Keeping the saved saved...

So three weeks in, I have learned so much while working as an intern here at the Norco church of Christ. As I am looking at my calendar and seeing how full of activities it has been, I realize that visiting with and encouraging the brethren is just as important as saving the lost souls.Much of last week was an attempt at keeping the saved saved.

Between lunches and Bible studies with Christians, last week was an insanely busy week but an awesome week none the less.

Sunday was a bittersweet day as it was my first Father's Day without my dad.  That morning I preached at Norco.  I didn't preach a Father's Day sermon per-se but I did adapt my illustration to Father's Day and simply talked about how like my earthly father did, our heavenly Father also expects all Christians to work hard and to be diligent in our faith based on 2 Peter 1:3-18.  After the sermon, I received several encouraging comments. 

On Monday, me and Andrew made our first attempt at reaching the Norco campus of Riverside Community College and did not meet this with much success due to logistical issues.  This is a ministry we are still trying to get on its feet.  Monday afternoon, another mishap in that a person I was supposed to study with had to reschedule but me and my friend/sister in Christ, Kelly went to visit someone we have not seen at Norco for a while, Lauren.  She and her family are getting ready to move to Iowa so unfortunately we won't be seeing her anymore.  

Tuesday was our usual routine but as opposed to knocking "cold doors," people we hadn't seen, we visited people who were either members or had visited Norco before.  During this time, Andrew also ran into some familiar faces.  That night concluded with our young adult Bible study at the Norco church building. 

Wednesday was a full day for me in that I had a Bible study with my other friend Britney followed by lunch with one of my supporting elders, Corey.  Both occasions were very encouraging for me. 

Thursday.  I spent the morning in the office getting some work done but then had lunch with an old friend of mine who unfortunately is fighting some discouragement as a result of some things that are happening around her.  I hope to be an encouragement to her.  After that, I went and visited some other old friends of mine as well as an older woman, Joye who was at a local skilled nursing facility.  I was happy to see her and she was happy to see me.  We got caught up on what was going on in my life and she also shared with me some of the trials and triumphs that her family has had including her and her husband, Bob.  The highlight of this day was that I ran into some members from the congregation I was baptized at simply because they needed to use the Norco church building for an event they had to prepare for.  It was nice catching up with them.  

Friday.  Friday was relatively slow but I had lunch in the afternoon with one of our newer converts, Joseph. He is a neat guy.  He has a lot going on in his life but I am excited to see how God uses all those things in Joseph's life to His glory. 

Saturday.  Saturday was probably the highlight of my whole week.  I went to Anaheim, California to an area wide Spanish youth rally called Juventud en Accion (Youth in Action).  This movement involving several congregations in Southern California and across the Latin American world is pushing youth to share the gospel with the world.  The speaker there delivered an excellent message based on 1 Timothy 4:12 and how it is up to the youth to work to fulfill what is said in this passage.

Thanks for reading everyone and I pray this has been informative.

Encouraging...

So here I am at the end of my third week doing the Lord's work here in the community of Norco, California and so far everything has been going great.

On Sunday the 12th, I had the privilege of preaching God's Word to the brethren in Chino, California for both morning and evening services.  I also had the pleasure of joining them at the home of Reuben and Roma, one of the elders and his wife from Chino for a night of being encouraged through song.  In between services, I also had the privilege of sitting in on the men's business meeting here at the Norco congregation where you find out about the various issues that are going on in the church and since we don't have elders, it is up to all the men of the congregation to make the decision on how to handle said issues.  Gave me a glimpse into the issues that go on within the Lord's body and how they get handled.    

Monday is typically a slower day and is spent in the office getting things done for the week such as sermons, Bible studies and any other tasks that might come up so nothing terribly exciting happened on this day.

