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June 16, 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. Thank you for worshipping with us.

FAMILY NEWS

PRAYER SHEET: Until Karl and Julie return at the end of June, John Clayton will maintain the prayer sheet. Call him when you have information to be added: 269-687-9426. If the phone is not answered, leave the message on the machine and we will get it on the sheet.

PICKENS MEMORIAL SERVICE: On Saturday, June 22 at 5:00 there will be a memorial service here at our building for Dave Picken's sister. Patty Gibson is making the arrangements for the meal, so please see her so she can assign you a job. Bill will be conducting the memorial and we expect a large turnout from Dave and Donna's family. Please be available during that time period so we have plenty of help.

CLAYTON BIBLE STUDY: This next Tuesday at 7:00 there will be a Bible study/fellowship time at John and Cynthia Clayton's home, 1555 Echo Valley Drive in Niles. This study has been going on for nearly 40 years now and involves people from all over Michiana. We are studying types and antitypes and have a period of snacks and fellowship afterwards. You are invited to come. If you need directions, see one of the Claytons.

TODAY'S LESSON

WHY BELIEVE IN GOD, Part 2

 Sound on icon
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Fastest growing faith in America today is “None.”
B. Militant atheism is growing more and more aggressive: “In a universe of blind physical
forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, and other people are going to get lucky; and you won't find any rhyme or reason to it, nor any justice. The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at the bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good. Nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. … DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is“ (Richard Dawkins).
C. Biblical morality is ignored in our culture.
D. Why do you believe or disbelieve in God?
E. Creation is only answered by God's existence.
1. Evolution assumes creation
2. Genesis 1:1 — “Reshith Elohim bara shamayim erets.”
II. GOD GIVES PURPOSE TO OUR EXISTENCE.
A. Atheism — no purpose, no evil, no good
B. Romans 1:20; Psalm 19:1; Psalm 139:14
1. The creation is full of purpose.
III. WE SEE GOD'S DESIGN IN LIVING THINGS
A. Romans 1:20; Proverbs 6:6; Matthew 6:28
1. Polarized light
2. Reproduction
3. The design of our bodies — Psalm 139:14
IV. WE SEE GOD'S DESIGN IN THE FORCES OF NATURE
A. Gravity — F = G(m1m2)/r 2
B. Electric — F = k(q1q2)/r 2
C. Nuclear — strong and weak
D. Design features
V. WE SEE GOD'S DESIGN IN HIS PLAN FOR OUR FAMILIES.
A. Ephesians 5 – 6 — no purpose, no evil, no good
1. Submitting to one another
2. Husbands love wives, wives respect husbands.
3. Children obey, honor — fathers do not provoke.
B. Alternatives to God's plan do not work.
VI. WE SEE GOD'S DESIGN IN THE PLAN OF SALVATION.
A. Mark 16:16
B. Acts 3:19
C. Romans 10:10
D. Romans 6:4 and 11 – 18


THE BACK PAGE

FATHER'S DAY
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

We gave you a history of Mother's Day on May 12, and pointed out the ancient history of honoring mothers. It is interesting that the recognition of the third Sunday of June as Father's Day was not proclaimed by the government until 1966 by Lyndon Johnson, and was not made a permanent national holiday until 1972 when Nixon signed it into law. In the world today, the role of the “father” continues to be minimized, and in many cultures single motherhood is extolled and women can now conceive by artificial insemination and totally avoid having any male figure in their lives at all.

Perhaps the most important message involved here is that being a father has nothing to do with being able to impregnate a woman. Being a real man doesn't have anything to do with sex, but has to do with leadership, teaching and example. Ephesians 5:25 tells us that real men and fathers are those able to love their wives so completely that they would die for them in the same way Jesus died for the church. In Ephesians 6:4 fathers are told to teach, train, and provide a spiritual foundation for their children — something we see very little of in today's world. Most men are too selfish and too weak to do what God calls fathers to do.

The role of men and of fathers in the church is to provide leadership in spiritual matters. First Timothy 2:8 and 1 Corinthians 14:34 – 40 are not Pauline diatribes against women as some have maintained, but rather a challenge to men to be the spiritual leaders. First Timothy 2:15 even makes reference to women as fulfilling a God-given role of having children and being the nurturing agents of faith. Women have done a much better job of fulfilling that role than men have of being spiritual leaders. Men have tended to fuss about opinions and failed at leading their families and the church as a whole to spiritual greatness.

It is good that we honor the men among us who work at leading their families in godly ways. God bless you and Happy Father's Day!

— John Clayton