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04/26/2025
Good morning church family,
GIVING THANKS:
* THANKS TO GOD for Spring, warmer weather, and this beautiful time of year. Soak up HIS GLORY!
* Michelle Wilson appreciates the prayers we lifted up on her behalf last Sunday, and thankfully all is well! Thank you for your prayers.
PRAYER REQUESTS
* Prayers for the LOST that they may come to know God, the TRUTH of HIS WORD, and the height, depth, breadth & width of HIS Love.
* Prayers for each of us as we let our lights Shine for HIS glory daily.
* Prayers for Diana who asked for prayers for peace within her family.
* Prayers for the Ruiz family as the court will determine Levi’s permanent guardianship in a hearing on May 1st.
We REJOICE with DEBBIE CHRISTY as she celebrates her 8Oth Birthday on April 27th!
Debbie has quite a life story to share and Praise GOD she has a STRONG FAITH! She has remained faithful all through the years. No doubt you will hear about how God has blessed her abundantly on her faith journey!
 AREA EVENTS:
DANBURY CHURCH OF CHRIST HYMN SING – This Sunday April 27th 3:30-5:30 pm.
Please bring refreshments for fellowship afterwards.
 [JUNE]MEN’S RETREAT:
June 13th & 14th
Men are encouraged to sign up soon for the upcoming Men’s retreat in June.
[JULY]
TIDAL RIVER CHRISTIAN CAMP:
tidalriverchristiancamp.com
TRCC is fast approaching. They are always looking for members to help out in many capacities. Please see Pat Keller if you have interest in helping out at camp this summer.
TRUMBULL EVENTS:
Tuesday April 29th is the next Ladies Bible study via zoom at 9:30.
The study of Revelation is underway and is such a great study. Thanks to Lisa and Mary Lou for leading the mid-week ladies study.
Wednesday evening zoom:
Ron has begun a bible study on the Old Testament Prophets. We had a wonderful study of Isaiah this past Wednesday. Please look for the link and carve out time to join in.
The next Saturday Ladies Bible class will be on Saturday May 10th from 10:00 – 12:00 noon at the church building. Molly Medling will lead us in a lesson on the fruit of “Gentleness” .
YOUNG ADULTS:
The Young Adults will be gathering at Bruce & Paula’s home on Friday May 2nd at 6pm for pizza, singing and games. Bring your favorite ice cream topping.
MEN’S BREAKFAST COMING UP – Saturday May 17th. Stay tuned for details
NEXT POT LUCK – Sunday, June 29th. We will be honoring our High School Seniors at this pot luck.
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL – Saturday July 26th. Please mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details. Thanks to Derin & Kristen Wilson for leading this each year.
Our world hungers for the desire to find something valuable; something we can believe in and trust. First we must discern what is artificial and that which is TRUTH.
ARTIFICIAL
The definition of the word ‘artificial’ as noted in the Merriam Webster dictionary is:
“man-made”, “produced or done by humans, especially to seem like something natural.
“Sham”; “Fake”
The Cambridge dictionary defines artificial as…
“made by people, often as a copy of something natural.”
“made by humans” (artificial flowers, artificial grass, artificial appendenges)
“not sincere” (an artificial smile)
We are being bombarded in this day of age, by the initials A.I. which stands for Artificial Intelligence.
Hmmm…interesting that the “A” stands for “artificial”.
With A.I. various domains of human life will be changed by the role of autonomous systems in future years. A.I. is actively at work, creating advancements in technology, striving to be better than humans in robotics, video games, chess, and more. A.I. is also broadening to process and translate natural languages and more.
Recently 60 Minutes interviewed Demis Hassabis who received the Nobel Prize with his work on A.I. The following are excerpts from the interview…
“Demis Hassabis, co-founded a company called “DeepMind” and is one of the early pioneers of A.I. He has won many prestigious awards for his research and he was listed in Time 100’s most influential people. No doubt Mr. Hassabis is brilliant. He was a child prodigy and at 4 years old known to be an expert chess player and a master player at the age of 13″
“What’s always guided me and, and the passion I’ve always had is understanding the world around us,” Hassabis said. “That’s what’s driven me in my career. I’ve always been, since I was a kid, fascinated by the biggest questions. You know, the meaning of life, the nature of consciousness, the nature of reality itself.”
