March 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

THANK YOU GOD: We always have announcements of people who need prayers, and we thank Julie and Karl for up-to-date information on these cases. We also need to have pointed out the good things that have happened among us, and thank God for these. We thank God that Maelene and Larry are up, pretty much out of pain, and full of enthusiasm as their surgeries have been successful. Cindy has had some good news for a change with her father's situation having stabilized and one of her son's problems being resolved. Audrey Gibson is home and is doing pretty well, and her furnace is fixed. Howard Marlin is better and is not swallowing nitro pills the way he was. Things have settled down for Gatwech Ruot Nyoat. His family is safe and away from the violence, and he will go to Ethiopia in May and has an internship in Washington D.C. starting in July before he rejoins us next January. Let us realize that God is blessing us with some answers to all the problems among us, and let us pray we will continue to see good results.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Our next highway clean up will be April 19. Please plan to be part of it — the road will be a mess after this winter's weather.

TODAY'S LESSON

THE JEKYLL AND HYDE IN EACH OF US
John Clayton

THE BACK PAGE

QUESTION ON BAPTISM

We recently had a question about why we have not had more sermons on baptism. The simple answer is “sermon topics are based on what is perceived as needs.” Our attendance on Sunday mornings has not been made up of people who do not understand baptism, but there are some personal struggles with Satan and pain and suffering that are very much a part of many in the congregation, and so that is what our lessons have focused on. That certainly does not mean that baptism is not important; in fact, it is so important that salvation cannot be attained without it according to the Bible.

One important fact about baptism is that it is shown in God's Word as the end product of a series of actions. In Mark 16:15 –16 Jesus told his followers that those who believed and were baptized would be saved. A person will not be baptized if he does not believe, so the message is clear that salvation comes after baptism. In Acts 2:37 – 38 the people were told that repentance and baptism for the remission of sins were the keys to salvation. Notice that belief and repentance precede baptism which precedes remission of sins. In Acts 22:16 Paul tells us that his baptism was to wash away his sins. Baptism is not an end, but a beginning. In Romans 6:3 – 4 we are told that when we are baptized we begin a new life in Christ.

Again and again the Bible speaks of the critical nature of baptism. Colossians 2:12 tells us in baptism we are raised with Christ. In Galatians 3:27 we are told we are baptized into Christ. In 1 Peter 3:21 we are told flat out that baptism saves us.

Man-made churches continue to deny the importance of baptism. Some refer to the thief on the cross who was promised salvation that day by Jesus, but the thief on the cross was not a Christian. The church did not come into existence until after Jesus' resurrection, so the thief was not a part of the church. Another claim is that we are not saved by works, so baptism cannot save us. Baptism is not a work because it is done to us not by us. The passages that are quoted on this subject such as Galatians 3:1–10 and James 2:14 – 26 deal with benevolence and keeping the law, not with something that is done to us. No amount of good deeds can earn heaven. We are saved by our active response and obedience to God's Word.

Baptism is vital and is referred to in every sermon, but the content of our lessons is determined by the needs we see.

— John Clayton