Roseberry's Leaderboard

Dear Friends,

It is great to be back. The warmth and kindness shown to me at all services was overwhelming. Thank you for your prayers and support.

This church is a great place to preach. Very few of you have the vantage point that I have as I begin a message. I see people who are eager to hear the Word of God preached and applied; explored and explained. Heads look up. And it is only at the 27-minute mark that people start looking at their watches.

Something that you need to know is that we will change bible translations for our church pew bibles, the pulpit reading and the Bible that I use and preach from. Fr. Jason is writing a brief explanation as to why we are going to remove and donate the current NIV Bibles and replace them with the English Standard Version (ESV). I have been using the ESV for my personal devotions for over two years. It is an amazing text. It has the cadence and depth that you would want to find in God’s Word. The Bibles are on order and next week Fr. Jason will fill in some of the details about why this is a good move for us.

I am starting a new sermon series on August 8 called More than Conquerors. It is an 8-week series on the crown jewel of the highest theological and literary achievement of the apostle Paul. Many of you may want to purchase a new copy of the ESV from The Bookstore for this series. (I think we may end up memorizing a good portion of Romans 8. The ESV will make it grand!)

In the meantime, here are a few more things you need to know:

On Point for Men
Remember that On Point for Men (a Bible study that I teach with Jason Bowman) begins  August 24. Every Tuesday at 7 a.m., join us for an in-depth lecture, application of scripture and a spirited discussion of some principles found in God’s Word. No prior experience or deep Bible knowledge is needed to attend. The coffee is free…and the lesson we learn from God’s Word is priceless.

Coast Camp
Our youth group kids (many, many, many of them) are leaving Sunday, July 25 for a week at Coast Camp. They will be joined by youth groups from other Anglican churches in the southeastern portion of the United States. Their music leadership group will be none other than our own Josh Havens and his band, The Afters. It will be a great week for them. I plan to fly down to the camp on Wednesday to hang out for a day with the kids and attend The Afters concert that night.

I can remember those church camp moments when I was a young student in high school. Nothing was more profound to me that the moments I had coming to know the Lord. Camp introduced me to Christ and to His Church, and I was never the same. Many of you have a similar background. Please pray for our kids this coming week.

New Study Guides
It is a real pleasure and joy for me to preach here at Christ Church. The whole process of study, prayer, preparation, and final touches is one of my weekly habits that I truly enjoy.

But did you know that you can find a study guide for the sermon here on my blog? I began producing a study guide for this message that will be uploaded on Mondays following the sermon. Check out last week’s study guide. The purpose for this extra effort on my part is to help many people think about the message throughout the week. Small Groups can use these as their curriculum and, our radio audience can use these when we begin broadcasting with WRR on August 1. (By the way, do I need to say that lying in bed listening to a radio message on Sunday morning is NOT going to church?)

See you Sunday,

Fr. David+