As most of you know I graduated from NTBI in May and then I got
married. My wife Felicia and I are starting up a new blog that you
can continue to follow us on and pray for us as we move towards the mission
field. The new blog address is http://sheridans-sufficientgrace.blogspot.com/and we will be updating you all and where the Lord is taking us, can't
wait to see what He does. If you want to get in touch with me, my email
is jsheridan03@gmail.com. God bless you guys and thank you for your
prayers!
Josh
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Sunday, March 9, 2014
March Update!
So it's been about 4 months since winter set in here up in Michigan and I'm here to say that it is still going strong, although it was 40 degrees the other day! Despite the 2 feet of snow on the ground and the freezing temperatures, my last semester here at New Tribes Bible Institute has been going great! Currently I am taking two classes; the Pastoral Epistles, right now we're in 2nd Timothy, and the class of Daniel/Revelation. The school puts the books of Daniel and Revelation together because there is a lot of overlap as far as prophetic events and end times is concerned. Right now we're in Chapter 7 of Daniel discussing the vision of the different animals which represent different kingdoms of Gentiles. It is pretty interesting stuff!
Prison ministry has been going well too. I haven't been in to prison very much this semester, but I know from the teachers I have been talking with that the study of Galatians has been going very well, thank you for your prayers!! This semester for prison ministry I am basically doing administration tasks, such as setting up orientation for new student volunteers and printing off the teachers' hand out notes for that week. Seeing how I'm graduating in May, I also have been wanting all the new teachers to get experience and more time in prison so that when the other seniors and I graduate there will be a core of teachers to carry it on. So that means I could use prayer right now as I am starting to look at different people involved in prison ministry for someone(s) to take over coordinating next semester.
I've been learning a ton lately just through classes and my continual study of the Psalms, but perhaps the most recent thing came from my class on 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. I learned that the hope of the future with Christ is an appropriate motivation for godly living in the present. Paul wrote these two epistles to encourage and exhort this infant church to persevere to the end, especially in the midst of persecution. He accomplishes this goal by repeatedly pointing to the future to get them to see their need to walk consistently in the present. He encourages them with the doctrine of the Rapture, saying that believers are not destined to receive wrath, wrath being the wrath at Christ's Second Coming, but rather they were destined to be taken out of the world (salvation), this happening when they meet Christ in the air (1st Thess. 4:17). Something my teacher pointed out that is interesting to note is that every chapter of both Thessalonian epistles ends with a reference to the Second Coming of Christ. The Second Coming of Christ should motivate us to live in fellowship with Him now because we will appear before the judgment seat of Christ for rewards. But also Christ's coming brings encouragement because in the midst of trials and persecutions, we must not give up but hold confidently to the fact that Christ is coming, and he will establish justice and peace when he sets up his Kingdom. Christ's Coming and the Rapture are incredible in that they are appropriate motivations the apostle Paul used to exhort a sense of sobriety in his audience but also bring encouragement in the midst of difficult circumstances. What bearing does Christ's Coming have on your life right now?
I love you guys and appreciate your prayers and support, they are invaluable. Thank you for being my prayer supporters and if there is anything I can pray for you about please let me know! Also if you think you know of someone who would like to receive my blog updates please don't hesitate to pass my information on to them or give them my email!
Here are some prayer requests:
1. The summer: Job, car, place to stay as I will most likely be heading to Pennsylvania for the summer and work around their, spend time with my girlfriend, her family and her church.
2. My relationship with God: Pray that I would continue to trust him and walk by faith all the while making decisions in line with His Word. Pray that I would continue to send my roots down into him and send them deep.
3. My work in the prison ministry and youth group, that somehow, some way, people would be impacted through my life.
Prison ministry has been going well too. I haven't been in to prison very much this semester, but I know from the teachers I have been talking with that the study of Galatians has been going very well, thank you for your prayers!! This semester for prison ministry I am basically doing administration tasks, such as setting up orientation for new student volunteers and printing off the teachers' hand out notes for that week. Seeing how I'm graduating in May, I also have been wanting all the new teachers to get experience and more time in prison so that when the other seniors and I graduate there will be a core of teachers to carry it on. So that means I could use prayer right now as I am starting to look at different people involved in prison ministry for someone(s) to take over coordinating next semester.
