August 9, 2009-Bulletin.html

August 9, 2009

TO 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.

FAMILY NEWS

FAIR EXHIBIT: Our thanks to everyone who worked the booth, helped prepare materials, spent time ordering and preparing handouts, and prayed for the Cass County FaIr booth. Please see the back cover for more on this.

AUGUST 10-14: Staring tomorrow, the Does God Exist? program will have a training seminar and retreat at Michiana Christian Service Camp. John Clayton will be teaching classes on his apologetic material every day from 8:30 AM through 5:00 PM. People are coming from all over the U.S. as well as local people for this information on the existence of God and the relationship of science and faith. We expect that. some of these folks are with us this morning. In the evenings starting at 7:00, John wIll present his regular seminar presentations. These are visual presentations and will last about an hour. There will be a question/answer session after each session. The subjects are:

Monday--The Created Cosmos--Astronomy and Creation
Tuesday--Design and Creation--Nature as a Proof of God
Wednesday--Why God Created Us and Why Do We Suffer
Thursday--Why I Left Atheism (not visual)

These night sessions have been advertised to congregations and to Christian Churches throughout Michiana, and we expect a larger audience. The day classes will be small--about 20-25 people. To get to the camp take M-62 to M-140 and go south. It is about 10 miles south on the right and has a large sign.

TODAY'S LESSON

THE GOD(S) OF THE ATHENIANS
Acts 17:16-31

INTRODUCTION

Athens--the "clone" of America in 2009

Dominated by philosophers and theologians
Espousing pluralism
Wanting something new and entertaining
Desperately searching for meaning--not finding it
Paul offers answers we need to hear and teach today.

WE WORSHIP GOD IN IGNORANCE--TREATING HIM AS A HUMAN BEING.

Verse 25--What God is not.

Not as man, not racial, not American, not sexual
We do not serve God because He has needs.

Verse 29

Do we understand the nature of God?
Purpose of this next week

WE FAIL TO UNDERSTAND GOD IS THE CREATOR

Genesis 1:1--Anyone can understand.
Purpose of this next week
Verse 24
God created time, space, energy, the cosmos, Earth, us.

As Creator He must be greater than these.

God has placed us where we need to be.

Verse 26
We have all we need to be happy.

WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD.

Verse 28

You cannot hide from God--Jonah, David, Paul
God knows our hearts--Luke 16:15.
Matthew 6:8
Matthew 10:29-31--God knows us.
Do we "seek God"? Prayer, conduct, use of time

GOD WANTS US TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

Verses 30-31
Ignorance of the past--inexcusable

There will be judgement--accountability.
What is your God?
Who is your God?
Are you ready to give that accountability?

ONWARD

We have just completed a wonderful outreach to the county in which we worship. The Cass County Fair is now history, and while I am writing this on Thursday of fair week, I am confident that this project has been a huge success. Cindy passed out a Bible and several pieces of literature while we were setting up last Sunday, and Monday as she and I worked the morning and afternoon shifts it was obvious we were getting lots of interest and people were asking about the Church and accepting literature, Bibles, and especially the emery boards. Our purpose was to have a positive presence at the fair and to allow people to come and know about the Church and our willingness to serve the community. There is no question that that happened, and the fruit that comes from this effort will be seen in the months and years ahead. It did interest me that two different people said to me when I was talking to them about our work "Oh yes, you are the ones who have been expanding and upgrading your property out there on the highway."

What has been even more encouraging to me is the spirit of cooperation and involvement that this congregation has demonstrated. Our thanks to everyone who came and worked the booth. Your smiling faces and involvement said more than our information sheets and boards could ever say. Many of you had friends who saw you and saw the exhibit and associated you with the work of the Church. This speaks loudly for the Lord, and it is a basic form of preaching the gospel to every creature.

There are many who made this project work. Larry Fox did all of the construction and even fastened the poster boards on to the backdrops last Sunday. Thanks Larry for a superb job. Karl Marcussen did all of the information posters that were not done commercially, and even brought the Church name poster out so we had a booth title. Bill and Patty and Karl and Julie worked every single day, and made numerous trips for maintaining things and making them possible. Cynthia Salmons ordered and printed the magnets and many others assembled them. Larry Brewer provided shirts for the workers. Many others manned the booth. This was a congregational project, and everyone got involved. The Lord is pleased with the spirit and service-minded sacrifices that were made to make this project work. Now we need to start thinking about our next congregational project, and whether we want to do the fair again next year.