God Is Just & Impartial
By Mike Johnson
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The Bible teaches that God is impartial. Psalm 89:14 says,
“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.” In Acts 10:34, Peter told Cornelius, “...In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.” Those who make decisions today may not always be impartial. In a court of law, for example, justice does not always prevail, and partialities sometimes exist. A guilty person can be set free, and an innocent person can go to jail. Even in sporting events, an official may not always make the right call. God, in contrast, is always fair and impartial, and we know His decisions are always correct.
Consider various ways we can see God's fairness:
1. There is one Savior for everyone. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “...I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” No one, no matter how religious or moral, can expect salvation except through Jesus Christ.
2. There is one plan of salvation. There is not one plan of salvation for one person and a different way of salvation for someone else; eternal life will be on the same terms. We all must believe (John 3:16), repent (Acts 17:30-31), confess Christ (Romans 10:10), and be baptized (Acts 2:38), and then we must remain faithful (Revelation 2:10).
3. Everyone must face the Judgment. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
4. God desires the salvation of all. 2 Peter 3:9 says God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
5. There is one authority over all. The rule is the “doctrine of Christ.” 2 John 9 says, “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.”
6. Only one standard of judgment exists.
Romans 2:16 says that God will judge us by Jesus Christ according to the gospel. We also know that God will render judgment according to the deeds of each person (Romans 2:6).
God is truly fair and impartial, and for that, we can be thankful!
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Elders
Leon Cort
Mark Craigwell
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Minister
Mark Craigwell
Assistant Minister
Denver Simmons
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Deacons
Raleigh Gallington
Anthony Johnson
Gregory Johnson
Carlfred Malcolm
Albert Martin, Jr.
Walter Maxwell
Richard Meuse
Barry Person
Jason Reid
James Wade, Sr.
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Sermon for Sunday, January 15, 2023
Title: The Knowledge of God
Text: 2 Peter 1:2
Speaker: Mark Craigwell
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DON'T FORGET YOUR MASK!
Remember that masks are required at all of our in-person events, including services, classes, and meetings. Please also remember to bring your mask with you. We have a limited supply of masks available for those who do not have them.
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Here We Grow Again: Landyn-Nicole Katherine McClain and Laia James McClain of Chicago were baptized into Christ on Sunday, January 8, 2023. They are the daughters of Sis. Lauren Collins. Let us keep our new sisters in prayer as they begin their journey in the Lord.
Sympathy: We extend our sympathy to Bro. Lorenzo Mathis of the Blue Hill Congregation on the passing of his brother, Willie Hicks, Sr. Services for Mr. Hicks were held on Saturday, January 14th.
MLK Day Breakfast: The Youth & Family Ministry will host a Martin Luther King Day Breakfast in the Fellowship Hall on Monday, January 1th, 9 a.m. – 12 noon. All are welcome. Please sign up on the bulletin board to attend. Questions See Bro. or Sis. Morrison or Sis. Shamara Morris.
NEBI Leadership Workshop: The New England Bible Institute will host a leadership training workshop at the South Road Church of Christ in Farmington, CT on March 3-4, 2023. Our guest speaker will be Bob Turner, Director of Sunset Academy of Leadership Training. The deadline for registration is February 22, 2023. See flier below under "Men Take Note."
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TextAlertz, the program we use to send text blasts to members of the congregation, unexpectedly rolled out a completely new platform last week. We ask for your continued patience as we familiarize ourselves with the new platform and research possible alternative solutions for communicating via text with the congregation. In the meantime, if you need to subscribe or re-subscribe to receive text blasts, please text the keyword CCROXBURY to 855-908-6614. Please note that the sign-up link on our website no longer works.
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Scan QR code above or click here for more information on this free event. RSVP required.
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We will continue to offer two Sunday morning worship services to accommodate in-person attendees
The first service begins at 8:30 a.m. and runs until approximately 9:45 a.m.; the second service begins at 11:00 a.m. The auditorium is sanitized between services. The weekly 10:30 a.m. devotional/adult Bible class will continue as scheduled. The usual sign-up rules and COVID protocols remain in effect. When you access the online sign-up form, you will be required to specify which service you would like to attend. Once capacity has been reached for a particular time slot, the form will no longer accept new registrations for that time slot. We will continue to livestream the 11:00 service on our YouTube channel, and we encourage members to utilize e-giving, even when attending in person.
PLEASE NOTE: THE LINK BELOW IS FOR NEXT WEEK'S SERVICE
In-Person Worship Sign-up
Please also note that there is a new registration link each week.
E-giving link
Livestream link
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Don't Miss Out! Scroll On... |
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Don't Miss Out! Please scroll through the entire e-bulletin each week to be certain not to miss any important announcements or links. Many items are repeated each week, but there are also new announcements that you'll miss if you don't scroll through the entire bulletin.
See the following sections for new/updated announcements.
- News & Notes
- Worship & Class Schedule - Links to Services & Classes; link to worship attendance registration form for next week.
- Latest on COVID-19
- Vaccine available for ages 6 months and up. Booster shots available for J&J, Moderna, and Pfizer. Walk in appointments available at many clinics.
- Youth & Family Ministry - MLK Day Breakfast, Mon., 1/16, 9am-12noon. Details under Youth & Family below.
Please keep us updated: Please keep us apprised of any changes to your address, phone number and email address so that we can maintain an accurate database of member information. Please notify Sis Nagarajah at enagarajah@gmail.com or Sis Gallington at ggallington@gmail.com of any changes to your contact information.
