Church Life #3
This series is about our life with the church as we attempt to live together as brothers and sisters. (For a more detailed description of this series, see my post “Church Life – A New Series.”)
Monday: I was able to have lunch with Jonathan today. Jonathan and I had lunch together several times during the summer. But, with his new work schedule and school schedule, we’ve had a hard time getting together. I think we’ll both be available on Mondays now! We talked about school and work and games and elders and Bible studies and missions and many, many other things.
Tuesday: My new friend Jeremiah had to take his van to the shop. So, he called and asked if I could pick up him and give him a ride home. I was able to spend a few minutes talking with him and one of his daughters. Once we got to his house, I think we talked longer than either of us intended… lots of good topics though.
Wednesday: After work, we went over to the Henry’s house. They had mentioned that they were painting their house that night, so we wanted to help them. They fed us some very delicious chili before we started painting! We were able to get the first coat on their living room and hallway before going home.
Thursday: A friend of mine (not a “member” of Messiah Baptist Church) was dealing with depression. He told me over the phone, so he and I got together for a few minutes to talk about his situation.
Thursday afternoon, a young man asked if he could meet with me. He had met with us one Sunday and had questions about the church. We talked for a while about elders and ministry (service) and other things. Usually, when I talk to someone like this, I end up saying “Well, we do things a little differently” several times.
Friday: Margaret and I went to New Bern, NC for the weekend to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. Our anniversary was actually back in January, but Margaret’s dad had heart surgery then and she spent a month with him to take care of him. Some friends stayed at our house and took care of Jeremy and Miranda while we were out of town.
Saturday: Our good friends Kevin and Misty moved to the New Bern area last year. So, Saturday night we got together with them for dinner. Kevin is a football coach at a local public high school, and I am so excited about what God is doing through them there!
Sunday: Since we were out of town, we did not intend to meet with the church Sunday morning. However, it turns out that downtown New Bern closes Sunday morning. So, we ate breakfast and drove back home. We go to the meeting place around 1:00, and the church was still meeting. This was a very encouraging meeting because four men who had been nominated to be elders by the church were leading a discussion. The church was asking them questions as the church prepares to recognize some or all of them as elders.
Sunday night, Jeremy and I and Jeremy’s friend Jason went to Jeremiah and Kerri’s home for a bonfire. We had a great time getting to know them better and eating s’mores!