As usual, there has been a lot going on over the last little while! One thing that’s been fun – well, more than one thing – have been related to music.
The piano/keyboard class has (finally) started up again, with at least six students. Most of them are already involved in the worship music ministry at the church.
I’ve had to refresh my own memory as I go – it’s been a while since I’ve taught the course! But the students have survived two classes so far, with seven to go. We’re having a class every couple of weeks or so, so it will take a while to finish. But I’ve got them memorizing their seven notes now. 🙂
I’ve also been enjoying leading the worship music Bible study again. Actually, it’s one of two that I’ve done before – the more general one. (The other one was specifically for keyboardists.) There’s always something new to learn as we go deeper into the Word of God to see how we can better lead people to worship through music.
And then, of course, are the regular music practices that we have, which are also fun. It’s been a bit of a challenge having less time to practice before the service, because we only rent the hall for a certain amount of time. But we usually practise during the week as well.
It’s amazing to see how this group has grown over the past few years, and it’s been great to spend a little more time with them over the past little while!
We’ve recently started up a general Bible study for the church in Las Palmas. We had a packed house for the first lesson, and we had some fun with these little Bible posters…
That’s the Old Testament above, and the New Testament to the right. Each poster has the name of the book, the language it is written in, the first and last words of the book, the estimated date, a keyword (theme), the author, and the length of the book (the thick line at the bottom), and sometimes a little more information. It’s fun to be able to see all this at a glance.
We originally used these posters for a special service at the church in Jesús María, and I had the books divided up into sections. But I didn’t really have the time (or space!) to do it this time.
Upon popular request I created a file with all the books together, so hopefully I’ll be able to use that at En la Biblia so that others can make use of them.
Our first two studies went well, with a lot of discussion about the sufficiency of Scripture, God’s involvement in His Creation, attacks on the Bible – we have an intelligent group which definitely tends to push the discussion to a deeper level!
We would appreciate your prayers for these studies, especially that more of the newer people at the church would join us.
Speaking of studying the Bible, I’m currently having my mind blown by John 5 as I prepare to preach on the healing of the man at the Pool of Bethesda, and Jesus’ subsequent teaching. Jesus certainly has a way of saying just the right thing in just the right way – please pray that He would be exalted as we continue our study of the Gospel of John!
As is the case, no doubt, with your own church, our church is facing many challenges from many directions. But God continues to teach and guide, and remind us that He is with us.
Our worship service on the 12th of February was kind of cool – because all three of us were involved! Yes, it happens sometimes.
Music practice, David leading
Shari was leading the kids’ teaching time, with a lesson about Jacob and Esau (Genesis 27:1-46; Romans 9:13). Nathanael grabbed his trusty ukulele and helped with the worship music. And I led the service.
We’re keeping busy, but there are a lot of other people working hard too! We’re still trying to get the “shade” just right, with some new mesh tarps. This Sunday will be attempt #3, but things are improving each week. It’s partly a matter of making things easier to set up, and partly a matter of covering what needs to be covered.
A Sunday morning in February 2023
Last Sunday we had another practical problem, however – we ran out of chairs. Two men rushed out to get some stools so that everyone could sit down under our nice shade.
So… I’ll be buying some more this week. However, finding a place to store them all is becoming a problem. Good problems, but problems.
As God continues to work in our local church, the world, the flesh and the devil attack. So we would appreciate your prayers for people in our church who are struggling with health issues, family problems, and bereavement. It’s a challenging time.
We’re also looking forward to starting up a couple of Bible studies – a general one starting this Friday, and in the near future a new study for the women. Please do pray that people will come and that God’s Word will be applied to their hearts.
Don’t panic! It wasn’t that bad. Actually, it was quite good – just very busy!
Nathanael hanging out with friends after the Sunday service. We meet just behind this little Christian bookstore, owned by a woman in the church.
This past weekend was full of blessings, actually. On Saturday morning, the women of the Las Palmas church had their first regular Bible study. (Lots of clarification there, of course – there have been regular Bible studies for adults, and lots of women’s activities, but I don’t think we’ve had a regular women’s study until now.)
As you might have guessed, I (Jim) was not there. However, from the reports I heard it was a great time. A great turn out, everyone sharing… very cool. And, on Sunday, more women showing interest (e.g. purchasing the Bible study book they’re using).
