April 4, 2021 CORONA VIRUS ISSUE 42 FAMILY NEWS OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST ON M 51 S This is the church bulletin for the congregation of the Church of Christ that meets in Dowagiac, Michigan, on M 51 just south of the city. Ordinarily we meet on Sunday morning for Bible study and worship and also on Sunday evening and Wednesday night for a Bible study. Since the pandemic forced us into not having meetings at our building we have been meeting via Zoom on our smartphones, tablets, and computers. After almost two months of worship under the trees we have moved into the building with our Zoom meetings for those who are not able to meet in person. Everyone is welcome to participate in this worship service at 11:00 on Sunday morning. If you want to participate with Zoom, contact Karl Marcussen at marcusen@michiana.org to get the information to join us.

DUE to the COVID-19 pandemic
and government mandates we will not have some
of our Bible classes until further notice.

FAMILY NEWS
OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST ON M 51 S
APRIL 4, 2021

This bulletin is distributed in a variety of different ways. It is distributed during our worship services at the church building; it is made available on the web at our dowagiaccoc.org website; and it is sent by e-mail/messaging in connection with our Zoom broadcast invitations. However you receive it, we hope it will be informative and encouraging. We are not a denomination, but a local effort to encourage people to follow what the church was like in the first century. We have no man-made creed and only follow the Bible. We do not have religious titles and do not solicit donations. Come and learn more by visiting with us, e-mailing us, or calling us.

LADIES: The congregation in Holland, Mich., is having a “Ladies Day of Inspiration” April 24 with Becky Blackmon of Hewitt, Tex., the speaker. She is well known and does many women's retreats. The program starts at 9:00 A.M. and lunch is provided. If you are interested in going, please contact Patty Gibson for more information. (Social distancing is encouraged and masks will be available). They are also hosting a meeting with Joe Wells titled “Faith Over Fear” on May 2 – 5.

HIGHWAY CLEAN UP APRIL 17. Please mark April 17 as our opportunity to clean the trash up from the road near our building. This is a great community service, and we need a good turnout so we can make the job go quicker. We will meet at the building at 10:00 A.M. If you have questions call Richard Hoyt.

Remember: The FOOD BANK TRUCK will be unload in our parking lot on April 27 at 4:00 P.M. and given to those in need. This is an outside activity and we need all hands on board. Please plan to help.

BESIDES OUR MEETINGS IN THE BUILDING we have these meetings on Zoom:

• Sunday @ 11:00 A.M. — our Sunday worship service
• Wednesday @ 7:00 P.M. — our Wednesday Bible study — our study about the history of Israel and a great learning opportunity.
• Thursday @ 1:00 P.M. — the ladies prayer time

TODAY'S LESSON

EASTER SUNDAY
John Clayton

THE BACK PAGE

EASTER

Last Sunday we read and talked about the events that took place leading to the death of Christ on the cross. In today's lesson we are looking at what the Bible says about what the followers of Jesus Christ are to do to celebrate the resurrection. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.” The resurrection of Christ is the foundation of Christianity, and we should not minimize its importance. The sad part about Easter is that for many people it is the one time all year when they pay any attention to what God has done to give them an opportunity to live eternally.

Even sadder is the fact that Easter is celebrated by many as the end of winter and that is it. The date of Easter is the first Sunday after a full moon of the vernal equinox. In fact the history of the name of Easter begins with a pre-Christian goddess in England named “Eostre” who was celebrated at the beginning of spring.

Some interesting traditions have evolved from all of this history. German Lutherans created the Easter Bunny as a means to give gifts to children. Easter eggs started in 1684 and were connected to the celebration of the Holy Week and Lent that we have discussed previously. People gave up eggs for Lent and preserved them by boiling them and immersing them in wax.

One interesting tradition is April Fool's Day. In 1508 there were many people who celebrated Easter as the start of the new year. Those who celebrated January 1 as New Year's Day began that tradition in 1539. They referred to the Easter tradition promoters as fools and the famous poet Eduard de Dene wrote of playing jokes on those who began the New Year on April 1. Our traditions seem to die hard. God points us to following his Word, not human thinking. Enjoying traditions is fun and interesting, but no tradition is binding on Christians.

— John Clayton

Our sign by the street!

Sign saying from www.sayingsforchurchsigns.com.

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

www.dowagiaccoc.org
04/20/2021