Let's Follow...

Thank you, Class, for the great discussion this morning. You blessed me with your comments.

I told you this morning about Mike's mentor. Mike was 12 years old when he met Mr. Bond, a Christian man who owned the trailer park where Mike lived with his family. A hurricane had created a lot of damage in the trailer park, so Mike offered to help with fallen trees and debris removal. The two became fast friends in spite of the 30-year difference in their age, and in Mr. Bond Mike saw faith, values and convictions that he had never witnessed before. As Mr. Bond taught Mike how to use a chainsaw and later how to hunt for deer, he also taught him to pray, to honor God, and to love family. Mike literally patterned his own values after the man who has been his best friend for nearly four decades. Mr. Bond has been a substitute grandfather for our three daughters and his family considers Mike to be one of their own. Even now, as Mr. Bond lingers in a nursing home awaiting his homecoming with the Lord, he is very much alive. He is in Mike's hands as they gently sand a piece of wood...he mouths the words Mike speaks in a blessing at the dinner table, and he is the motivating force that has driven Mike to be the best father of daughters I have ever known. In Mr. Bond, Mike saw someone who was different...someone he admired and wanted to emulate. As Mike copied Mr. Bond's mannerisms and borrowed his values, he began to look and act more and more like a son.

Let's hang out with the Lord this week. Let's take on His mannerisms and adopt His values. Oh, to look like His own son or daughter...

Then He said to all of them, "If anyone wants to come with me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross every day, and follow Me continually. (Luke 9:23, ISV)

We missed several members of our class this morning. If you were present, please consider emailing or calling someone who was not with us and let them know how much we missed them.

Our new room is wonderful! Remember it is Room AD-317.

We will let you know more about the Sunday evening Bible study that will be starting up soon. Please keep watching for further notice.

It is a privilege to serve as your Sunday School teacher.