Hey everyone, sorry about not posting since April. I have slacked in this area, but maybe I'll be able to get back into it a little bit.
We've started our second year of Awana and are really enjoying it. We've had around 25-35 kids each week. That's taken a lot of prep work for both Misty and I. It's been interesting trying to fit the church schedule into something that remotely looks feasible.
We're still studying John on Sunday mornings. We had our first anniversary in the book at the beginning of September and we're enjoying just taking our time and seeing how things fit together.
In personal news... we are expecting baby #4 in March. Not sure if we'll have a boy or girl at this point, ask us in a few months. ;-) We haven't done a lot of announcing about this, originally because we just wanted to see if we could keep it a secret. After that though, there have been some complications and we weren't sure a number of times if we had lost the baby. As of this past Monday though, it seems that the baby is doing extremely well. Ellie was even able to feel the baby kick.
Well, supper is about ready, so I should get going.
Showing posts with label Awana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Awana. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Beautiful Living: Older Men Part 3
Good morning (yes, I realize that it may not be morning where you are right now as you read this, but it's always morning somewhere). Update on things going on here before we get back to Titus. Awana has been going really well. We've gained a couple of kids, but at this point I'm not sure how regular they will be, and potentially lost one of my T&T girls due to a family situation. Please continue to keep these children in your prayers. We want to make sure these children know our Savior and as they study the Word of God will be living it out in their lives. Remember to check out my wife's blog for information on the adoption. The link is to the right.
Ok, now back to Titus. We're discussing the qualities that the older men in the church are to have. The next is that they are to be "self-controlled".
The opposite of self-controlled is to be "other-controlled". This is something that we need to be cautious about. What is it that controls you? There are many things that can cause you to lose your self-control. Alcohol is the first thing that I think of. It's common knowledge that drinking too much can lead to loss of control. I've been to wedding receptions where the booze has flown freely. Everyone had fun, even those who didn't drink, yet those who had been drinking were doing things that they never would do without the influence of alcohol. Self-controlled, they were not.
How about anger? I know people who become very angry. They lose control. When this happens, it is a scary thing because you don't know what's going to happen. If you look into their eyes, you don't see them, it's almost like looking into the eyes of an animal. Something that should definitely be avoided.
Being self-controlled is also one of the requirements for the leaders of the church in Titus 1:8. They should be self-controlled, or temperate in their desires. The question that this all comes down to is simply, "do your desires control you and force you to live in order to fulfill those desires?" Unfortunately, the desires that tend to control you are the desires that are sinful. What should happen, is that your desires change to become God's desires. Psalm 37:4 deals with this. “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
This does not mean that God will simply give you whatever you want. This is really dealing with your heart. When your delight is in the Lord, you delight in what He delights in. You desire what He desires. When your hearts desire is for God's hearts desire, then you will get the desires of your heart.
So, do your desires control you, or do you allow God's desires to lead you?
Ok, now back to Titus. We're discussing the qualities that the older men in the church are to have. The next is that they are to be "self-controlled".
The opposite of self-controlled is to be "other-controlled". This is something that we need to be cautious about. What is it that controls you? There are many things that can cause you to lose your self-control. Alcohol is the first thing that I think of. It's common knowledge that drinking too much can lead to loss of control. I've been to wedding receptions where the booze has flown freely. Everyone had fun, even those who didn't drink, yet those who had been drinking were doing things that they never would do without the influence of alcohol. Self-controlled, they were not.
How about anger? I know people who become very angry. They lose control. When this happens, it is a scary thing because you don't know what's going to happen. If you look into their eyes, you don't see them, it's almost like looking into the eyes of an animal. Something that should definitely be avoided.
Being self-controlled is also one of the requirements for the leaders of the church in Titus 1:8. They should be self-controlled, or temperate in their desires. The question that this all comes down to is simply, "do your desires control you and force you to live in order to fulfill those desires?" Unfortunately, the desires that tend to control you are the desires that are sinful. What should happen, is that your desires change to become God's desires. Psalm 37:4 deals with this. “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
This does not mean that God will simply give you whatever you want. This is really dealing with your heart. When your delight is in the Lord, you delight in what He delights in. You desire what He desires. When your hearts desire is for God's hearts desire, then you will get the desires of your heart.
So, do your desires control you, or do you allow God's desires to lead you?
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Awana
Please keep us in your prayers. Tonight is our first night of Awana and my first night of being an Awana commander. I am so thankful for my wife who has pretty much gotten this whole thing organized single-handedly. She's excited about her Cubbies group and I'll be taking care of games, T&T (Truth & Training, the 3rd-6th grades), large group time, and whatever else needs to be done.
Our prayers are that we will have a lot of kids, that the Gospel will be presented clearly in a way that they can understand, and that the parents will be affected by the work of God in the lives of their children. We really desire this to be an outreach to the families in the area.
God bless!
UPDATE: After our first night has been completed... I believe this night was a success. We had a pretty good group of kids (25-30, not quite sure yet on the exact number) and it just went really well. We were able to have a lot of fun and the kids were able to learn about God's Word. It was great. Thanks for your prayers!
Our prayers are that we will have a lot of kids, that the Gospel will be presented clearly in a way that they can understand, and that the parents will be affected by the work of God in the lives of their children. We really desire this to be an outreach to the families in the area.
God bless!
UPDATE: After our first night has been completed... I believe this night was a success. We had a pretty good group of kids (25-30, not quite sure yet on the exact number) and it just went really well. We were able to have a lot of fun and the kids were able to learn about God's Word. It was great. Thanks for your prayers!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Things that make you go, ugh...
Hey everyone, things are pretty crazy here in the Larson home. 3 out of 4 of us are sick, leaving only sweet little 3 almost 4 year old Ellie to take care of the rest of us. (Ok, not really, but Misty, Evan, and I are quite miserable today.
Be praying for us, the adoption process may speed up for us here. There are two families traveling to Vietnam in about a week that were either behind us in their schedule or dead even with us. Read Misty's blog for more information on that.
Also, Awana is going to be starting here next Wednesday (the 19th) and we were supposed to have our basic training on Saturday. Unfortunately, the guy who is doing the training is delayed on a work trip to Texas and won't be back in time. We are going to delay the training, but still have our kick-off parents night on schedule.
We've also finished up the book of Titus in Church a couple of weeks ago and are beginning to go through John. I think I'll wait to do Hebrews 11 until later. I'll still update with notes from Titus as we go along here though.
God bless,
Parson Larson
Be praying for us, the adoption process may speed up for us here. There are two families traveling to Vietnam in about a week that were either behind us in their schedule or dead even with us. Read Misty's blog for more information on that.
Also, Awana is going to be starting here next Wednesday (the 19th) and we were supposed to have our basic training on Saturday. Unfortunately, the guy who is doing the training is delayed on a work trip to Texas and won't be back in time. We are going to delay the training, but still have our kick-off parents night on schedule.
We've also finished up the book of Titus in Church a couple of weeks ago and are beginning to go through John. I think I'll wait to do Hebrews 11 until later. I'll still update with notes from Titus as we go along here though.
God bless,
Parson Larson
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