Sunday School Stuff

Man, it's been a crazy week. This next week is going to be another toughie, perhaps just as tough. I definitely went up for prayer today at church for this week, haha.

Today's Sunday school probably went better than I thought it did. I didn't have nearly as much time to prepare, which did stink, but I thought my organization was horrible. I didn't like it. Anyway, the class generally has been going well. One man walked up to me today and told me, 'In my 30 years of being a Christian, I've never done a good study on the Minor Prophets, so this is really helping.'

So praise God. He uses our frailty.

I do think Wednesday night's sermon went better, though (on Isaiah 6). This Wednesday's will be on Matthew 28. Notice a theme?

Next week is Hosea...the longest of the Minor Prophets. Yikes.

This last week, I had 12 papers and assignments for school, and 2 messages for Church. This week, I have 10 papers and assignments for school (one of which is a sermon), and 2 messages for Church (the week after, I have either 2 or 3 depending on when I go on Spring Break).

I get to church at 7:15 am every week to set up everything. I can't imagine Daylight Saving's time. Ugh. Well, it'll be like an adventure, haha. Getting up massively early to set up.

In a few weeks here, I go from 6 classes to 3 classes. That will be a very happy time. I have to go into Beast Mode this next week. But yeah, during these insane times, prayer time is always excellent, and I definitely feel refreshed spiritually going into this next week. I do feel physically tired, though, so I'll need to relax and rest at some point soon.

Cross Allegiance is over 800 friends strong now, praise the Lord. I'll hope to formalize the structure of operations a lot more in a few weeks here.

Anyway, this post was full of random stuff. The end, lol.

Hot & Jonah

Hot

The sun is hot. The picture on the right is one of the backgrounds I made for Cross Allegiance. Some upcoming ideas for CA --

(1) Theological observations from Jonah, as they're still fresh
(2) Maybe something on Isaiah 6 since Wed. night's message will be on Isaiah 6.
(3) Jeremy needs to do another video now, lol
(4) Chris does, too, lol
(5) Something relating to aim, as I have a lot of trick basketball clips ready to use.
(6) Something with Sonstruck music in the background -- not sure on this one yet.

If you have any ideas, then lemme know. Many of the friends/subscribers are Christians, but most of the messages we get are from skeptics or seekers. I really am passionate about the evangelism side of it, but I do want to get more edification-related clips up, as well (e.g. the Jonah video idea).

I remember when I was much younger (like 8), this one guy tried to tell me that coming up with ideas was called "Rain Storming" and I was like, "Don't you mean, 'brainstorming?'" He told me no, so I asked my parents and they told me that he was wrong.

On Sunday night, we had a snowball fight. It was hot (cold). I went in when my right foot was numb -- my boots' laces are lame, and they let snow come rushing in by the ton. I didn't want to lose any toes, so I suppose that I was probably smart for going in and taking a warm shower.

I also need to get more sleep. We did some visitations yesterday, and one guy wanted me to sit in this really comfortable chair. He talked for 2.5 hours, but after 1 minute in that chair, I knew I was in trouble. Man, was that a struggle. Holy cow. It's very easy to fall asleep early in the morning when you didn't get much sleep and the other person isn't always talking directly to you! SO yeah...I'm going to try to get 8 hours a night or bust from here on out. If I could do that even 90% of the time (to allow for emergency situations), it would be a definite plus.

Minor Prophets - Week 1 (Intro & Jonah)

The Sunday School series on the Minor Prophets went really well. I didn't get much sleep on Saturday (notice a theme?), so I had more ums and uhs than I would have liked. I'll tighten that up on my end, but that's minor compared with the overall message. That's more of my own compulsivity, especially since I've done several years of media and can do much better than that.

The Intro to the Minor Prophets went really well.

Jonah went really really well.

The text is really rich, and the applications and theological observations were really heavy. I have a few extra booklets, so if you want one, let me know.

The whale may or may not have thought, "YEAH, LITTLE MAN!" when he ate Jonah.
VOTE NOW: [Yes] [No]

Anyway, here were a few of the basic Theological Observations, Themes, and Applications from Jonah that I derived (without in-depth explanation) --

Theological Observations:
1:2 – The LORD punishes wickedness – He is Just.
1:2 – The LORD very often uses people to carry out His warnings.
1:4 – The LORD is in control of nature (see also 1:17).
1:7 – The LORD sees and reveals the heart in various ways.
1:9 – The LORD uses people to bear witness of Him and His power.
1:14-16 – The LORD can use any circumstance to bring people to Himself.
1:17 – The LORD preserves life (see also 1:12ff.).
1:17 – The LORD uses His Creation to carry out His purposes.
2:2 – The LORD hears the prayers of the righteous, and He hears them from anywhere.
2:6 – The LORD saves (see also 2:9).
2:10 – The LORD speaks to His Creation and it obeys.
3:1 – The LORD is a God of second chances.
3:2 – The LORD is not forgetful.
3:3-9 – The LORD works unexpectedly through our obedience.
3:10 – The LORD hears the cry of the desperate and repentant.
3:10 – The LORD is merciful.
4:1-3 – The LORD uses imperfect people to do His perfect work.
4:4 – The LORD is patient!
4:4 – The LORD often asks challenging questions to form His people.
4:6-11 – The LORD often uses creative object examples to speak or communicate to His people.
4:11 – The LORD is understanding.
4:11 – The LORD sees His lost sheep throughout the world as valuable.

