On Sunday we taught an overview of the whole Old Testament (aka OT). We started with a QUIZ. How would you do?

Q1. The Bible is split into two parts, the ________________________ and the ________________________.

Q2. What do you already know about the Old Testament?

Q3. What are the first five books of the Bible?

Q4. How many books are in the Old Testament?

Q5. What is the last book of the Old Testament?

Q6. What is the point of the Old Testament?

ANSWERS:

ʇu & ʇo ‘ǝlqıq ǝloɥʍ ǝɥʇ ɟo ʇuıod ǝɥʇ sı snsǝɾ ˙6 ıɥɔɐlɐɯ ˙5 (ǝlqıq ʍǝɹqǝɥ ǝɥʇ uı sʞooq 42 sɐ pǝzıuɐƃɹo sƃuıʇıɹʍ ǝɯɐs) ʇuǝɯɐʇsǝʇ plo ɥsılƃuǝ ɹno uı sʞooq 93 ˙4 ʎɯouoɹǝʇnǝp ’sɹǝqɯnu ’snɔıʇıʌǝl ’snpoxǝ ’sısǝuǝƃ : (sʞooq 5) ɥɔnǝʇɐʇuǝd ˙3 ʇuǝɯɐʇsǝʇ ʍǝu ǝɥʇ & ʇuǝɯɐʇsǝʇ plo ǝɥʇ ˙1

Can’t read it? Here are the answers again: 1. The Old Testament & the New Testament. 3. Pentateuch (5 books): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 4. 39 books in our English Old Testament (same writings organized as 24 books in the Hebrew Bible). 5. Malachi. 6. Jesus is the point of the whole Bible, OT & NT.

Then we considered some common misconceptions about the OT (misconceptions are wrong ideas/thoughts), such as:

1. The OT has nothing to do with Jesus, so we don’t need it.
2. The OT is just a bunch of Laws that we don’t need anymore.
3. The OT is full of stories of God before Jesus.
4. The OT is for the Jewish people, not for Christians.
5. The OT says in 3 pages what the NT says in a sentence. (Therefore we don’t need to read it; the NT is more like Cliff’s Notes.)

These are common mis-understandings — getting the facts and purposes wrong. No, no, no!

Chris Nye taught on the overall structure of the Old Testament, in the four kinds of writings/sections:

❶ Law (the Pentateuch, first 5 books) — Genesis—Deuteronomy

❷ History // Joshua—Esther

❸ Wisdom writings (poetry) // Job—Song of Solomon

❹ Prophets // major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekel & Daniel) andminor prophets (Hosea—Malachi)

We ended with some questions for discussion in small groups:

• What is the Old Testament about (main theme)?
• What is your favorite story in the Old Testament and why?
• Do you view the Old Testament differently now? Why? Why not?

New series: The Most Amazing Truths You'll Ever Learn

This Summer we are going back to school — old school that is. The new series, The Most Amazing Truths You’ll Ever Learn will take us through the whole Bible, to see the amazing true stories, promises, people, and faithfulness of God.
Excited?

A trip to Wild Waves was a blast last Summer, so we’re doing it again.

Price jumps to $65 on Tuesday, July 13th.

Sign-up right here…

We are excited to have Chris Nye join our Staff team as High School Pastor. This morning we borrowed him to teach our middle schoolers. Here are some of his closing remarks after preaching on “New Beginnings” from Colossians 2:6-10 [NLT, ESV].

What’s next …?

We are excited to welcome Chris and his fiancee Ali serve with the Willamette family. Chris has been faithfully helping to lead the youth since the New Year. (They celebrate their wedding this Summer, in case you are wondering what he was talking about in his story. Ali is the lady he mentions about the changing experiences of life to then live with his new wife once they are married.)

It was a blast last Summer, so we’re doing it again.

Check back this week for signups, with schedule and cost details.

We ended Sunday morning reflecting on the words of “The Door,” a song by Leeland (album: “Love is on the Move“). What powerful truth in this song! [Read about Sunday's teaching lesson.]

