Today, we saw our kids off to their first day back to school.  The start of a new school year means a new beginning for families and also for congregations.  With the start of the new school year, we begin new learning opportunities, new events, new worship schedules, etc.  It’s like a brand new start.

I’ve been praying with a great deal more passion this last week for my kids and their upcoming school experience.  I’ve been praying with a great deal more passion for our congregation as we begin this next new season of growth and ministry.  Please join me in these prayers.

It’s a new day.  NOW is the time of God’s favor. NOW is the day of his salvation.  Let’s leave the old ways behind and walk in the fresh ways of His Spirit.  Let’s look ahead with eagerness, joy and anticipation to see what God will do in these next days, weeks and months.  In what ways will he change us, personally?  In what ways will he expand his kingdom?

Lord God, Holy Father, fill us anew with your Holy Spirit, that we may live as your people in this broken world, serving our neighbors and sharing Jesus with them.  Amen.

Yesterday, we teamed with Zion Lutheran Church in Manchester to put on a carnival for their neighborhood.  We had good groups of folks come out to help and possibly around 50 people from the neighborhood come to enjoy the day.  We pray that doors were opened for further relationships between God, the people of that neighborhood and the people of God at Zion.

Overall–it was good to see God’s people “On the Move!” serving others in the Name of Jesus.

Here’s a sample:

Ahaz: Wicked.  Idolatry. Child Sacrifice. Etc.  His son was:

Hezekiah.  “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD.”  He removed idolatrous practices from Israel and demonstrated his own trust in the One True God.  But his own son was:

Manasseh.  Manasseh was about as wicked a king as Judah had.  He was fully into idolatry and child sacrifice and all sorts of abominations.  It was because of Manasseh’s reign, that God sentenced His people to exile in Babylon.  His son was:

Amon.  His reign was short, but he too did evil in the eyes of the LORD.  But his son was:

Josiah who did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and led great reforms in Israel.

The author of Kings doesn’t tell us what kind of father these men were.  We don’t know (from scripture) if they were actively involved in the raising of the next generation or if that was left to officials, or other family.    In some cases, the next son was very young when throne was passed on. (Josiah was EIGHT when he became king) so there might not have been much influence at all from Father to child.

So what do you make of this?