Brethren,
Greetings.
Peace, mercy, and grace be with you all from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The summer is ending; children are back in school, some have left for college, and the work continues. The crop harvest will be soon, but the time for spiritual harvest is now.
Working with the Brethren
This month has brought times of joy and sadness with the brethren. We have enjoyed a wedding and association with brethren at the fair. Some families have sent children off to college. Unfortunately, some families are going through difficult times. We continue to work to encourage all of the brethren here.
Lessons and Classes
Lessons this month focused on stumbling blocks to faith and the importance of community in the morning, and in the evening we have continued a series on the churches of the New Testament and what we can learn from their trials, successes, and failures. The lessons, as always, are available in outline and mp3 form at norwalkchurch.org.
We have continued the class on denominations; things overall seem to be well with the class.
Evangelism
Evangelism in August centered on the Huron County Fair and the upcoming gospel meeting.
This year we had 17 brethren put in 126 hours at the fair; we handed out approximately 209 packets along with other tracts and bulletins. The numbers, overall, are down for the fair this year, although we felt as if the contacts we made were of higher quality. Nevertheless, the Gospel was promoted and seed was dispersed, and our labor was not in vain (1 Corinthians 3:6-7, 15:58). Discussions are now being made on how we can change up our presentation at the fair for 2008.
Our gospel meeting begins on September 2, and we have encouraged members to invite their family, friends, and associates to the meeting. Many have taken meeting announcements to give to said people and also to post in public places, and we will again knock on doors on September 1 as part of our meeting promotion.
Spiritual Encouragement, Transitions, and Difficulties
We have recognized for some time that there are many members who require greater encouragement for various reasons, and in August the elders determined to make a concerted effort to encourage such persons.
August was also a month of transitions for many-- a young couple in our congregation got married and are now living an hour away (although they still identify themselves with Norwalk and assemble on Sundays with us), three of our young people have gone off to college, and a fourth goes to college but lives at home. One of the young people who went off to college has moved back home for the time being, and we rejoice to have her again with us.
There are also a couple of families who are going through great difficulties at this time, and we have been working with them and trying to provide the spiritual encouragement that we have been called upon to give (cf. Galatians 6:1-2). We continue to pray for these families and do whatever we can to help them.
Current Studies
1. Joel and Christian. Various difficulties have hindered us from meeting again with Joel and Christian.
2. Debbie. Debbie has continued in her studies of the Gospel of Luke via e-mail.
3. Ben and Katie. Changes in employment have led to more open schedules for Ben and Katie, and we hope to get together with them more often in the future.
4. Cindy. With the summer over and school back in session, we hope to resume studies with Cindy soon.
Hope For the Future
There is a family that has been visiting with us often that we believe will identify themselves with the church here in Norwalk. This family previously did good work with a nearby church of Christ that recently decided to fold, and if given the opportunity, we look forward to working together with them for the sake of the Kingdom.
Please keep us in your prayers this month as Sarah is set to deliver our third child and first son on 19 September.
Support
I would like to thank all of you for your participation in the work here in Norwalk, either through your prayers or through encouraging me or through financial support. I would like to solicit your continual prayers so that the work here may prosper.
May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits.
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