S.S.

Hey Team,

It was great to see all 46 of you who were in Sunday School last week. While we don't want to get hung up on counting "noses," we do celebrate each time that each individual is involved in some type of Bible Study, Christian fellowship, etc.

If you haven't been in a while, it is a great time to start back as we begin a new unit by Dr. James MacDonald about personal revival from his book, Downpour.

Hope to see you Sunday. In the meantime, I want to share with you some wisdom from Chuck Swindoll (see below).

Press on.
Andrew

"I'm going to hit the gym at 5:30 every morning, and I'll start tomorrow." "I'm going to clean out and organize the garage and keep it spotless from now on." "I'm going to give up French fries . . . for good this time!"

I love the old saying, "A New Year's resolution goes in one year and out the other." How true! We always begin a new year with the best intentions, making resolutions to change this or stop that. But no matter how hard we try, even the best choices fall by the wayside, ready to be picked up again the following January.

This year, let's do something different. Rather than making the same old promises we're sure to break, let's explore the way Jesus lived on earth. His example can be summarized in one simple sentence: "Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" (Luke 2:52 NIV).

Did you catch those four specific areas? Jesus grew intellectually, physically, spiritually, and socially. And if our ultimate goal is to become like Him, we need to mature in each of these four characteristics as well.

I was fortunate enough to spend several years studying at Dallas Theological Seminary under the tutelage of Dr. Howard Hendricks. The mentor and friend I affectionately call "Prof" motivated me to grow in every area of my life, to seek balance and a godly perspective, and to pursue Christ with every thought and action. I value his teaching greatly. And his challenge still deeply resonates with me today, so much so that I'd like to share with you a few of his wise words that I remember well:

You cannot fully develop spiritually unless you develop in life's other areas as well—intellectually, physically, socially, and emotionally. You cannot neglect one of these areas without endangering your growth in all of them. Likewise, you cannot grow in any one of these areas without also having an effect on all the others.

Let's start this year with a realistic resolution. Let's highlight some areas of our lives where we can grow intellectually, physically, spiritually, and socially