Blessings to you, loved ones.  Here’s this week’s update.

I want you to know how encouraged I was by the number of people who came last Sunday.  You are a blessing just by showing up.  We’re going through a tough time, but God is with us. We will come through stronger than before.

Since our van is still being serviced, we were missing some of the folks we usually pick up.  I got to see John and Kelvin this week and they are both eager for the day when they can join us again.  Special thanks to Austin, a new student from the Agape program at Dallas Theological Seminary who has joined us for the summer, for his help in making those visits.  He and his family were there on Sunday.  If you didn’t get a chance to meet them be sure and make them feel welcome this week.  They may not be able to come every Sunday due to other obligations but we’re glad to have them when they can.

We commemorated The Lord’s Supper last Sunday as well.  We’ll be doing that every two months from now on instead of just once per quarter.  It was an appropriate way to celebrate the ultimate freedom that we have because of what He did for us.  Priscilla taught us on trust and obedience from the account of Abraham and Isaac, and I shared with you lessons on holy living from 1 Thessalonians, Chapter 4.  So now my hope is that you will come back.  🙂

Now I have a question for you.  Are you being used?  That phrase, when applied to human relationships , does not evoke positive associations.  We do not like being used, and we avoid the people we consider to be users.  I think it is safe to say that all of us have felt used in that way at some point in our lives.

But there is one person that we as followers of Jesus do want to use us.  We pray for it.  We sing songs about it.  It is a high honor when God chooses to use us.  And He will do so.  Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are created to walk in the good works that he prepared beforehand for us.  As the two verses before make clear, the works themselves don’t save us, but they are part of the purpose for which we are created.

There is someone else who wants to use us, and too often we allow him to do so.  This Sunday, I want to share with you some ways we can make ourselves available for God to use and deny Satan the opportunity to use us for his evil purposes.  I hope you’ll come.

Keep Ruth in your prayers.  She has more test coming up next week to try to determine why she passes out.  Pray for Lisa as he faces radiation treatments for the cancer.  Pray also for those she has been caring for.  We have a great number of needs in our little congregation, but we have a God who is able to supply all of our needs.  Let’s pray for each other and be a part of God’s answer to those prayers.

Love y’all!

Larry