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August 12, 2012

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

SINGING HERE August 25: We will host an area wide singing on August 25 starting at 5:00. We usually do this on Sunday, but we are going to try it on Saturday afternoon this time and see if that works better with some of our sister congregations. We will plan to have a light evening meal after the singing so that people can stay and fellowship. We need help in preparing food and drinks, setting up the canopies, and getting the building ready for our guests. Plan to come early on that Saturday to get everything ready.

THANKS — to Richard Hoyt for getting the letter sign we now have in front of the building. We will use this to announce things like the singing, and to let people know we are here and have a message that they need. We are experimenting with where to put the sign before we run electricity to it and plug in the lighted part of it. We also have some wind issues and a shortage of letters, but these things are being worked on.

NEW CLASS — We are studying the book of Acts now on Sunday morning. Come and grow with us.

TODAY'S LESSON

WHY WE DON'T TRUST GOD

PROVERBS 3:1–16

INTRODUCTION
A. The Bible gives strong directives for life's problems.
B. Life is short — eternity is not.
C. Do you feel lost, frustrated, fearful, angry, resentful?
D. There are three "trust destroyers"we all fight with.
TRUST IS DAMAGED BY FAULTY THINKING AND REASONING.
A. Not everything in life is fair.
1. Bad things happen to good people.
2. Psalm 73:2 – 3
3. Job 1:1
4. Was it fair for Jesus to die on the cross? Necessary?
B. People would serve God for short term gain if all was fair. Band-aid faith is worthless.
TRUST IS DAMAGED BY MISUNDERSTANDING SUFFERING.
A. Patience — Proverbs 3:11; Psalm 119:71; James 1:2; – 3
B. God does help — 2 Corinthians 1:3; – 4 John 14:1,26; 1 Peter 5:7
C. God's purpose needs to be understood — Romans 8:28.
1. Why do you exist?
2. John 9:3 — Why does David exist, Tim?
D. Difficulties make you or break you — you decide.
E. Death is the worst Satan can do — Revelation 21:4.
TRUST IS DAMAGED BY THINKING EVERYTHING MUST HAVE AN ANSWER.
A. People do not want theological answers to reality.
1. Learn to say "l don't know — I care — I love you.
B. Deuteronomy 29:29 — God did not answer Job's questions.
1. Job 40:4; Job 42:5
2. Job is about God, not about suffering.
WILL YOU MAKE A BEGINNING IN TRUSTING GOD?
A. Trust when there is no reason to trust — no force.
B. Habakkuk 3:17 –19
C. Trust God in what He says.
1. Matthew 11:28 – 30
2. Acts 2:38 — all of it — Holy Spirit helps.
3. 1 John 1:7 — God purifies you continuously.
4. I Corinthians 10:28 — God will not let temptation be unanswered.

WALKING BY FAITH

Wednesday night in our discussion of 2 Corinthians 5:7 we had a lively discussion of what this verse means in the twenty-first century. Paul has been talking in the previous verses about the struggles that he and that you and I have in life. Paul's optimism has shown through in these verses. In chapter 4 verses 8 – 9 Paul says "I am hard pressed, yet not crushed. I am bewildered, but not in despair. I am hunted down, but God never abandons us. I am struck down, but never killed." He goes on in verse 16 to say that he never gives up because the affliction he was bearing is just for a short time. He then says in verse 7, "For we walk by faith, not by sight."

Our world cannot comprehend what this verse is saying, and probably even those of us who are Christians struggle with the implications of "walking by faith." One part of walking by faith is to nurture a spirit of optimism. Paul's life was hard, and he was constantly threatened by death — yet he could talk positively about his faith and share it with others. Some of us have had to deal with illness, with the death of those we love, and with enormous family problems. If we approach all of this having faith that God will ultimately make it work out, and that eternal life with God will end all of our struggles we can be positive as Paul was. This is a part of "walking by faith."

Walking by faith also means that our worship is not fixed on what we can see or hear. Corporate worship is not a spectator sport, and what we do here today is not intended to entertain but to lift one another, encourage each other, and participate together in acts that do not please us or offer pleasure, but which strengthen us spiritually. One way we get strengthened is by serving one another. This is a 24/7 activity that is worship. The word for worship in Hebrew is "boda" and in Greek is "latreia" and both words refer to service as a servant would render to others and doing this is "walking by faith." We are in the service business, not in the entertainment business.