But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18a
Dear Friends in Christ,
I pray that you are well and thriving in these July days! This Monday, school starts up for many kids in our area. Older students are getting ready for college. Ah the “smell of freshly sharpened pencils” is in the air! We will bless backpacks this Sunday at the 10:30 service, sending students off with our prayers and encouragement. When was the last time you invested in learning? I hope it was today!
The Christian life is always full of the joy of learning—if we are open to it. Living each day with God, his Holy Spirit can show us something new each day. We learn more about ourselves, we learn more about others, we learn more about God, about the mercy of Jesus and how to love the way he loves. We can learn from reading the Bible regularly; we can learn from others who are prayerfully reading the Bible with us in Small Groups and Bible Studies. We can learn in prayer, and prayerfully applying what we read to our lives, by stretching ourselves in trusting God with more and more of who we are and how we order our lives. We can learn as we take action to show God’s sacrificial love to others. As we pray for and listen and look for God’s wisdom, we will discover a living God alive and at work, teaching us, forming and shaping us as his children.
School is but a training ground for how to learn in all of life. I pray that you will grow and share your growth with others, both within this church and with the people you know and meet outside this church. Grow in grace and the knowledge and love of God! School is always in session!
P.S. come to the “Mission Rewind” this Sunday from 9:15 – 10:15 to hear about the Youth Mission Trip to North Carolina, and about the mission trip to Kenya that Brandon and I and some family members joined.
Yours in Christ,
-Tom