February 23, 2014 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

POTLUCK NEXT SUNDAY: Next Sunday is the first Sunday of the month, so it is once again our time to have a wonderful dinner together and enjoy being with other Christians. Plan to bring a dish and stay for a great meal, and hopefully some sharing of ideas for the work of the congregation in 2014. In last Sunday's bulletin there were some proposals. Read them over and think about what would be useful for us as we try to reach out to the area we serve here in southwest Michigan.

LADIES: Let Julie Marcussen know if you will read Christian Woman magazine if she orders one or two to be passed around so that everyone can read it. There are great articles by Christian women in this magazine, but if no one is going to read them, we will not order it.

NEW CLASS ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT: We have started a class on the life of Abraham in our Bible study for Wednesday night. How Abraham's faith evolved to become the great Patriarch of Israel is a good lesson for all of us. Join us for this continuing study of the great men of faith that led to Jesus and how our faith can grow and blossom.

TODAY'S LESSON

COMPARING JESUS AND SATAN
John Clayton

THE BACK PAGE

THANKS FOR THOSE WHO DO THE “TITTLE THINGS”

Those of us who preach or lead singing or teach a class tend to get identified as doing the Lord's work, but there are so many things that are done by people in the congregation that tend to go unnoticed. If you just come and worship and leave, you may not realize how much work was done by how many people to make it possible for us to meet and study and worship God. I was reminded of this when I had some time to think about what had gone on during the previous week to make it possible to have services.

J.R. Castaneda plowed out the parking lot, and the huge mounds of snow surrounding the lot tell us how much work that involved. The light in the men's bathroom in the fellowship area blew out, and just getting up to that very high ceiling was a difficult job. Richard Hoyt took care of it. The toilet in the men's bathroom near the lobby was leaking, and Bill Gibson fixed it and took down the ceiling tiles in the basement that had been ruined. I was making some calls and heard from two different people how much they appreciated the cards that Donna Pickens had sent. When I got to the building last Sunday the front sidewalk, and entry to the fellowship area had been shoveled and salt had been put on it, all done by Richard Hoyt. Communion was being carried in by Dave Pickens, but if he cannot do it Richard is there early to do it, and every Sunday Richard delivers communion to some who cannot make it to services. A woman showed up to get some food from our pantry, and Patty Gibson had stocked and organized the food after picking it up in Benton Harbor so this woman could be served.

I did not make any attempt to cover everything that was done and everyone who did something, but I hope you got the picture. In addition to those who teach, we have people working all the time doing the little things that make it possible for us to worship and serve one another and the community. Thank you everyone, for being a part of the working family that serves God at this place.

— John Clayton

Farther Along

Tempted and tried we're oft made to wonder / Why it should be thus all the day long, / While there are others living about us, / Never molested tho' in the wrong.

When death has come and taken our loved ones, / It leaves our home so lonely and drear: / Then do we wonder why others prosper, / Living so wicked year after year.

Faithful till death said our loving Master, / A few more days to labor and wait; / Toils of the road will then seem as nothing, / As we sweep thro' the beautiful gate.

When we see Jesus coming in glory, / When He comes from His home in the sky; / Then we shall meet Him in that bright mansion, / We'll understand it all by and by.

[Chorus] Farther along we'll know all about it, / Farther along we'll understand why; / Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine, / We'll understand it all by and by.

Song 138 from Praise for the Lord songbook, published by Praise Press, Nashville, TN, 1997