Church Notes

I was a bit optimistic this week when planning my Sunday School class. We're starting the order of salvation, and I planned to cover election, atonement, and calling. Well, we did get through all three, but we were rushed at the end, and we didn't get to the worksheet. The good news is, I don't have to write next week's lesson, since it's going to be a review and worksheet week! Next time, I'll do election as its own lesson, and then do atonement and calling. There are still 3 points to go (justification/regeneration/conversion/adoption; sanctification/perseverance; and glorification). I'm definitely doing those as two separate lessons.

We had a short Sunday School meeting after the service, mostly just to give me a chance to touch base with the teachers and deal with any potential issues. Things seem to be going smoothly, for the most part, with only a couple small areas to tighten up a bit (that's the way it is all the time, I think). We also talked about the emergency evacuation plan in the event of fire, and the plan to have a fire drill one day when spring has come for sure, and the blacktop has been laid (we believe in fire drills, but only when it's nice outside). We also had a brief discussion of the plan for an earthquake (same as fire), a nuclear attack (we all die), and a tsunami (we live in central Alberta; this will not be a problem). I believe the conclusion is that we will deal with disasters through sarcasm, and that the other teachers are sometimes worse than I am!

Pastor Mike preached on Ephesians 3:14-19 today. It was a very, very good sermon, and you should listen to it here (it seems to be uploaded already). The passage is one of Paul's prayers, and it's such a big, confident, amazing prayer for the church he loved, that they would be strengthened with God's power, indwelt by Christ, and know His love so fully. I may have to listen to the sermon again.

Here's a hymn to go with the sermon: