Loads of Fun!

We started our new schedule at Hope yesterday, and I'm really pleased with how things went. Oh, sure, there are some kinks to work out and a few changes that will be inevitable. But it felt great to offer a kids' program that was targeted to their learning development, to free up parents to focus on their own worship and learning, etc. And because the children had been dismissed prior to the message, I was free to explore Joseph's encounter with Potiphar's wife in a bit more detail than I would have with a broader-age audience.

The Elder Team at Hope also made decisions regarding the direction for youth ministry, and I'm looking forward to empowering students to invite their friends to the "main event" midweek, supplemented by a more in-depth study on the weekend for those who desire it. There's a great team of adults committed to working with our Junior & Senior High students, and it'll be fun to see what God has in store for them. (And I'm especially grateful for Chris & Stephanie's hard work at organizing the big car rally for teens this past weekend. Though we now know to never let Christ navigate on long trips, I know this was an event students won't quickly forget. We're chalking the whole thing up to a bonding experience born from a love for helping kids have fun and cultivate relationships. Way to go, guys!)

Our new Sunday schedule enabled Margo and I to slip out after church and scoot over to Warrenton Bible Fellowship just in time to hear Al Menconi speak in the second service. Yay! Then we enjoyed lunch together over at Five Guys (great burgers, but my arteries will never forgive me...). We're looking forward to working with a few other churches to bring Al back to our community next spring for a big event on keeping kids safe in the Internet age. Cool stuff!

As if all that wasn't enough, we also started our new Hope Group on Sunday afternoon. We've got a terrific group of people, and it's going to be fun learning together, building relationships, praying for each other, etc.