Faith Welcome this Sunday
I always love when we do a Faith Welcome luncheon. I’m all about food and I enjoy getting to meet people whose names have popped up checking into church online or in person. It’s so hard for me to have quality conversation time on Sundays when there are 300 people here and I jump from conversation to conversation. Another part of Faith Welcome that I enjoy is the tour. People are so surprised how large our building is and all the nooks and places that they haven’t seen. I enjoy telling about the different phases of growth that we have gone through and watching people’s surprise. These luncheons are to introduce new people to the staff, for them to meet some other new people and to have the opportunity to ask questions that they may have about Faith church. Since we have been going over the core values of our congregation this last month, I feel like we have done a good job explaining who we are and how we live out our Christian faith. This week will be the last in our series on Faith Values and I will talk about Learning for Life.
Speaking of learning, I have really enjoyed teaching on Wednesday night . We are doing the basics of Christianity and Methodism. I teach based on the questions the class asks and it just flows from there. Most of the people in my class have never taken a class with me before and I have enjoyed getting to know them. Most of them never took Confirmation in the UMC and the information is new to them. And those that did, have forgotten what they learned. But this class is a wonderful example of learning for life. Several of the folks in this class have been in the church their whole lives but much of the material that is considered is rather basic. Yes, we are learning and growing in our understanding of what we believe. I find it so wonderful to watch and see people grow in their understanding and I am so thankful that one of my gifts is teaching and I get to be a part of it.
Our newsletters for September were mailed today and you will find information about the new church plant in Bixby, stories about different ministries in the church and my next preaching series about Micah. I have done these deep dives into a certain book or story in the Bible and they are always well received. I would love for you to read the book of Micah in your Bible as we prepare to engage this prophet and his messages to God’s people. It is only a few pages long and you will see shifts from doom to hope that happen on the journey through the texts. I know that no one every enjoys homework, but I believe you will be blessed from reading the entire book of Micah as we start to explore it together. Feel free to send me any questions that you might have.
Love,