I've been learning a ton lately just through classes and my continual study of the Psalms, but perhaps the most recent thing came from my class on 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. I learned that the hope of the future with Christ is an appropriate motivation for godly living in the present. Paul wrote these two epistles to encourage and exhort this infant church to persevere to the end, especially in the midst of persecution. He accomplishes this goal by repeatedly pointing to the future to get them to see their need to walk consistently in the present. He encourages them with the doctrine of the Rapture, saying that believers are not destined to receive wrath, wrath being the wrath at Christ's Second Coming, but rather they were destined to be taken out of the world (salvation), this happening when they meet Christ in the air (1st Thess. 4:17). Something my teacher pointed out that is interesting to note is that every chapter of both Thessalonian epistles ends with a reference to the Second Coming of Christ. The Second Coming of Christ should motivate us to live in fellowship with Him now because we will appear before the judgment seat of Christ for rewards. But also Christ's coming brings encouragement because in the midst of trials and persecutions, we must not give up but hold confidently to the fact that Christ is coming, and he will establish justice and peace when he sets up his Kingdom. Christ's Coming and the Rapture are incredible in that they are appropriate motivations the apostle Paul used to exhort a sense of sobriety in his audience but also bring encouragement in the midst of difficult circumstances. What bearing does Christ's Coming have on your life right now?
I love you guys and appreciate your prayers and support, they are invaluable. Thank you for being my prayer supporters and if there is anything I can pray for you about please let me know! Also if you think you know of someone who would like to receive my blog updates please don't hesitate to pass my information on to them or give them my email!
Here are some prayer requests:
1. The summer: Job, car, place to stay as I will most likely be heading to Pennsylvania for the summer and work around their, spend time with my girlfriend, her family and her church.
2. My relationship with God: Pray that I would continue to trust him and walk by faith all the while making decisions in line with His Word. Pray that I would continue to send my roots down into him and send them deep.
3. My work in the prison ministry and youth group, that somehow, some way, people would be impacted through my life.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
January Update!
January
19th, 2014
Dear prayer supporters,
So
I didn’t do many blog updates last semester, hope I didn’t keep you out of the
loop too much! But I wanted to write you
all and tell you how much I appreciate you and your prayers; they are coveted
and needed on a daily basis.
I
just began my last semester here at New Tribes Bible Institute and I am
extremely excited to dig in this semester.
Last semester was incredibly important as God and His Word unearthed
some pretty messed up worldview perspectives and He’s beginning to supplant my
false ideas with His truth, starting with relating to Him on a personal
level. See I’m beginning to see that my
wrong thinking can be a product of insecurity in my relationship with God. Last semester was huge in grounding me
according to my identity with the person and work of Christ. This semester I have classes such as
Colossians/Philemon, Philippians, 1st and 2nd
Thessalonians, Daniel/Revelation and Christian Life. I’m looking forward to seeing how God will
continue to reveal my need for Him and to become more grounded in my friendship
with Him.
Currently
I am reading through the book of Psalms, reading a psalm a day apart from my
other classes and it has been such a great study. It has been incredible to take a glance of
the relationship that David had with God.
It was just so intimate. David
didn’t hold back, he didn’t keep frustrations to himself, but he shared
everything with God. Even if he was
becoming discouraged with his circumstances, he didn’t try and not be
discouraged but he simply talked to God about it. And ultimately he continually came back to
God and His character which was enough for David to say “But I am like a green
olive tree in the house of God. I trust
in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.
I will thank you forever, because you have done it” (Ps. 52:8-9). David said this when Saul was trying to kill
him. Does that challenge you? It challenges me and just how much I trust
God with everyday life.
So
that’s a little bit of what life is like and what I’m learning. Looking forward to talking or seeing some of
you soon! Keep walking with the Lord, he
is everything. If you would like to
contact me my email is jsheridan03@gmail.com. Until then here are some prayer requests:
1. That I would
be looking to the Lord, trusting him each and every day to step out in faith
and obedience.
