Devotions for the week of May 31st

Daily Devotions:

Day One:
Read 1 Peter 2:21-3:1.  What kind of example did Christ leave for us in how to love others?  Today, focus on emulating Christ's example of unconditional love, even in the face of hostility.

Day Two:
Read 1 Peter 3:1.  In the same way that Christ expressed His love by submitting Himself, so wives are to express their love to submitting themselves to their husbands.  How do expectations get in the way of fulfilling this command?  As you go through the day, think about the expectations you place on your spouse.

Day Three:
Read 1 Peter 3:1-2.  When you submit to someone else, you gain favor in his or her eyes.  How about when you place expectations on others?  What kind of response does this elicit?  Focus today on how people react to the weight of expectations that are placed on them?

Day Four:
Read 1 Peter 3:7.  In the same way that wives are to submit to their husbands, husbands are to be considerate and respectful toward their wives.  One sign that we are placing expectations on our spouse is that we stop serving our spouse.  As you go through the day, take note of how considerate you are of your spouse.

Day Five:
Read 1 Peter 3:7.  How does your relationship with your spouse impact your relationship with God?  As you go through the day, pray that God would make you aware of the expectations you are placing on your spouse.

May 30th Prayer Requests

Praises:
    1) Carly and Kenny are happily married!
    2) Jessica's aunt's tumor could not be found by doctor.  Follow up surgery this Friday.

Requests:
    1) Paul's continued recovery to go smoothly and quickly
    2) Anna and Steven getting married this coming Saturday.
    3) Lindsey's great-aunt attacked by dogs and had to have brain surgery, but she is doing fine
    4) Clay and Marie traveling
    5) Janet and kids traveling to Tennessee
    6) Pray for our new IMarriage lessons.

In the next post, I will put up the devotions for this week in our new Sunday School study.  Hope everyone is doing well.

New Sunday School Study - Starting May 30th

Below is a description from Mike about our new upcoming study.

   GREAT EXPECTATIONS

We are starting a new series of lessons this week about marriage.  The name of  the lesson this week is “GREAT EXPECTATIONS”.  We all approach marriage and during marriage have expectations of what our marriage should be like.  During this series we will discuss dealing with and transforming those expectations.

Christ gave us the example of how to love others.  What are the characteristics of the kind of love that Christ demonstrated?  Read 1 Peter 2:21-25.  You will probably also think of other scriptures that illustrate this point.

Another  concept  that will be used in these lessons about marriage is covenant. Our goal is to have a covenant marriage.  What is a covenant?  What is the nature of  a covenant? Again Christ is the example. Take a look at these passages.  Mark 14:24;  Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 12:24.  Again, you will thnk of others.

Many things shape our expectations about marriage. For example TV, books, our parents marriage or other marriages affect our expectations.  How have these and other factors created expectations or things you wanted to avoid in your marriage?

Here is one other thing to think about before class. Have you ever been in a relationship where you just could not meet expectations placed upon you?  This could happen with your employer , a friend , spouse, a parent, or others.  How did this affect the relationship.

I look forward to seeing you Sunday. This will be a meaningful series of lessons for all of us.

Updates on Last Week's Prayer Requests

1. Paul is still having some pain and taking some pain medicine. His right arm is bound and he cannot use it. Erika has been taking him to and from work each day. That is a 2 hour round trip in morning and afternoon. She has to work on top of the driving.

2. Jessica has been sick with reoccuring sinus infections.

Also, they are still having car trouble (May 2nd prayer requests). However, now need to have the cooling system in their other car replaced too.
Jessica asked for the following: If you know of any mechanic that would be able to help us out please let us know.

3. Will & Lisseth's child has bronchitis. Pray for a quick recovery.

I hope everyone is doing well this week. Stay dry on this rainy day! See y'all Sunday.

May 16th - Prayer Requests

1) Continue to pray for Paul as he is getting over surgery. That he will soon be feeling better and can return to work.
2) Amberly and Matt's son, Landon, has strep throat.
3) Will and Lisseth's child, Daniel, was running a fever this morning.
UPDATE:  Daniel has bronchitis, pray for quick recovery.
4) Joel has been sick since last Monday and is still not feeling well.  Pray that he will feel better soon and be able to enjoy some of his break before summer school starts. 
5) Mike's hand has been hurting.
6) Josh and Brittany will be moving this coming Saturday.
7)  Several are job hunting. Pray that God will provide!  Several are waiting to hear back from job interviews.
8) Mona, a Muslim girl, that Kip had the opportunity to witness to.
9)In a few weeks, we will be starting a new marriage series.  "I Marriage"  Pray that this will be a great opportunity to strengthen our relationships.

As always invite any prospects to our class.  We are always looking for new class members.

May 8th - Prayer Requests

Here are the prayer requests from yesterday:

1) Josh and Brittany's moving plans,  Praise for Josh finding a job
2) Paul's Surgery on Wednesday
3) Erika's grandmother having surgery on Monday morning at ARMC
4) Mike's continued knee recovery

Also, we have several upcoming events:

1) As a class, we are going to lunch after church next Sunday at McAlister's Deli
2) Bring canned goods and place in the trailer at the front entrance next Sunday morning
3) Cook out planned tentatively for the end of June. Details to come later.

Upcoming Events

The class is planning to go out as a group for lunch on May 16th.  We still have not decided on a restaurant, so if you have a suggestion please leave a comment with the name of the restaurant.  Hopefully, we can come to a consensus over the next couple of weeks as to where we would like to eat.

May 2nd Prayer Requests

Here are the prayer requests from this morning:

1.  Mike - Pray for his rehabilitation after knee surgery
2.  Debra - Recuperating from illness
3.  Katie (Bill & Nancy's Daughter) - Recovering from strep throat
4.  Brittany & Joshua - Pray for their moving plans (time is coming quickly) & a praise that Joshua found a job in Kentucky
      UPDATE:  Be praying for Josh's grandmother and her house - Kentucky has been experiencing heavy rain and flooding. Josh got a call from his mom this morning that his grandmother's basement had 3 feet of water in it last night.  Also, this could effect living arrangements for Josh and Brittany.

5.  Paul - Pray for his upcoming surgery, on Friday.  Pray that the surgery will go smoothly and that their insurance will cover the procedure.
6.  Joel - Pray for Joel and all others in school for the exams that they will be taking this week.
7.  Shannon - Pray for safe travels in the following weeks; packing up and preparing to move to Montana.  Also, continue to pray for Krista as she adjusts to life and her new job in Montana.
8.  Tyler & Jessica - Pray that their car troubles would be a simple fix and nothing major.

Welcome!

Hi Y'all,

Welcome to the new class blog.  I hope that this will work well for us and help us keep up with prayer requests and other events that will be happening.

Please let me know if you have any questions or if you ever want me to post a prayer request or update during the week.  You can also add updates for the rest of the class to read by posting comments under the appropriate post.

Thanks, Abbi