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Current & Upcoming Events |
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Our January Community Outreach will take place on Saturday, January 28, 2023 beginning at 10 a.m. at the church building to prepare 100 bags of groceries for distribution to families in the community. All are welcome to participate. Masks required of all participants. |
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The Department of Public Health continues to urge all who are eligible to be vaccinated and/or boosted to do so, as vaccination is currently the best medical defense against the potentially deadly effects of COVID and its variants.
All Massachusetts residents ages 6-months and up are now eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and many facilities have walk-in hours. Booster shots are available for the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines at many pharmacies and health care facilities. Use the link below if you need assistance scheduling an appointment or locating a facility.
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Click here or anywhere in the announcement above for more information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). |
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Remote & In-Person
Class/Meeting Schedule
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Wednesday Night In-Person & Dial-In Bible Study
Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. in-person and via freeconferencecall.com.
Dial in number: 978-990-5000
Access Code: 261232#
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Women's Saturday Prayer Meeting
Join us for prayer on Saturday mornings at 9:30 a.m. via freeconferencecall.com
NOTE NEW PHONE NUMBER
Dial-in: 945-218-0112; Access code 3730930#
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REMINDER: Please remember to mute your phone or computer when joining any of the above conference calls to avoid interrupting the class or service you are entering, particularly if you are joining the call after the event has started. |
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The Couples' Ministry meets via Zoom the second and third Fridays of the month at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
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Our January Women's Class will be held on Sunday, January 22,2023 at 5:00 p.m. at the church building, and via Free Conference Call for those who cannot attend in person.
Dial in: 978-990-5000
Access Code: 261232#
Or, join the class online at
Presenter: Sis. Pam Alexander
Topic: Psalm 51
Please pick up a worksheet from the table in the foyer or click here to download.
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Please note that the dial-in number for this conference call has changed. The new number is 945-218-0112. The access code remains the same, 3730930. |
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2023 Mature in Heart Pennsylvania Dutch Country Excursion: Our 2023 trip is scheduled for Thursday, September 14th through Friday, September 15th to see a production of “Moses” at the Sight & Sound Theater in Lancaster at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 14th. The cost for bus, hotel, dinner and show is as follows:
- $340/person for quad occupancy (families)
- $358/person for triple occupancy (families)
- $393/person for double occupancy
- $514 for single occupancy
- $830/couple for grand king room
Sign up is open now and a $75 deposit is required by to hold a spot. The number is limited by bus capacity and hotel availability. If you have not already done so, please get your deposit in ASAP to secure your spot so we can finalize the theater seating. Seats can only be assigned for purchased tickets.
Payments can be made via our e-giving link at https://www.churchofchristinroxbury.org/e-giving. Please follow up any payments with an email to cocroxbury@gmail.com with the subject line "Pennsylvania Trip Payment" and your name and payment amount in the body of the email so that your payments can be properly recorded.
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Our December Men's Class will be held on Sunday, January 22nd at 5:00 p.m. at the church building.
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Click here to download full-sized flier.
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No announcements at this time. |
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Young Adult Ministry (YAM) |
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Date of next meeting will be announced. |
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Monthly Ministry Meeting
1st Sunday of each month at 2:00 p.m.
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Meetings & Events
1/1 - Youth Ministry Meeting, 2:00 p.m.
1/2 - Ministers/Elders/Deacons Meeting, 7 p.m. via Zoom
1/6 - Friends and Family Bowling Outing, hosted by Youth & Family Ministry, 6:30-8:30 p.m. (details above under News & Notes)
1/7 - Finance Ministry Meetings, 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. via Zoom
1/8 - Deacons' Meeting, following 11 a.m. service @church building
1/14 - Publications & Communications Ministry Meeting, 9 a.m. via Zoom
1/22 - Men's and Women's Classes, 5 p.m. @church building
1/28 - Community Outreach, 10 a.m.
Masks are required for all in-person events
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Ministry Meetings - Please contact your ministry coordinator for remote meeting schedules.
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- Sunday New Converts' Class, 10:00am @church building
- Sunday Bible Class (children) Sundays at 10:00am @church building
- Sunday Adult Devotional/Bible Study, 10:20am @church building
- Sunday Worship Service 8:30 and 11:00 am in person and 11:00 a.m. via livestream on YouTube. See above for details.
- Men's/Women's Classes, 5pm (4th Sunday of the month); @church building;
- Youth & Family Ministry (1st Sunday of the month at 2pm)
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Mature in Heart Women's Prayer (Tuesdays @ 10:30am) VIA TELECONFERENCE (connection info above)
- Prayer Meeting (Tuesdays @ 7pm) VIA TELECONFERENCE (connection info above)
- Mid-Week Bible Study (Wednesdays @ 6:30pm) in person and VIA TELECONFERENCE (connection info above)
- Mid-Week New Converts' Class (Wednesdays @ 7pm) @church building
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Healing Hearts (Thursdays @6:15pm) VIA ZOOM
- Couple's Ministry (2nd & 3rd Fridays @ 7 pm)
- Women's Prayer (Saturdays 9:30am) VIA TELECONFERENCE (Connection info above)
- Ministers/Elders/Deacons Wives Meeting, (3rd Saturday @10 am) @church building
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Bro. John Kurpiel, minister for the Lawrence congregation, hosts an international radio program, “Soul Food,” on Mondays and Tuesdays from 11AM until 3PM. The program airs on Ignite Radio Broadcast via Mixlr, an interactive internet radio platform. Use the link below to tune in to listen, or to participate in the conversation. Always free to listen. https://mixlr.com/ignite-radio-broadcast.
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Church of Christ in Roxbury
81 Walnut Avenue
Roxbury, MA 02119
617-442-5826
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