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!