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December 23, 2007TO OUR VISITORS
The family of God here at Dowagiac Church of Christ wishes to extend to you a warm welcome. If you have questions about our worship services and why we do what we do, we will be glad to give you a biblical answer. The uniqueness of the Church of Christ is that we are trying to restore to the best of our ability those things that we see the first century Church doing. We are also working hard at building the spirit, unity, and love that Jesus taught and prayed for. We have no clergy, but are working together as equal co-workers trying to serve one another and the area in which we live. Come study with us, grow with us, and serve with us as we strive to do God’s will in all things.
COME TONIGHT
Remember our Sunday night studies at 6:00 tonight. We are continuing our study on the miracles of Jesus. Tonight we will be reviewing the miracles we have studied, and will be seeing the ultimate purpose that each miracle had. There is a great deal of erroneous teaching and misunderstanding about miracles in our world today. Join us for these classes and grow and expand your Bible knowledge.
FAMILY NEWS
NO CLASS WEDNESDAY: A number of class members and the teacher are going to be out of town Wednesday of this week, so there will be no class here at the building. Please let anyone you know who might plan to attend know. The class on Titus will resume January 2.
ATTENTION MEN--LAST CALL: If you have some expenses for the “Ladies Appreciation Dinner” that you need reimbursement for, please see Bill Gibson right away.
FOOD DRIVE--LAST CALL: We are providing for a family in Dowagiac that needs food. The deadline for that will be next Sunday morning. Leave your donation on the bench in the lobby. See Donna or Kamoka if you have any questions about this. Our thanks to everyone who has brought in food and materials.
TODAY’S LESSON
The year 2007 will have to go down as an incredible year for this congregation. When Gary Johnson decided to leave us, there was a certain amount of uncertainty about what the future of the congregation might be. Those who have been the mainstays of the Church here for many years were determined to keep things going, but congregations without full-time preachers or elders have a difficult time maintaining focus and tend to dwindle and die. It is a great credit to the membership of this congregation that, not only has that not happened, but in fact some considerable progress has been made.
Look back at 2007 and think about what improvements have been made to our physical facility. The carpet work in the auditorium, the covered passenger discharge area, and the correction of problems in the basement have made it possible for some to come to our services who might have been hindered or even prevented in the past. Look back at this past year and look at how many people have taken on responsibilities and are doing work for the Lord. Our division of labor has worked very well, and some of our younger Christians are getting involved in work that is bearing fruit. We have had a number of people who have become Christians in the past year, and our attendance continues to slowly grow.
There is much to do. Our facility still needs work, and efforts on getting carpet in the fellowship area, fixing the sign, and paving the parking lot continue. Major work needs to be done in reaching out to the community. We have done considerable benevolence work this past year, and that needs to continue. Teaching efforts need to be a major effort for us, and we need everyone to be a part of planning an outreach to the area we serve. How we advertise and what we offer needs to be discussed and implemented, and with no full time person to do this work everyone needs to be involved. This is our last bulletin for 2007, but we look forward to things being great in 2008 for the Lord’s work in Dowagiac.
THE UNFORGIVEABLE SIN
Matthew 12:22-37
Matthew 12:22-37
What is the unforgiveable sin? Can you do it?
How?___________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Our Sunday night series on miracles has made some fundamental
points:
(1) All miracles have a
purpose--a logical reason for Christ having done them.
(2) The miracles of Christ have a different purpose than miracles that might happen today.
(3) Major biblical misunderstandings have happened because people did not understand points 1 and 2.
The miracle of Matthew 12:22-37 (verses 22-23)(2) The miracles of Christ have a different purpose than miracles that might happen today.
(3) Major biblical misunderstandings have happened because people did not understand points 1 and 2.
A man blind and mute (probably
deaf)
Helen Keller as an example--totally non-communitive
Immediate and complete recovery--the man speaks, sees
What should the response of the observers have been?
Helen Keller as an example--totally non-communitive
Immediate and complete recovery--the man speaks, sees
What should the response of the observers have been?
That is what the people’s
response was
Religious experts are forced to an absurd position (verse 24)Why do preachers take absurd
positions on things?
Vested interests--position,
power, money
Modern examples?
Modern examples?
The purpose of this
miracle--expose the leaders
Jesus responds logically (verses 25-30)Satan will never do anything
good--it is illogical
Christianity does not allow neutral ground (verse 30)
Are all workers of good Satanic ?
Blaspheme against Jesus is forgivable (verse 32)Christianity does not allow neutral ground (verse 30)
Are all workers of good Satanic ?
Doing bad things, saying bad
things--even cursing
These things don’t come from the heart
Blaspheme against the Holy Spirit--against the action part of God is a
heart response. (verses 33-35) These things don’t come from the heart
Denying a miracle done by God is
a heart problem
Miracles today do not have that purpose--cannot be done
What is your heart telling you right now?Miracles today do not have that purpose--cannot be done
QUITE A YEAR
The year 2007 will have to go down as an incredible year for this congregation. When Gary Johnson decided to leave us, there was a certain amount of uncertainty about what the future of the congregation might be. Those who have been the mainstays of the Church here for many years were determined to keep things going, but congregations without full-time preachers or elders have a difficult time maintaining focus and tend to dwindle and die. It is a great credit to the membership of this congregation that, not only has that not happened, but in fact some considerable progress has been made.
Look back at 2007 and think about what improvements have been made to our physical facility. The carpet work in the auditorium, the covered passenger discharge area, and the correction of problems in the basement have made it possible for some to come to our services who might have been hindered or even prevented in the past. Look back at this past year and look at how many people have taken on responsibilities and are doing work for the Lord. Our division of labor has worked very well, and some of our younger Christians are getting involved in work that is bearing fruit. We have had a number of people who have become Christians in the past year, and our attendance continues to slowly grow.
There is much to do. Our facility still needs work, and efforts on getting carpet in the fellowship area, fixing the sign, and paving the parking lot continue. Major work needs to be done in reaching out to the community. We have done considerable benevolence work this past year, and that needs to continue. Teaching efforts need to be a major effort for us, and we need everyone to be a part of planning an outreach to the area we serve. How we advertise and what we offer needs to be discussed and implemented, and with no full time person to do this work everyone needs to be involved. This is our last bulletin for 2007, but we look forward to things being great in 2008 for the Lord’s work in Dowagiac.