Re: [paraiba_mission] Please Study With Me

Great. Will be a great ending to your tour.

Jim Weiss HCOC

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 3, 2016, at 8:53 AM, Jeremy Newlin via paraiba_mission <paraiba_mission@associate.com> wrote:

As I arrived at the apartment building where we live a couple of weeks ago, a neighbor started a conversation with me.  She asked if we were really going to move back to the States for good.  I said yes, in December.  She then asked if I could recommend someone to teach her and her family the Bible and spend some time in prayer.  Her family has two apartments in our building.  Some years ago, I studied the Bible with her father and mother but not with her.  I asked her to give me a couple of days and I would get back to her with a name.  I am kidding!!!  Of course, I said yes, I would love to give a Bible study to your family. 

            We had our first Bible study last Tuesday night.  There were 10 present, counting Monica and myself.  At the end of the study they asked if we could come again next week.  I said, sure. 

 

Please pray:

·         That the Gospel may penetrate the hearts of those who are studying so that they might give their lives to Christ.

--
To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: paraiba_mission-unsubscribe@associate.com

Please Study With Me

As I arrived at the apartment building where we live a couple of weeks ago, a neighbor started a conversation with me.  She asked if we were really going to move back to the States for good.  I said yes, in December.  She then asked if I could recommend someone to teach her and her family the Bible and spend some time in prayer.  Her family has two apartments in our building.  Some years ago, I studied the Bible with her father and mother but not with her.  I asked her to give me a couple of days and I would get back to her with a name.  I am kidding!!!  Of course, I said yes, I would love to give a Bible study to your family. 

            We had our first Bible study last Tuesday night.  There were 10 present, counting Monica and myself.  At the end of the study they asked if we could come again next week.  I said, sure. 

 

Please pray:

·         That the Gospel may penetrate the hearts of those who are studying so that they might give their lives to Christ.

Who Do You Worship?

           The church in João Pessoa began a sermon series on the book of Romans.  I began by teaching and preaching on the context of the book.  It took a little bit longer than I expected but was well worth the time.

            God's Word is awesome.  Just to give you a little taste of what was taught.  Romans is a book in which the apostle Paul expounds on the Gospel (Chapter 1:3-4).  Jesus, born in the flesh, died and risen from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit, proving that He is the Son of God.  This gospel is God's power to save all those who believe (Chapter 1:16-17).  Save us from what?  Our sins, right!  Yes, but it is not a salvation experienced only at the end of time, this salvation is present all around us.  God's wrath is being poured out all around us, today!! (Chapter 1:18-25).  We have traded our worship.  Before being saved through the gospel, we worshiped the creation, in many ways, instead of the Creator (Chapter 1:25).  The gospel saves us from this and its consequences by renewing the focus of our worship.  The gospel turns us to worship God and this worship saves us from a way of life that we see all around us every day, destroying families and leaving every worshiper of creation, hopeless.     

            How marvelous and wonderful is the Gospel.  We are saved.  Live out your salvation with joy.  You are experiencing things that others, who are not Christians, cannot fathom until they see you living in Christ, worshipping the God and creator of heaven and earth.

 

            Please pray:

·         That the church in João Pessoa may worship God and Him alone

Planning Anyone?

            Planning seems like something that everyone knows how to do.  I mean we all buy houses, cars, eat three meals a day, etc…, right?  Well, a couple of weekends ago I was helping a congregation learn how to plan.  I explained the steps of planning; vision, why, where we are now, how to get to our vision from where we are and how to constantly evaluate if we are still on track.

            I also taught and preached from the book of Ephesians.  I explained the context, the confusion a lot of people have about predestination and what God's wrath is, how it is all around us and how the Gospel saves us from His wrath here and now.  I spoke on listening to our conscience and studying God's Word to train our conscience. 

            It was a quick trip but a very good one.  On the way back to João Pessoa, I came a different way.  There was almost no traffic on this road for about 50 miles.  I went a very slow 35 to 50 mph as I gazed at the mountainous landscape.  Almost no plant life, for lack of water it could have been very ugly but I saw beauty.  As I was driving and observing, I thought about this trip being one of my last.  This world is not our home, we are just passing through.  I can't wait to get home.

