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January 13, 2013

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.

FAMILY NEWS

CLASS ON REVELATION UNDERWAY — The denominational world struggles with the book of Revelation. We hear “end of the earth” scenarios, attacks on Catholicism, attacks on politicians, and even claims of alien visitation all attributed to the Book of Revelation. In reality this book is easy to understand. The only thing that bothers people is that they do not understand the symbols used and what the apply to. This will not be a long study, because the Book of Revelation is really very simple. We expect to have the study completed by late spring. Come and learn with us each Wednesday at 7:15.

DON'T MISS SUNDAY NIGHT — Dick Hoyt continues to teach a provocative and informative class at 6:00 each Sunday evening on reconstructing the history of Jesus' teachings as recorded in the Gospels. Dick brings new and interesting concepts to us every week, and the past several Sundays we have been looking at Matthew's version and Luke's version of the Sermon on the Mount, why they are different, and how we should understand the differences. The Greek and Jewish versions of that wonderful lesson are important to understand.

TODAY'S LESSON

ARE WE A “PERGAMUM CHURCH”?

Revelation 2:12 – 17

INTRODUCTION
A. We have started our class on Revelation.
1. Started with Chapter 4 — Ockham's Razor
2. Revelation 1:1 — “Things must soon take place.”
B. Revelation 1 – 3 deals with congregations.
1. Introduces seven kinds of congregations (1:20).
2. All of these are seen in the world today.
THE CITY OF PERGAMON — Revelation 2:12 – 17
A. Port city — tough — center of the area — now in Turkey
B. Temple of Imperial Cult was built in 29 BC.
1. For Zeus, Athena, Dionysus, Asclepius
2. Spectacular display of wealth
C. In our area — The Gold Dome, Touchdown Jesus, etc.
D. Apple Valley, Andrews University
E. How does this affect the church?
1. Matthew 22:21 and Romans 13:1
THE TWO-EDGED SWORD — Revelation 2:12
A. The Church's weapon
B. Hebrews 4:12 – 13
1. Separates soul and spirit — life force and soul.
2. Gives us action and sustains us.
3. Deals with our thoughts and attitudes.
4. Judges us.
THE PLACE WHERE SATAN LIVES — Revelation 2:13
A. Antipas boiled alive by Domitian at Pergamon.
1. To intimidate, make fearful, make threats effective
B. Satan lives where false religions exist.
1. 40% of all Americans say “none” to religious choice.
2. Why is there a casino going in across the street?
3. Gambling — a an addiction — a god substitution
C. Satan's throne is when Satan controls an area.
1. Casinos produce alcoholism, drugs, prostitution.
THE CHURCH FOLLOWED BALAAM — Revelation 2:14 – 15.
A. Balaam — Numbers 22 – 24 — lured Israel to pagan kings.
B. Pergamum had some who followed Nicolaitans.
C. It is easy to embrace the error of family/friends.
JESUS WILL FIGHT THOSE WHO COMPROMISE — Revelation 2:16 – 17.
A. "Sword of his mouth" is his Word — we need to know it.
B. Hidden manna — hidden food to strengthen us
C. White stone = Victory — new name — Philippians 2:12

THE BACK PAGE

CONGREGATIONAL MEETING

This past Sunday we had a congregational meeting after our potluck, and for those of you who could not attend, here is a brief summary of decisions and proposals that were made. If you have a question about any of these or some other ideas, please see me. John Clayton

FINANCIAL
 — We have all bills paid and some money in savings.
 — We plan to continue support to Shults-Lewis and the prison ministry.
 — The Does God Exist? ministry handles their own finances, and a year-end report is available today.
 — We are not able to support a full-time worker, but this was discussed especially in the counseling area.

PROPERTY
 — Having a day care was discussed and will be looked into.
 — Replacing our signs with one large sign was proposed.
 — Refining our sound system is being discussed, to move the controls and have a control board to adjust sound levels.
 — We plan to continue cleaning up M 51 with state cooperation.

MINISTRIES
 — The coat giveaway will be completed by Richard Hoyt & Leon Forbes.
 — We will do a fair booth again. New ideas for the booth are solicited.
 — The food pantry will be continued. New ideas for letting people know about it are requested. It has been very successful.
 — Counseling and the day care as a response to the casino going in were discussed.
 — Support for families dealing with the death of a loved one were discussed, as well as families with internal problems. Adopting a child from a local care agency was proposed.
 — Does God Exist? will have an activity report within two weeks.

There were a lot of things we did not get to talk about due to time limitations and not having everyone present. The idea of an intern, a lady's class, were not discussed.