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Bulletin cover

May 28, 2017

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 June 4, so it is the first Sunday of the month, and we traditionally enjoy a potluck dinner together on the first Sunday of the month. Please plan to stay and be a part of good food and good fellowship. After the potluck we assemble at Timbers to conduct a worship service with the staff and patients there. Come at 2:30 and help with singing, helping patients, and sharing quality time with people who need you.

PROGRESS is being made on the Cass County Fair exhibit. A method has been found to have the cutouts. Be sure to save the first week of August to help in our booth.

EXPLANATION: The blacked-out section of our cover is due to the fact that brother Bill Salmons is having some health issues and we want to relieve him of phone calls; and John Clayton will be out of town frequently this summer. We have about 1,800 of these bulletin covers pre-printed, so we are using them up first. Our phone system is being fixed and will allow people to leave messages when it is totally operative. We will be able to receive those messages daily, so callers' inquiries will be heard.


TODAY'S LESSON

ARE YOU PREDESTINED TO HEAVEN?

 Sound on icon

John Clayton
INTRODUCTION
A. Ephesus — a tough city, a cross roads, paganism ruled and controlled the area
B. Ephesus had a long association with Paul:
1. Visited by Paul — Acts 18, 19, but did not start work.
2. Rebaptized some who did not see God working in their lives — Acts 19:2 – 5.
3. Worked with elders — Acts 20:17.
4. 1 Corinthians 15:32 — Fought with “beasts.”
5. Was located there for a time — 1 Corinthians 16:8.
I. GOD CALLED PAUL OUT OF GENTILE HATRED.
A. Our role may not always be what we think.
B. God CHOSE Paul — Ephesians 1:1; Acts 9:15.
1. Others may have been chosen, Paul accepted.
2. He could have quit — 2 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Corinthians 9:27.
C. It was not dependent on Paul being perfect.
II. GOD CALLS US TOO — PREDESTINES US.
A. Ephesians 1:3 – 7 — Shifts from “You” to “We”
B. We, like Paul, have been blessed spiritually.
1. Cannot be a godly person on your own
2. Galatians 5:22 – 25
C. God calls you to join a group of predestined people.
1. “Us” — a group adopted by God (verse 5)
2. Each of my kids had an adoption offered to them.
a. We made the contact, chose to adopt.
b. My kids were asked if they wanted it.
c. Took on my name, my benefits, liabilities.
3. God's grace made us adoptable — verses 5, 7.
a. It was his will — he made us adoptable — verses 4.
b. Us, not me and not Paul — predestined
III. IF WE ARE ADOPTED OUR SALVATION IS SURE.
A. Ephesians 1:8 – 14 — All things are our inheritance.
1. Adoption cannot be taken away — we are sealed.
2. God invites you to be his child, wear his name.
3. Will you?

THE BACK PAGE

FROM THE QUESTION BOX
WHAT ABOUT BAPTISM

It is always good to get questions from the question box in the lobby, or to have e-mails sent raising questions. Usually they are anonymous, and that is fine, and we have had several questions about baptism recently.

There are those who teach that man is saved by “faith only” but still believe that one must be baptized. They view baptism as a work and believe that any work would be trying to earn salvation. Thus, in order to correlate faith and baptism they teach that baptism is “an outward sign of an inward grace.” One is said to be baptized to show that they have already been saved by faith.

In Acts 2:38 Peter told the people to “… repent and be baptized ‘for’ the remission of sins.” The Greek word translated “for” is eis. We must understand that to know the real meaning of words in scripture we sometimes must understand the meaning in the original language. Eis is found 1,493 times in the New Testament. 571 times it is translated “into,” 282 times “to,” 208 times “unto,” but NEVER in the 1,493 times is it translated “because of.” Eis is always looking to the future, never to the past. It looks forward to something that will happen, never to something that has already taken place.

In Matthew 26:28 where Jesus established the Lord's Supper he said “For this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” This is the same word and tense as Acts 2:38, and if we translate eis “because of”, then the passage would be saying that Christ's blood was shed because sins were already forgiven! We know that the blood of Christ was not shed because men's sins were already forgiven, but so that the sins of men could be forgiven. If eis in Matthew 26:28 means “because of,” it would make the death of Christ totally unnecessary. He would have died because man's sins had already been forgiven and we know that is not true.

Romans 6 expands on the importance of baptism by explaining our entry into salvation as opposed to sin. Baptism is essential if we take God's Word literally.

— John Clayton