The Story and Other News

Since the beginning of January, the whole church has been excited about our new Bible study on The Story. (Perhaps I'm more excited than anyone.) The Story is a 31 week study of the Bible that is unbelieveably organized and is put in plain English. I can't compliment it enough. Everybody gets a Story book that they read on their own and what's great about it is that it's not in "Bible format". What I mean by that is that it doesn't have all the chapters and verses, and it is written to sound and feel more like a novel, so it is easier to read and understand. Then, add that with the sermons and follow up Sunday school lessons and the picture is painted crystal clear. I am learning so much by this process of starting at the very beginning and working our way through the Bible. Another great thing about it is that even with the chapter, the sermon, and the sunday school lesson, there still isn't time for everything, so it leaves you hanging. It leaves you hungry for more. This way, we are all the more encouraged to crack open that Bible we carry around, but often neglect. This comming Sunday will only be week three, but I am all kinds of impressed with it already and I'm itching to learn about stories I don't even know exist yet and dive deeper into the stories I've heard my whole life.

The kids seem to enjoy the program as well. Of course, they aren't quite excited about it as I am since it may feel more like school, but they have lessons on the same things the adults are studying. They are just presented differently to accommodate the different age groups. Now, I usually talk about all the fun events we have coming up, but there has not been much planned for January with the starting of The Story and everything. We do plan to go to Winter Jam in St. Charles, MO on Saturday, but I am having a difficult time finding another adult to drive and chapperone, so unfortunately, the trip may be cancelled. It breaks my heart to do that, but sadly, I don't have a bus in my back yard. Hopefully, someone will be available between now and then. I'd like to ask you to keep our group in your prayers as we are in desperate need of youth sponsors at Northside. Thanks and God bless.