For those who have been praying for our kids’ club and Bible study Friday nights – thanks for your prayers! God answered our prayers in an obvious way this week, and we had some new people come, and a bigger group than ever. We had some great conversations in our Bible study (focused on Genesis 3 this week) – so keep praying that people will come back, and keep learning! May God do great things in Las Palmas through His Word!
Thanks to much to all of you who prayed specifically for my adult Sunday school class last year. As many of you know, I was teaching a series from October to December (actually, I finished it up in January because one week was cancelled).
The series was on the 10 Commandments. It was a great opportunity for us to wrestle with what they mean for us today, and also to look at so many of the related laws, especially in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. There is just so much there that can transform our lives and communities if we just listen.
I don’t think that we as a Church in general (I mean as the worldwide Church) spend enough time in the Old Testament. And one of the greatest reasons to study it would be the reason that Jesus Himself gave – that it bears witness about Him (John 5:39-40). And so each week we looked at the New Testament as well, and saw the 10 Commandments in the light of Christ.
As I warned my class, we don’t want to assume that we are to ignore the New Testament and the reality of Christ’s coming as we study. We also don’t want to assume that the New Testament is really the only thing that’s important. And finally, we don’t want to “pick and choose” which laws to obey, but instead let God through the Scripture tell us.
And it’s amazing what comes clear when you actually take the time to see what the Scripture says!
The series is going to have new life as I share it on my Spanish blog, where I’ll post the handouts so that others can use the study as well.
Thanks again for your prayers! Now I’m headed to teach another Bible study…
* Note on the graphic: The logo from the class says “Ten Words”. The word “commandments” can be translated “words” or “declarations”, as in “a word from the king”. The first class was entitled “He spoke to you out of the midst of the fire” from Deuteronomy 4:12. “Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?” Wow – Deuteronomy 4:32-35.
As you may recall, we found out at the last minute that we’d be singing in a choir during this year’s appreciation dinner (for church leaders in the Mexico City area). The concert was actually introduced as a “dress rehearsal” for the following week when we sang in the park.
I recorded the first concert, not the second, so please excuse the rough spots! We were also in a dark corner of the room and the video camera was afar off, so the quality isn’t the greatest. But for what it’s worth, if you want to hear a part of what we did in the park (and all of what we did at the appreciation dinner), here it is!
This past Sunday Nathanael played the ukulele for a children’s Christmas presentation at our morning service. The song was “Hoy es Navidad” or “Today is Christmas”. The tune is Jingle Bells, but in Spanish it’s actually a common song about happiness at Christmas, and the Child of Bethlehem who brought us salvation.
So here’s a brief clip that Shari recorded. Nice work, Nathanael!
Thanks for your prayers (so far) for the events of December! Here’s a quick report:
For our last adoration service of the year, we meditated on the second coming of Christ, and all the things we’re looking forward to (most of all – HIM!). I also revived a monologue I did many years ago (which I lost, and had to rewrite) (anybody remember that, by the way?). It’s a shepherd speaking just before the angels appear – and he’s pretty bitter. Little does he know that the answers to his questions are only moments away!
The closing program at the community centre was great – lots of people, lots of fun, and some great discussions. Please pray for these people – so many very different people with different needs and situations!
My Sunday School lessons continue through the end of the month. I’m working on the last two – the final commandment (about coveting), and then a wrap-up where we’ll discuss the law and the gospel in general. There have been some great thought-provoking discussions. I’ve learned a lot!
This coming Sunday is our church’s own Christmas service. Nathanael will (Lord willing) be making his ukulele debut, playing “Today is Christmas” while the kids sing.
Thanks again for your prayers during this busy season. We pray that there will be much fruit!
Tonight is the last English immersion class of the year, and we’re going to be learning some Christmas vocabulary. I zipped over to Tagxedo and made some word clouds to share with them (and you).
First is a word cloud that comes from the commonly read Scriptures about Jesus’ birth, as well as five of the most popular Christmas carols. The second word cloud comes from other common Christmas songs (maybe you can guess which ones they were!) and “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas”.
Personally, I think the first cloud offers a lot more hope than the second!
I chose 15 words from each word cloud, and we’ll be doing some games with them tonight. 🙂
We would appreciate your prayers this week as we wrap up our classes and have our closing program on Thursday. We haven’t been getting a lot of sleep at our house for various reasons this week, so we’re just trying to keep going!
