April 29, 2018

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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

THANKS to everyone who helped with the highway cleanup. We had more feedback from the community than ever before. Your time and effort is appreciated. Thanks to Richard Hoyt for supervising that project again.

POTLUCK NEXT SUNDAY — BRING A DISH AND PLAN TO STAY. We have great cooks who make us great food, and after we eat we go to Timbers for a worship service with the patients and staff there at 2:30 P.M. We need you to help us sing and especially to greet and encourage the patients. Last month we had one lady who told us how much she looks forward to our coming each month.

SENIOR luncheon is THIS TUESDAY at 11:00 A.M. at Golden Corral. Join us for food and fellowship with brothers and sisters from all over the area.

THANKS to Karl and Julie Marcussen for going to the trouble of maintaining a sheet that tells us who needs our prayers and who we need to call or visit. Be sure you get it every Sunday and then use it.

DATES TO PUT ON YOUR CALENDAR

May 6 — Potluck and our worship service at Timbers

May 13 — Mother's Day

May 26 – 27 — Willie Franklin will be here at the Youth Rally, which is from 9:00 A.M. through 5:00 P.M. Saturday, and he will be at our Sunday morning class and worship. We will need workers to help with lunch and activities, and all of our young people need to be in attendance.

JUNE 16 Fun Fare. See Mandy with your ideas and with what you are willing to do to help.

TODAY'S LESSON

JOYFUL CHRISTIANITY
John Clayton

This lesson in audio is missing some at the beginning!

INTRODUCTION — There's lots to be depressed about:

A. War, pollution, divorce, disease, politics, conflict
B. The Bible is not naive about these things.

1. Matthew 24:6; 23:15; James 1:1-4
2. How can we be happy people with all of this?

I. WE LIVE WHEN AND WHERE THERE ARE ANSWERS.

A. Psalm 139:14 — Medical solutions to our ailments
B. We live in a country of freedom and prosperity.
C. We are free to worship God as he teaches us to.

II. WE CAN LOOK AT THE BEAUTY IN GOD'S CREATION

A. Jesus pointed us to that beauty — Matthew 6:28-29.
B. Psalm 19:1 — Go to apod.nasa.gov
C. Psalm 23:1-3 — “Pure Michigan”

III. SEE THE BEAUTY GOD BUILT INTO MARRIAGE.

A. Genesis 2:24
B. Ephesians 5:21-33
C. Ask those of us who lost our wife/husband.

IV. SEE THE BEAUTY OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY.

A. Psalm 127:3-5
B. Titus 2:4 — Older women teaching love
C. 1 Timothy 5:14 — Paul's view of the ideal. Our roles do not always allow the ideal.

V. THE CHURCH SHOULD BE A SOURCE OF JOY!

A. Do we search for alternatives to church? Was it a struggle for you to come today?
B. Acts 2:46 — What was first century worship like?
C. Philippians 4:4-8
D. Philippians 4:10-13
E. Note the joy of early Christians

1. Acts 8:39 — The Ethiopian eunuch
2. Acts 16:22-25 — The prison singing
3. Acts 8:8 — Joy in the city at what happened
4. Acts 13:52; 15:3; Galatians 5:22

VI. VICTORY IN JESUS (SONG) — THE GREATEST JOY OF ALL

A. 2 Timothy 4:7
B. 1 John 1:47; Revelation 21:4

(SONG) There's Within My Heart was sung at the end of the lesson.

THE BACK PAGE

YES, BUT …

I can almost hear what the reaction of many of you will be to this morning's sermon. Most of those reactions will begin with “Yeah, but you don't understand what I am going through … .” And you are right — I don't!

There is a lot of pain among us right now. We have had a number of deaths. We have a number of people who have serious medical conditions. There is a large amount of mental and emotional distress among us. Many of us are in anxiety over things that we did not cause and over which we have a limited amount of control. How can we talk about “joyful Christianity” in the midst of all of this hurt and stress?

First of all let me say that I wish I had a magic button I could push and make it all go away. I do not. But remember that, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). So how does God provide you with a way to escape before it pushes you over the edge?

One way is to change your thinking. I have told you the story of sitting in my back yard in February in a blizzard and telling God that his way of escape was for me to die. That is sometimes God's way of escape — to go to be with the Lord, free of everything bad that hurts us here; but that was not his way for me in February of 2009. I had to change how I looked at things, and the purpose of the sermon this morning is to encourage some of us in that direction. If there is any advantage to being stuck with this old preacher, it is that I am not a kid who has not had some of the expeiences that some of you are going through.

Another way that God helps you is to provide you with a support base here in the church. There were times when someone giving me a hug meant more than that person could have possibly known. We are a support group that God works through to help us through the hard times. More later, but do not resist being joyful — Philippians 4:4.

— John Clayton

Our sign by the street!

Spring has sprung! Will you faith bloom?

Sign saying is from a funeral service on Saturday in West Virginia.

Scripture links/references are from BibleGateway.com.