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FAMILY NEWSThis church bulletin was written to be used on the Sunday of February 11, but due to our having a snow/winter day on that Sunday, John used this bulletin this week because the outline goes with his sermon. So this first news item was to be read on Sunday of February 11. THANKS TO EVERYONE: Last Sunday (February 4) was an incredible conclusion to a very active week for this congregation. We want to thank everyone who was involved in Audrey Gibson's funeral. The support for the Gibson family, the meal after the funeral, and the large attendance at the visitation and funeral was exceptional. At the potluck on Sunday we actually ran out of space we had so much food. At Timbers we used every chair in the room and had a few of our folks standing, which was a great message to the residents and the staff. The reception to Glynn Langston's messages was excellent, and the warm response to his ministry was outstanding. We have a great blessing in being in this congregation, and we praise God for helping us maintain our unity and our mission as we serve God. KARL AND JULIE MARCUSSEN have resumed the worksheet updating us on who needs our prayers, our help, our support, our cards, and our phone calls. If you have not gotten one of the sheets, please see them. This is very useful and hopefully we can expand it to include addresses and phone numbers so we can all be active in serving one another. Remember to notify them by Saturday evening if you have an addition for the list. You can e-mail them at marcusen@michiana.org or text or phone at 574-520-2957. TODAY'S LESSON
Over the past several Sundays there have been a series of ads in the South Bend Tribune A. Our culture struggles with statements like John 14:6. Religious pluralism is the
I. HEAD EVIDENCE THE DOCUMENT
....politically correct view. B. Commitment is equated to fanaticism. C. There are two lines of evidence for what we believe. A. THE DOCUMENT
II. HEART EVIDENCE
1. Document sources
B. EXTRA BIBLICAL SOURCES
Plato — 8
2. New archaeological finds — script comparisonsSocrates — 5 Christ — 5838 Majurates — 322
Minnscentes — 2926 Lectionaries — 2453 Papyrus — 127 Uncials — 322 Minuscles — 1997 1. Jewish sources like Josephus, Polemic (issues)
C. THE EMPTY TOMB AND THE WITNESSES — 1 Corinthians 15:3 – 8
2. Enemies like Tacitus, Pliny the Younger 3. Roman military records 4. Biographical writings of Bible figures — Herod, etc. 1. Islam, etc., has Mohammad's tomb.
2. Pneneople list — danielbwallace.com 3. Prophecies and fulfillment of them. A. FAITH CHANGES US — How do we do Matthew 22:37 – 39?
1. Christ changes our heart — allows us to love
B. FAITH ADDRESSES THE PROBLEMS OF MANKIND.
2. Romans 8:1 – 14 after Romans 7 (verse 24) — faith allows us to overcome corruption & sin 3. Christianity is a guilt removing religion — 1 Corinthians 6:9 – 11 1. Who runs the homeless shelter?
2. Who is the first one there during disasters? 3. What does the Church of Christ do? Here? 4. How many have overcome their past? 5. Personal testimony THE BACK PAGECHALLENGESWe live in a world full of challenges. The recent advertisements by atheists in the South Bend Tribune are a local example; but, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is an atheist group with offices in Wisconsin, has regular advertisements in Scientific American and a variety of other scientific and academic periodicals. Our kids see the ads and have their content presented in various classrooms at school. We have an atheist math teacher in Decatur who has objected to things we have had on our message board in front of the building. We have continued questions coming to us from our websites (starting with doesgodexist.org) and from our daily blog which is on doesgodexist.today. I had a local person who reacted to our booth at the Cass Country Fair say “Why should I respect a capricious, mean minded, stupid God who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?” One thing we can do is to make sure we understand the evidence and how to respond to these kinds of challenges. That is why from time to time we have lessons like the one being presented today. That is also why the Does God Exist? program is sponsored by this congregation. If you have not gone to our websites, I would encourage you to do so. Just go to doesgodexist.org and spend some time looking at what is there and what is on our links for children and on various topics that people raise in objection to Christianity. There are copies of our quarterly journal in the tract rack, and you are welcome to take a copy home and read through it. The one thing we cannot do is to sit back and ignore the challenges. Not only does that reduce the effectiveness of the congregation, but it is catastrophic to our children and grandchildren. Kids are bombarded with all kinds of challenges to their beliefs. Younger kids are like sponges, soaking up everything that is around them. We cannot just go to services once a week and assume that is going to be sufficient for our faith or for the faith of our families. Kids without faith are destined for pain and insecurity as they deal with life. Be active! Grow! Learn! — John Clayton Our sign by the street!
Sign saying from www.sayingsforchurchsigns.com |
