Coming in August and September

PRBC family … I thought it might be good to fill you in on the teaching and preaching plans for the next couple of months, and then to give you some practical suggestions for how you might participate in and benefit from what is to come. So, Lord willing, here are the plans for August and September:

• Adult Sunday School: Ephesians. Brad and Tobey began, this past Sunday, leading the coed and ladies classes (respectively) through a study of the book of Ephesians.
• Sunday Sermons: Matthew. I hope to begin a series through the book of Matthew beginning August 6. This will take a good bit longer than just the next two months … but we’ll try and make a start!
• Wednesday Sermons: The Fruit of the Spirit. My hope is to look at one piece of the fruit– “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” – each Wednesday night in August and September.

Now, with all that said, here are a few ways you can participate in and benefit from these studies: 

• Pray. As you pray through the week, ask the Lord’s blessing on Brad, Tobey, and myself as we prepare and present week-by-week. And ask the Lord to give you, and all of us, “ears to hear”.
• Come. If you haven’t been to Sunday School or Wednesday night in a while (or at all), consider joining us for the studies in Ephesians and The Fruit of the Spirit. You will be blessed.
• Prepare. Here I’m thinking, particularly, about Sunday School. Grab one of the study guides on Ephesians (from the adult Sunday School classrooms), work through the lesson each week, and come on Sundays at 10, ready to chip in to the discussion!
• Read ahead. Perhaps use your family worship on Saturday night, or your quiet time on Sunday morning, to read the passage in Matthew that will (Lord willing) be preached on Sunday. If you’d like to read ahead, while my plans are always subject to change (and please forgive me if they do!), right now I’m planning on the following dates and passages in Matthew:

        o 8/6 – Matthew 1

        o 8/13 – Matthew 2

        o 8/20 – Matthew 3

        o 8/27 – Matthew 4:1-11

        o 9/3 – Matthew 4:12-25

        o 9/10 – Matthew 5:1-12

        o 9/17 – Matthew 5:13-16

        o 9/24 – Matthew 5:17-48

May “the LORD make His face shine on [us]” as we open His word together, and on our own, in the weeks ahead!