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Bulletin cover

July 31, 2016

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.


FAMILY NEWS

POTLUCK NEXT SUNDAY: Bring a dish and plan to stay and enjoy time with your brothers and sisters in Christ. You will not find better food or better company anywhere.

TIMBERS DEVOTIONAL: Next Sunday is our time to conduct a short worship service at the Timbers Nursing Home. Last time we were short on singers, so please plan to join us at 2:30 in the afternoon and sing with us and spend a few minutes visiting with the residents. This is a wonderful opportunity to serve, so please be a part of it.

CASS COUNTY FAIR is this week. If you did not sign up to man the booth and want to help, see Bill Gibson. If you are there, please stop by the booth under the Grandstand and give the workers a rest break. See the back cover for more on this effort.

THANKS to everyone who brought in paper goods for Shults-Lewis. We had quite a stash of vital materials for them and for the children they care for.

TODAY'S LESSON

JOHN THE BAPTIST: “THE GREATEST”

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John Clayton

INTRODUCTION
A. Looking at the lives of great biblical heros is useful.
B. Matthew 11:11 — Jesus praised John as “none greater.”
C. What made John great?
D. Setting for John — no prophet had existed for 400 years.
1. Matthew 3:5 — Huge response from the common man
2. Herod jailed John — politicians fear holy people
3. Herod eventually kills John — Mark 6:14 – 2.
E. Four things about John we need to learn from.
I. JOHN'S INTEGRITY WAS BEYOND REPROACH.
A. Wall of China was never breached militarily.
1. Breached three times by bribing gate keepers
B. John had courage without compromise — Mark 6:14ff
C. Our best silent sermon is our integrity.
II. JOHN WAS A MAN WHO FINISHED WELL.
A. John 3:26 – 30 — John pointed the way to Christ.
B. We need to have a legacy that points the way.
What is your legacy? — See last week's bulletin in The Back Page section.
III. JOHN LIVED HIS MISSION.
A. Matthew 3:11
B. Matthew 11:7 – 10 — He lived his role.
C. Matthew 3:4
1. Clothes of camel's hair — 2 Kings 1:8; Zechariah 13:4
2. Leather belt — common laborer
3. Locusts — Leviticus 11:22 — Honey — rocks swarming
D. He was 100% prophet — “Flash” is not God's way.
IV. WE ARE GREATER THAN JOHN — MATTHEW 11:11.
A. Only in what God has done for us.
1. Hebrews 11:32 – 40 — How special the church is.
2. What we have is what they wanted.
B. Hebrews 12:1 – 2 — We too have a mission, a race.
1. Paul talked about his race — 2 Timothy 4:6 – 8
2. 1 John 1:7 – 9 — God is with us.
C. Romans 6:4 – 7 — Dying to sin means doing what John did — Do not deny what John accepted!
Song: "I Am Thine, O Lord"

THE BACK PAGE

OUR FAIR BOOTH OUTREACH

Tomorrow we begin a week of reaching out to the people of Cass County. There are a lot of good reasons for us to be doing this booth. It is the most economic way that we can put the church in front of the community. To have an ad in a newspaper, put spots on radio or television, or do mass mailings is frightfully expensive, and we have determined that we would rather use that money to provide winter coats to kids in the county and to operate our food bank to feed people needing food to eat.

We have had the same location now for several years, and people have learned who we are and many of them will stop by to say hello. Our booth this year has a new theme that involves providing a response to the pluralism that is considered politically correct in today's world. Showing people that what Jesus said and did was unique and that it demonstrates God's wisdom and planning for mankind is important.

What is also important is to realize that according to the 2010 census there are 41,919 people in Cass County who say that they have no religious affiliation or ties to any church. That is 84% of the population of this county.

In addition to these numbers we have a large number of young people who attend the fair and who have questions about the kind of material that we have in our exhibits.

What we are doing this year is asking questions about the unique teachings of Jesus. There are five easy questions, five average questions, and five difficult questions on the question boards. We have a booklet that has the answers and explanations for each of the questions along with an invitation to visit us or take one of the free courses that we offer.

We also have some give-away items for people to take home with them, which we believe will remind them of their visit with us all year long. We have some quality pens with our name and address on them, and the emery boards, balloons, magnets, etc., that we have used in the past. Everyone should help by spending some time greeting visitors and passing out materials. Pray for this effort!

— John Clayton


Our sign by the street!

Our sign on the street says, VISIT US AT THE CASS COUNTY FAIR UNDER THE GRANDSTAND.