June 21, 2020 FAMILY NEWS OF THE M-51 CHURCH OF CHRIST 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. Our congregation is unable to meet for worship at the present time because of the viral pandemic that we are all in. Ordinarily we meet on Sunday morning for Bible study and worship and also on Wednesday night for Bible study. At the present time we are meeting online using ZOOM as a means of getting together. Everyone is welcome to participate in this worship service which is at 11:00 on Sunday morning. If you are not participating and would like to, call Karl Marcussen at 574-514-1400..

DUE to the COVID-19 pandemic
and government mandates we
will not have worship services or
Bible classes until further notice.

FAMILY NEWS

REMEMBER — ZOOM SERVICES SUNDAY AT 11:00. Jim Harasewicz will be our speaker. We are working on having an outside worship service soon to supplement our ZOOM service. More later.

SENIOR ACTIVITIES are still on hold, so the Golden Corral brunch and the devotional at the Claytons' will not be held in July.

SHULTS-LEWIS COMMODITY DRIVE: Shults-Lewis has moved our date to October for them to pick up the commodities to use in their work with children. Our commodities are paper towels and canned fruit. We encourage you to get these items when you can and eventually get them to the building. If no one is there when you come, put them in the pew in the lobby of the auditorium.

POWER FOR TODAY: The quarterly booklet Power for Today for July, August and September has arrived. I tried to give one to everyone working at the food truck project, but if you did not get one let me know (John Clayton at 269-687-9426) and I will get a copy to you.

GOOD NEWS! WELCOME! MARION OPAL WALLACE: This beautiful 6-pound 14-ounce bundle of joy was delivered by “midwife” Shane Wallace. What is really interesting is the story of the birth. Mandy was a little late in the delivery, and that resulted in friends of the Wallaces from Virginia arriving for a visit just as the baby was born. That meant Mandy had help and support that would not have been as available had the baby come on its due date. The Lord works in mysterious ways. We probably need to pray for Benjamin and Jonah. Having a baby sister is going to be traumatic for these two characters. What fun it will be to watch them adjust.

HIGHWAY CLEANUP. One of our really good services to the city of Dowagiac is our cleaning up of M51 near our building. We missed the first clean up because of the virus, but the second one has been scheduled for July 18. Please mark that date on your calendar and plan to be here that morning. This is a totally safe activity. We are outside, wearing safety equipment, and nowhere near anyone who could have the virus.

CAMP INDOGAN is moving their first sessions into July in accordance with Indiana rules. If you have a child or a grandchild that wants to go, see Julie or Karl Marcussen to make arrangements. As in the past there are those who will pay the fee if finances are an issue. See John Clayton or Karl if that is an issue for the child's family.

GOOD WORKS GETTING DONE. There are some special needs that some of our families are having, some with help on their property where cutting and hauling wood is an issue, and some where transportation is an issue. A lot is being done, but there are more opportunities to serve coming up. See John Clayton if you can help.

TODAY'S LESSON

Since we have been under a shelter-in-place order, we have Zoom meetings online. Since mid-March we have had various speakers and for the last several weeks we have recorded their lessons, and so they are online for our visitors to enjoy.

WEATHERPROOFING OUR FAMILIES FROM THE STORMS OF LIFE, Part 1
Jim Harasewicz
Matthew 7:24-28 Read by Gerry Bundle

THE BACK PAGE

FOLLOW UP ON GERRY'S SERMON

We want to thank Gerry for his personal and thoughtful lesson this past Sunday. A lot of work went into that presentation, and showing pictures of his family and telling of some of the history of what his relatives have endured is hard to do. I have told my story of leaving atheism for over 50 years now, and it is still hard. In Gerry's case it was not a bad decision on his part like mine was. In fact there were so many excellent points made in his lesson that I want to repeat some of them here to stimulate you to think about and pray about your own understanding and attitude in the matter of race relations. Just three key points — there were many more:

1. Most of us live in America because our relatives chose to come here. They were escaping something or looking for an opportunity they did not have in the country they were leaving. African Americans did not choose to come to America. They were forceably ripped away from their family, taken on a voyage they did not want to take, and abused on the trip and when they got here.
2. The extent of abuse heaped on people of color here is something most of us have been willingly blind to (as I referred to in my lesson two weeks ago).This week I have learned of the horrible murder of 300 African Americans and the burning of their city (Tulsa) in Oklahoma from the news (not from Gerry). I have been willingly blind to that kind of news. When Gerry showed a picture of an aunt who was gang raped as a child because she was black and was unable fo have children because of it, the magnitude of abuse was brought home.
3. We have fought abortion and decried the killing of an innocent baby because we believe human life is sacred. We have not been equally disturbed by the massive killing and incarceration of innocent people of color simply because of the color of their skin. Is an unborn child's life more important than the life of a black man or woman? Do black lives matter? Are they less important than an unborn child?

In my lesson two weeks ago I made the point that education is something the church can and must do. We can educate our families and our associates when we have the facts. Racial prejudice is a sin. Read Song of Solomon 1:5-7 where one of Solomon's wives, who is black, urges all of us not to turn away just because of appearance. God does not judge by outward appearance, nor should we.

Scripture links/references are from BibleGateway.com. Unhighlighted scriptures can be looked up at their website.

www.dowagiaccoc.org
06/23/2020