Home

Worship Services

Location

Contacts

Bulletins

Links
Bulletin cover

September 9, 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

PROGRESS ON CHILDREN'S AREA — We are working on providing a safe area for our children to be in when we are not in worship or class. We do not want a child getting hit by a car while we are in a potluck or between services. Samantha Wheeler has been working on getting prices and finding out what is available. Right now it looks like the fence installed will be about $3,000. We plan to get playground equipment to be enclosed as well. We welcome suggestions and offers to help.

THE SIGN — We are using the new sign in front to invite the community to things like the singing and our potlucks as well as special classes and services. Eventually we will have permanent wiring to the sign. We also have sayings and biblical quotes to use when we do not have a special event coming up. If someone would like to take on changing the board from time to time, please see John Clayton.

SEPTEMBER ACTIVITIES — There are a number of gospel meetings and special retreats going on in the area. See the bulletin board for these, and let us know if you are interested in getting a group together to go to one of them.

TODAY'S LESSON

CROSSING THE RED SEA OF LIFE

MATTHEW 6:33

INTRODUCTION
A. Life is full of dark times — the Bible shows this.
1. Ecclesiastes 1:1-3,14; Job 3:1–13; Psalms 10 and 13
B. Light is also a biblical theme — Genesis 1:3; Isaiah 60:1– 3; 1 John 1:5 – 7.
C. Gabriel Gifford — unable to say"light."
1. Solution "This Little Light of Mine."
D. Are you in light or in darkness?
YOU CANNOT HAVE LIGHT AND DARKNESS AT THE SAME TIME.
A. Light is either off or on.
B. You are either in Truth (in Christ) or you are not.
1. God is an "absolutist" — Matthew 12:30; Luke 11:23.
2. Exodus from Egypt is an example.
C. Newness is a biblical theme — Wednesday night class.
HISTORY OF THE RED SEA CROSSING
A. Israel has spent hundreds of years in slavery.
1. You can get used to being in slavery.
2. No one remembers what it is like to be free.
B. We live in a complacent culture — happy to be slaves.
C. Israel resists change — Exodus 14:11–12.
1. Work promotes slavery — Exodus 16:3.
D. God does not half-deliver people
1. They either left or they did not — cannot go back.
2. They had to step out on faith — so do we.
3. Exodus 14:21– 31 versus the promises of Jesus
GOD DOES NOT LET US TAKE OUR BAGGAGE WITH US.
A. Israel took what they could put on a cart.
1. Exodus 15:20 — took tambourines for celebration.
B. We cannot take our baggage either — Romans 12:1– 2
C. Change means newness and visa versa
1. 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:17 – 23; Colossians 3:1-15; Romans 6:1– 6
2. Are you any different than … ?
D. Obedience means change —1 John 2:3
1. Darkness has to be a thing of the past.
2. 1 John 2:8 —11
E. The capacity to change is always available to us.
1. Acts 2:38 — Indwelling of Spirit helps.

A LITTLE TEST

Have you been coming to our Sunday night class? Let us see if you can honestly say you do not need to be here. Below are some basic questions that have been answered in the class. See what you can do with them.

What book of the New Testament did Levi write? ___________________________________

Which gospel was written by a Greek? ____________________________________________

What Bible author has a mother named Mary? _____________________________________

Which gospel has only a few miracles described? ___________________________________

Which gospel has the most parables? ____________________________________________

Our Sunday night study is being led by Richard Hoyt who has spent a massive amount of time preparing material that is new to most of us, and gives us a chance to expand our Bible knowledge. Our general topic is the compatibility of the gospel narratives. In our day of skepticism about the Bible, it is important for us to know that the Bible is not full of mistakes, and that the message is relevant to our lives and to the challenges that we all face. Knowing who wrote the gospels, why they are different, and how to answer claims of contradictions made by skeptics and atheists is important — not just for us, but for our children and grandchildren who are the most vulnerable to these attacks.

We urge you to be here tonight for this class. Build your understanding and knowledge of the Bible, and if the questions above gave you some problems, that ought to be a clear indicator of why you need to be here. Keep learning!