December 28, 2014 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. Thank you for worshipping with us.

POTLUCK AND CONGREGATIONAL MEETING: Next Sunday is the first Sunday of January as well as the first Sunday of a new year. Please bring a dish and plan to stay for a short meeting in which a new proposal for a method to reach out to our neighborhood will be made. We also need to look at finances and our long range plan to bring in a full time worker. Plan to stay for a short congregational meeting.

COAT GIVE-AWAY A HUGE SUCCESS: All 50 of the coats have been given to a child who needed one. Thanks to everyone who helped make this effort work.

CANCELLATION: New Year's Eve is Wednesday, December 31. We will not have class on that evening.

REMEMBER OUR CLASSES: With the Marcussens being out of town, our study of Hebrews will be done during the 10:00 class hour today and next Sunday. Sunday night we are studying the Book of Ruth. We urge you to keep growing in your knowledge of God's Word through these classes. Our teachers put a lot of work into the classes and we need you there.

TODAY'S LESSON

DO YOU BELIEVE IN CHRIST?
Acts 20:17 – 37
John Clayton

There is a story going around that a preacher put a message on a sign in front of the church meeting place that advertised his Sunday morning sermon. The sign read “A Message From Jesus to Those Who Believe.” Just as the preacher got up to preach a man wearing a black hood and carrying an assault weapon charged through the back door of the meeting place, lowered the gun and said, “If you don't believe in Christ, this message is not for you — leave!” There was a stampede as people ran out of the auditorium. Only three elderly people remained in the auditorium. The man with the gun lowered the gun, took off his hood, placed the gun on the communion table and sat down in the front row. “OK, preacher, now what do you have to say to us?”

There are all kinds of problems with that story, but the point of it is well taken. It is easy to come to church and hear a sermon, dismiss it intellectually, and go on about your daily affairs. Today's lesson deals with faith — not acceptance. There is a difference. Many of us accept the existence of God, the reality of Christ, and the presence of the church. It costs us a little time and maybe a few dollars, but that is the end of it. We go through the motions because we accept the idea that we should. The motivation may be pressure from our family or social acceptance by people we know. The reality is we do not have an active working faith that moves us beyond apathetic and/or ritualistic participation.

There are two levels to this issue that we are discussing in this morning's lesson. We need to know that there is hard evidence that Christ is real and that the Bible is his Word. There is also spiritual energy from God that affects our hearts. Take time this week to look at and pray about your own faith.

— John Clayton