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.


Our congregation had a great day yesterday—John Clayton and Cynthia Gift were married at John’s house. The weather was hot, the wedding was beautiful. What a great way to start a marriage! They left after the reception for a honeymoon in northern Michigan.

Remember the classes that we have at our congreation. Karl Marcussen is teaching a class on Sunday mornings on prayer. Bill Gibson is teaching a class on Wednesday evenings about various prophesies in the Old Testament that point to events in the life of Jesus in the New Testament.

Jim Harasewicz will be speaking this morning, and this evening we will have an hour of singing.

Let us remember all the people we know who are in need of our prayers. Janice Love is having a procedure this Tuesday to help alleviate her retention of liquids. Others continue to have health concerns: Maelene Salmons, Debbie Salmons, Kamoka Castañeda (hip — She is back at work), Virginia Garver (Karl’s sister with split skin on her left knee). John and Cynthia are traveling, as well as their family members who came to celebrate their wedding. Let us keep all of these in our prayers this coming week.


Many times we talk about how expensive our living can be. When a couple starts a family we can only imagine how much they will spend to raise that child from birth to maturity. Julie’s friend sent an article that has been circulating on the Internet. It gives an estimated cost of raising a child, but also lists the benefits that we get from our children and grandchildren. Besides the physical costs and benefits, we should also be concerned about the spiritual cost of their upbringing.

I have seen repeatedly the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It’s nice, really nice!

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn’t even touch college tuition.

But $160,140 isn’t so bad if you break it down. It translates into $8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week. That’s a mere $24.24 a day! Just over a dollar an hour. Still, you might think the best financial advice says don’t have children if you want to be “rich.”

It is just the opposite. What do you get for your $160,140?
God tells us in His Word that there is another cost to raising children. In Proverbs 22:6 the poet tells us, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” When the Israilites came out of Egypt and settled in the promised land, God instructed them to “… be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”   God’s ways are so important He wants us not only to pass them on to our children, but to our grandchildren as well (Deuteronomy 4:9). The Lord even instructs us how to do this. “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds … Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy 11:18-19). Jesus instructed  His disciples to “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them …” (Matthew 19:14). This was such an important teaching of Jesus that it is recorded in three Gospels. How can they come to Him unless we pay the cost and teach them of Jesus?



Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2, NIV).

Thoughts

This is just another way of saying, “Love your neighbor as yourself!” Jesus came to bear our burdens and carry away the stain and pain of our sin. (Read Isaiah 53 for a powerful description of God’s Suffering Servant, a passage quoted in the New Testament in reference to Jesus.) He now asks us to live redemptively, in practical ways, toward those around us. More than just praying, or asking what we can do to help, we are called to serve, minister, and assist others who are burdened.

My prayer

Holy and merciful God, please give me eyes to see, a heart willing to serve, and hands ready to help the people in my path who need a burden lifted. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/todaysverse.cgi?day=20050602