August 1, 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

FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS: Karl and Julie are in Florida taking grandkids on sight seeing trips and being with Charlie and enjoying his family. That means that we have to do things a little differently than normal. Patty will be handling Zoom, and our prayer page may be a little late as Julie keeps up with the needs of the church family here. If you have something we all need to be aware of, please call John Clayton.

COLLECTION FOR SHULTS-LEWIS was well done. There was alot of peanut butter and jelly brought in for their use, and we as a congregation also donated $100.00 to the work there. They take care of a lot of kids, residentially and as a day care arrangement. There is a congregation meeting on their campus and they have trained workers dealing with situations that are complex. Keep that work in your prayers.

FOOD DISTRIBUTION IS TOMORROW. Those of you that work in that ministry need to remember to be here to meet those who come for food. If you have questions about this call Richard Hoyt. Thanks to all of you who work in this wonderful service to the community.

TODAY'S LESSON

RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORK OF TRUTH, PART 1
John Clayton

INTRODUCTION — 2 TIMOTHY 2:15 (John refers to this song: “They'll Know We Are Christians.”)

A. Much confusion in religious world is due to this.
B. There are six areas where people fail. Three today.

I. NOT SEPARATING THE OLD FROM THE NEW

A. Many O.T. practices were done away with.

1. Animal sacrifice, polygamy, rituals, nationalism
2. Use of a sacred place — the Temple
3. Use of a “High Priest” — clergy/laity

B. The Sabbath — a covenant — conditional agreement

1. Exodus 31:13-18; Deuteronomy 28-29
2. Breaking the covenant abrogates the agreement.
3. Joshua 23:14 — Fulfillment of God's promises

C. Jesus nailed the Old to his cross — Colossians 2:13-14

1. Jesus lived and died under the Old law.
2. Luke 23:39-43 — The thief was under the Old law.

Baptism was impossible. Jesus was alive.

3. N.T. conversions were after the resurrection.

a. Acts 10:2-33 — Cornelius and Peter
b. Acts 16:22-34

II. NOT SEPARATING HISTORY FROM ENCOURAGEMENT.

A. Acts 20:7 — History, also Acts 2-4

1 Corinthians 16:2 — History — done on Sunday

B. Revelation 1:1 — Encouragement

III. NOT UNDERSTANDING THAT A PARABLE IS NOT FACT.

A. The rich man and Lazarus — Luke 16:19-25

1. “Lazarus” means “without help.”
2. There is no “holding tank” awaiting judgement.
3. Luke 16:26 — Hell is separation.
4. Hell is not a torture chamber.
5. James 5:20

B. OPINION — The soul can die.

1. Matthew 10:28; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Peter 3:9; Revelation 2:11
2. Bottom line — you do not want to go to hell.

V. GOD DOES NOT WANT YOU TO GO TO HELL.

A. John 3:16-21; 2 Peter 3:8-9
B. It is your choice.

(At the end John refers to this song: “Nothing but the Blood.”)

THE BACK PAGE

IS THE BIBLE HARD TO UNDERSTAND?

Most of us have had the experience of trying to talk to someone about the Bible, the church, and their relationship to God, and have them make the comment that the Bible is hard to understand. One of my frustrations as a science teacher was that kids came into my classroom having been given the idea that physics was hard to understand, and some kids were terrified of the class they had enrolled in. After a week or so of seeing how easy physics was to understand because it dealt with everyday life, I would have kids relax and do very well with my class.

The same situation is true of the Bible. People make the Bible hard to understand, when really it is very simple, practical, and easy to apply to every day living. Our lesson today and next Sunday have to do with the main problem that people have with the Bible. It is not because the Bible is obtuse or requires a lot of education to understand. It is because people have not divided the Bible into the areas to which it applies.

In 2 Peter 3:15-18 Peter closes his letter by making reference to the writings of Paul. Peter admits in 2 Peter 3:16 that there are some things which are hard to understand; but, he goes on to say that unlearned and unstable preachers had twisted what Paul wrote “to their own destruction.” Peter tells his readers to solve this by “growing in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus.”

Did you ever try to follow the instructions to assemble something that came in a kit? Why did you have trouble? If you are like me it was because you did not start at the beginning and follow the instructions step by step. The first time through the assembly was the toughest, and as you did it again and again it got easier and easier.

So too do we grow in understanding as we follow the instructions of God's Word. Reading it as God intended which involved “rightly dividing the Word of Truth,” makes it very easy.

— John Clayton

Our sign by the street!

Freedom is never free!

Sign saying from www.sayingsforchurchsigns.com.

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