June 27, 2021

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THE CHURCH OF CHRIST ON M 51 S

We welcome you to our worship services this morning. We hope that you will be encouraged and uplifted by our time together. We have no creed or set of rules to force on you. We simply rely on the Bible to tell us what to do and try to copy what we read the church in the first century did. We meet here every Sunday, but we also have Zoom available for those who are interested. Just ask and we will include you in our Zoom services. Call Karl Marcussen at 574-514-1400 for information.

FAMILY NEWS

SHULTS-LEWIS has asked us to provide peanut butter and jelly/jam to help their work work with struggling teens and their families. They will be coming to pick up these items and any change cans we may have during the week of July 18, so we need to have the items at the building by the 18th. If you want more information about their work and their needs, their phone is 800-462-0513.

HIGHWAY CLEANUP: Our next highway cleanup is July 17 with the rain date being the 24th. We will be mailing you a “adopt a zone” sheet so that you can select in advance what section of the highway in front of our building you are willing to clean. We are also going to have a provision for anyone who cannot come on the 17th so that you can do your cleanup during the week if Saturday is not a good time for you. We will mail a response sheet to you after July 4th.

THERE ARE THREE KINDS OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD: (1) those who make things happen; (2) those who watch things happen; and (3) those who wonder what happened. Which of these are you?

THANKS to Lana Fox and Cindy Clayton for all their work on our flower beds. They look great!

TODAY'S LESSON

HELP IN TIME OF CRISIS
John Clayton

INTRODUCTION

A. What do you do with a huge life problem?
B. We are promised problems in life — Romans 8:28.
C. “Pray about it” is a incomplete answer.

1. Christians do not have immunity to problems.
2. God does not always act as we expect him to.

D. How did Paul deal with trouble in life?

1. Not always what he wanted — 2 Corinthians 12:7-8.
2. Sometimes the answer is “no.”

I. PAUL DID NOT RESIST CIVIL GOVERNMENT.

A. Romans 13:1-2 — Corrupt nature is not an issue.
B. Our meeting was not in resistance to COVID rules.
C. We are not asked to violate God's commands.

II. PAUL ACCEPTED THE HELP OF UNBELIEVERS.

A. Paul helped by Publius on Malta — Acts 28:1-7.

1. Food was not kosher — 1 Corinthians 10:27.
2. Romans 14:17 — Church (Kingdom) is not food.

B. Should we accept help from unbelievers?

1. Feeding America, Lions Club, Cass Motorcycles
2. Neighbors, school system, City of Dowagiac

III. PAUL ACCEPTED HELP FROM BELIEVERS.

A. Acts 28:13-14 — Puteoli — for a week.
B. Acts 2:44-45 — Do we follow that example?

1. “Hands of Compassion” — H.O.P.E. prison work
2. Shults-Lewis — help to local members

C. Philippians 4:14-18 — Support of Paul

IV. PAUL ACCEPTED HIS CIRCUMSTANCES IN LIFE.

A. Society pushes us to “be a success.”
B. Philippians 4:11-13 — We have to learn contentment.
C. Why do we learn of Paul's life? — 2 Corinthians 11:20-33.
D. What did the pandemic teach us?

V. PAUL ACCEPTED THE FACT OF DEATH.

A. 2 Timothy 4:6 — Have you accepted the fact you will die?
B. We have help in dying — 2 Timothy 4:8
C. Are you ready?

(At the end John refers to this song: “Anywhere with Jesus.”)

THE BACK PAGE

WHY DO YOU WORSHIP?

Sometimes we do things without knowing why we do them. It reminds me of a story of a young bride who was at her in-laws house for Thanksgiving. The mother-in-law cut off the end of the turkey before putting it in the oven. The bride asked her mother-in-law why she did that. The answer was “I don't know, that's how my mother did it.” They then asked the grandmother why she cut off the end of the turkey and she said “Because my roaster pan was too short and I couldn't get the turkey in without cutting off the end.”

I am afraid for many of us “going to church” is the same kind of answer. We go because we were dragged there when we were kids and the routine of the worship service has not changed. If it did change we would be upset. I have had experiences with that mentality. In my lectureships I have usually put out a fossil display so people can see what I am talking about in my presentations. I have learned not to put the display on the communion table without asking. “That's the Lord's Table,” I was told in one place, and he does not want “rocks mixed up with the body and blood of Christ.”

There are so many errors in that thinking it is hard to know where to start, but that is not the point today. Do we come because we feel a social obligation? Is being in worship service a requirement for salvation, so we go because we feel we have to?

In our lesson today we look at what Jesus says about worship. We gather together to learn, to grow spiritually, to commune with one another, to contribute to and be motivated to be a part of good works, to be encouraged, to grow, to associate with other Christians, for fellowship, and because we love to see God's Spirit working in others. We do not come (hopefully) because we have to or because someone twisted our arm; or because we want to be seen; or to challenge someone or someone's teaching in a public way.

— John Clayton

Our sign by the street!

There is more grace in God than sin in you!

Sign saying from www.sayingsforchurchsigns.com.

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