Enjoy our Spring Break and see you April 11-13!

Hello, Friends.

Spring Break! Yay! I don't know if you are going out of town or if you will enjoy a staycation. I guess that depends on whether your family also is on break.

I hope that you have a great week and look forward to hearing about your adventures beginning April 10.

Happy Easter!

Happy restful Spring Break!

International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:30-10:30, Room 100

Today our Bible Study group tackled a difficult and often misused passage from Matthew 7 verse 1: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." It might be one of the most widely quoted of Jesus' sayings, although it is often quoted out of context as a way for people to silence their critics. They interpret it as, "You don't have the right to tell me that I'm wrong."

What did Jesus really mean? By reading verses 2-6 we get a much clearer picture. First of all, Jesus warns that we will be judged by the same standards to which we hold others. Then he points out that many people like to criticize small faults in others (the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye) even while defending large faults in their own behavior (the plank in your own eye). Can you imagine trying to remove a tiny piece of sawdust from a friend's eye when you yourself have a plank protruding from your own eye? Why is it that we can see others' faults so much more clearly than we can see our own?

In John Jesus commands his followers to "stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment." We discussed what makes a personal judgment right. It must not be superficial, hypocritical, harsh, unforgiving, untrue, or self-righteous. On a personal level, people we love need correction. As one of our participants pointed out, the Bible is my rule book because it is God's rule book, and he knows the long-term outcome of every action that occurs. Another participant shared a story about going to a party with friends. Everyone noticed that one of the women there was being unusually quiet all evening. When asked why, she said, "I gave up criticizing others for Lent, and it's a lot harder than you might think to find things to talk about without being critical!" So funny - but so true!

April 11: We will be off for Spring Break next week, but please join us on April 11th as we continue to read and discuss what Jesus taught in his Sermon on the Mount.~Jan Heimann

International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:30-12:00, upstairs classroom.

We dyed Easter eggs. There are some really fun options 

April 11: Join us as we talk about spring blooms and blossoms and celebrations in the U.S. and in your home countries. Bring a branch and scissors and we will make our own spring flowers.

Conversation: Wednesdays, 4:30-6:00, upstairs classrooms.

We always have an interesting conversation. We picked apart judging and judgmental which was a pretty handy conversation to have since we have a lawyer/judge in our class. We expressed opinions about the difference between pronunciation and accent. What is the difference when we have "regional pronunciations" in all languages.

April 12: Join us for engaging and interesting conversations.

English Classes: Thursdays, 9:30-12:00, upstairs classrooms.

Thank you Officer James Grose for coming to visit and talk to us about being a police officer and what we can do to keep safe. We Officer Grose for his information and for his service to our community. To see notes from our conversations with him, please visit our Living in Indy page on our webpages.

April 13: Welcome back to classes. We only have six more classes this year!

going out of town: leaving your home area

staycation: vacationing in your home town

I guess: I suppose; I presume

packed week: busy, full of activity and events

sawdust: small particles of wood produced in sawing

plank: a long thin cut of wood used for building

protruding: sticking out from

superficial: being at, on, or near the surface

long-term: covering a relatively long period of time
criticizing: expressing faults in a disapproving manner

on a personal level: regarding something as a private individual

picked apart: dissected, thoroughly examine

pretty handy: convenient