(Andrew Smellie’s farewell message to the CNYCOC brothers @ midweek!)
Preached by Andrew Smellie, June 4, 2008

Watch where God can take you, when you totally commit yourself to Him!

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Colossians 3:1-4

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Andrew spurred us on last night in an impassioned plea to surrender our entire lives to the lordship of Christ. He pointed out that one could be totally committed in time and resources, but un-committed in your heart. Total commitment in God’s eyes means surrendering yourself on a heart level, trusting God’s love for you on the cross. And this all happens amidst suffering–without suffering you will find yourself with a cross-less, powerless Christianity.

How inspiring to know that God’s motivation will never run out and can fuel our hearts to continue to crucify anything in our lives, minds and hearts that belong to our earthly nature.

We are proud of your example, Andrew, for completing 5 years of training for your black-belt in Mixed Martial Arts! Your “living analogy” will be etched into our minds of how a student submits himself to the point of complete physical and emotional exhaustion–in this final test, fully entrusting himself to hours of muscle-numbing exercise. And then, when he has absolutely “no legs left” . . . to spar with 5 fresh teammates, who far from being ones adversaries, are actually trying to bring you to the edge of body and spirit to see what your heart will truly be–will you quit or will you have the heart worthy of this honor? Will you invite spiritual friends into your life to DISCIPLE and CHALLENGE your heart or will you view these people God is sending into your life as enemies?

How much more is our Lord and Savior Jesus willing to put us to the test–we’ve been given all that we need for life and godliness–now it’s just a question of the heart. Will we prove faithful through the toughest of times and realize our God-given destiny?! And perhaps then is when we’ll get our own special honor from Jesus himself on that last day, having earned the belt of grace and truth!

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We know many here in the Central New York Church of Christ have come to know Rod and his family through their summer visits and through our financial missionary support of his Church in Port Elizabeth over the past four years.

Rod & Linda Fick

Rod left us each summer in tears because of his deep love for his family, childhood friends and the disciples here in Syracuse. Rod’s calling was Africa and he gave his heart fully to the Church in PE. Rod’s example challenged us all as he spent most of his summer vacation each year seeking out family, old friends, teachers and coaches to share the amazing things God had done in his life, not to mention his discipline to compete in the likes of the Ironman competition this year.

Words cannot express the sorrow and pain we feel over the loss of our dear brother and friend–and we know that all who knew Rod share in our suffering. We thank you for your prayers and support during this extremely challenging time. We know God will work in this tragedy as we know confidently that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. Please pray especially for Ticia and Annette as they travel to South Africa to comfort Linda and the boys and the church family in Port Elizabeth.

With much love,
David and Ticia Fergot

Sermon Preached by Rod Fick to the Central New York Church of Christ family: July 9, 2006
Thornden Park Service

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Article written by Andrew Smellie, published in our October 28, 2007 bulletin:

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers (and sisters) live together in unity.” Psalm 133:1

WELCOME TO OUR CAMPUS & TEEN SUNDAY!
Article: “Why Don’t People Become Christians?”

Good morning and welcome to our Campus and Teen Service! Thank you for joining us today. If you are our guest this morning, I have a question for you to consider: Why Don’t People Become Christians? You may have already developed a viewpoint about this question based on your past experiences. My name is Andrew Smellie, and my wife Patrique and I have the joy of serving the Central New York Church of Christ as its Evangelist and Women’s Ministry Leader. I grew up in a “religious” household, yet lived a hypocritical life before studying the Bible seriously during my junior year at Cornell University. In my experience I noticed that many “religious” people were self-righteous and hypocritical. After studying the Bible with friends from this church, I was inspired by their commitment to God’s Word, the diversity of the fellowship, and their sacrifice to travel 1.5 hours from Syracuse, NY to Ithaca, NY to study the Bible with me consistently. That was over seven years ago, and my life has been forever changed for the better. Hopefully my personal study from the Bible in answering the above question will help you to see the obstacles the Devil wants to put in your path to knowing God. Let’s jump in! From my experience, there are three major issues most people have that stop them from becoming Christians:

But before we tackle that issue–we have great news to share . . . Sandra Geysi got baptized!!

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