Weekly Update Feb 19th

It was an eye-opening trip to Salt Lake last week, and I'm glad to be back.
A couple of announcements this week!
This Wednesday at Hyfi we are continuing to learn that we are meant to know God. One way that God reveals Himself to us is through His book, the Bible! This week we will be reading in Acts 8 about Philip and the Ethiopian official. It is an incredible story about how Philip was able to share the good news of the gospel when the Ethiopian official began reading God’s Word and wanted to know more! When we read our Bibles, we learn more about who God is. God wants us to know Him, and He gave us the Bible to help us know Him. The Bible isn’t primarily a guidebook, but a book about God—who He is and how He created us to be in relationship with Him. Do you and your family have rhythms around reading the Bible? As a family, read our themeverse, Deuteronomy 4:35b. Review it daily and challenge each other to say it from memory by the end of the week.
This Wednesday at Refuge Students we will be taking a look at 1 John 2:18-27. This passage teaches us that we shouldn't be surprised when people who profess to be Christians walk away from the Church. This is a sign that we are getting closer to Christ's return, which is a reason to rejoice. True believers on the other hand are filled with the Holy Spirit so that they can understand God's Word, discern false teaching, and endure until the end. This week, read 1 John 2:18-27 as a family and try to answer the question "how can we know whether someone is a false prophet that is leading others astray?" We can be confident that anyone who denies the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as God the Son incarnate, is a false teacher.
This Sunday at Sunday School and at Refuge Students we will be taking a look at Galatians 5. This passage illustrates the Holy Spirit’s power in the lives of Christ's followers. Written by the apostle Paul to the non-Jewish congregation in Galatia, this letter outlines the importance of pursuing righteousness by faith as opposed to the works of the flesh. Though thousands of years have passed since Paul first penned this letter to believers in the place known today as Turkey, today’s Christians still wrestle in the faith as they did back then—between the belief that we must earn salvation and the tendency to forgo good works altogether. For the Galatians, the issue at play was a mistaken belief that circumcision was necessary upon coming to faith. Paul discussed how being led by the Holy Spirit in faith is our hope of righteousness; it is not our works that save us, but faith in the work Christ did on our behalf. Even so, good works are the evidence of His power in action within our lives. Christ kept His promise to send the Holy Spirit, and He in turn empowers and enables us to be His witnesses on mission to the world through our words and our actions. The balance between legalism and lawlessness can never be attained by doing more good things or by avoiding being bad; rather, the steadiness we seek is only found in following the Holy Spirit’s guidance. The proof of our following is the fruitfulness of our lives, as seen in the ways we love God and our neighbors. As you read Galatians 5 with your kids this week, consider sharing how the Holy Spirit’s guidance has shaped your own spiritual journey. May we all continue to grow in fruitfulness as we yield to the power of the Spirit in our own lives.
I hope everyone has a great week. I cant wait to see everyone here Wednesday night!!!