While You Were Out

Since I haven’t really written about any church news for a couple weeks, I’ll try to do a brief rundown of recent happenings. A few weeks ago we had a really good week, arguably our strongest ever – both services packed and my Chinese didn’t fall completely flat. We had 75-80 in attendance that week, which we were really excited about. The next couple weeks, though, were kind of lower in attendance. It seems like that happens after every one of our high weeks – we kind of sink into doldrums for a little while.

This Sunday, though, felt really strong. We had a good number (though I have no idea how many), and it felt like people really responded to the message. This is something that I’ve really been praying about. Obviously we want the students to be engaged in and grow in the knowledge of the Bible. I know that in my life that has often been encouraged by sitting under strong, Biblical preaching. So I can’t help but think that better preaching will make them more desirous to have their own relationship with the word.

We’re still preaching through Philippians. Finally finished chapter 2 last week. Talked about Timothy and Epaphroditus and what made them great teammates for Paul and the first generation church. Great application for college students from the lives of both of those guys. In particular, Epaphroditus is the guy that everyone needs. Philippi needs him; Paul needs him. Wherever he goes, he serves his heart out. Which makes for a great challenge for a bunch of college students, who will be tempted to draw a geographical boundary on their relationship with the Lord. After they graduate, most of them will move to other cities, start jobs and families, and unless they determine to be like Epaphroditus, will forget about the Lord, His Book, and His people. I was extremely excited to see a group of students sitting together after the service talking about the message. Major praise to see seeds of response like that.