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.


FATHER'S DAY BRUNCH. Saturday, June 20 the ladies of the congregation are having a "Father's Day Brunch." We live in a world where a lot of men are afraid of commitment and fail in their God-given roles as fathers. We want to honor every father associated with the Church here with this time together. It will be at 10:00 and we urge everyone to come and bring a father--yours or someone else's so we can thank them and honor them.

REMEMBER OUR CLASSES. We have new classes going now, and there have already been some good material brought out and some faith building lessons learned. Karl Marcussen is leading our Sunday morning class with a series of lessons on prayer. Our Sunday night class with John Clayton is on the book of Hebrews, a book many of us have never studied that deeply. Bill Gibson continues to lead us in our study of prophecy in the Old Testament and how it was fulfilled in the New Testament.

PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR. We REALLY need everyone to plan to give the Lord's work some time August 3-8. That will be the week of the Cass County Fair, and we need to have workers for our booth. We are dividing the day into three four-hour shifts--10:00 am-2:00, 2:00-6:00, and 6:00-10:00 pm. The booth will pretty much run itself, but we need people to control the handing out of free Bibles, instruction booklets, courses, and children's prizes. You do not have to know anything or teach anything or debate anyone. We just need you there to greet and serve.



A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising four puppies and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he drove in the last nail he felt a tug on his overalls, and found himself looking down into the eyes of a little boy. "Mister," the boy said "I want to buy one of your puppies." "Well," the farmer said, "these puppies come from fine parents and cost a lot of money." The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got 39 cents" he said, "can I look?" "Sure" the farmer said and whistled for the mother. Out of the doghouse came the mother followed by four little balls of fur. The boys eyes danced with delight as the dogs made their way to the fence, but then he noticed something else was stirring inside the doghouse.

Slowly another little ball appeared, this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid and in an awkward manner began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up. "I want that one," the little boy said pointing to the runt. "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would," the farmer said. With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down and began rolling up one leg of his trousers, revealing a steel brace holding his leg to a special shoe. Looking back at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands."

With tears in his eyes the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup and handed it to the boy. "How much?" the boy asked. "No charge," answered the farmer. "There's no charge for love."

The world is full of people who need someone who understands. One of the beautiful things about this congregation is that we have all had our own unique problems and struggles. It is that reservoir of experience that will allow us to reach out to this community and serve people in a unique way. We just need to keep loving and being willing to serve.