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August 16, 2009TO OUR VISITORS
The family of God here at Dowagiac Church of Christ wishes to extend to you a warm welcome. If you have questions about our worship services and why we do what we do, we will be glad to give you a biblical answer. The uniqueness of the church of Christ is that we are trying to restore to the best of our ability those things that we see the first century church doing. We are also working hard at building the spirit, unity, and love that Jesus taught and prayed for. We have no clergy, but are working together as equal co-workers trying to serve one another and the area in which we live. Come study with us, grow with us, and serve with us as we strive to do God’s will in all things.
FAMILY NEWS
DOES GOD EXIST? SEMINAR. Our, thanks to everyone who came to the night sessions and supported the seminar this past week. We had a high quality group during the day classes who came from Idaho, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, Michigan, Indiana, and Tennessee. The evening sessions averaged around 40 people with each night having a larger attendance. See the back page of this bulletin for more.
FAIR EXHIBIT FOLLOW UP. We continue to get e-mails and requests from the fair exhibit. So far there have been 26 e-mails that have come in and several phone calls. We had one visitor at the last night of the Does God Exist? seminar from the fair. Good seed was sown, and we will keep working on following up the work that was done.
PLANNING SESSION. September 6 will be our next potluck, and we will have a planning session after the meal. We need to start planning now for next year's evangelistic outreach, and several ideas have been advanced that we want to let everyone hear and consider. We also have some information about waterproofing the basement that needs to be acted upon, and some plans for get togethers are also needing attention. Plan to come and spend the first part of the afternoon with us. It is a wonderful time of fellowship, and it is exciting to hear what is going on and what plans are being made for the future. We need you here, so please plan to come.
SPECIAL NEED. In addition to our usual list of folks needing help and prayers, remember Patty Gibson's mom who is having shoulder surgery this week.
TODAY'S
LESSON
THE
AGE OF MEDIOCRITY
INTRODUCTION--Are you the best of the lousy, or the lousiest of the best? Where are we pressured to be average?
At work
At school
In our community relationships
At Church
Average is a recipe for disatisfaction
Matthew 22:34-40--Jesus sets the standard for satisfaction.
ALL OUR HEART At school
In our community relationships
At Church
Average is a recipe for disatisfaction
Matthew 22:34-40--Jesus sets the standard for satisfaction.
Physically committed to serving
Christ
Where does your best effort go?
Colossians 3:17
ALL OUR SOULWhere does your best effort go?
Colossians 3:17
Luke 12:31
1 Corinthians 10:31
What standard of dress, conduct really drives your life?
ALL OUR MIND1 Corinthians 10:31
What standard of dress, conduct really drives your life?
2 Timothy 2:15
Phillipians 2:12
WHERE IS YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW!!??
LESSONS IN MEDIOCRITYPhillipians 2:12
WHERE IS YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW!!??
LESSON 1
Matthew 25:14-28--Compare verse
21 with 23. What is true of the rewards?
God knows what you are capable
of, that is how we are going to be judged.
You cannot base what you do on what talent you have or do not have. Talents are not equal, but effort should be.
LESSON 2 You cannot base what you do on what talent you have or do not have. Talents are not equal, but effort should be.
Exodus
13:17-14--When did God act?
God wants us to go as far as we can--then He acts.
LESSON 3God wants us to go as far as we can--then He acts.
God wants His people to be the
best they can be.
In Work--1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
In Education--Acts 17: 11
In Worship--Revelation 3:15-16
In Service--John 13:12-17
In our marriages
In our homes
Are you tired? Discouraged? Frustrated? How does your faith function in
times like these? In Work--1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
In Education--Acts 17: 11
In Worship--Revelation 3:15-16
In Service--John 13:12-17
In our marriages
In our homes
ROUGH
WEEK
This past week was an exhausting
week for some of us. Paul told Timothy that he should train others to
do the ministry that he was engaged in, and the Does God Exist? ministry has been
trying to do that very thing for some 41 years. Every summer we try to
have some kind of training seminar to teach others to do what we are
doing--reaching out to people in the world with information and
teaching about how we know God exists, know that the Bible is His word,
and know that the Christian system is the only path to God.
This summer we have two such training sessions. One will be in September when we take a group of students into the Grand Canyon and the area around the Grand Canyon and show them how the evidence seen in the rocks supports the biblical record and the accuracy of the Bible. The session that was held this past week was a classroom seminar, where we had classes every day from 8:30 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. with breaks for meals and special sessions. The group we had this year was extremely strong both educationally and especially spiritually. They ranged in age from 16 to 76 and in education from high school students to a man working on a doctorate.
These 12-hour sessions are exhausting, but we have a number of men and women who have been in these sessions who are building ministries like ours. Tim Gordon was in this session for the second time, and already has an effective ministry in operation in Boise, Idaho. We have a dozen men and women who are doing ministries that are related to our area of study, but are in different areas. One night we had a woman come to the sessions who is struggling with abuse, and one of the ladies in the program is a counselor and was able to help her. Being able to minister to people in a variety of different areas is what the Church is about, and as we grow and expand here in Dowagiac we hope to be able to address more and more needs that exist in our community.
Each evening at 7:00 we had a session that we had advertised in the Michiana area, and we had a number of visitors who came and participated in these sessions. The last night we had over 50 people present, and much interest was expressed. What the Lord will do with these contacts, and what doors will open in the future remains to be seen, but the work of this congregation continues to grow and we need to look for new ways to reach out to the area and serve those who need help. We not only will grow by doing this, but we will glorify God as people see we are not just talking or maintaining a property, but serving others and reflecting a Christ-like spirit to those we come in contact with.
This summer we have two such training sessions. One will be in September when we take a group of students into the Grand Canyon and the area around the Grand Canyon and show them how the evidence seen in the rocks supports the biblical record and the accuracy of the Bible. The session that was held this past week was a classroom seminar, where we had classes every day from 8:30 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. with breaks for meals and special sessions. The group we had this year was extremely strong both educationally and especially spiritually. They ranged in age from 16 to 76 and in education from high school students to a man working on a doctorate.
These 12-hour sessions are exhausting, but we have a number of men and women who have been in these sessions who are building ministries like ours. Tim Gordon was in this session for the second time, and already has an effective ministry in operation in Boise, Idaho. We have a dozen men and women who are doing ministries that are related to our area of study, but are in different areas. One night we had a woman come to the sessions who is struggling with abuse, and one of the ladies in the program is a counselor and was able to help her. Being able to minister to people in a variety of different areas is what the Church is about, and as we grow and expand here in Dowagiac we hope to be able to address more and more needs that exist in our community.
Each evening at 7:00 we had a session that we had advertised in the Michiana area, and we had a number of visitors who came and participated in these sessions. The last night we had over 50 people present, and much interest was expressed. What the Lord will do with these contacts, and what doors will open in the future remains to be seen, but the work of this congregation continues to grow and we need to look for new ways to reach out to the area and serve those who need help. We not only will grow by doing this, but we will glorify God as people see we are not just talking or maintaining a property, but serving others and reflecting a Christ-like spirit to those we come in contact with.