 

God bless you all

No More Complaining

As my departure from Brazil nears, I am doing the countdown on the state-wide meetings I will be attending. Just went to my next to the last. I feel like Paul, trying to think of all the right things to say before I go. We talked about what God has done to bring salvation to the world and how our lives should be different from that of those who are not in Christ.
Each congregation gave a presentation of their growth in numbers and maturity, through such activities as visitation, campaigns, retreats, classes, and weekend seminars. While each congregation spoke the others were listening for opportunities to serve through visits, calls or other ways that they believe would help in what is already being done.
We ended our time together studying God's Word about the subject of grace and being filled with the Spirit. We read Ephesians 5:17-21 and discussed how being filled with the Spirit is very practical and not mystical. We decided to focus on one aspect of being filled with the Spirit which we read in verse 20 "always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father." Think with me, if you are always giving thanks for all things then one thing you are not doing is complaining. Together we challenged each other to not complain for 21 days and to discuss what we discovered about ourselves and our relationship with God.
Please pray: that all of those at the meeting will truly commit to not complaining, that we may learn to have more self-control, and that God may be glorified through this process.

Two Sermons, Different Stories

Jeremy Newlin's Mother's Day Sermon    

I preached on Mother's Day for what I believe is the tenth year in a row.  I am pretty sure because Monica complains that I never remember it is Mother's day until one day or hour before the worship service.  So I always end up saying "Happy Mother's Day" and then preach a sermon that is not focused on the qualities that Mother's naturally have.

            This year, I was ready for a Mother's day message filled with love and compassion that Mother's show their sons and daughters.  I was planning to relate those Motherly qualities to God and then back to us and how we should all live with such character.

            I was preaching at another congregation in Recife.  They are going through the fruit of the Spirit, one each month.  The month of May is Patience.  It doesn't seem like much of a problem to preach on Patience on Mother's Day and relate that to Mothers, right?  I was sent an outline of what they wanted the sermon to be about because they are having different speakers every Sunday of the month.  The outline was difficult for me to bend toward Mothers, so once again I got up and said "Happy Mother's Day" and preached the Word.

            They were all very patient with me, even Monica was content.

 

Joseph McKinney's Mother's Day Sermon Story

        

          Hey, I preached on Mother's Day too, but I actually talked about mothers.  In João Pessoa, I had mothers in the congregation get up and each hold a sign with a quality of the fruit of the Spirit, and I tried to think how each one exemplified that quality.  Some were super easy, like faithfulness, like love – everybody agrees with that:  Mothers = Love; but some were difficult, like joy, like peace. Think about it: how many mothers do your see as peaceful? I can think of a grandmother or two, after all the kids are gone and taking care of their lives, but mothers with a husband and children? Where's the peace in that?

          My conclusion, see if you agree with me, is that mothers may have a natural head start on the fruit of the Spirit compared to the rest of us, but they shouldn't be content to stick to what's natural to them. 

          We all should live in the Spirit and let Him produce love that goes beyond our kids, peace that passes understanding, joy going beyond human limits whether you have a husband, wife and kids or not. Not to mention self control, faithfulness, goodness, kindness, meekness, and patience, wow! The Spirit has plans for us, and He can do it if we let Him. 

           So, mothers, today, in the hustle and bustle of real life, tap into the peace and joy of the Spirit.  Let us all reach beyond the qualities that come easy to us and become more like Jesus Christ.

Weekend VBS

           The end of April, my wife, Monica, traveled to Patos with the AME (Adventures in Evangelistic Missions) group to have VBS with the church there.  It was the first VBS for the AME class and for the church in Patos, the first one in about 10 years. 

            Monica said that there were 24 children on the first day and 26 on the second.  It was a weekend VBS, Saturday morning, afternoon and Sunday morning. 

            They also did a campaign around the church building inviting people to the VBS, the church meeting, and an adult class on Friday night.  They also had a couples meeting as well as a youth group meetings happening in between other activities. 

            Needless to say, they were pretty busy.  They all came back excited and uplifted.  One of the AME students said he would like to spend his one year on the mission field in Patos to help the youth group grow and mature.

            Please pray:

·         That God may help the church in Patos mature spiritually

·         That God may help the youth in the church give their lives wholly and fully to God.

Learning That We Are Poor In Spirit

            Ten members of the church in João Pessoa and I studied the Sermon on the Mount this past Saturday.  We spent the afternoon and most of the night going over what Jesus told His disciples.  We weren't there to hear the words from His lips, but those same words still amaze and cause us to ponder.  What a deep and powerful sermon!  What makes it so powerful is that we know that the person who spoke the sermon was already living what He taught and never has faltered. 

