On Sunday night, I preached at my former home congregation and while I thought I was prepared, the distractions that presented themselves right before I preached rattled me a little bit. The auditorium was hot, my audience was small due to meetings that had been going on between services earlier in the day and to add insult to injury, one of the members pulled me aside and while he never directly criticized my sermon, it was implied, though never stated that I came off as legalistic which according to another audience member, I did not.
Monday was also frustrating because due to logistical issues, me and Andrew were unable to do the work we had intended to do at the local community college here in Norco. By lunch time on this day, the day became somewhat bittersweet because I got to see two old friends of mine for lunch. While it was good to see them, my reason for getting together with them was because they have been wandering from the flock for a while and these two young men have become one of my primary ministries this summer due to my relationship with them.
Tuesday was our usual door knocking/visiting. We visited with a couple who had been to our congregation some time in the past but had not been back to the Norco congregation for some time. Me and Andrew left them with some info about the congregation and hope to see them again. We also saw Kim who was interesting to talk to because she recognized the family environment that exists here at Norco whereas another church she had visited does not present that same atmosphere, as Kim put it, at the other church she felt like she "was nobody" whereas here at Norco, everyone is acknowledged. We hope to see Kim back at Norco soon. Tuesday ended with a mini counseling session with me and one of the young men I had lunch with on Monday followed by our usual Tuesday young adult Bible Study where we looked at the concept of jealousy as well as our god being a jealous God.
Wednesday was a bit slower as time was spent in the office, Wednesday was pretty uneventful.
Thursday morning was spent helping our preacher here at Norco with some yard work at his house. I tell you I did this because as Christians we are called to serve so I took advantage of this opportunity to serve. Thursday afternoon was taken off to visit some friends of mine that were visiting from Denver, Brian, Deann, Joe, and Anna Wilkie. They are great people and I enjoyed the time I had with them. Joe is also one of my classmates at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver. He is great friend, brother in Christ and not to mention a great roller hockey player. With them, I enjoyed the ever famous In N Out Burger (pictured below) and then I went with them to watch Joe play one of his roller hockey games which is part of a local tournament he is in.
Friday and Saturday were both taken off as we had some family come in for the July 4th weekend who are staying until Friday of this week.
So again, between seeing family and dealing with the ups and downs of ministry, this last week was a combination of joys and frustrations but at this point in my time working with Andrew and the Norco church of Christ, it has been worth every minute and truth be told I am loving it!
THANKS FOR READING EVERYONE! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS AND HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY JULY 4TH!
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