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Bulletin cover

January 20, 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

THANKS — We have needed better lighting under the canopy ever since the solar light quit functioning. Richard Hoyt and Bill Gibson worked the better part of an afternoon last week running wiring into the area and connecting a light that has a motion detector on it so that when passengers are discharged or loaded at the fellowship room door we can see what we are doing. It was a nasty job in tight quarters. Richard got stabbed pretty badly in the head by the nails from the roof and left a lot of blood in the gable area. We very much appreciate their work on this needed installation project.

UPDATE ON DAY CARE IDEA — We approached the state this week on the possibility of opening a day care on our property. They are very positive, but there is massive paper work and a wide range of requirements that have to be met. Bill Gibson has the printed material they make available and, in spite of the fact that they promise us verbally a lot of help in meeting the requirements, it will take some dedicated effort just to get started. We need to have a lot of discussion about this idea and whether we want to do it, and if so, how.

TODAY'S LESSON

ARE WE A “THYATIRA CHURCH”?

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 THYATIRA — Revelation 2:18 – 29
A. Frontier garrison for the Romans to eastern areas
1. Purple was the main industry — garments, brass.
B. Home of Lydia in Acts 16:14 — seller of purple
1. She was converted at Philippi — carried gospel home.
2. Her name is Greek — probably a proselyte.
C. God's main method of spreading the truth
REVELATION 2:18 — GOD'S EYES AND FEET
A. God sees what we do — we are accountable.
B. God is everywhere — you cannot hide!
1. David tried it.
2. Jonah tried it.
REVELATION 2:19 — HOW MUCH ARE WE DOING?
A. God expects growth — by his measure.
1. Look at the criteria — love, faith, service.
B. We need to look at what we are doing — 
1. As a congregation.
2. As a individual.
C. Satan is challenging us — a good thing.
1. Casinos produce alcoholism, drugs, prostitution.
REVELATION 2:14 – 23 — THEY TOLERATED JEZEBEL.
A. 1 Kings 16:29 – 33; 1 Kings 18:4
1. Marrying a non-Christian is not trivial.
B. One dominant person was corrupting the church.
1. This is not Clayton's, Gibson's or Hoyt's church.
C. This is vital — Revelation 2:11 and Revelation 2:24 – 25.
1. “Satan's deep secrets” — porn, drugs, gambling
D. Salvation is personal, not congregational.
REVELATION 2:26 – 27
A. Quote of Psalm 2:7 – 9
1. Government may mess it up, we are O.K.
REVELATION 2:28 AND 22:16
A. THE “MORNINGSTAR” IS JESUS CHRIST.
1. Do not be afraid of the “Jezebels”

THE BACK PAGE

DISPENSATIONALISM AND REVELATION

We are well into our study of the book of Revelation on Wednesday night. One of the reasons this study is so important is that a huge number of Protestant denominations teach a doctrine called dispensationalism and use the book of Revelation to justify their denominational creed. Dispensationalists dominate the homeschool materials and private school materials available to parents who want to teach their children somewhere other than the public schools. This teaching has become a political issue, and any politician that does not want to support the nation of Israel financially and militarily is likely to be in serious trouble. In scientific areas dispensationalism has caused problems because the beliefs of dispensationalism require the earth to be very young — some 6,000 to 10,000 years. There is massive evidence that the earth is older than that and many have come to question the accuracy of the Bible on this basis.

Enclosed with this bulletin is an article (“Destructive Dispensationalism”) that I wrote in 2008 on this subject which explains dispensationalism in greater depth. I hope you will take the time to read it. In our Wednesday night class we have come to chapter 7 in which 144,000 are sealed from the 12 tribes of Israel. Most dispensationalists tell us that this is 144,000 Jews who will be missionaries for Christ by re-establishing Jewish worship in Jerusalem with Christ reigning politically over the whole world on David's throne for 1,000 years.

There are many variations among dispensationalists on this theme, but the article enclosed will give you the main ones. We need to understand that Revelation begins with saying that the things in the book “must shortly come to pass” (Revelation 1:1), not some event in the twenty-first century. Also, we always need to understand that Jesus made it clear “my kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36) and that his kingdom was not political in nature (Matthew 22:21). Join us as we study this vital book.