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FAMILY NEWSOur youth rally with Willie Franklin is canceled due to brother Franklin having schedule conflicts. HELP is needed for Samantha Wheeler to go to the Dominican Republic as a mission outreach to assist in eye surgery by the doctors in the office where she works. To donate give a check written to the Dowagiac Church of Christ and give it to Bill Gibson and write on it “Dominican Republic” and you will have tax credit and the money will go to Sam's expense fund. TUESDAY AT 11:00 A.M. Senior brunch at Golden Corral. Join us for a time of eating and sharing. Everyone is welcome. NEXT SUNDAY we have our potluck. It will have an Italian theme. See Lana or Tracey if you have not signed up for something Italian and want to do so. NEXT SUNDAY at 2:30 P.M. at Timbers Nursing Home. The worship service is with the residents and staff. We need people to sing, visit with residents, and help them to their rooms. The service is only 30 minutes and you will be welcomed by everyone there. Let someone know if you need directions. TODAY'S LESSON
INTRODUCTION
A. LIFE: We are either in a mess, coming out of a mess, or headed for a mess.
I. BACKGROUND — 1 Samuel covers 115 years.
B. The Bible gives us messes to study. Today it is David A. Saul is on the throne 32 years, to age 72.
II. THE MESS 1 Samuel 30:1-4
B. David's popularity rubs Saul the wrong way. 1. Do you ever have a problem with a boss?
C. David runs to the land of the Philistines — the enemy.
2. David does not take it to God — he tries to run. 3. Do you and I have a tendency to run away? 1. 1 Samuel 27:1
D. David goes to Achish, King of Gath — 1 Samuel 27:6.
2. Do we run to the world — the enemy (James 4:4)? 1. Achish gives him Ziklag to wage war from.
E. Philistine military does not trust David — 1 Samuel 29:1-5
2. David is there 16 months — as a raider. Achish sends David back to Ziklag — verses 9-10.
F. All this makes good political sense.
1. Politics always has and always will go on.
2. Matthew 22:21 A. “No more strength to weep.” Have you been there?
B. David's soldiers are ready to stone David (verse 6). C. “But David found strength in the LORD his God.”
1. Worldly solutions to real problems do not exist.
D. David looks for Godly advise — 1 Samuel 30:7.
2. Not for David, and not for you and me.
1. Follows the system of the day.
E. David does not use a worldly standard. Note:
2. Learning to look for Godly advice is the key.
1. Verse 23 — God gave us what we have.
F. Are you in a mess this morning?
2. God protected us. 3. Verse 24 — No one is top gun, we share. 4. We are brothers. 5. We will not accept a worldly standard. THE BACK PAGEINVOLVEMENTThere are some ways in which the congregation here at M 51 is on the edge of collapse. Like a lot of congregations, we are too small to have the structure that the Bible describes as far as leadership is concerned. We do not have elders, and we do not have a paid evangelist that can provide skilled and informed leadership in what the congregation does. In spite of that, the work here has done well in many regards. We have a team of men who are here at least three times a week for worship and study and whose wives strongly support the Lord'cs work. This team gets along well and it has diverse talents. No one is paid anything and all of the men have jobs by which they support themselves and all of the men have family responsibilities. The disturbing fact is that most of the men are over 65. Many congregations of the church have this issue. What generally happens is that the congregations chug along as they have in the past with people doing the best they can until a few deaths force the congregation to either merge with another congregation, or just close their doors. There is another option. That option is to have a broader base to the leadership. If instead of half a dozen men leading in various works we had a dozen men and women, the death of one or two men would not be catastrophic to the work of the Lord in Dowagiac. So where do we get a dozen leaders? We cannot recruit people from the world to do what needs to be done, but we can involve more people in the various works we are doing. One thing we can do is get women involved in leadership and in providing guidance for the congregation. This is biblical, and there is nothing in scripture that prevents a woman from being a leader, especially when the congregation is too small to have an eldership. In Luke 8:1-3 we see women leading in providing logistical support for the work of Christ. Lydia and Dorcus were women who had taken leadership roles in the early church. In Romans 16:1-16 Paul gives a list of leaders in the early church of Christ. Women are at least 50% of this list. We are already doing this in a limited way. Our coat give away, family fun fair, card ministry and children's worship have been initiated and are being maintained by our women. There are many other areas where we need more people involved. The highway cleanup is a very visible service to the community, and perhaps one of the best tools we have to let people know who we are and what we do, but our congregational involvement is not good. Sister congregations came to help in the fall cleanup, and they made it work. Maintaining the property is important, from the sign to the yard, and mowing and gardening, to caring for the building; but we cannot keep the same few people doing all of this work on the property. Use the “Question Box” in the lobby and volunteer to get involved in these or in other new projects! PLEASE! WE NEED YOU! — John Clayton Our sign by the street! Sign saying from Julie Marcussen Scripture links/references are from BibleGateway.com. Unhighlighted scriptures can be looked up at their website. www.dowagiaccoc.org |
