NEW 90 DAY CHALLENGE BEGINS ON APRIL 15

Dear FPC family and friends,

It is hard to believe that we started our challenges back in January of 2016.  We made our way through the Gospels in our first 90 Days, then we embarked on a journey that would allow us to finish the New Testament, make baby steps in the Old Testament, and throw open the door to another 90 days that will begin on April 15.  In this 90 Day Challenge we will be reading through Exodus, Leviticus, Ezra and Nehemiah. 

            You can follow along on the daily blog that I keep at: http://www.straspres.org/90-day-challenge-2.  In this challenge you will find some of the greatest stories ever told.  We will follow along with Moses and the entire nation of Israel as they make their way out of Egypt and head toward the promised land.  We will slog our way through the Levitical laws which were given to the people of Israel in order to keep them a separate people and pure and undefiled in order to serve the Lord.  We will look at two of the minor prophets who saw the nation of Israel while it was under siege and in captivity in Babylon and then again as they make their gradual way back to the promised land.

            In these readings we will find ourselves in two very different time periods for the nation of Israel, and yet the theme remains the same: God is faithful.  Say that out loud if you would like to: God is faithful.  So often we identify ourselves with either nationalistic goals, or family aspirations, or work related dreams and forget that if we focus upon the purpose that God has in store for us, then we will be able to see His faithfulness and live fully into that faithfulness. 

            These readings will set the groundwork for pretty much all of what we have seen which drove Jesus in his traditions and his family to worship in the temple and to follow the Creator in the way in which they did.  From the holiest of days in the Jewish calendar (Passover) to the general understanding of what is kosher and what is not, these Scriptures provide for us a contextual background that is invaluable, while at the same time reinforcing the faithfulness of our Trinitarian God.

            I hope you are enriched by these readings while at the same time challenged by trying to understand how God is still at work in your life teaching you through these Scriptures which at first glance might seem bound to the time period in which they were written.  I pray that you are able to apply the teachings that you are about to read in a multiplicity of ways.  Enjoy these next 90 days.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Bob