Tuesday is when the momentum for the week really began to pick up.  I spent the early morning hours doing some office work and then from there I went on to help Andrew move some things into his new place along with his family.  That took a couple of hours after which I came back to the building to get ready for an afternoon of knocking doors in the community.  Truth be told the door knocking was relatively unsuccessful except for the fact that I was able to get a Bible Study set up with a girl named Stacy that I have later on this afternoon (Monday).  After that I spent some time at the home of the preacher here in Norco whose daughter is also a friend of mine.

Wednesday was encouraging because I got to spend some time with and get acquainted with Reuben and Roma (mentioned above).  He and his wife gave some pointers in regards to the sermon I preached as well as how to handle the invitation when I am a guest speaker.

Thursday was a great day as well because I got to spend time in Scripture with a sister in Christ and help strengthen her faith in some of the elementary teachings of the Scriptures.

Friday was actually a day off for me due to some work that was going to be done on Saturday so I had the chance to have lunch with another supporter of mine where we discussed some more issues going on in the Lord's Church.  This person Lois is a source of encouragement for me because she is among the few who see what needs to be done and tries to do what she can about it.

Finally, Saturday morning was spent visiting members and/or visitors to the Norco congregation but unfortunately the majority of people we visited were not home so me and Andrew may have to go back again some time this week.  That afternoon was spent hanging out with Andrew and his wife and kids.  After all this, I went back to the church building to practice the sermon I would preach on Father's Day.

In the interest of your valuable time, I will tell you how my Father's Day sermon and Lord's Day altogether went in next week's blog.  This is the latest of what has been happening in the Lord's Kingdom in Southern California.  I would just like to leave you with the fact that sometimes it is the little encounters and the time you spend with people that can sometimes be the most encouraging.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!    

Preaching the word...

"Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction."--1 Timothy 4:2.  I start this blog off with this passage because this is what the majority of this last week was spent doing, preaching the word.

On Tuesday, we did our usual door knocking and that turned out to be an interesting event in itself in that we met a Japanese lady who spoke broken English but was interested in talking about the gospel message.  She mentioned she couldn't really read in English so we are going to try to see if we can get some material translated into Japanese so that language is not a barrier in getting the gospel message to this woman.  Additionally, we met an older couple who was really outgoing and seemed to be a good prospect but it remains to be seen if we will have an opportunity to share the gospel with them.  Finally, I had the privilege of leading the Tuesday night Young Adult Bible Study talking about brotherly kindness as one of the Christian Virtues per 2 Peter 1.  

Wednesday was spent running some errands but additionally me and Andrew went to seek out a couple of sheep that have wandered from the flock. One of them seems to be open to getting re-connected to the fold of God but the other it is going to take some time and patience as both he and his family have gone through several trials over the last few years.

Thursday was probably the most exciting day for me because me and Andrew were able to share the pure, unadulterated gospel message with Scott, a man from the community we had helped move earlier this month.  I had visited with Scott on my own time last Monday and he was wide open to studying the Bible as he was unsure of his own salvation even though he had been raised in a church environment.  I had the privilege of once again leading the study.  Unfortunately, there was no baptism just yet but based on Scott's response, we know he understood what he needed to do.  Please pray for Scott as he wrestles with this decision and please pray that he makes the right decision.

Friday and Saturday were days off for me so after posting my morning and evening devo's I left for San Clemente to spend Friday night through Saturday afternoon with my brother as he is leaving for Afghanistan later this week.  Also on Friday, I spent time with another friend and sister in Christ, Britney who has such a great and enthusiastic attitude towards learning God's Word and learning in general.  She is a joy and an encouragement to me and to all she comes into contact with.  Please pray for him as well.  Also while I was down there I took some time to have lunch with an old friend of mine and sister in Christ, Charisa.  It was good to see her.