2. In prison
ministry we are teaching through the letter of Galatians this semester so
please pray that our lives would be impacted as a result of Paul’s strong words
of caution in Galatians.
3. Please pray
for my girlfriend and I as we are trusting God and walking by faith as far as
the future goes. We both desire to go to
the Missionary Training Program with New Tribes Mission and church plant in the
future so please pray for wisdom and discernment and that we would be seeking
wise counsel in decision making.
4. I am an RA
again with 9 guys so please pray for unity in our dorm and that we would enjoy
our time together but also have good conversations and time challenging each
other.
5. In deciding
what my plans are for this summer, I will most likely be in need of a car so
please pray for the Lord’s provisions in that area.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Sunday, October 13, 2013
The Provisions of God
Wow so I haven't done a blog update in about 2 months, my apologies for that. School has been kind of hectic, but this semester has been incredible. From the get go God has been challenging my worldview and how I live out my walk with God. We have had classes on 1st and 2nd Peter, 2nd Corinthians, Missions in Church History, and Galatians. I have come to grips with how much of a legalistic person I can be and how my view of other people's walk with God is measured by performance. It has been so good though to be sitting under the Word of God and have these things revealed. It has been cool to see how much God cares about the man I become, so much so that his purpose in my life is to conform me to the image of his Son (Romans 8:28).
Probably the most impactful class this semester has been our class on the book of Romans which we are still currently in. As I mentioned before I have a very legalistic attitude that has been revealed this semester and have struggled with the process of sanctification. I have a tendency to view sanctification as a process of works and therefore measure my own walk and the walks of others by their performance or adherence to certain things. When we studied through Chapters 6-8 of Romans, I learned about many truths about who I am in the person of Christ that I had already known or heard about but I have been learning so much about the implications that these truths should have on my life. In chapter 6 Paul talks about the believer's relation to sin now that he has been justified by Christ. We have been declared as dead to sin and alive to Christ. Therefore, sin no longer has authority and power over us, we have been set free! In Chapter 7 Paul talks about our relation to the law and we have been set free from law, not just the Mosaic law, but law as a means of life! We are under grace not a list of rules and regulations because the law does not sanctify but it shows sin and kills (7:7-13). Paul ends Chapter 7 talking about the reality of the battle that goes on within us all. We have been set free from sin and the law but why do we still struggle with sin? Paul answers and shows that there is a war going on inside his being, a law of the flesh which wages war against the law of his mind which desires to serve God. Paul exclaims "Who will save me from this body of death!" He knows he is free from sin but cannot seem to break free from the power that sin has on his life. In Chapter 8 Paul outlines all the amazing provisions that God has made for us to live free from sin. He has given us his Spirit to depend on to live the Christian Life. It is not our power by which we serve God but it is by the power He provides. God has provided me with adoption as sons, with assurance, with security, with confidence. I can now live the Christian Life from the perspective of a son because Romans 8 tells me that I am God's son and a co-heir with Christ. Romans 8 tells me that I have a future hope of glory with Christ Jesus, the redemption of my body! Therefore the sufferings I experience do not compare to my future glory. Romans 8 also tells me that nothing in all of creation can ever separate me from the love of God. NOTHING. If God is for me who can be against me? I can live with God with assurance and security knowing that I am secure in the love of God and he is for me conforming to Christ's image. So I ask you the question I have been asking myself: Since God has provided EVERYTHING we need to live this newness of life that he has given us, why do we rely on a list of rules or make up a Christian life, why do we try and live this life on our own power? He has provided the resources.
Prayer Requests
1. I recently applied for an internship here at school after I graduate in the maintenance department so please pray for the future in that and for the time period between Bible school and the next step of training.
2. Prayer for my legalism. As I sit under the Word I know God is desiring to use His view of me to impact how I view others. So please pray that the legalism would continue to be revealed and that grace would define how I view my relationship and walk with God as well as others.
