't like it when someone argues with you.
So don't argue with them. And if you see an argument coming,
take the appropriate steps to neutralize the argument before it
causes too much damage.
Relationships are much better when both people focus on their
areas of agreement rather than their areas of disagreement.
Most people agree on more things than they disagree on. So
if you focus on your areas of agreement with the other person,
your areas of disagreement will seem smaller and less important.
Criticism builds hostility and bad attitudes. Criticism is
poison to good human relations.
You don't like to be criticized; so don't criticize
other people. They don't like it, either. And you won't help
accomplish anything good by criticizing.
As your mother should have taught you, "If you can't say something
nice, don't say anything at all."
You like it when other people take the time and
interest to recognize and appreciate the good things you do. So
do the same for them. Everyone does some things worthy of
appreciation. Find them, and recognize them in the other person.
You like it when the other person understands your point of
view and can see problems the way you see them. So do the same
for him. Try looking at the situation from the other person's
point of view.
You like it when people pay full attention to you when you are
talking. So do the same for them.
You like to have other people talk with you about
your interests. So do the same for them. Find out what things
they are interested in, and steer the conversation toward these
things.
This idea is surprisingly powerful and useful! Here's what to say, whenever there is a disagreement as
to a matter of fact: "Now, I may be wrong about this. I
frequently am wrong about things. But this is the way it appears
to me:" (And then state your beliefs.)
By admitting you may be wrong, and by admitting that you
frequently are wrong (You are, you know. We all are.), you
almost force the other person to admit that he, too, may be
wrong! Then, with your egos out of the way, you can both search
objectively for the truth!
And if you really are wrong this time, it will be much less
embarrassing for you than if you had been stubbornly insisting
that you were totally right!
You like it when people let you do most of the
talking. So do the same for them. It won't hurt you, and you
might learn something.
You like to talk about yourself, don't you? We all like to talk
about ourselves! But restrain the urge, and let the other person
talk about himself, instead.
If something has worked out well, don't grab all the credit
for yourself, even if you think you deserve it all. Spread the
credit around, share it with the other people involved.
The expression "saving face" means to maintain dignity, or not
to look like an idiot or a worthless person. Sometimes people do
things which make them look like an idiot or a worthless person.
If you can rescue the other person in such a situation, and help
him maintain his dignity, you have done a very good thing.
And maybe someone will do the same for you some day, when you
need it most! "As you do, so shall it be done unto you."
People tend to live up to the expectations others have of
them. If you expect a lot from someone, he tends to give you what
you expect. Likewise, if you expect little from someone, that is
what you tend to get.
So act honestly, and expect honesty from the other person;
act morally, and expect morality from the other person; act
fairly, and expect fairness from the other person.
You are pleasantly surprised when other people do more for you
than you had asked, or more than you expect. So do the same for
them: "Go the extra mile."
Christian Song Search page at =>
http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/songsearch-doyouknowjesus
If you are alone, you will needed to be both "Leader" and "Assembly,"
as described in the ceremony.
FEATURED SEGMENT: "How To Be More Pleasing To God And Also Be More Successful In The World: Have More Empathy! "
The Two Big Benefits Of Having More Empathy For Other People:
(1) You Will Be A Better Person, More Pleasing To God; and (2) You Will Be More Successful In The World.
(1) You Will Be A Better Person, More Pleasing To God.
The Purpose Of Life is to please God, and the most important thing is Love. And the more empathy you have,
the easier it is to love other people.
"The purpose of life is to please God."
How do we know this? Because the Bible tells us. Our purpose is the
same as the purpose of the whole universe: to please God.
_____________________________________________________________
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power:
for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are
and were created. (Revelation 4:11 KJV)
_____________________________________________________________
"Yes, but maybe it's impossible to please Him," you might say. Wrong.
He's not that hard to please.
"For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people:"
(Psalms 149:4a KJV)
So what are some of the things we can do to please him? The Bible is
full of things that please Him and things which displease Him. Read
the Bible and see what He likes and what He doesn't like. Then give
Him what He likes and avoid giving Him what He doesn't like.
LOVE FOR OTHERS FULFILLS ALL OF GOD'S LAW
_____________________________________________________________
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14 RSV)
_____________________________________________________________
And who is your neighbor? Everyone is your neighbor. This is shown in
the Parable Of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).
"Love For Others Fulfills The Law"
Galatians 5:14 (RSV)
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself."
Romans 13:8 (RSV)
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves
his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:9 (RSV)
The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not
kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other
commandment, are summed up in this sentence, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself."
Romans 13:10 (RSV)
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling
of the law.
James 2:8 (RSV)
If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture,
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well.
Proverbs 10:12 (RSV)
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
1 Peter 4:8 (RSV)
Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love
covers a multitude of sins.
--------------------------------------------------------
LOVE IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN FAITH
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (RSV)
For more details, please see =>
http://www.loveallpeople.org/pearl-purpose.html
Please also see => http://www.loveallpeople.org/howtoloveotherpeople.html
(2) You Will Be More Successful In The World.
