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It felt good to get back in the ABF routine, and seeing old faces and new faces also makes it fun. To the new folks, this is a chance to catch up for the ones who have missed ABF recently, and a chance to document where we've been from a teaching standpoint. Some announcements you'll want to keep in mind...
Ladies Night on the Town is on Thursday, January 19th, 6:30pm @ Casa D'Angelo in Macedonia. Please RSVP.
Guys Night is THIS Friday, January 13. View the Invite.
Some have been following the story of the Lutz Family and praying for them. Mary has been keeping us posted on the Life Answers Facebook page, and that's the best place for up-to-the-minute news on the Lutz front. This, though, is an e-mail I received earlier today from Joel: Praise and Thanks Report:
1. Zoe has not had any seizures for the past three days.
2. Zoe is now in a normal crib. She can maintain here temperature on her own.
3. Jenni c-section cut is healing very quickly and each day she is able to move around much easier.
4. Our friends from Immanuel here in Wiesbaden continue to bring us dinners every other day.
Prayer Requests:
1. For the Seizures to continue to be controlled. Zoe needs to go at least three or four days seizure free before she goes home.
2. For wisdom for the doctors to evaluate the samples from the bio-chemical test and that they will give clues on the trigger for the seizures.
Have a great week.
Joel
Last Sunday's ABF Recap - Who Are We
rg & tg
Second Corinthians 5:17 led us off this past week: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Tony recounted his testimony, and told the story of the man who was trying to unload a painting, and finally found another guy to take it off his hands for $70. The new owner had it appraised to find it valued at tens of millions of dollars, for it was a lost Da Vinci. The connection was made between the two and it is this: our lives were nothing and we were destined for death. But we've been given an invaluable gift, much more valuable than the art treasure that was discovered, in that Jesus paid his life for sin. The degree to which we can grasp the significance will impact our lives more profoundly than the man who found the lost art.
Reading the Scriptures tells us a lot about who God is, but it also talks a lot about who we are. There are four things that, as believers in Christ, we lost.
- Our condemnation - Romans 3:23
- Our separation - Isaiah 59:2 says, But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. And Ephesians 2:1 tells us, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.
- Our inability to please God - Isaiah 64:6 says, All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
- Our path to hell - Revelation 20:11-15
Before Christ, we had nothing. We were the old painting.
But that time has passed, and the purpose of dwelling on it is... there is no purpose in dwelling on it. We are now new creations!
And there is a list of things we have gained in Christ, including...
- Perfection - Hebrews 10:12-14
- Forgotten and Forgiven Sins - Hebrews 10:17 says, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."
When God looks at us, he sees the righteousness of Christ!
- Indwelling of the Holy Spirit - Romans 8:11; just to be clear, this is the God of the universe, and he won't let us go!
- We have been made Alive - John 3:1-10 (Nicodemus' story)
This is clearly not the end of The List, but it is the end of the list that we covered this past Sunday. Join us this Sunday for Part II of Who Are We?
Enjoy your week! Send an encouraging note to a friend.
RG
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