3. Pray for prison ministry! We are halfway through Ephesians and it is going well. We have 12 new applications in to get cleared so please pray for fast clearances and for the new teachers coming in. Also for the hearts of the men being taught as well as for the Word to be penetrating our hearts as teachers.
You're partnership in my growth and time here at Bible school as well as in my prison ministry has been invaluable. I covet your prayers for they are always needed. If you would like to receive any mail in updates which should be coming in towards the end of this semester or my prayer card, please email me in jsheridan03@gmail.com. Grace and peace to you!
Probably the most impactful class this semester has been our class on the book of Romans which we are still currently in. As I mentioned before I have a very legalistic attitude that has been revealed this semester and have struggled with the process of sanctification. I have a tendency to view sanctification as a process of works and therefore measure my own walk and the walks of others by their performance or adherence to certain things. When we studied through Chapters 6-8 of Romans, I learned about many truths about who I am in the person of Christ that I had already known or heard about but I have been learning so much about the implications that these truths should have on my life. In chapter 6 Paul talks about the believer's relation to sin now that he has been justified by Christ. We have been declared as dead to sin and alive to Christ. Therefore, sin no longer has authority and power over us, we have been set free! In Chapter 7 Paul talks about our relation to the law and we have been set free from law, not just the Mosaic law, but law as a means of life! We are under grace not a list of rules and regulations because the law does not sanctify but it shows sin and kills (7:7-13). Paul ends Chapter 7 talking about the reality of the battle that goes on within us all. We have been set free from sin and the law but why do we still struggle with sin? Paul answers and shows that there is a war going on inside his being, a law of the flesh which wages war against the law of his mind which desires to serve God. Paul exclaims "Who will save me from this body of death!" He knows he is free from sin but cannot seem to break free from the power that sin has on his life. In Chapter 8 Paul outlines all the amazing provisions that God has made for us to live free from sin. He has given us his Spirit to depend on to live the Christian Life. It is not our power by which we serve God but it is by the power He provides. God has provided me with adoption as sons, with assurance, with security, with confidence. I can now live the Christian Life from the perspective of a son because Romans 8 tells me that I am God's son and a co-heir with Christ. Romans 8 tells me that I have a future hope of glory with Christ Jesus, the redemption of my body! Therefore the sufferings I experience do not compare to my future glory. Romans 8 also tells me that nothing in all of creation can ever separate me from the love of God. NOTHING. If God is for me who can be against me? I can live with God with assurance and security knowing that I am secure in the love of God and he is for me conforming to Christ's image. So I ask you the question I have been asking myself: Since God has provided EVERYTHING we need to live this newness of life that he has given us, why do we rely on a list of rules or make up a Christian life, why do we try and live this life on our own power? He has provided the resources.
Prayer Requests
1. I recently applied for an internship here at school after I graduate in the maintenance department so please pray for the future in that and for the time period between Bible school and the next step of training.
2. Prayer for my legalism. As I sit under the Word I know God is desiring to use His view of me to impact how I view others. So please pray that the legalism would continue to be revealed and that grace would define how I view my relationship and walk with God as well as others.
3. Pray for prison ministry! We are halfway through Ephesians and it is going well. We have 12 new applications in to get cleared so please pray for fast clearances and for the new teachers coming in. Also for the hearts of the men being taught as well as for the Word to be penetrating our hearts as teachers.
You're partnership in my growth and time here at Bible school as well as in my prison ministry has been invaluable. I covet your prayers for they are always needed. If you would like to receive any mail in updates which should be coming in towards the end of this semester or my prayer card, please email me in jsheridan03@gmail.com. Grace and peace to you!
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Facing the Trials of Life
Wow, the summer is almost over, it has flown by. It seems like just yesterday I got back here in Arizona and started off my summer back home. It has been an amazing summer where the Lord has been so faithful and so good. I mean it was a challenging and tiring summer, but despite circumstances, God is bigger and taught me so much. Thank you for your support and prayers this summer, it has been and will be greatly needed.
