Reflections on the First Third

Today marks the end of first quarter (SBS is three quarters long) and it’s hard to believe how fast it’s gone by! Last week the Titus Project teams returned from outreach with some great stories of God’s faithfulness as they taught pastors how to study the Bible. The DTS has left for outreach—teams are in Guatemala, Haiti, Turkey, Brazil, and Thailand. Today we had our last test of the quarter and an hour later half of our classmates had already jumped in their cars and started journeying home. We’ll be taking off tomorrow afternoon! It’s hard to believe we’re already one-third done!

This quarter we studied Philemon, Titus, Ephesians, Galatians, Acts, Mark, Luke, 1&2 Thessalonians, Philippians, Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Hebrews, Colossians, and 1&2 Timothy, and James. This past Monday we did our student teachings on the book of 2 Timothy. I wish I’d gotten some pictures; they went really well! We have a lot of strong teachers in our school and it’s really fun to get to hear our friends speak and share what God is teaching them.

In these three months God has been challenging me to trust him more—with our finances, with our future, and in trusting that he’ll use me in huge ways to bring people closer to him. In each case I know in my head that I can trust him, and I might say that I already do, but he’s teaching me more and more to truly put all of my trust in him.

Jesse’s been really struck by God’s power to use us for his glory—even in our weakness. ESEPCIALLY in our weaknesses. Paul wrote, “he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (1 Corinthians 12:9). As God’s been guiding us toward our future after SBS, it’s easy to get caught up in all the qualifications we don’t have; but God has been saying loud and clear that he’ll use us no matter how inadequate we feel.

It’s been an awesome three months. We’re looking forward to great Christmas break spent with family, then jumping right back into the studying!

Some random pictures of our last couple of weeks:

Getting the car stuck in the church parking lot (the day I brilliantly decided to wear slippers to church…AH!!)

The Titus Team in Mongolia

Our SBS Christmas party-- graham cracker house contest

My first experience making meringues

Teaching

In one of our posts we talked about Titus Project, which is one of the things we’re considering doing after SBS. As we’ve talked to people about our desire to do more teaching, we keep hearing about another school—the Biblical Teaching and Preaching School. This one is a 6-month school, which includes a combination of lecture and outreach/application weeks, part of which includes a church internship.

There are still a million unknowns in the future, and the possibilities of what we COULD do after SBS seem to keep multiplying. One way or another, though, we know teaching will be part of whatever we do…and our next opportunity to practice is in just two weeks! Each quarter of SBS (actually, each THIRD, but each third is a quarter of a year long) we’ll be preparing and presenting a teaching on one of the books we’ve been studying. If I remember correctly, this quarter’s teaching will be on 1^st or 2^nd Timothy, just before Christmas break. We’ll be sure to let you know how those go!