Per his interview on 60 Minutes this past week, Mr. Hassabis predicts that A.I. general intelligence, in which computers have human-level cognitive abilities, is 5 to 10 years away.
His mission is to “solve intelligence” and then use intelligence “to solve everything else”. More concretely, his company DeepMind aims to combine insights from systems neuroscience with new developments in machine learning and computing hardware to unlock increasingly powerful general-purpose learning algorithms that will work towards the creation of an artificial general intelligence (AGI).
A.I. is on track to understand the world in nuanced ways, to be embedded in everyday lives and to not just solve important problems, but also develop a sense of imagination as companies race to advance the technology, Hassabis said.
The question was asked of him…”Is A.I. self-aware and able to imagine?”
Self-awareness is a possibility down the line, but it’s not an explicit goal for Mr. Hassabis.
A.I. is lacking in imagination.
“I think that’s getting at the idea of what’s still missing from these systems,” Hassabis said. “They’re still the kind of, you can still think of them as the average of all the human knowledge that’s out there. That’s what they’ve learned on. They still can’t really yet go beyond asking a new novel question or a new novel conjecture or coming up with a new hypothesis that has not been thought of before.”
Benefits, & risks of A.I.
The potential for A.I. has enormous benefits. With the help of A.I., Hassabis said he believes the end of disease could be within reach in the next decade. Hassabis has A.I. blazing through solutions to drug development.
FALSE IMAGES…
The 60 Minutes interview shares that A.I. needs guardrails- safety limits built into the system. One of Mr. Hassabis’s main fears is that bad actors may use A.I.for harmful ends, something that is already happening with some A.I. systems. Another concern is ensuring control of A.I. as the systems become more autonomous and more powerful.
As technology companies compete for A.I. dominance, there’s also a concern that safety may not be a priority.
Mr. Hassabis also said that A.I. systems can be taught morality. “They learn by demonstration. They learn by teaching. And I think that’s one of the things we have to do with these systems, is to give them a value system and a guidance, and some guardrails around that.”
Mr. Hassabis and the world can attempt these goals, however A.I. is limited. A.I. can only convey a value system or morality that the “world” has defined as moral, and not necessarily what God has defined. AI is not omniscient as God the Father is. It is limited by what an imperfect world defines as true and moral, which often is neither true nor moral. It can define things like love, compassion, forgiveness, and can even verbalize these things, but there is no emotion, no feeling of these things, not from the heart, but is only a micro chip.
We can be grateful our value system comes from the Creator of the universe.
As Christians who follow Yahweh, The Great I AM, who created the heavens and the earth, who has a perfect plan of salvation for mankind, who loves us beyond measure, and who provided Jesus as the sacrificial lamb for our eternal salvation, Mr. Hassabis although a brilliant man by world standards, has missed the most important thing….his relationship with God. He is smart by worldly standards, but lacking in Godly wisdom. The wisdom that will provide him answers to all of his questions, and lead him to eternal salvation.
None of us can predict what will happen with the potential for A.I. One thing is for certain, God is in control. Romans 8:28
We all know what happened with the Tower of Babel as we read in Genesis 11 1-9
The descendants of Noah lived in the area of Mesopotamia in Babylon. They settled in a land named Shinar. The population was growing, and they all spoke one language. The people decided to build a tall, proud symbol of how great they had made their nation. The Babylonians wanted a tower that would “reach to the heavens” so they could be like God and would not need Him. They began to construct a great ziggurat.
God did not like the pride and arrogance in the people’s hearts. God caused the people to suddenly speak different languages so they could not communicate and work together to build the tower. This caused the people to scatter across the land. The tower was named The Tower of Babel because the word Babel means confusion.
This story is a powerful reminder of how important it is to obey God’s Word and not think we can build a successful but godless life on our own!
We do not need to refer to the Merriam Webster or Cambridge Dictionaries for the definition of truth.
We are incredibly blessed to have the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation that share God’s Word as pure, unadulterated TRUTH.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God ,
and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.“
“Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness,
but the darkness has not understood it. “
Jesus prays to His Father saying,
“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:17.
GOD’S WORD IS TRUTH – John 17:17
By the TRUTH GOD SANCTIFIES US (we are set apart).
GOD IS TRUTH and HIS truth brings salvation to all who accept it.
Titus 2:11-14
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.
