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This month we started a new school year with brand new students in our School of Biblical Studies. We are in the middle of our very first unit as I write this blog. A few weeks ago our students showed up on campus ready and excited to spend the next 10 months digging into the Bible. I can tell already that this is a great class who are committed to following Jesus and learning more about him.

 Starting a new school year with new students is such a breath of fresh air. I really do love having the summer available to work on projects, speak at summer camps and raise support, but I also find that it’s really easy to lose sight of what I am working for. Our students are just names on a document during the summer, but getting to meet our class and see the people we will be journeying through scripture it really brings life back to my heart. 

We began the school year with what we call “Seminar Week.” During this week, we teach the students how to utilize the inductive bible study method. In this method, the modern reader must lay aside any preconceived notions that they might have about the text. Instead, students must seek to draw conclusions by first examining the text and then see the scripture in its original context.During Seminar Week, the students practice the inductive method by using the book of Jonah. We chose this book because it is a story that many Christians are familiar with through children's books and tv shows. Students have to let go of what they think they might know about Jonah to study it inductively. The story goes from a man being swallowed by a fish to God trying to show love to his enemies through a rebellious prophet. The story evolves from a simple children's story to a deeply convicting call from God for us to search our hearts and show love to the people we believe are not worthy of love. 

As I write this blog I have just wrapped up teaching the classroom lecture on the book of Exodus. Exodus, without a doubt, is the biggest book that I have taught to date for the school. Not only is it long (40 chapters) but Exodus is jam-packed with narrative, laws, and plagues (Oh my!). This was the first time that I felt unsure I could get through all of the content in 6 hours. We discussed: when the exodus took place, the plagues against Egypt, the Passover, the Law (and how to follow it) and finally the Tabernacle. Exodus has been one of my favorite books to teach. I loved showing the students how the whole book of Exodus actually shows us our salvation story. The Hebrews were trapped in slavery and cried out to God for freedom. God sent his servant to be their rescuer. Through the blood of an innocent lamb, death passes over God’s people and they leave the land of slavery forever. Then, God gives them his perfect law and dwells with them (even though they aren't perfect). This book gives us a clear picture of how God moved to save his people then as well as how God has moved to save us from our own slavery to sin even now. I was so honored to have the opportunity to make this book come alive in the hearts of our students. 

What’s Coming Up/Prayer Requests: 

September and October are going to be jam-packed! My next lecture will be 1 and 2 Kings. I am so excited (and nervous) to start digging into these books. Please pray for my prep time, that I will manage time my well and get this big project done. Coming up this fall, we have completely reinvented the Biblical Narrative Series. We are now running two 7 week courses. The first of which is starting on September 23rd.  We will be exploring the entire Old Testament. We already have several people signed up for this course and are expecting much more as we continue to spread the word. Getting the word out has also given Emmaus a chance to connect with and speak at different churches in the Oviedo area! Please pray that we will be able to have a real, lasting impact on the local church! Lastly, Please pray for our current students. They are starting a long and good journey through the Bible. Please pray that they just enjoy this season of life and that they get the most out of their year digging into the scriptures! Thank you for your support and prayers. 

Hurricane Dorian update: Lauren and I are still trying to figure out where we will be staying during the hurricane. As a nurse, Lauren might be working at the hospital during the storm. Expect another blog update from me with more details to come. 

