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FAMILY NEWSNEXT SUNDAY IS POTLUCK: Next Sunday is July 1, and for many of us it will be a vacation time. Start your week off with a wonderful potluck meal and a time of sharing with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Bring a dish if you can, but if you cannot bring anything, just come. We always have a surplus of food. TIMBERS WORSHIP is at 2:30 P.M. next Sunday. This is a wonderful time of devotion and sharing with people who really want us to come. Take 30 minutes out of your Sunday afternoon and join us. 4 WEEKS TO THE CASS COUNTY FAIR: We have a booth rented for the fair, which is another opportunity to bring the church before the community. We are debating whether to repeat last years “pictures of famous Bible characters” or go back to our question/answer boards. We are talking about making this the last year for this fair project. The Fun Fair was a far better way of getting the community involved with the church here, and there are some other options. What do you think? Give your ideas to Bill Gibson, Richard, Karl, or John. For more see THE BACK PAGE below. TODAY'S LESSON
INTRODUCTION — May be the most familiar parable.
A. Precipitating a question, “Who is my neighbor?”
Number ONE — “WHAT'S YOURS IS MINE, SO I'LL TAKE IT.”
B. Three different answers then and now: A. Verse 30 — Survival of the fittest
Number TWO — “WHAT'S MINE IS MINE AND I’LL KEEP IT.”
B. Greed is the basis of this view. C. There are many forms of stealing: 1. Overt stealing
2. Electronic stealing — music 3. Cheating on taxes — Romans 13:6-7 4. Taking undeserved credit — 1 Corinthians 3:3-10 5. Damaging someone's reputation — Proverbs 22:1 6. Building yourself up at someone's expense A. Verses 31-32 — Selfishness
Number THREE — “WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS, SO I'LL SHARE IT.”
B. Priest and Levite were as bad as the robbers — Covered their selfishness with religious ....pretense C. Satan is OK with God's people just doing nothing as long as they do not do much that ....is good. 1. James 4:17
2. Matthew 25:31-46 A. Verses 33-37 — Compassion
Number FOUR — WHAT IS YOUR VIEW OF LIFE? Number one, two, or three?
B. John 4:7-9 — The other Samaritan story. 1. Luke 10:31-32 — Experts rarely have compassion.
C. This is not a mandate to waste.
2. Do our prejudices control our compassion? 3. Genesis 4:9 — What is our answer as Christians? 1. Acts 2:44 — “Gave to anyone as he had need.”
2. Acts 5:1-5 — “didn't it belong to you?” A. 2 Corinthians 9:6-15
1. Your view of life controls you.
2. How you treat others 3. How you respond to God 4. See SONG: “Take My Life, and Let It Be” THE BACK PAGEREACHING OUTWe try to do what the Church of Christ did in the first century. We have some disadvantages over them in that we do not have the capacity to raise people from the dead or cure diseases because God has not authorized us to do this. We have some advantages over them in that we have the Word of God to rely on. That is a huge advantage because we are not dependent on any human to tell us what God's will is for us. The first century church had huge problems with charlotans, false apostles, and false teachers who deliberately misled people (see 2 Corinthians 11:13-15). By relying on God's Word, we avoid the problems they had, but it is important to understand that what protects us is our emphasis on the Bible as the only source of our authority. One area that we can copy that they used was their method of reaching out into the community. In general, miracles had a dual purpose. They frequently met the need of an individual, but there was always collateral benefits that put the church in contact with people they could teach. When Jesus brought Lazarus forth from the dead in John 11 there was a huge influence on the common people. In John 12:9-11 we are told that people came after Lazarus' resurrection to see him, and his influence was so great that the Jewish leaders tried to put Lazarus to death (verse 10). Verse 11 says that because of Lazarus many of the Jews believed on Jesus. Acts 8:13 tells us that Philip went to Samaria and people came out because they “beheld the miracles and signs that were done.” God has not authorized us to use miracles and signs, and in fact has warned us, as we have already pointed out, not to rely on these things because Satan himself can be “an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). What God has authorized us to do is to feed the hungry, cloth those in need of clothing, minister to families, set examples for those around us, “praising God and having favor with all the people” (Acts 2:47). Our Fun Fair did that in a remarkable way and the feedback from the community has been awesome. Let us find new ways to reach out to Dowagiac. — John Clayton Our sign by the street!
Sign saying from www.sayingsforchurchsigns.com Scripture links/references are from BibleGateway.com. www.dowagiaccoc.org |