To update you on all I've been involved in and asked you to pray for I'll start with my work. I finished up working my construction job last week and man this week has been super nice as I rest from 2 months of waking up at 4 am haha. The Lord totally taught me a ton thru my job from humbling me in not knowing exactly what I was doing, to evangelism in sharing the gospel of Christ with them. Even though I'm done working there, please continue to pray for the 7 men I worked with, that God would bring to mind the conversations we had this summer and just that they would stop living in ignorance and would realize they need a Savior. As for my adult small group, tonight is my last group before I leave Arizona and my group has been amazing. Seriously, I've told them that if I didn't have that community of believers to be encouraged, challenged and invested by every Thursday, I would've been my own island this summer. But God has really taught me a ton about why I, and every believer, needs to be in community with other believers because that is how he designed the Church. We are one body, but many members, and our purpose amongst each other is to edify each other and to grow as a body into "all the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13). Also just an update on how my meeting went with my missions pastor, it went super well! I really appreciate him and his work with the church and for him coming alongside a 20 year old, wanting to see him succeed in where God is leading me. Also he offered more support financially for school for the next two semesters so praise God for that! I'm just so grateful for a church that is getting behind me when they can to assist me in getting to the mission field, so thanks for praying!
As for what I'm learning right now, I am learning a ton, which I guess is expected when the Word of God and the Holy Spirit is at work in you haha. I'm still studying through Ephesians, but recently I've been reading some Psalms in the morning and it has been super refreshing. It seems like I've been learning a lot about the perspective of facing trials and suffering as my church is teaching through 1st Peter and then discussing it in my small group. And the other day I read Psalm 31 and was just struck with David's writing. He talks about the affliction against him, the distress he's in. He talks about grief, sorrow, sighing. He says that amongst others he feels as one forgotten, one dead, amongst people who plot to take his life (v.13). So David was or currently is going through some sort of trial, suffering, distress and is reflecting on his situation, but he says something incredibly profound in 31:14 that despite all this "I trust in you, O LORD, I say 'You are my God.'" Like Paul's perspective on suffering in Philippians, David is much the same, that despite the circumstances that we can see, God is bigger and worth trusting in. The Lord has been teaching me that in suffering, true joy and contentment is found because God is all you have. In trials, you find that God is enough, that despite how terrible the situation that you can see is, God is bigger, faithful, trustworthy, unchanging, our Father and therefore is worth rejoicing in. So I ask, is God enough?
I want to thank all of you for your continued prayers and support for me as I walk on the narrow way. I am getting a newsletter mailing list together of people who will commit to support me in praying for me, so if you would like to receive 6 month updates in the mail, along with my prayer card and would pray for me, please either comment below or email me at jsheridan03@gmail.com with your address.
Pray Requests:
1. For my visit back to New Jersey before school. That I'd have some good time with my Dad, sharing truth about what it is to walk with the Lord.
2. For the upcoming school semester that the Lord would continue to bring in many freshman to study God's Word. Also that he would be preparing my heart and all the students heart for a semester of studying his Word and being transformed.
3. I'm taking over the prison ministry at school this Fall where we teach every Thursday night to believers. We're teaching through Ephesians this semester and so I'd appreciate prayer for the hearts of the men in jail and for us the teachers.
4. Humility. I really struggle with this and I could use prayer for the Lord to teach me that without him I'm nothing and that I need him every day and for everything I hope to achieve this semester.
5. Finances. For school but also beyond as I look to discuss with people as to what is next after school. Praise God that he is faithful always, but please pray that I would trust in Him and be content to know that he is faithful.