Below are listed "The Twenty-One Greatest Ideas In Human Relationships." These ideas have all been tested
over the years by many people in many different situations, and they do truly lead to happiness and success in the world.
THE TWENTY-ONE GREATEST IDEAS IN HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Compiled And Edited By Bill McGinnis
Based On Public Domain Sources
Public Domain
1. "LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
___________________________________________________________
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14 RSV)
_____________________________________________________________
2. FORGIVE THE OTHER PERSON.
3. TREAT THE OTHER PERSON THE WAY YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE
TREATED.
_____________________________________________________________
"So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for
this is the law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:12 RSV)
_____________________________________________________________
This is the most important rule in human relations. You can
apply this rule to almost any situation, and you will not be far
wrong. The Golden Rule puts The Law Of Love into action.
******************************************************* <><
4. SMILE AND BE FRIENDLY.
5. BE COURTEOUS.
6. BE TRUTHFUL, WITHOUT GIVING OFFENSE.
7. REMEMBER THE OTHER PERSON'S NAME, AND USE IT FREQUENTLY.
8. DON'T ARGUE.
9. FIND AREAS OF AGREEMENT.
10. DON'T CRITICIZE.
11. SHOW HONEST APPRECIATION.
12. TRY TO SEE THE OTHER PERSON'S POINT OF VIEW.
13. GIVE YOUR FULL ATTENTION TO THE OTHER PERSON WHEN HE IS
TALKING.
14. TALK ABOUT THE OTHER PERSON'S INTERESTS.
15. ADMIT YOU MAY BE WRONG.
16. LET THE OTHER PERSON DO MOST OF THE TALKING.
17. LET THE OTHER PERSON TALK ABOUT HIMSELF.
18. LET THE OTHER PERSON TAKE SOME CREDIT.
19. LET THE OTHER PERSON SAVE FACE.
20. HOLD THE OTHER PERSON, AND YOURSELF, TO HIGH AND NOBLE
STANDARDS.
21. GO THE EXTRA MILE.
Compiled And Edited By Bill McGinnis, Written 1983-2000
Public Domain
* * *
Prayer For You
Prayer 4 You: To Receive The Gift Of Empathy.
Empathy is "the ability to imagine oneself in another’s place and understand the other’s feelings, desires, ideas, and actions."
Lord Jesus, now I raise my prayer to You,
That readers of these words may soon receive,
Your wondrous holy gift of Empathy.
And with this gift, I pray they will begin
To see and know and feel the inner thoughts
Of those whom You will send upon their way.
And then I pray that those who have this gift
Will use it well to help those whom You send.
In Jesus' holy name I pray, Amen.
###
Extra Song - "Do You Know Jesus?"
(By Rev. Bill McGinnis)
Lyrics, MIDI Music and more at =>
http://www.loveallpeople.org/doyouknowjesus.html
More songs like this at =>
http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/christmusic.html
Rededicate Your Life To Jesus Christ - With MP3 Audio Prayer
O Lord, I had You with me, and I strayed.
I turned my back on You and went away.
But now I see the error of my ways,
And now I want to turn again to you.
* * *
I pray that You will come into my life,
As Lord and Saviour, ruling over me.
I know that You are truly Son of God,
I know that You have risen from the dead,
I know that only You can save my soul.
I need Your guidance, and I need Your love;
I want to follow everywhere You lead.
I truly do repent of all my sins;
I feel remorse for evil I have done;
I know that only You can make me clean.
I turn my back on sin and look to You.
I am forgiving all who did me harm,
As You are now forgiving all my sins.
And now as I commit myself to You,
I pray that You commit Yourself to me.
I pray that You will take me as I am,
And draw me, step-by-step, into Your arms.
In Jesus' holy name I pray, Amen.
HTML page with link to MP3 Audio Reading at =>
http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/rededicate.html
If you are a Christian who has fallen away from the Lord, now is the time
to come back
http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/rededicate.html
Holy Communion
A ceremony for Holy Communion is available to you
HERE! - http://patriot.net/~bmcgin/pearl-holycommunion.html
How To Find A Real, Live Church
An online church is better than no church at all; but it is even better
for most
Christians to actually belong to a real, live church, with real, live
people. Then, you can have your real church PLUS your online church, so
you gain the benefits of both.
You can find a church for yourself by clicking
HERE! - http://patriot.net/~bmcgin/findachurch.html
http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/jesusdirect.html
"Holy, Holy, Holy!"
http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/holyholyholy.html
See this song at Youtube.com => http://youtu.be/6iK0Miq2xNo
More about this song at => http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/songsearch-holyholyholy.html
More songs like this at => http://www.loveallpeople.org/christmusic.html
... and at => http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/songsearch/songsearch-indexpage.html
I pray the Lord that He will lead your path
Away from the temptations all around.
I pray that when temptation lingers near,
The Lord will lead you not into its reach.
But if temptation grabs you as you pass,
I pray the Lord that you will struggle free.
In Jesus' holy name I pray, Amen.
This chapel service is now complete.
Rev. Bill McGinnis
Pastor - http://InternetChurchOfChrist.org
Director - http://LoveAllPeople.org
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God's One Law For All Mankind:
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