Financial Peace University is for anyone who earns money and spends money, plans to invest, puchase or sell a house, send a child to college, and retire. Dave is known for his campaign against the use of credit, debt elimination plan and how to deal with creditors. He also provides information about insurance, how to get that “perfect” job, getting great bargins on your purchases, and much much more. FPU is a down to earth, “this is how to do it” program on managing your finances. The information is presented in terms that all can understand.

Precept involves about 5-6 hours of homework in a week, and the two-hour class involves an hour of group discussion and an hour of video teaching. Precept is an inductive Bible study. Inductive Bible study shows you how to discover God’s Truth for yourself. The concept behind the inductive study method is to get students personally, intimately involved with the subject, observing carefully for themselves.

Precept uses a straightforward investigative approach to open the Bible and build context for each statement it contains. That’s where we find God’s precepts—or principles—for life. Inductive study is the tool used to collect those precepts to build a God-glorifying, Bible-centered worldview with clear applications to live the abundant, victorious life in Christ.

Tune-Up starts on September 1 and continues weekly, with a few breaks for holidays, until May.

Join your friends for a home-cooked lunch and Bible study. The cost is $6,  and that includes you meal, drink, and dessert. Contact Vicki Wetherbee at (254) 939-0705 with questions. Reservations preferred but not required.

Last Fall, when I was raking and bagging leaves, and raking and bagging and raking. You get the picture. I decided it was time to put some of the mulch from the drain on my pile of leaves to be spread this Spring.

I tried to rake the leaves, but they wouldn’t budge. So I got a shovel. When I attempted to shovel the pile, it still wouldn’t move. What was the deal? Water could no longer flow through the drain and I couldn’t get the leaves moved. I put on my heaviest gloves and began to dig around in the mulch. Much to my surprise, I found a large root growing the length of the drainage walk. I never did figure out where it came from, but I did get my trusty cutters and began to dissect the root. As I pulled out the root, the leaves and mulch were attached and came out in large sections.

Hebrews 12:14-15 warns that a “root of bitterness” can clog the flow of God’s grace in our lives. If we have allowed our hearts to be hardened by unforgiveness and bitterness, we cannot be a conduit of God’s love and mercy in the lives of others.

Get out your spiritual shovel and ask the Holy Spirit to clean out any roots that have taken hold in your heart.

When the wind blew, our phone often went out. I called the phone company and a repair person was sent. As the repairman followed the line through a small tree near our carport, she told me I needed to trim the tree because it was causing the static.

So, I began pulling the honeysuckle that was wrapped in the tree, in order to more easily trim the branches. I was amazed at how strong and abundant the honeysuckle vine was. Using my full body weight, I would tug on the vine coaxing it from the tree. It took me several hours to clear the prolific vegetation. In places, the tree bark had actually grown around the vine. I was shocked to find that without the honeysuckle, there was no green left. The tree was dead!

I was reminded of these verses from the book of James. When we think of honeysuckle, we think of a beautiful, sweet smelling plant that blossoms in early Spring. But like sin, which often appears beautiful and smells good, the vine had subtly wrapped itself around the tree and choked out the life. Unfortunately, Satan doesn’t come to us in a red suit and say, “Hey let me destroy your marriage, your health, or your finances.” He brings the temptation in a nice looking package. Remember Eve. She saw. She tasted. She shared it. And all man-kind from then on died. Sin can become so much a part of our life, that like the vine grown into the bark, we take it in and just think it’s our personality or family upbringing. It is painful to cut out that which has become so much a part of who we are.

When the Lord begins to reveal sin in our life what are we to do? Do you remember Barney Fife from the Andy Griffith show? What was his sage advice to Andy in dealing with Opie’s disobedience? “Nip it; nip it in the bud!” That is good counsel according to God’s Word in James. When we are tempted: NIP IT IN THE BUD. Don’t let those thoughts give birth to sin, for it will surely lead to death.

The Word of God is called the sword of the Spirit. Keep your sword sharp and near-by for easy “nipping.”

Are you interested in being a marriage mentor? Training will be available beginning Sunday, May 2 at 4 pm in room 255.

Do you have a relatively happy marriage and feel that you could be of benefit to a younger couple or a couple going through a trial that you successfully navigated? Dr. Les & Leslie Parrott have developed a 5 week video training for marriage mentors.

Fill out an application from the table in the foyer or contact Kandy Kirkley at (254) 939-0705.

Friendship is the theme for this year’s Ladies’ Tea on Saturday, April 17, from 1-3 pm in the church gym.

Hostesses will decorate 23 tables and serve eight women each to a light lunch and time of fellowship. Rebecca O’Banion, Alumni Director at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, will be the speaker.

There is no cost to attend, just sign up through your small group or call the church office.  Kingdom Kids is available by reservation. Come spend time with some old friends and make some new ones.

A group of young women are gathered around a visitor in the youth department, welcoming her to class, even though she isn’t dressed like them and doesn’t go to the same school as they.

In the worship center, a single mom is struggling with her three young children, when an older woman slips in the pew next to them and offers to hold the baby so the mother can help the little boys learn to participate in “big church.”

As the church service ends, a young couple invites a senior adult widower to join them for lunch.

I ask myself, “Is this heaven?”

Financial Peace University is for anyone who earns money and spends money, plans to invest, puchase or sell a house, send a child to college, and retire. Dave is known for his campaign against the use of credit, debt elimination plan and how to deal with creditors. He also provides information about insurance, how to get that “perfect” job, getting great bargins on your purchases, and much much more. FPU is a down to earth, “this is how to do it” program on managing your finances. The information is presented in terms that all can understand.