July 7, 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

POTLUCKTODAY: Today is the first Sunday of the month, and we will have our monthly potluck. Plan to stay and enjoy a good meal together. Many of us brought extra food, so if you did not bring anything, do not let that stop you. We will have food left over.

HIGHWAY CLEANUP NEXT SATURDAY: One of our projects to serve the community is to clean up the highway in front of our building — two miles of road. We will meet here at 10:00 next Saturday morning to do this. Come and be a part of this!

THREE WEEKS TO THE FAIR: Three weeks from today we will be setting up our booth at the Cass County Fair. The balloons, magnets, emery boards, etc., are here and the banners have been given final approval. The handout sheets, and exhibit boards are under construction. In the lobby on a clip board are sign up sheets to work the booth. Please sign up for as many shifts as you can. Remember that you are just there to greet people and give them free materials — not to debate theology.

TODAY'S LESSON

LOSE THE WEIGHT

THE BACK PAGE

LOSING THE WEIGHT OF DISCOURAGEMENT

Our lesson this morning is about losing weight — not the weight we may gain during our potluck which can be blamed on all the great cooks we have in this congregation; but the more serious weight of Satan's attacks on our spirituality. Satan hits us where we live, and trying to ignore his attacks on us does not work. Discouragement is a major tool of Satan. We can be discouraged when we try something and it fails — be it at work, in our families, or in the church. Paul said in Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” When something fails, we need to talk to God about it and try again — maybe in a different way, but never give up. God will help us succeed. In Ephesians 3:16; Colossians 1:11; and 2 Timothy 4:17, Paul indicates that God gave him strength to try again until success came.

One source of discouragement is not being patient and realizing that things take time. In 1 Peter 5:10 Peter tells us that “after we have suffered a little while God himself will restore us and make us strong, firm and steadfast.” It takes time for a tree to grow, and expecting instant gratification is a sure path to discouragement. People you are trying to reach and that the Church is reaching out to did not get where they are overnight, and it will usually take time to reach them.

I am thankful we have some encouragers in this congregation — people like Barnabas who were not easily intimidated by failure or the lapse in time between sowing and reaping. Paul spent much time encouraging and strengthening young small congregations like ours. In Acts 18:23 we read Paul “set out from [Antioch] and traveled from place to place … strengthening all the disciples.” Jesus told Peter in Luke 22:32 that Satan would afflict him, but when he had endured that he should “turn back and strenghthen your brothers.”

Do not get discouraged, because Satan wins when that happens. Keep praying for that family member and for the people of Cass County, and keep reaching out. God will act in his own time.

— John Clayton