            The first Be-attitude (Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven) seems to be what ties the sermon together.  If we could just see how much we need God, all we have to learn from Him, how far our actions and attitudes are from His, seek Him, being changed by Him, we would be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect, we would seek His glory and not glory from other men, we would not worry or be anxious, we would not even judge others' intentions, our focus would be our relationship with the One who allows access into His Kingdom.  If we could only see how poor we are without God, our lives would be built on the Rock.  The thought of losing a job for doing God's will would not affect us.  Rejection of our family for following God would not dissuade us.  Being put in jail for obeying God's will and not the law of men would be a joy.  If we could only see how poor we are and see that God is giving us what we need and a lot more.

Please pray:

• that the World may see how blind and poor they are
• that we, as Christians, may not be complacent but continue to seek God's Kingdom and His righteousness.

Teach Or Be Taught

It is my last year in Brazil.  What should I do?  I am teaching and taking Roberto along with me to learn to teach.

            We traveled first to Alagoinha where we split up the book of Colossians.  Roberto taught the first two chapters and I taught the last two.  It was a small class of three.  We also visited a family that I taught many years ago.  I answered some of their questions, and we studied on gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

            Two weeks later I traveled with Roberto again to teach half of the book of Romans.  This time I took the first quarter of the book and Roberto the second, and it was a large group.  He said that was the first time he had taught that many people at once.  He is a good teacher.  He stays in the context of the book.  We talked about ways he could improve on his teaching and he has listened and accepted the suggestions I have given him. 

            It is fun seeing someone eager to grow and mature in Christ.

 

Please pray:

·         That Roberto will continue in his study of God's Word and growth in knowledge;

·         That Roberto can be an example to the church in Paraíba;

·         That the church will grow in maturity and practice of God's Word

Financial Peace To Brazil

It is good to talk to you again.  I have been travelling for the last four weekends. In two cities I taught Financial Peace.  The great news about that is they asked me to teach it.  There have been a few congregations that make that request.  The first congregation I taught the course, Monica was able to go with me, which is a rarity.  I am excited about these congregations because they want to continue teaching the course without me.  I think, since the church knows this is my last year in Brazil, more people are interested in not only participating in the class but actually learning how to practice the steps and to teach others too.

Make no mistake, this is a spiritual class.  I teach contentment as the foundation principle.  Without contentment, you could lose your soul.  There is an absence of knowledge on how to administer what God has entrusted to each one.  Most were just never taught.  The focus of the class is to administer what God has entrusted and to invest in His Kingdom, living out the words of our Lord Jesus, as the apostle Paul quoted Him saying, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" Acts 20:35.  I challenge those who take the class to think about the way they are living now, then I ask them, "Do you believe that what Jesus said is true?"

Whether we believe it to be true or not, it is the truth. 

Please pray:

·         That the body of Christ all over the world will live God's Word and make friends with what God has entrusted us, so that they may meet us in heaven when our Master returns to take us home.

Patos Graduation

Patos Graduation                                                                               Jeremy Newlin

I traveled to Patos for SEARA, the four-year training program.  The four years of training not only included a 15-hour intensive course once a month but also putting into practice what they were learning.  This trip was not to teach but to celebrate with five of the seven students on their conclusion of the 47 classes plus a study of one of Paul's letters complete with four Bible studies.  The graduates included 2 men and 3 women.  The women are heavily involved in prayer groups, teaching and visiting, not only to their congregation but they have visited almost every congregation in the interior of the state, encouraging and evangelizing the women of each city.  The two men that graduated are the main preachers of the congregation in Patos.  They have grown in their learning, study and teaching of Bible studies.  One of the men has been attending EBNESR in Recife, the Church's theological school.  He has said, on more than one occasion, how far ahead he is in knowledge to the other men studying in his classes because of SEARA.

            It is a good feeling to help another person grow in their knowledge of God and His Word and see that growth in practical ways, such as:  classes given, dealing with problems in a different way than before and growing in their understanding of why the Church exists and their part in fulfilling God's desire for her.

            Many of the church members came to the ceremony to show their support of the graduates.  After the ceremony, we had a dinner, cake and sweets.  May God be praised for the dedication and perseverance of each of these men and women: Luciano, Sandra, Josinete, Cida and Cicero.

            Please pray that more men and women will desire to grow in their knowledge of God and His Word.