Sunday evening was the first men’s study. And as seems to be a common trend in the world, fewer numbers! But actually we had fewer men in the first place, and one got called into work, another got sick… so we had a small study. But it was a fun one – that’s where we went through purgatory.
One of the men had been talking to some people in the week and had received a paper about how biblical purgatory is. So we took some time to look at some of the Bible passages. (Spoiler – purgatory actually is not biblical. So although we went through the topic of purgatory, no one will actually go through purgatory!) And, as is often the case, God surprised us with a lot of truths that had a very person application for us.
On Sunday morning we were counting the chairs and wondering if we should buy some more. Yes, we were full up – men, women, teens and children. Some of our regular people were away, but there were also lots of visitors. So we were taking time in our service to explain how we do things, and to make sure people had access to information about our church. And sharing songbooks, because we didn’t have enough.
I always have extra respect for people who visit – it’s a brave thing to visit a church for the first time. Especially around here – sadly, we hear horror stories about people who visit churches and have a very bad experience (many of these would not be biblical churches at all – a reality in this area). So I hope we made everyone feel welcome.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that many of you have been contacting us lately, telling us that you’re praying, asking what you can pray for. We even recently enjoyed a couple of special prayer times with coworkers via video chat. And if you’re part of our Support Team, you’ll be getting a newsletter in the next week or two (Lord willing) with news and prayer requests.
It did feel like a battle going into the weekend (and coming out of it!) for various reasons. But sometimes opposition reminds us that God is working in a special way.
So thanks for your prayers! Do continue to pray for the many new people we’ve been coming in contact with, especially those who do not yet know the Lord.
We appreciate all you people out there who are praying for the ministry here in Mexico! I probably don’t give updates as much as I should, but here are a few things that are going on.
“Discovering Life” – Current Bible Study Series
We had a fun youth event the other day, sacrificing two frisbees and two pizzas to the cause. We had a devotional and talked about the concept of “seeking the Lord” from the story of Asa in 2 Chronicles 14-16 (a fascinating story, by the way).
Bible studies have started up again for the new year, with “Discovering Life 2”, a 15 week study (although we’re not meeting every week). Tomorrow night we continue, studying about how God works in our lives.
Shari is working on a women’s event, which will take place in February. Please pray that this will be a good time of fellowship and encouragement for the women of the church!
The Institute classes continue. We’re doing a survey of the New Testament. Numbers have gone down somewhat, but there are still two churches heavily involved. We should be finishing this course in the spring.
I’ve started doing classes for musicians who want to be involved in worship music, and I’m doing some training for those interested in helping with the sound system. Nathanael has been helping with the sound, and also played his ukulele last Sunday.
There are three men preaching on Sunday mornings right now – well, not at the same time. We’re taking turns, like we learned to do in kindergarten. Anyway, that’s two men plus me. We’re pushing through Romans 9-11, and so we’ve been spending a little extra time discussing the text together, which has been a help to me, anyway!
It looks like we’ll be starting an “anthropology” study as well, one Sunday a month this year. This will be a look at the biblical teaching about men and women, probably covering topics such as artificial intelligence, transhumanism, race, reproductive technology, art, justice, sexuality – you know, some of the topics which occasionally come up these days! I’m working on the first part of the series now, which will start, Lord willing, in February.
A couple other things you could pray about. Please pray for the family of a woman who passed away recently. This woman was highly involved at the church in Jesús María. She was in her 40s. Please pray that the family and her friends would be drawn to the Lord – especially pray for those who are not saved.
Also, a much lesser situation in comparison, but we’re struggling through some small issues with our van insurance. Please pray that these issues would be resolved completely soon. And then we have some maintenance and repairs to take care of. It’s all taking too long (in our impatient opinion)! 🙂
There, now you know some of the things that are happening here! Thanks again to all those who are praying!
Every Tuesday night, for 15 weeks, they crammed into the small room that we used to meet as a church. On the 24th of August, 2010, we finally finished the Chronological Bible Study – the first time I taught it. We took this picture to celebrate – what a lot of memories in these faces!
The theme of the final study is “The Triumph of the Lamb”.
Final Chronological Bible Study in Jesús María – 2010 (Click the photo for a higher resolution version.)
