Encourage your pastor to tell us the upcoming week's sermon topic. It's FREE, and it's open to churches throughout the Big Country. E-mail bethelb@reporternews.com and murphyb@reporternews.com by noon each Wednesday with the topic, who will deliver it, a short synopsis, when services begin, and the name and street address of your place of worship. Please put "sermon" in the subject line.

Wylie Baptist Church, 6097 Buffalo Gap Road

Services: 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday

Topic: "The Table Is Set, Why Must We Participate?" (Luke 22:19-20)

Speaker: Lee Fuller

Synopsis: The Lord's Supper table is vitally important to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not an afterthought or an appendage. Why should the church regularly observe the Lord's Supper? What is the meaning of eating the bread and drinking the cup? Why must a believer, a follower of Christ, participate? Each time we gather around the Lord's Supper table we answer those questions. In participating, we acknowledge several important truths about the Lord's Supper.

Oldham Lane Church of Christ, 5049 Oldham Lane

Services: 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday

Topic: "God Is Holy"

Speaker: Chris McCurley

Synopsis: Holiness is the fullest expression of God there is. Whatever God is, He is holy above all else. God is love, but it's a holy love. He is merciful, but it's a holy mercy. He is just, but His is a holy justice. Holiness is the sum total of all the attributes of God. God's holiness is manifested in all that He does, and holiness is the rule of all His actions. How unfortunate it is that we seldom focus on this most beautiful attribute of the Heavenly Father. Power is God's arm. Omniscience is His eye. Infinitude is His span. Mercy is His pity in action. Love is His undying commitment to sinful man. But holiness is the beauty of them all.

Cisco Church of the Nazarene, 1008 W. 10th St.

Services: 10:45 a.m. Sunday

Topic: "The Church As A Chosen People"

Speaker: Dr. Michael R. Gentry

Synopsis: We join with more than 1.6 million other Nazarenes worldwide to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Church of the International this Sunday. The denomination came into existence as people of a like mind theologically came together from all over the United States to meet at Pilot Point in 1908.

Jim Ned Valley Church of Christ, 509 Railroad Ave., Tuscola

Services: 10:30 a.m. Sunday

Topic: "God's People Are Called Out To Proclaim Him" (2 Peter 2.9-10).

Speaker: Yann Opsitch

Synopsis: All of God's people have received this wonderful calling. When we receive mercy, we cannot keep it to ourselves. The source of our sharing Jesus should be gratefulness. Peter tells us that we should be grateful for a new birth and thus a new life. Grateful and courageous people are needed today for God's mission.

Wylie Christian Church, 6250 Buffalo Gap Road

Services: 10:40 a.m. Sunday

Topic: "Knowing Paul, Knowing Jesus"

Speaker: Pastor Doug Roysden

Synopsis: In the opening chapters of Romans, Paul wrestles back and forth with the question of salvation through Christ's atoning death and the Jewish doctrine of keeping the law. Another of Paul's great themes, justification by faith, is introduced and we are drawn into the tension between grace and righteous living.

Northwest Church of Christ, 1141 N. Willis St.

Services: 10:30 a.m. Sunday

Topic: "The Mystery Of His Will"

Speaker: Pat Andrews

Synopsis: Mystery is one of Paul's favorite words. He uses it 15 times in his writings. The word mystery does not always refer to the same thing. Apparently, God has several mysteries that he tells us about through Paul's epistles. In Romans 11, there is a mystery concerning Israel and the Gentiles salvation. In 1 Corinthians 15, there is a mystery about the resurrection and the new body. In Ephesians 5, there is a mystery about the relationship between husband and wife and Christ and the church. In Colossians, there is a mystery concerning Christ in us being the hope of Glory. In 1 Timothy 3, he speaks of the mystery of the Incarnation. That is five of the 15 uses. The other 10 uses all speak of the same mystery, namely that the Gentiles are included in God's redemptive plan. Our lesson will explore this "mystery" of Gentile salvation as set forth in Paul's epistle to the Ephesians.

Buffalo Gap Church of Christ, 741 Litel St., Buffalo Gap

Services: 10:30 a.m. Sunday

Topic: "Life Of The Spirit & Prayer"

Speaker: Dr. Tim Sensing

Synopsis: In Matthew 21:33-46, the Parable of the Vineyard, Jesus tells a story about a landlord who is compelled to rent his land to new tenants because they refuse to pay what is due him. Instead of paying the rent, these tenants commit a horrifying act by killing the landlord's son. Although Jesus tells the story more than 2,000 years ago, Sunday's sermon will ask simple questions: Is it possible for this story to happen again in 2008? Who is guilty of murdering the landlord's son?

Plainview Church of Christ, three miles south of Colorado City on Highway 163

Services: 11 a.m. Sunday

Topic: "God Wants To Be Your Friend"

Speaker: Larry Fitzgerald

Synopsis: Being friends with the Lord is the greatest life that there is. The fact is, if you seek God, you will find Him. He guarantees it (2 Chronicles 15:2). Being friends with God means that you will become strong in character, something gravely lacking in our world. There are many other advantages to this relationship as well: security, hope, wisdom and peace of mind.

First Christian Church, 4th and Elm streets, Colorado City

Services: 11 a.m. Sunday

Topic: "Healed or Whole?"

Speaker: Rev. Monte Wike

Synopsis: Ten lepers asked Jesus for mercy and were told to go to the priest for verification. On the way, they realized that they were healed. One fellow, a Samaritan, returned to give thanks, and received an extra blessing. Jesus pronounced him "whole". He was not only healed, he was saved. His black soul was changed as was his deformed body. What do we miss when we do not fully praise Jesus?