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June 22, 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

CLASSES: Our adult class next Sunday will continue its journey into the book of Acts. We have had lots of discussion as we have studiued this book carefully for over half a year now. Knowing about the 1st century church with its problems and solutions is important, so come and join our discussion. Our class with Richard Hoyt on the life of Christ continues tonight.

FAIR IS A MONTH AWAY: Five weeks from today we will be setting up our fair booth at the Cass County Fair. We are going to repeat last year's exhibit on “Dandy Designs” with a few modifications. The booth got a lot of interest last year, and we will be having a special children's question board in addition to last year's adult boards. Be sure to save July 28 – August 2 to work the exhibit. We had a visitor recently from last summer's booth, and people have e mailed us wanting to know if we are doing the same booth this year, so we do have interest in the community.

SENIOR DEVO will not be held in July. There is an announcement about it on the bulletin board.

TODAY'S LESSON

SOMETHINGS IN HELL THAT NEED
TO BE IN THE CHURCH

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John Clayton
INTRODUCTION — Luke 16:19 – 31
A. This is a parable, not a history.
1. “Lazarus” means “without help.”
2. Tradition says the rich man was “Dives.”
3. Abraham is not God and is not our judge.
4. You cannot see heaven from hell.
B. Three lessons come from studying the “rich man.”
I. LESSON 1 — WE WILL KNOW OUR CONDITION AT DEATH.
A. Our first conscious thought after death is where we are.
1. Dives does not contest his condemnation.
a. He created his own hell.
2. Verse 23 — “Lifted up his eyes being in torment.”
3. He knew he had no options — he is helpless.
a. Verse 24 — "Send Lazarus."
b. Verse 26 — There is no escape from hell.
B. Our actions reflect our knowledge.
1. Luke 12:47 – 48
a. Look what Dives could have done.
2. How are you using what God has given you?
II. LESSON 2 — DIVES HAD A CONCERN FOR HIS BROTHERS.
A. Verse 27 — I do not want any of my family to be lost. Do you?
B. I see what sin does — Galatians 6:7.
C. Are we willing to sacrifice to see loved ones saved?
Romans 14:21
III. LESSON 3 — THE RICH MAN KNEW GOD'S RULES
A. Remember this is the Old Testament — Verses 29 – 31.
B. Dives wants a spectacular salvation (verse 30).
1. Abraham says spectacular does not work.
2. Your salvation is not a blast in the night.
C. Think of the examples — Paul, the jailer, Lydia, Eunuch

THE BACK PAGE

“WHAT KIND OF A SHOW ARE YOU PUTTING ON?”

One of the things that I have learned in recent months is that just being on the property opens the door for dialogue with neighbors and people in the community. This past Thursday I was mowing near the driveway to the house behind our building when the man of the house came out to get his trash container. This eventually resulted in a long conversation about his background and interests — and showed we have a lot in common. He has a Down Syndrome son and I have a son who is multiply handicapped including being mentally challenged. He loves fishing and so do! (he's just better at it than I am). I hope we will get to know him better in the months and years ahead, but he is a neat guy and our discussion was friendly and productive.

While I was using a weed eater around the sign, a car pulled up and a young man leaned out and yelled, “What kind of a show are you putting on this Sunday?” I shouted back my title for the sermon (Some Things in Hell that Ought to Be in the Church) and followed that by saying he should come and see what hell is about. That caused him to make an obscene gesture with his hand and he threw an empty whiskey bottle at me as they cut across the yard and out of our driveway.

I think there is a good lesson in these two exchanges. The way we build good relationships in the community is by getting to know people better. There is an old saying that goes, “You get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.” My response to the show question was not a very good response. What I should have said was, “We plan to help people who don't have enough to eat.” What kind of response would that have produced? It is hard to say, but I am pretty sure it would not have been tire tracks across the yard and skid marks in the driveway from them peeling out.

This past week the sign was about smiling and what smiles produce. I suspect Jesus did a lot of smiling and no shouting as he reached out to the lost of his day.

— John Clayton