252 BASICS for elementary and  FirstLook for PreK and K are in full swing!  Both are from the ReThink / Orange group.  Check them out at www.whatisorange.org !

Each month, elementary parents should check out the Parent Cue – a take-home page just for parents – full of family discussion questions and activities.  Your child will also bring home a week’s worth of devotions that tie in with our weekly lesson and monthly theme on his God-Time sheet.  Your family can also access these electronically through e-mail if you prefer.  Sign up here to have them sent via e-mail.

252 Basics is built around monthly virtues.  A virtue is a positive character trait that God displays and wants to build in us – to make us more like Jesus.  In turn, God will use the trait in us to bring others to Him.

Proverbs 1:7

New International Version (NIV) 

 ⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
   but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

 ³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
   bind them around your neck,
   write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name
   in the sight of God and man. ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
   and he will make your paths straight.^[a] 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
   fear the LORD and shun evil.
⁸ This will bring health to your body
   and nourishment to your bones. ⁹ Honor the LORD with your wealth,
   with the firstfruits of all your crops;
¹⁰ then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
   and your vats will brim over with new wine. ¹¹ My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline,
   and do not resent his rebuke,
¹² because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
   as a father the son he delights in.

Before we meet on June 9, please read Luke 10: 38-42 and John 11-12. Gather information about our current woman of interest, Mary of Bethany. Be ready to share what you learned in our first meeting.

Most likely, we’ll meet in Sue Smith’s Sunday School classroom in the adult education building. If it’s too crowded, we’ll move to the choir room.  Have your calendar with you that first night. We’ll have a sign up sheet for snacks as we will take some time to fellowship with each other during this study.

I’ll have books ready for purchase in the welcome area before and after the service next Sunday, June 5. Books are $8. I will also have study guides for you to pick up. Books and study guides will also be available the first few nights we meet.

Below, you’ll find our scheduled meeting dates and the homework that will be assigned each session (due for the next session).

June 9 Introduction to Bible Study

Homework: Read Chapters 1-3 (due June 23)

June 16 VBS-no Bible Study

June 23 Discuss chapters 1-3

Homework: Read Chapters 4-5 (due June 30)

June 30 Discuss chapters 4-5

Homework: Read chapters 6-8 (Due July 14)

July 7 Women on Mission-No Bible Study

July 14 Discuss chapters 6-8

Homework: Read chapters 9-10

July 28 Discuss chapters 11-12

Homeowrk: Read chapters 13-15

August 4 Women on Mission-No Bible Study

August 11 Discuss chatpers 13-15

Homework: Read chapter 16

August 18 Last session!

If you ever need to contact me, I can be reached at eshobes@aol.com.

I hope you’ll join us this week, June 5, as we begin to dig even deeper into the life of Joseph: a shepherd boy turned slave turned leader.

Please read Genesis 37 to prepare for next week’s lesson. Think about Joseph and how he related to his brothers. Did you find him arrogant or naive? How does Joseph’s homelife affect his interactions with others?

Blank Canvas playing a recent concert for 180 Degrees.

Remember all good things come from God our Father.  So look around your room, your car (if you have one) or whatever you own and first thank God for it and then try to figure out a way in which you can use that object to glorify Him.  See you Sunday morning.

Worship starts at 11 am followed by a meal and awards.

Remember there is no set way.  There is not a step by step instruction guide rather allowing the Holy Spirit to control your life and allowing Jesus in your heart to go where you never thought you would be able to before.  The time has come to be RADICAL for CHRIST.

Yes, I have procrastinated this post. This has been a chapter I haven’t wanted to close, and from your surveys, I know I’m in good company.

I loved reading your surveys-what you’ve learned from this Bible Study, what God has taught you and how He’s worked in your life these past 3 months.

Here are the “Take Aways” you shared on Thursday night:

• “I have to be willing to act on what God tells me without fear of the consequences.”
• “Looking for God’s unseen hand.”
• “Who knows? So I will know that you are god!”
• “To look for God’s providence in situations everyday.”
• “I can truly do all things through Christ.”
• “God has a plan-I believe that plan is available to me.”
• “Even when we can’t directly see it…God has a plan and is in control.”
• “God can turn any situation around and use it for His purposes.”
• “What if…then God!” (listed 3 times!)
• “Asking God for reversals in my life!”
• “Trust God in the hardest times.”
• “I don’t have to know ‘how,’ God already does.”

And here’s what you said God’s Providence means to you now:

• “God’s love is endless and perfect-even though I’m not!”
• “God is willing even when I’m not.”
• God’s Providence cancels out any coincidence.”
• “He is always at work even though it may not seem like it.”
• “He is in control. I can look at everything in my life now as a tool He is using to shape and guide me.”
• “All things happen for a reason and are part of God’s plan.”
• “God can take the bad and turn it into good.”
• “God can take my deepest despair and TURN IT AROUND into His Holy glory!”
• “God is in control of everything and always from beginning to end.
• “Even though He’s not in plain sight, He’s all around and all over.”

Good stuff, ladies!  Write these things down! Don’t forget what you worked so hard to learn. This study was chosen for you. Not by me, but by God. It’s one step, maybe even more, closer to you reaching the destiny He has for you. You weren’t in this study by accident. Esther didn’t cross your path by mistake. It’s God’s Providence. YOU were chosen for such at time as THIS!

Until next time…