Hey Gang,
We had a great closing lesson Sunday, to the 4 week series on making your case for hope. God is real and He exists! He has revealed Himself through His creation, His written word, His living Word (Jesus) and the inner craving (Spirit) we all have. We learned last week from C.S. Lewis that suffering in life is part of God's final plan, he said, "It is because God loves us that He makes us the gift of suffering ... the pain is part of the happiness, that's the deal." We all understand that many times our suffering is simply a consequence of our own sin or maybe the sin of someone else. We know we live in a bent world in which bad things happen. We saw through the story of Job that our suffering sometimes isn't because of anything we have done, but that God may be testing our faith in some way. Our testing may be in a single event we have to go through or over a period of time (Israel wandered for 40 years). Times like these we may or may not receive an answer to why we are suffering, this is part of our test to show God that we simply will trust in His purpose for all things and know that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Our lesson this past Sunday concluded with a great question and thought: just how involved is God in each of our daily lives? Isaiah 46:3-4 says, "I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you."(NCV) Wow, how differently would we live if we believed that every event of our lives, from the happy to the tragic to the mundane, were all part of a meticulous and purposeful design. What a beautiful thought, what a beautiful promise, what a beautiful truth, and what a beautiful hope. Can God do that? Would God do that? You better believe it! Remember 1 Peter 3:15 says for each of us to be prepared to give reason for the hope that we have.
This week we begin a 5 week series on The Case for Jesus. We will examine why people need a savior, why Jesus is the Savior they need, and how they ought to respond to Him. Our apologetic in this series is to be ready to give our defense to anyone who questions the validity of our faith in Jesus. Our first lesson is entitled "SIN IS A BIG DEAL." We will go back to the beginning as we learn how sin is defined in Genesis 3:1-6, then we'll examine the consequences of sin in Genesis 3:16-19, and 24, and finally we'll look at the fact that ... everyone sins, we'll read this in Romans 5:12-14.
This series on Apologetics has been pretty powerful for me. I can't wait to continue this week in the journey to knowing how to defend my faith ... God is an awesome God!
Those of you that were out this past Sunday...we missed you and hope to see you this Sunday!
Susan mentioned Sunday that we are in the planning stages for another class social...October 23, 2010 and then we'll be planning our Christmas party...can you believe that?
See you Sunday!
In His Love,
David and Susan