Themes:
1. Repentance --> mercy
2. God’s merciful sovereignty to a heathen nation
3. Evangelistic success even through failure
4. Imperfection of the prophet (note that Jonah seems like a case example of clinical depression!)
5. God vs. false gods

Applications from Jonah:
1. Listen to God (Jonah 1:2, 3:1-2, others)
2. Obey God, serve Him, do His work, and delight in it (Thematic)
3. Superstitious? Don’t be – be faithful and obedient (Jonah 1:5-11)
4. Have God’s heart in seeking the lost (cf. 2 Peter 3:9, Luke 19:10; Jonah 4:6-11)
5. Trust in God to bring about good purposes (cf. Genesis 50:20, Romans 8:28; Thematic)

Jonah is a really neat book.

Late

It's really late.

I saw many people from my high school graduating class tonight, as Laura put together an informal 6.5-year reunion. It'll be interesting to see over the years what people do, how they develop and change, etc. Most people were still in school in one form or another.

That being said, I'm glad to be done with the semester. I have ONE MORE to go. Wow.

In January, if things go through on the school-side (it's looking pretty good), then I'm planning a 10-week Sunday School series on the Minor Prophets. There are 12 Minor Prophets, and an intro & conclusion that would be tight to put in. Here is one option:

(1) Intro & Jonah
(2) Obadiah & Joel
(3) Hosea
(4) Amos
(5) Micah
(6) Nahum & Zephaniah
(7) Habakkuk
(8) Haggai
(9) Zechariah
(10) Malachi & Conclusion

This puts the books in general approximate chronological order, though there is some +/- there. Haggai could also be combined with another book if necessary since it's 2 chapters, though there's definitely a lot to Haggai.

The study would focus mainly on Applications & Theological Observations (what can we learn about God from this book?). Example from Habakkuk:

Theological Observations

-The LORD allows questioning. He is not threatened by it (1:2-4ff.)
-The LORD responds graciously but firmly to Habakkuk’s questioning (1:5-11, 2:2ff.)
-The LORD hears the distressed prayers of faithful Habakkuk (e.g. 1:5-11)
-The LORD uses judgment and chastisement to bring His people back to Him (1:5-11)
-The LORD uses even the most unexpected agents to carry out His purposes (1:6-11)
-The LORD knows what He’s doing (1:14-17ff.)
-The LORD is faithful to keep His Word (2:2-3)
-The LORD is massively just (2:6-20)
-The LORD is powerful and mighty to save (Chapter 3)
-The LORD brings hope (3:16-19)
-The LORD is our strength (3:19)

Applications

-The LORD has been faithful throughout history and will continue to be faithful.
-The LORD is so faithful to His covenant with us that He even would give His Son for us, even after centuries of unfaithfulness.
-Question the LORD faithfully, rooted in hope.
-Run to the LORD in trials and chastisement, not away from Him.
-The LORD often uses people and groups of people as a means of blessing and judging (1:6-11)
-Do not despise the chastening of the LORD (cf. Hebrews 12:6)
-Let us get rid of any idols in our own lives, as the people of Judah suffered because of it. The LORD our God is a jealous God! Let’s avoid idolatry.
-The LORD often cries out ‘How Long’ to His people, desiring them to return to Him!
-If you need to return to the LORD, repent!
-In seeing the LORD’s faithfulness and saving power, live in faith and trust in Him for salvation.
-Sometimes we must wait patiently to see an answer from the LORD (2:3)
-The LORD will preserve a remnant of people – those who live by faith (2:4)
-The LORD will in due time bring judgment (cf. Hebrews 9:27)
-Let us live by our faith in trusting the LORD’s provision and timing (cf. Romans 4)
-We are even today saved by faith in God’s plan – faith in Jesus (cf. John 3:16-18)
-In seeing the LORD’s past provision, have hope in His provision in the future (3:3-19)
-The LORD is powerful and mighty to save (3:3-13)
-The LORD also preserved His people to bring about the Messiah, Jesus (3:13)
-In the midst of despair, trust in the LORD (3:16-19)

So doing this for every book will be neat. Note that Habakkuk is pretty short, too.

I also don't know what the point of the picture on the left is. Hopefully this Christmas season, we won't fly away from God.

During this Christmas season, focus on the birth of Jesus, but also on the purpose of His coming -- to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

Thanks to His coming, there is hope for mankind. Instead of being enemies of God, hopeless and destined to eternal punishment, we can be made the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus and His work for us. He was our perfect sacrifice.

And because of that, may we be thankful, and if we have not come to Him yet for salvation, may we seek Him even now to repent of our sins & accept His gift of salvation.