January 6, 2013 WELCOME! WE'RE GLAD YOU'RE HERE We are a group of believers who simply try to follow the Bible as a guide for all we do. Everything done in our worship service is something for which we have a Bible basis. You are welcome to participate as much or as little as you wish. We will sing hymns together and we will observe the Lord's Supper or Communion together. We will also have an opportunity to give to the work of God in this area. This collection is for the members here, and if you are visiting you should not feel and pressure to give. Our lesson time will be divided into two groups. The young children will go to our classroom area in the basement where they will be taught the Bible at a level they can understand. The adults will stay in the auditorium for a lesson at an adult level. We do try to serve the community, and if you have some needs that we can help you with, mention it to one of the members.

FAMILY NEWS

POTLUCK AND CONGREGATIONAL MEETING — Today is the first Sunday of the month and we plan to have our usual potluck dinner. We need to get our plans for 2013 worked out and get people assigned to various tasks. We need your ideas and have everyone on board with whatever we decide to do. See the article on the back of this journal for some additional comments on this meeting, and plan to stay and eat with us!

CLASS ON REVELATION UNDERWAY — The denominational world struggles with the book of Revelation. We hear “end of the earth” scenarios, attacks on Catholicism, attacks on politicians, and even claims of alien visitation all attributed to the Book of Revelation. In reality this book is easy to understand. The only thing that bothers people is that they do not understand the symbols used and what they apply to. This will not be a long study, because the Book of Revelation is really very simple. We expect to have the study completed by late spring. We are recording each class on cassette, and handouts will be available for each class. If you cannot come and want to use the materials at home, see John Clayton.

TODAY'S LESSON

WHEN THE HONEYMOON IS OVER

Exodus 14:30 – 15:24

THE BACK PAGE

IDEAS — LOOKING FORWARD TO A NEW YEAR

For the past several weeks we have been talking about this new year and what the congregation here wants to make of it. In this bulletin, in our sermons, in our classes, and in private conversations we have tried to emphasize the importance of looking ahead and planning God's work in Dowagiac. One concept many members of the church have a problem with is that God has told us to preach the gospel, but he did not tell us how to do it. The wisdom in his not telling us is clear. There is no one way to preach the gospel, and mankind, technology, our nation and our community are all changing rapidly, and what will work in one place at one time in history will not work at another time or in another place. Using television in a town like Dowagiac may be impractical for us, but very useful in a place like New York.

This is going to be a year of incredible change in our neighborhood. As the casino across the street is completed and land is bought up all around us by supportive agencies of the casino, new stores, and new businesses will come in. There will be new problems and new interest in the area. Several of us who work on and around the property have had neighbors stop and talk with us about what is happening and what the future holds.

Today after our first potluck dinner of the year, we will have a congregational meeting to talk about what our plans are and should be for the future. The possibilities are many, including whether we should do the fair again this year, and if so what theme? Can we have a lady's Bible class outreach? Should we look into having a day care? Should we get a summer intern? How about a special meeting or meetings? Is a support group like “Gambler's Anonymous” a good idea? Bring your ideas and participate in this! We need your ideas and opinions.