Spring Joy

     Greetings to you all in the name of our Triune God.  As the weather continues to get nicer, I am getting busier and busier.  Last week we had our first softball game for IM's.  We won and it was so much fun to be playing again.  Last night I played with the golf team for the first round of the season.  The course was not in very good condition but I still played decent.  It took two holes to shake off the rust and find the old swing again. I need to spend some time on the driving range fixing and tweaking a few things, but it felt good to be back out on the course.  I am still trying to work out two or three days a week, play basketball one or two days a week, and now softball will be twice a week and golf will be twice a week. This is the very reason I took fewer credits in the spring because this same thing happened last year and I remembered how active I always am once the weather is nice again.
     Classes are going well and are really interesting.  For my Matthew class we are supposed to read the entire book of Matthew (in English) three times a week.  I read it three times the first week and only got two in last week.  I read it once today for this week, but it really is fun to feel like you know the book and see patterns and themes you have never seen before.  I am also working on reading the entire New Testament once through this quarter.
      For field work church I am still doing liturgy every non-communion Sunday and reading the lessons every communion Sunday.  We are still working through the Psalms in my Bible Study every week, and this week I preach.  I am excited because on May 26th I will be doing the entire service by myself.  Pastor will be on vacation so he asked me to cover for him. I will be doing liturgy and preaching for the first time in one service. I also get paid for doing it since Pastor is gone.
      Other than all the sports and activities, classes and homework, and field work church, I am still trying to spend time with Erin and with Logan while he is down here student teaching.  Erin is back in classes and so she is busy reading and studying every night again, but we are still able to find time to hang out.
      I will post my sermon manuscript on here this week after I get it officially completed.  My thought for today comes from Bible Study this last Sunday.  We covered Psalm 25, (look it up and read it). It is a beautiful prayer written by David, but it is especially amazing because it is an acrostic poem.  Each new line starts with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  Now this cannot be seen in the English, but it pretty cool in the Hebrew.  However, when you look at the prayer, it is a great example of how we should still pray today.  He starts out by praising God and telling Him he trusts in Him.  Then he asks for protection from his enemies. Then the vast majority of the middle of this prayer is looking inward, confessing to be a sinner, and asking God's guidance and instruction to avoid these sins in the future.  He then ends the prayer again asking for protection from all of Israel's enemies and prays for the chosen people of God as one voice.  We can pray like this too.  The thing I especially like about this prayer is that as I continue to struggle with the sinner saint paradox, it reminds me I am not alone and shows me an example of how to handle it.  We all know David was a sinner and knows what it feels like to feel guilty and sinful because of what he has done.  However, even though David was a sinner, he knew he can still trust in the Lord.  He shows us in this prayer that it is in these struggles that we turn our trust to the Lord and ask for His guidance and instruction as we continue to live in an evil world.  He shows us how we ask for God's help as we try to live the best we can for Him even though we know we are sinners.  We fail daily, but because we are part of Israel, God's chosen people, we know we have a God who has redeemed us through His Son, and therefore we are justified saints through the life, death, and life of Jesus Christ even though we live as sinners in this present evil age. We are justified because we live in the hope of our justification on that Final Day, and until that day comes we continue to pray this prayer asking for God's hand to keep us in His people.  All Praise Him who has called us to be His people, and who has justified us through His Son making us sinners His saints.
Please Pray Psalm 25