quick update from Jake

Hello everybody,
Institute session went great! Praise the Lord! Dad came home very exhausted Friday afternoon. He went to sleep later that night, but next morning woke up with a cold. On Saturday Jordan caught it. They are better now, although their throats are hurting.

I have quite a few strong believing friends here. They really look forward to the next Sunday, because they love our pastor's preaching (Volodia is doing a great job preaching on 1 Thessalonians verse by verse). One of my friends, Artyom is really growing in the Lord. I'm really encouraged!!!!! A year ago he started coming to our youth group, but he never wanted to come to church service. I invited him over and over again. Artyom's dad and I are good friends (we got baptized together), and I told him humbly, that as a father, he should bring his son to church. Anyway, a month later, Artyom gave in and said that he'd come to church. He really liked the service, so he came the next Sunday. Since then, he’s repented and has been coming consistently every Sunday, professing to be a believer. I think he is. He is serving in the church, accepts correction readily, and is evangelizing to his friends and bringing them to youth group. He’s also planning to get baptized soon!!!! ALL PRAISE TO THE LORD!!!!

A week ago we had a guest stay at our apartment. His name’s Dave Deuel. Fun guy. He taught at a mini-conference in the Institute. Here’s a picture of him. By the way, don’t ask me who that “person” is in the middle, because I don’t know either!

For Christ’s glory,

Jake

jake's update

Hey everybody,
This is Jacob writing.
Our Institute session just started last week. Another week to go! Dad is teaching "Examples of Expository Preaching.” He is teaching pastors how to improve their preaching by looking at the Sermon on the Mount and other great sermons. It’s going to be a very busy week for him, especially with both the institute and the seminary.

Two weeks ago, I taught the youth group at our church. I taught on Romans 3:1-8. I could notice myself going a little bit faster than I had planned. I was just nervous. First time teaching in Russian. Will try better next time. I hope the youth got the main point of the passage. In any case, ALL praise to the Lord!! Lately as I've been studying Rom 3:1-8, I've learned two important truths: No one should ever question God's faithfulness as a Savior, and no one should ever question God's righteousness as a Judge. Likewise, I've been encouraged by two statements: that I serve a faithful God, whose faithfulness can never be questioned; and I serve a righteous, just God, whose righteousness can never be questioned. What a God we serve!! Our youth leader asked me to teach on the 21st of December on Romans 3:25-31. I'm not positive, but I think that I'm going to be teaching every 3 Thursdays (I taught on the 30th of November, this time on the 21st of December).

For His glory,
Jacob Snyder