Sunday update

The icebox is thawing out. We have had temperatures in the low 50's recently and enjoyed the balmy weather. But the forecast calls for a cold snap that will take us below freezing for awhile again.

We had a good Sunday - not just the attendance but also good preaching. Roland preached a good sermon from the first chapter of Ruth. My sermon focused on Jesus cursing the fig tree in Mark 11. There is an element of Mongolian "Christianity" that would use that passage to teach that we will receive anything that we ask for in faith. I dealt with that misunderstanding of Scripture and the true teaching of the passage.

At the end of the passage, Jesus also instructs His disciples that they should forgive others before they pray. The sermon also talked about the need to forgive others even if they do not ask us for forgiveness. After the sermon, Bayambaa came to me and told me how reading a similar passage about forgiving others was used by the Holy Spirit to show her the need to forgive someone who had offended her. She talked about the great peace that she had after the Holy Spirit had enabled her to forgive this person. It is especially exciting to preach and have people drink in the message.

For those of you who are wondering, we had twelve Mongolian adults out on Sunday - not a bad number for us.