I hope that you made it through Friday the 13th and the full moon! This is a very rare occurrence...that this dreaded and unlucky day had a full harvest moon. The next full moon and Friday the 13th coincidence will not happen again for 30 years.
Housekeeping
I hope you enjoyed our second official of meetings and classes! These updates are designed to help you know what is going on at all our meetings. While you may not think the content is relevant (because you don't have small children in the nursery or in classes, for example), you can grow your vocabulary and your knowledge of American practices and language by reading over the content.
While we are at it: Please bring your empty toilet paper rolls for our children on Thursday.
Take some time to get familiar with our webpages. There is a wealth of information there. Find out about other classes and resources. Find out where to go for fun.
Fun things to do:
Our Children
What a great number of moms and children this year! It is so fabulous to have so many children. We are still working out the kinks:
International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:30-10:30, Room 100.
The Gospel of Mark begins with the announcement that it is the Good News about Jesus, the Son of God. Mark was a close associate of Peter, a man who was one of Jesus’s original twelve apostles. He was a cousin of Barnabas, one of the men who worked with St. Paul to spread the Gospel of Jesus throughout the world. Mark himself travelled with Paul and Barnabas on some of their missionary journeys. Later Mark served as a helper to Paul when he was in prison in Rome. Bible scholars believe that one of the primary audiences for this book of Mark was the believers in Rome.
Mark’s Roman readers would have understood that the word “gospel” was used in that era to announce the arrival of a king who would save his people. Immediately, Mark cites a passage from the Old Testament book of Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3) in which the prophet declares that God will send a messenger before the Messiah arrives, and that this messenger will cry out to the people from the wilderness to straighten up the paths for the coming Lord. We read this passage in Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, and English, and discussed what was meant by the phrase “make straight paths for him.” All the translations indicate that repentance was necessary to prepare the people’s hearts to hear the message of God’s love that Jesus would bring. Repentance involves not only a regret for past actions but a resolve to change of behavior. John drew huge crowds to the desert with his preaching, but was quick to clarify his role to his audience. He saw himself as a humble, unworthy servant to the Messiah who would come. He told them that he was baptizing with water for repentance of sins, but that Jesus would baptize them with the Holy Spirit.
The story of John the Baptizer and the Baptism of Jesus is written in much more detail in Matthew 3, Luke 3, and John 1. Yet these first few verses of Mark 1 are full of information about John’s purpose and Jesus’s mission.~Jan Heimann
September 17: Please join us for an in-depth discussion of the baptism of Jesus.
International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:30-11:30, Room 100
Our planning meeting went very well. We collect a great number of great ideas at the church and as field trips. Check our schedule. We are filling it in!
September 17: Swearing Class. Be sure not to miss this one of a kind class to teach you the words you should and should not use. Join us as we discuss how to react to this language in others. Bring words you are wondering about. Why learn these? Come and join the conversation and find out!
Conversation and Tutoring: Thursdays, 4:30-6:00, Upstairs Classrooms
We had a poor turn-out. Do you want to have some one-on-one practice? Do you want tutoring for yourself or your children? It looks like this is the place to be! Email me with your interest.
September 18: Join us! We are waiting for you! Come to the upstairs classroom.
English Classes: Thursdays, 9:30-11:30, Upstairs Classrooms
It was good to visit each class. Knowing the 1000 most frequent words will give you confidence to talk. There is a great book Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe that explains scientific concepts using the "ten hundred most common words". So fun and interesting. You can explain anything.
September 19: Classes continue. We are always open!
English for Kids: Thursdays, 9:30-11:30, Nurseries
This month our theme is apples!
This week we introduced apple colors and practiced apple counting. Watch a read of the fun Dr. Seuss book Ten Apples Up on Top. Dr. Seuss books are classic and teach basic concepts (counting, colors, etc.) and use rhyming which helps develop language skills and listening.
September 19: Please bring empty toilet paper rolls for our craft activity on September 26. We will be tasting apples (do the different colors taste different?) We will read about the famous American character, Johnnie Appleseed.
reading over: read carefully to learn more than content
very rare occurrence: does not happen often
dreaded: anticipated fear
while we are at it: since we are already talking about or doing something
relevant: connected or appropriate
gospel: a word from the Greek meaning "good news,” now used as the word to describe the story of Christ’s life and teachings, especially as contained in the first four books of the New Testament, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
associate: a companion or comrade
primary: first or highest in rank or importance; chief; principal
era: period of time marked by distinctive character, events, etc.
cite: to quote (a passage, book, author, etc.), especially as an authority; referring to another source to confirm facts
repentance: deep sorrow or contrition for a past sin or wrongdoing
it looks like: appears, seems to be
classic: traditional
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