It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions,
and to live self-controlled,
upright and godly lives in this present age,
while we wait for the blessed hope –
the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and
to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
JESUS is the LIGHT
John 8:12
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying,
“I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.“
God’s written and living WORD will sustain all believers as they are in the world. Jesus prayed to God for His disciples…
John 17:14
“I have given them your word
and the world has hated them,
for they are not of the world
any more than I am of the world.”
Jesus goes on to say that his mission of bringing the truth has been accomplished:
John 17:4
“I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.“
Jesus shares that we will be rejected by the world for believing:
1 Peter 4-12
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering,
as though something strange were happening to you.
But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ,
so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
Both the Old and New Testaments affirm that the words in the Bible are God’s words and that they are true.
Since God cannot lie, HIS WORD IS TRUTH:
Psalm 18:30
“As for God, his way is perfect:
The LORD’S word is flawless.“
GOD is ETERNAL & UNCHANGING so HIS WORD is always the same:
Matthew 24:35
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.“
Isaiah 40:8
“The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of our God stands forever.“
JESUS USED THE WORD AS HE REBUKES THE DEVIL WHO TEMPTED HIM:
Deuteronomy 8:3
“He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known,
to teach you that
man does not live on bread alone
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.“
Where can we find TRUTH?
John 14:6
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Hebrews 1:3
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word.
After he had provided purification for sins,
he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.“
THE WORD IS GOD’S TOTAL MESSAGE & JESUS EMBODIED that full message
Colossians 2:9
“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
and you have been given fullness in Christ,
who is the head over every power and authority.“
GOD IS TRUTH
EVERY WORD IN SCRIPTURE IS TRUTH.
SALVATION comes by accepting that JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD Mark 16 : 16
REJECTING SCRIPTURE, is REJECTING GOD HIMSELF.
Jesus shared a beautiful analogy of the Shepherd and His Flock in John chapter 10.
“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.
The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep.
The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice.
He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has brought out all his own,
he goes ahead of them,
and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
But they will never follow a stranger;
in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.
Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
John 10 vs. 7-10
Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.
He will come in and go out and find pasture.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
No matter what we may see, hear or face in this world, we are sustained by the TRUTH!
Let us radiate TRUTH and SPEAK IT!
REMEMBER THAT NOTHING IS HIDDEN FROM GOD…
STAY FOCUSED, KEEP ALERT & BE ON GUARD for the evil one is hard at work dimming the lights of this world.
The devil is the “father of lies” as we read in John 8:44, and he is behind every lie circulated in the world today; he can only be defeated by God’s TRUTH.
“You belong to your father, the devil and you want to carry out your father’s desire.
He was a murderer from the beginning,
not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks his native language,
for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
KEEP SINGING:
ANCIENT WORDS
Holy words long preserved for our walk in this world;
They resound with God’s own heart,
O, let the ancient words impart;
Words of life, words of hope,
give us strength, help us cope;
In this world where’er we roam,
Ancient words will guide us home.
Ancient words, ever true,
changing me,
and changing you;
We have come with open hearts,
O let the ancient words impart.
Holy words
of our faith,
handed down,
to this age,
Came to us through sacrifice;
O, heed the faithful words of Christ;
Holy words,
Long preserved
for our walk in this world;
They resound with God’s own heart
O, let the ancient words impart.
Ancient words, ever true,
changing me,
and changing you;
We have come with open hearts,
O let the ancient words impart.
THY WORD IS A LAMP UNTO MY FEET
Thy WORD is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.
Thy WORD is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.
When I feel afraid,
Think I’ve lost my way,
Still you’re right there beside me.
And nothing will I fear,
As long as YOU are near;
Please be near me to the end.
Thy WORD is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.
Thy WORD is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.
I will not forget
Your love for me and yet,
my heart forever is wandering.
Nothing will I fear,
as long as YOU are near;
I will love YOU to the end…
Thy WORD is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.
Thy WORD is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.
May we not love with mere words, but with our actions and in truth!
May we never be ashamed of the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST….
May we walk with Godly wisdom..and not be deceived by the evil one!
MAY WE KNOW THE TRUTH, AND LET THE TRUTH SET US FREE!
PRAISE GOD FOR THE TRUTH!
PRAY for the world to SEEK the TRUTH!
SHARE the TRUTH with someone who doesn’t know it.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY, GREAT THINGS HE HATH DONE!
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