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Hello, Partners in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!Catching Up:I try to do a blog update once every 2 months, but March and April were so jam-packed with teaching that it was hard to find time to sit down, process the season, and give you an update on it all! In the span of 7 weeks, I taught 5 books for our SBS, 3 different seminars and was a guest speaker for my own church. Needless to say, it was probably the busiest I’ve ever been. I wish that I could share everything about these lectures. Each lecture had a different impact on me as I prepared, and I pray a lasting impact on those who attended my classes, lectures, and sermons. In this update I will be sharing some of the highlights, telling you about what God is doing in my heart, then talk about what we are currently working on here at Emmaus. Teaching Books of the Bible: In the last few months, I taught 1 and 2 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Peter, and Jude for our students in our 10-month school. All of these books have heavily impacted me as a teacher and leader. Corinthians taught me to lead out of my weaknesses and humility, and to seek my neighbors needs instead of my own. 1 Peter taught me that I am a priest both in word and action, because of this I’m called to a holy life. 2 Peter and Jude showed me that it's easy to be a false teacher, say what’s popular, and stay comfortable. These books challenged me to contend for the faith and stand up for the truth.Teaching Seminars:Many of you know that we offer several different seminars. This spring I was able to teach a few. The first was a seminar that we call Bible Overview. We break up the Bible into different “acts” and teach people the overarching story of Scripture. My Lecture covered Acts to Revelation!The second seminar was a historical background lecture to the Gospel of Mark. The Gospel of Mark is my favorite book to teach, so to be able to help a church better understand this amazing book was so awesome! I also taught one of our Biblical Narrative Series. I had the pleasure of talking about Hebrews, 1 and 2 Peter, Jude and James in a 2-hour seminar. This was honestly one of my favorite lectures. The seminar is part of a series where we teach each book of the Bible and how they fit into God's bigger story!Lastly, I had the distinct pleasure of teaching Sunday morning for my church, Grace Oviedo. This was my first time teaching on a Sunday morning at a church ever! I have never been so nervous and so excited to teach. I was asked to teach in the middle of our series on marriage, where we were going through the book Song of Songs. My sermon was on chapter 7! I taught on Nakedness and Vulnerability in marriage. If we want true intimacy we must first be vulnerable and open. You can listen to my sermon here!  https://discovergrace.com/media/?sapurl=Lys0ODk0L2xiL21pLytrczVnajZjP2F1dG9wbGF5PXRydWUmZW1iZWQ9dHJ1ZQ==Current work:We are in our last few weeks of school so we are shifting our attention to the Fall. There are a few big things that we are focusing on.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the big day. Don't worry, more will be coming soon!Pictures by Old Pine Pictorial. 

Hello, partners in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m super excited to be writing you! This year has been a great year of change already, with much more to come. As we enter 2019 we have a lot on our hearts for this ministry. I wanted to take some time to vision cast with you, to show you what we are hoping to accomplish this year and all that we have going on.

General Ministry Updates!

This year is really exciting for two big reasons: We have just welcomed two brand new staff members to help run the school! I want to introduce to you, Kristi Marsh and Morgan Phaneuf.Over thMorgan was a student with our SBS program this last year. Morgan really let Scripture transform and mess with her life. Even when she was a student she had a passion for helping people engage with the Bible. We are thrilled to welcome her husband, Justin, and their children Drake and Tannis, to the Emmaus Family. Please pray for Morgan as she is currently support raising and preparing to teach her first book: Colossians.

This spring we are back in the New Testament. This semester is our second time teaching the New Testament with our revised format. This makes it so much easier to not be creating the curriculum as we teach. We feel like we have hit a groove and now we can focus on fine-tuning our school to be the best experience it can be. Vision for the future: We first changed the program because we believed that God was calling us to make the school more accessible. We took the program down to 20/hours a week by eliminating some “busy work”. We also designed our program to be more commuter friendly so that our students didn't have to live on campus. We are exploring even more ways that we can remove barriers and make the school even more attainable to more people. We have a few ideas that we are considering, Stay posted!

We have been blown away by the response to our Biblical Narrative Series. We created this monthly night class as a way for people to learn the overarching story of Scripture. We have been seeing great engagement from those in attendance. People are getting quick and easy tips and tricks for tackling each book of the Bible. Vision for the Future: We want to reach more people with this great resource. We are currently looking into ways that are going to make the monthly night class easier to attend. We are even praying through multiple nights and locations. Our hope as always is to help as many Christians feel less intimidated by Scripture. We want to see Orlando know their Bible in a way they haven't been able to yet. We believe that the Biblical Narrative Series will play a big role in seeing this vision come true.

We started 2019 the best way ever! On January 19th Lauren and I got married here in Orlando! It was a beautiful service lead by Tom Phillips. We celebrated with family and friends at First Baptist Orlando. Lauren and I were blessed to spend our honeymoon in Hawaii. We spent most of our time on Maui. I have never seen anywhere so beautiful! We are home now and getting back into the swing of normal life. Lauren and I have been looking forward to getting into a rhythm! We only have the rest of our lives together to figure this thing out! (wedding pictures by Old Pine Pictorial)

Emmaus- Please pray for me as I prep for the books that I'm teaching this semester. Please also pray for our new staff as they support raise and teach for the first time. Support Raise- Now that we are married I am feeling the pressure to get fully funded. I'm starting to close the gap, but I'm still in need of more monthly donors. Please pray for God to move in the hearts of people and to set up divine appointments.If you would like to join me as a financial partner in ministry, Click Here.Grace Oviedo- Pray that Lauren and I will have a real impact on these high schoolers. Pray that God will use us to break into their lives.