Summer Recap and Fall Preview

The summer is usually a season that churches, whether large or small, experience a lull—both a lull in attendance and a lull in momentum.  By God’s grace, the summer was a time of growth in both numbers and momentum for Providence.  We certainly missed many of our families and students, but we had new visitors joining us for worship every week which has allowed us to nearly double our Sunday gathering since the time we launched in November.

Growing slowly and steadily has allowed us to assimilate new folks into rich gospel community that continues to encourage and challenge our family in knowledge and worship of Jesus.  Know this: through the gathering of the people of Providence on Sundays and through their being sent out throughout the week, the gospel of Christ is moving in Austin. 

Next week we are beginning an eight week study called The Gospel-Centered Life.  Because we have so many new people who are either brand new believers or not Christians at all, we want to spend some time defining and applying the gospel.  At Providence, we like to say that the gospel isn’t just the entry point to the Christian life, but it is all of the Christian life.  This paradigm is new for many people, so we’re excited to begin exploring how we are far worse than we think we are, and yet how God loves us much more than we think he does. We’ll preach through this content on Sundays, and then meet in smaller groups all over town throughout the week to go in greater depth.  We’re really expectant for the next eight weeks for God to continue to grow his people and for non-Christians to come to faith in Christ.

As for a personal Sherman update:

I (Nathan) spend the majority of my time meeting with and following up with new people who show up on Sundays—trying to get to know them as well as connecting them with others at Providence.  I’m also meeting regularly with a couple of students as well as Campus Crusade staffers as we encourage each other out of sin and into the light of the gospel.  One of the highlights of my week is meeting with two guys who are my age and for the first time in their lives are committed to a church body and thinking about spiritual things.  We’re getting to walk through the Bible together and talk about how God has reconciled us to himself in Jesus which leads to the life that for which we were created.

I’m also just getting to spend a lot of time alongside our pastors, which has been so great for me to learn how to be a better pastor, husband, and dad. And in any other spare time, I’m usually working on resources for our people, most notably a family devotional for the coming Advent season.  I’ll make sure all of you have access to that when it’s finished.

Marcie is still getting to volunteer once a week at the South Austin Pregnancy Center where she meets with and counsels pregnant women whose pregnancies are often unexpected and unwanted. She is also in her second week of leading a Abortion Recovery class for women who are still experiencing the intense emotional and spiritual trauma of a recent or decades-old abortion.  Needless to say, Marcie is engaging in some pretty intense and gritty ministry but also seeing the richness of God’s goodness and mercy in these women’s lives.

Please pray for these next eight weeks as we go through the Gospel-Centered Life.  I think it could be transformative for many as people will hopefully think about God’s holiness, our sin, and the work of Christ in new ways.  We’re hopeful that these small groups will be especially transparent with each other, which might be initially uncomfortable for people who haven’t experienced that before.  So pray that God would make much of himself by the humbling of his people and through their worship of Christ.