To update you on all I've been involved in and asked you to pray for I'll start with my work. I finished up working my construction job last week and man this week has been super nice as I rest from 2 months of waking up at 4 am haha. The Lord totally taught me a ton thru my job from humbling me in not knowing exactly what I was doing, to evangelism in sharing the gospel of Christ with them. Even though I'm done working there, please continue to pray for the 7 men I worked with, that God would bring to mind the conversations we had this summer and just that they would stop living in ignorance and would realize they need a Savior. As for my adult small group, tonight is my last group before I leave Arizona and my group has been amazing. Seriously, I've told them that if I didn't have that community of believers to be encouraged, challenged and invested by every Thursday, I would've been my own island this summer. But God has really taught me a ton about why I, and every believer, needs to be in community with other believers because that is how he designed the Church. We are one body, but many members, and our purpose amongst each other is to edify each other and to grow as a body into "all the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13). Also just an update on how my meeting went with my missions pastor, it went super well! I really appreciate him and his work with the church and for him coming alongside a 20 year old, wanting to see him succeed in where God is leading me. Also he offered more support financially for school for the next two semesters so praise God for that! I'm just so grateful for a church that is getting behind me when they can to assist me in getting to the mission field, so thanks for praying!
As for what I'm learning right now, I am learning a ton, which I guess is expected when the Word of God and the Holy Spirit is at work in you haha. I'm still studying through Ephesians, but recently I've been reading some Psalms in the morning and it has been super refreshing. It seems like I've been learning a lot about the perspective of facing trials and suffering as my church is teaching through 1st Peter and then discussing it in my small group. And the other day I read Psalm 31 and was just struck with David's writing. He talks about the affliction against him, the distress he's in. He talks about grief, sorrow, sighing. He says that amongst others he feels as one forgotten, one dead, amongst people who plot to take his life (v.13). So David was or currently is going through some sort of trial, suffering, distress and is reflecting on his situation, but he says something incredibly profound in 31:14 that despite all this "I trust in you, O LORD, I say 'You are my God.'" Like Paul's perspective on suffering in Philippians, David is much the same, that despite the circumstances that we can see, God is bigger and worth trusting in. The Lord has been teaching me that in suffering, true joy and contentment is found because God is all you have. In trials, you find that God is enough, that despite how terrible the situation that you can see is, God is bigger, faithful, trustworthy, unchanging, our Father and therefore is worth rejoicing in. So I ask, is God enough?
I want to thank all of you for your continued prayers and support for me as I walk on the narrow way. I am getting a newsletter mailing list together of people who will commit to support me in praying for me, so if you would like to receive 6 month updates in the mail, along with my prayer card and would pray for me, please either comment below or email me at jsheridan03@gmail.com with your address.
Pray Requests:
1. For my visit back to New Jersey before school. That I'd have some good time with my Dad, sharing truth about what it is to walk with the Lord.
2. For the upcoming school semester that the Lord would continue to bring in many freshman to study God's Word. Also that he would be preparing my heart and all the students heart for a semester of studying his Word and being transformed.
3. I'm taking over the prison ministry at school this Fall where we teach every Thursday night to believers. We're teaching through Ephesians this semester and so I'd appreciate prayer for the hearts of the men in jail and for us the teachers.
4. Humility. I really struggle with this and I could use prayer for the Lord to teach me that without him I'm nothing and that I need him every day and for everything I hope to achieve this semester.
5. Finances. For school but also beyond as I look to discuss with people as to what is next after school. Praise God that he is faithful always, but please pray that I would trust in Him and be content to know that he is faithful.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
I pray this update finds you well and encourages you as your prayers and words of encouragement have greatly encouraged me. I update again from Arizona. about halfway through my summer here and it's been a hot, tiring summer, but God has been faithful consistently to grow me even through uncomfortable and challenging circumstances.
For an update on church stuff, it's going well. There were a few things I wanted to get involved in this summer and the Lord has been extremely faithful to provide me with many opportunities in my church. I've been going to a small group on Thursday nights with adults and we're studying through 1st Peter along with the sermons on Sundays. It's been really encouraging to hang out with other believers and dig into the Word. I really wanted to be invested in by others this summer while home and I have really enjoyed the fellowship with other believers and have them invest in my life. I also joined a college-age small group on Tuesday nights and that's been sweet too. There's a couple people from high school that came in there after they graduated from the high school ministry and it's just been encouraging to talk with others the same age as me about our love for the Lord. There's a couple people that I've talked to about New Tribes and about coming to school so please pray for Kyle and Lorraine. They're a young married couple who love the Lord and I got to share about New Tribes with them and they said they were going to look it up. I've also been serving on Saturday mornings, helping clean the church campus. It's nice to be able to give back to the church that is walking alongside me as I move towards full-time church planting among unreached people groups.
