True Peace Comes from the God of Peace
By Mike Riley
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Since the appearance of the Christ child (Luke 2:1-14-NKJV), generations of people have longed for peace, but wars still exist. The evolutionist attributes war to our inheritance derived from ages of violent evolutionary struggle for survival, but the Bible attributes war to sin (James 4:1-2-NKJV).
Is it possible to have real personal peace, even with all of the various wars going on in our world today? Paul says it’s indeed possible (Romans 5:1-NKJV; Ephesians 2:11-14-NKJV). However, in order to attain this personal peace, we must first comply with God’s conditions of peace through an obedient faith (Romans 1:5-NKJV; Romans 16:25-26-NKJV) via the saving gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16-17-NKJV; Romans 5:1-2-NKJV, made possible by God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-NKJV; 2 Timothy 1:9-10-NKJV).
True peace comes from the God of peace (Hebrews 13:20-21-NKJV).
If we are Christians and in sin, we are enemies of God (Romans 5:10-NKJV; Ephesians 2:1-3-NKJV; Colossians 1:21-NKJV; cf. Isaiah 59:1-2-NKJV). Thus we need the cleansing blood of our Savior in order to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [sin] (Ephesians 1:3-NKJV; 1 John 1:6-7-NKJV), reconciling us back to God (Romans 5:8-10-NKJV; Ephesians 2:11-17-NKJV), thus attaining true peace from God (Romans 5:1-NKJV — the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7-NKJV).
True peace comes from the God of peace (Hebrews 13:20-21-NKJV).
If we’re not a Christian, we too are enemies of God. In order to acquire God’s peace, we must be willing to repent and confess our sins (Acts 17:30-NKJV; Romans 10:9-10-NKJV), then acquire the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Christ, which He shed on the cross at His death (John 19:30-34-NKJV).
In order to access and effectively appropriate the blood of Christ, we must be baptized “into Christ” or “into His death” where His blood was shed (Romans 6:3-NKJV; Gal. 3:26-27-NKJV; John 19:30-34-NKJV), washing away our sins (Acts 22:16-NKJV). We must “put off” the old man of sin (Romans 6:6-NKJV; Colossians 3:9-NKJV) and “put on” the new man of righteousness (Ephesians 4:24-NKJV; Colossians 3:10-NKJV), thus making peace with God (Romans 5:1-2-NKJV)
True peace comes from the God of peace (Hebrews 13:20-21-NKJV).
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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 29, 2023
Title: We Don't Belong to This World
Text: Philippians 3:20
Speaker: Jorge Espinal
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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, and Again |
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Amiela Tejeda was baptized into Christ on Sunday, January 22, 2023. Amiela is the daughter of Dirson and Veronica Tejeda, and the granddaughter of Orquidea Tejeda. Ketchmyr Louis was baptized on Saturday, January 28, 2023. Ketchmyr has been attending Roxbury with Sis. Pam Alexander for the past seven years. Let us welcome our new sisters in Christ!
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Thank you 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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Warren I. Brown Memorial Scholarship Application 2023: The Roxbury Highlands Historical Society, in conjunction with the family of Warren I. Brown, is offering scholarships of $1000.00 each to high school seniors who are Boston residents, have demonstrated their civic commitment through their involvement in community activities, and who plan to attend college during the 2023-2024 academic school year. All students who meet these criteria are encouraged to apply. Materials must be postmarked and/or electronically received by April 01, 2022. Here’s the link: https://sites.google.com/view/wib-memorial-scholarship/home
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Free STEM Program: The Urban League of Eastern MA is offering an incredible, free STEM/FinTech program for students in grades 6-12. The program is called YODA. Click here to view full-sized flier.
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Learn to Cook: NECAT (New England Culinary Arts Training) provides unemployed and underemployed individuals with the technical, professional and life skills necessary to secure career-ladder jobs in the culinary industry. This free Culinary Arts Job Training Program is designed to help enrolled students launch careers and find long-term stability and success. The program began in October 2013 and has since trained hundreds of students. For more info: https://www.ne-cat.org/
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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 (above)
- Community Outreach
- Thanksgiving Outreach Survey
- Worship & Class Schedule - Links to Services & Classes; link to worship attendance registration form for next week.
- Upcoming Events
- 2023 Caribbean Lectureship
- Bedford Street CoC Singles' Valentine Banquet
- Dorothy Carpenter Wells Scholarship Benefit Concert
- 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.
- Ladies Take Note
- 4th Sunday Ladies' Class Worksheet download
- SALISI Weekly Conference Call
- Kent County CoC Ladies' Day
- Sister to Sister Ladies' Day Retreat
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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Dorothy Carpenter Wells Scholarship Benefit Concert: Saturday, March 25th, 6 p.m. at King’s Church of Christ in Brooklyn. There is no charge for admission, but a love offering will be collected during the event for the benefit of the scholarship fund. The event will be livestreamed on Facebook as well.
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January Community Outreach: Thank you to all who assisted with our January Community Outreach on Saturday, January 28th. Our February outreach will take place on Saturday, February 25th. All are welcome to participate.
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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, February 26,2023 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. Sharee Farley
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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, February 5th 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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