My new Bible Study

I started a new bible study at my house on Ephesians and the first couple of times I had no one show up. Then 4 people came and the next week 6. Now we have 10 people who come and we are really learning about what the Lord can do in other our lives. The Lord has been really teaching all of us that we are His masterpiece and that we were created through Christ Jesus. Eph. 2:10 Alot of us in the Bible study struggle with our past because it is not the greatest so we need to be reminded that God really does love us and that we are his masterpiece. God takes our past and redeems it .. We can actually let go of our past mistakes and let God work in our lives. At the Bible study we are learning this concept of God's love.
It is also cool that our ages in the group range from 16-85. It is weird to have this group in my house not because we dont get along but if you looked at each one of us you would think we dont have anything in common. We have something in common and that is the Lord has redeemed us and know calls us to help build His kingdom through the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. I am really blessed to get to spend my Wednesday nights with people who know they are being used for God's kingdom despite their past. Amen that God can use anyone to advance His kingdom.

Chester finally came to church

My friend Chester came to church yesterday for the second time and I hope he continues to come. I have been working with Chester for about a year now. He is in really bad shape . He can barely walk and cannot read. He also lives in a small run down apartment infested with bed bugs and roaches. He also hoards stuff. His wife who used to go to our church recently left him for a crack head. I was about to give up on this guy and I actually did give up on him but the Lord's timing is not like our timing. He brought this guy to church and I believe He will accept Christ into His heart. Please pray for Chester that He will come to know Jesus and that Jesus will continue to heal His broken heart. I need to write about south dakota sometime and that is what I will write about next time.

Preaching on Sunday

I preached on sunday for the first time at the Rock United Methodists Church in Lexington. I was really nervous because I had never preached on Sunday and there is a different crowd there than on Mondays. I preach on Mondays every week. I usually move around alot in the center aisle but because the pastor head piece had been stolen I could not preach in the aisle. I stood at the pulpit and the Holy Spirit moved through me and I was able to preach a message about the freedom we have from sin because of Jesus' death and resurrection. Sin is not our master anymore and we have freedom in Jesus to grow into holiness and our salvation that was given to us through Jesus.
I had a really good sermon and it was to myself too. It is funny how that goes sometimes. the preacher has to be reminded that he too is saved by grace and he too does not have to listen to the lies the evil tells him. It was an amazing experience and I really hope the next time the Holy Spirit will speak through me.

Having a purpose

I think we all wonder what our purpose in this world is suppose to be. If you are a Christian your purpose is to love God and others everyday. This means alot of things. Sometimes it means letting go because they are not ready to let Jesus Christ transform them. I have a guy like this in my life. I have spent a year going to his house once a week and about 4 months ago I stopped going. At first I felt bad but I invited him to church everyday for a year and he only came once. I would go to his house and read the bible and pray for him. I would bring food over sometimes becasue I knew he was hungry. I really wanted this guy to come to church and get involved with people. Going to church and getting involved gets him out of his place. He lives in a part of town where he get taken advantage of alot because there are drunks and prostitutes that break in to his house. It is a hard thing to do but I know there are others out there who are ready to let Jesus transform them and they need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. That Jesus loves them and cares about them. IF they say yes to him he will change them. Sometimes the devil can use our guilt to stop the gospel from spreading. I challenge you to use wisdom when with the amount of time you are spending on a person. The Lord will reveal if the person is ready to change and know that only God can change them you cannot. You can only love them and preach the gospel. I think you can still love someone but also know that they are not ready to come to church or to let God transform them. My friend is still my friend but I cannot spend to much time with him because he is not on a road that Christ has me on and I have to pray that the Holy spirit will eventually get him in church.

Why would a kid try to hang himself?

I was subbing at a school yesterday and a kid took off his belt. He put the belt around his neck and was going to hang himself. The teacher got there to stop him and the student calmed down. It got me to wonder about what this kid had seen at home or what he was going through to make him think to put hte belt around his neck? Maybe he was just getting attention. This situation made me realize something. Everyone needs to feel like someone cares even when the whole world has turned its back on you. This kid was feeling so low and so bad about himself and thinking that no one cared that he wanted someone to just care about what he was feeling inside. I know that I could not feel or care for this student like Jesus could. That is why I think the message of hte gospel is so important because it shows children that Jesus knows what they are feeling and He does love and care for them. Once the children know the despair that he went through leading up to his death they can realize that Jesus does understand what they are going through. When they choose to follow Him they can realize only He can give them peace and grace in there lives that causes them to value themselves.