Finally, Sunday (yesterday) was probably the busiest day for me.  I had the privilege of preaching God's Word both morning and evening to the brethren at the Chino church of Christ.  Preached through 2 Peter 1 and 2 and some of chapter 3 between the morning and evening services.  After morning services I went out to lunch with my good friend, brother in Christ, elder at Chino and fellow preacher Gene Rupel and his family after which I had to attend a men's business meeting at the Norco congregation.  After that I went back to Chino to do my evening sermon and then I was excited to enjoy some great fellowship and singing at the home of another one of the elder's with the brethren from Chino.  It was a long day and night to be sure but worth every minute.

This coming week is going to be somewhat busy as well as I need to prepare to preach for Norco this coming Sunday and also help Andrew wherever I can and continue to preach God's Word.  I also am excited to spend some time with some of my supporters later on this week.

Ill keep you all posted by next Sunday night or Monday morning.

Until then, KEEP UP THE GOD WORK! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS! 

Fellowship and sowing the seed...

So here I am. My first week, which was more like half a week since I started Wednesday as an intern at the Norco church of Christ in Norco California has been completed.

Wednesday me and Andrew met up and it was a pretty slow day.  We just talked about the rest of the week and got ready for a door knocking and visitation campaign the congregation was having this last Saturday, yesterday.  We then spent some time with Andrew's brother.Following that, I came back to the church building to get some work done before Wednesday night Bible Study.  I was also excited to find out that I was going to be able to access the building if I needed to when I was given a key to the building.  Furthermore, I was excited to know that I would have my own office space so I could have space to get my work done such as sermons etc.  

Thursday picked up a little bit.  I was able in the morning to go to the local college campus and see how me and Andrew would be able to get on the campus to sow the seed on campus.  I was on my own when I did that. Additionally, I picked up some things Andrew needed for some of the materials for door knocking and caught up with some of my former colleagues from my old job.   I then came back to the church building until lunch time when I met up with Andrew again and had lunch and spent time with some of his family.  Thursday was an errand day.  Thursday night was spent with Andrew, his family and some of our friends playing games as well as having gone to Chuck E Cheese with Andrew's kids.

Friday  I spent some time working on a sermon.  I had lunch with some other colleagues that I am attempting sow the seed with.  It was productive and they both seem pretty open to talk about "religious things." My prayer is that this will be successful.  Later that afternoon, me and Andrew helped a person from the community move and I am excited because we get to meet with him and possibly his wife Monday night and share God's Word with him.

Saturday was relatively uneventful for me and I have yet to hear how the door knocking campaign went.  I was unable to go on the campaign because I had to go to an area wide preacher's breakfast hosted by another one of my supporting congregations.  There I met several preachers and elders from different area congregations.  It was a one day retreat.  They had two speakers from two different congregations.   The event was organized by the Chino church of Christ which as I said are supporting me during my time at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver.  The theme of the event "People for His Own Possession, Zealous for Good Deeds," based on Titus 2:14.  It was a very encouraging time with great food and great fellowship. Saturday afternoon I just caught up with an old friend of mine and made a couple of calls to other friends and spent a relaxing evening at home.  

Sunday was spent worshipping the Lord of course and then having lunch with members from the Norco congregation.  I was also excited to see some of my very good friends, a married couple, Jason and Serena Gentry.  Jason's parents are members at Norco.  Jason and Serena are a great example in their own way.  They both lead very busy lives but make an effort to remain actively involved in the Lord's Church.  Keep up the GOD work Jason and Serena!  I don't see them that often since they live in Northern California but when I do it is always a joyous occasion as they are both great encouragements for me.

Finally, this next week should be exciting as we are doing some more door knocking, I have some studies I get to go to, one of which I am leading. And next Sunday, I get to preach God's Word TWICE to the brethren at the Chino congregation.

I WILL KEEP YOU ALL POSTED ON HOW ALL THAT GOES! UNTIL THEN, THIS IS DAVID MALLEY, FROM A CHURCH BUILDING IN NORCO, CALIFORNIA, SIGNING OFF! :-) LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS! SEE YA NEXT SUNDAY! :-)