As for my construction job, that's going great! That's the hot and tiring part of my summer as it was 117 degrees yesterday! The picture below is of the first house I built with these guys back in the last week of May, it's had some work done preparing it to be stuccoed.
Also yesterday I had a funny thing happen. One of the guys went to work on another house and got pulled over by the cops and had his car impounded because he doesn't have a US license. So my foreman asked me to go pick him up. Except he forgot to tell me that the guy had tools and a ladder so I'm in a Cadillac Sedan picking him up. This is what we looked like driving 5 miles down the road. I told the guys it's what I learned in Tijuana haha.
For an update on church stuff, it's going well. There were a few things I wanted to get involved in this summer and the Lord has been extremely faithful to provide me with many opportunities in my church. I've been going to a small group on Thursday nights with adults and we're studying through 1st Peter along with the sermons on Sundays. It's been really encouraging to hang out with other believers and dig into the Word. I really wanted to be invested in by others this summer while home and I have really enjoyed the fellowship with other believers and have them invest in my life. I also joined a college-age small group on Tuesday nights and that's been sweet too. There's a couple people from high school that came in there after they graduated from the high school ministry and it's just been encouraging to talk with others the same age as me about our love for the Lord. There's a couple people that I've talked to about New Tribes and about coming to school so please pray for Kyle and Lorraine. They're a young married couple who love the Lord and I got to share about New Tribes with them and they said they were going to look it up. I've also been serving on Saturday mornings, helping clean the church campus. It's nice to be able to give back to the church that is walking alongside me as I move towards full-time church planting among unreached people groups.
As for my construction job, that's going great! That's the hot and tiring part of my summer as it was 117 degrees yesterday! The picture below is of the first house I built with these guys back in the last week of May, it's had some work done preparing it to be stuccoed.
Along with all the things I'm involved in, God has been teaching me incredibly through my work with my co-workers. It has been incredibly frustrating and humbling to say the least. I've been encountering a Catholic worldview mixed with apathy. I'm desiring to see the gospel come to bear in these guys life but as I speak truth or consistently share the gospel I'll get responses such as "I know I'm going to go to Hell, and I'm okay with that" to "The holy water in the church saves right?" And these responses are sad and every day I'm pleading with God to please open their hearts to the grace of God that meets man's depravity. So please pray for them, their names are Victor, Cesar, Luis, Carlos, Sergio, Jaime, and Geros. But one morning before I went to work I read this is 1st Cor. 15:58 "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." In the context, Paul is responding to the idea that there will be no bodily resurrection for believers. Paul answers this question thoroughly and in essence says that because Christ rose from the dead bodily, we all will experience a bodily resurrection and receive our glorified body. We have a future hope that far exceeds this world's. I read that and was SO encouraged that all God is asking me to do is to remain faithful with the ministry of reconciliation that he has given me, He will do the rest. He is control and has simply asked me to be a faithful steward. Because I have the hope of eternal life in Heaven and others do not, I need to remain steadfast and immovable, knowing that my position is in Christ not in my earthly circumstances and therefore continue to abound in the work of the Lord, knowing full well that it will not be in vain. How encouraging is our God?
Prayer Requests:
1. Please pray that I would be daily seeking the Lord, seeking His wisdom, and seeking to know Him more.
2. Prayer for my co-workers, that in my life they would see the life of Christ and that they would have ears to hear the good news of Christ.
3. I have a meeting on July 6th with my missions pastor so please pray for a fruitful meeting, where our relationship continues to grow and deepen as we discuss future partnerships, finances, and missions.
4. Pray for my small groups that strong partnerships would continue to develop and that by being in those groups, I would be encouraged, challenged, and stretched.
5. The world: over 2 billion people that have never heard of Christ and won't hear if the Church continues to remain unfaithful with reaching them.
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