Sunday, May 19, 2013

Saturday and Sunday

Sorry about the title - not extremely inspiring but nonetheless, informative.

Saturday we spent the morning finishing Genesis.  We talked about how Joseph came out of prison humbled and praising God, how Jacob reminded us of the three truths of life before Pharaoh (short, hard and a pilgrim - not our final resting place) and how the Lord would come through the line of Judah (would we rather not have come from the line of Joseph, not Judah??).  We also prepared a message from Genesis 38, reminding ourselves of Judah's sin, Tamar's action and God's grace (they would have a son named Perez who would be in the line of Jesus).  Part of the goal of the teaching is not to only convey the information in Genesis but also to be an encouragement to the leaders, as well as show them how it is possible to preach from Genesis.

As it was Saturday, we only met together until 1:00.  In the afternoon, I went to a "wedding reception".    We went into the young couple's ger and with a few people had a milky tea and then a camel/goat/sweetened/partially fermented goes-down-oh-so-smooth drink.  It was this last drink from which I spent the rest of the day recovering  - went to the grocery store and picked up some green tea and tried my best to keep everything in their proper place.

Sunday - I woke up early to write a message I was to preach for one of the churches in the city. During the morning service, we sang, prayed and then I spoke.  We looked at the blind man and Zacchaeus, the one had nothing while the other had everything, according to the world's standards.  It was an opportunity to share with the people that Jesus alone satisfies.  Following the service, a number of us went out for a meal - we waited a couple hours for the meal to arrive as they ran out of fuel and had to run out for a refill. However, it did turn out to be an excellent meal of rice and chicken.  My choice of drink was Coke - I figured it was safe and not fermented.
 
This afternoon, I plan to get ready for the next week - Old Testament Survey.  We will look at the books from Exodus to Nehemiah.

So - Saturday and Sunday - culinary delights, cultural moments, communal worship - and fermented camel/goats/sweetened milk ... a weekend in the Mongolian countryside.

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