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FAMILY NEWSWe have a lot going on. Please mark these events on your calendar and plan to be a part of them. POTLUCK NEXT SUNDAY: Next Sunday is October 1, so it is the first Sunday in October. Please plan for potluck and plan to stay to enjoy time with your brothers and sisters in Christ. We will also be conducting a worship service at Timbers at 2:30 and need singers and folks to greet the staff and patients there. SENIORS' DEVOTIONAL TUESDAY NIGHT: The monthly devotional at the Claytons' is this Tuesday at 7:00 PM. Bring your Bible and enjoy an evening of singing, a short devotional, fellowship, and prayer. Everyone is welcome. If you need directions, see John Clayton. JOHN COOPER: We enjoyed John Cooper's lessons last Sunday. John will be working with the Does God Exist? ministry in the coming months doing some videos and articles with us. His specialty is archaeology as a proof of the biblical account, and evidence for Jesus as the Son of God. John has also done work with congregations for marriage enrichment seminars. One thing we discussed was the possibility of a community marriage seminar program. Do some thinking about whether this is a tool we might use to reach out to the community. TODAY'S LESSON
INTRODUCTION — Ephesians 2:2 – 3
A. The world is made up of “children of wrath.”
I. OUR PRAYERS MUST BE PERSONAL PRAYERS.
B. Satan messes with our minds and uses sensual and mental desires to control us. C. Our prayer life needs to help us avoid this. Our prayer time needs to be devoted ....to specific temptations that we face. A. Matthew 6:5 – 7 — Temptation is a personal thing, especially big sins.
II. OUR PRAYERS MUST BE FROM THE GUT.
B. We have numerous examples of prayer life. 1. Acts 10:1 – 9 — Cornelius and Peter
a. Verse 4 — “your prayers have come up … ”
2. We can profit from both of these.b. Verse 9 — “Peter went up … to pray” A. 2 Corinthians 6:11 – 2 — Bowels
III. WE MUST PRAY ON THE FRONT SIDE OF TEMPTATION.
1. Acts 1:18 — Same word
B. Hannah and Samuel — a prayer from the gut — 1 Samuel 1:10 – 16 — Pour out your soul2. Prayer is gut deep — not superficial. 3. We have to want to be close to God. 4. 1 Corinthians 15:33 — Pray about the people around you. C. Paul and Silas — Acts 16:23 – 25 — How would you pray? A. David and Bathsheba — 2 Samuel 11:2 – 3 — What response should David have made?
IV. WE NEED TO PRAY FOR WISDOM — Genesis 39:9 — Joseph.
B. Psalm 51:1 – 3 — What side is David praying on? — Luke 22:40 A. Compare with David's response.
V. WE HAVE TO BE BOLD IN FIGHTING TEMPTATION.
B. Matthew 6:13 — Ask God to make us wise, to see sin. A. Hebrews 10:19
B. Philippians 4:13 — We can pray our way out of temptations — We are not robots — ....powerless. THE BACK PAGELETTERS TO THE CHURCHES IN REVELATIONRevelation 1 – 3 contains letters to “the seven churches of Asia.” The term “Asia” did not mean the same thing in the first century that it does now. There was a Roman province called “Asia” of which Ephesus was the capital. The seven churches listed in verse 11 were all in that Roman province; but, there were churches in other locations within the province — Colossae, Miletus and Hierapolis being named in the New Testament (Acts 20:17 and Colossians 4:13). It is agreed by scholars that the number 7, which meant perfect and sacred, was chosen because the seven symbolized the whole church of Christ. Every problem we see in the church today was present in the time in which John wrote Revelation. Consider the churches:
It is hard to miss the intent and purpose of this part of the book of Revelation. The question that all of us need to think about as we read what Christ says to these congregations is “which of these letters would apply to us here at Dowagiac?” In reality they all do. The church is made up of people (1 Corinthians 3:16), and within every congregation we have all of these characteristics. We can read the descriptions Christ gives, and we can read in Acts the history of many of these congregations. In our Bible classes we frequently talk about how we fit into the kind of challenges that Christ gives us in this book and in Paul's letters. Our discussions are about us as a congregation, but in reality we will stand before God as individuals. Those condemned to hell will not be a group nor will those going to heaven. The congregation can help us as we strive to become what God wants us to be, but our destiny is in our own hands. How do you fit into the descriptions in Revelation? — John Clayton Our sign by the street!
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