The song alludes to John 10, where Jesus is the door, the gate for His sheep, and John 15, where He produces fruit through the vines that depend on Him for their nourishment.
Consider the chorus:

Jesus You’re the only One for me
There’s no way I’m leaving You
You’re the Love, the Way, the Life, the Truth
You’re the door I’m walking through

Watch:

THE DOOR
As the rain falls from heaven I’m lost in Your love
You’re overwhelming, Jesus
And we’re walking together, holding hands
Oh it’s just You and me, Jesus

Life is good hear food is growing
On the beautiful branches
There is rest and there is peace
Inside the shade of Your garden

Jesus You’re the only One for me
There’s no way I’m leaving You
You’re the Love, the Way, the Life, the Truth
You’re the door I’m walking through

Angels are lifting songs of praise
Oh they’re just singing Your story
And nothing can take me away from this place
Lord, I’m just lost in Your glory

Your love is the reason that I am here
And I’m running to you ’cause You’re all I need

Jesus You’re the only One for me
There’s no way I’m leaving You
You’re the Love, the Way, the Life, the Truth
You’re the door I’m walking through

Jesus You’re the only One for me
There’s no way I’m leaving You

Jesus You’re the only One for me
There’s no way I’m leaving You
You’re the Love, the Way, the Life, the Truth
You’re the door I’m walking through

Jesus You’re the only One for me
There’s no way I’m leaving You

Our High School Pastor Chris Nye has a quick word for all the current 8th graders (going to be freshman in high school):

We will welcome incoming freshmen to high school this month. On Wednesday nights the high school group is enjoying a study of The Story of God (beginning with Creation).

Dear parents of incoming middle schoolers,

Summer is around the corner, the weather is (hopefully) turning sunny, school is almost out — and your son or daughter is transitioning into middle school. (Can you believe it?!)

We want to welcome your student as he or she ventures into the unknown land of middle school, and provide some ways to link arms in their spiritual development. You may have already visited the willamettestudents.com website. (There are actually three sites there: one for high school, one for middle school, and one we call The ROAD. More on that in a moment.)
We strive to share core emphases, happenings, and opportunities to partner together.

[download this Letter to Parents of incoming 6th graders as a PDF here]

Sunday Worship for Middle Schoolers

A group of 50+ middle schoolers (grades 6-8) begin Sunday mornings at 11:00am in the Middle School Lounge (upstairs, south end, far right corner room), and generally transition downstairs into the south terrace/multipurpose room. Each week is hardly the same, but we generally follow a flow of four elements:

• hang-out and activity,
• followed by singing and worship,
• followed by teaching God’s Word, and
• then wrap-up in small groups with the devoted adult leaders

Also, as a recap, each week we send out an email to parents called ASK & EXPLORE where we hope to share with you the emphases, happenings and opportunities for Gospel conversations with your student. We have about 1% of their time, and your role as parent and discipler cannot be overstated. We desire this simple tool to foster those Gospel conversations and mutual fascination — parents and students exploring the truths of Jesus and the Bible together! That is our desire in everything we do, connecting the whole Gospel to whole students and deepening the family influence.

• Want to receive these? Signup at willamettestudents.com/MS/parents

When will this transition take place? (aka, when is my student a sixth grader?)

Odds are your student is itching to get to middle school — or at least ‘out’ of fifth grade. We want to first welcome your student to sixth grade, and then into the whole middle school program.

On Sunday, June 13th they will ‘graduate’ from 5th grade (the Edge). Every student will start in the Edge room at 11:00am, and then at 11:20 we’ll come get them. Half of our adult volunteer leaders will be with them to give a preview of what we do in middle school worship, and connect life stories. Next week (June 20th) your son is a middle schooler: come directly to the Middle School Lounge (upstairs, south end, far right corner). As I mentioned before, we finish the morning in small group conversations, scattered in the various spaces in and around the south end of the building.

Parents gathering (sign up for the Ask & Explore emails and we will invite you to a parents gathering later this Summer, before school begins.)

While the middle school program meets together on Sunday mornings at 11:00am, your family is encouraged to meet other families and together seek the spiritual and overall development of your students. Whether it is serving together at The Table & Sunday Market, at a monthly Love Serves project, going on a missions trip, taking a course, conecting in a community group, or meeting up after a sporting activity. Worship happens anywhere and everywhere as we treasure Jesus every day. In the WCC family, everything we do is meant to align with our core mission as a caring community that loves God, loves people, and serves the world.

Welcome to The ROAD

Because middle school is the time for students to renew their commitment to enjoying God and His Word, we’ve created a website — find it at willamettestudents.com/ROAD.

There you will find a daily Bible reading plan, an overview of The Story of God, and practical helps like video overviews of key books. [overview here]

• We know this: the habits and life rhythms students create in their early teen years form the foundation of who they will become as an adult. More than that, what they see their parents doing is what they will do, and who they will become.

• Tip: read the Bible alongside your student; make the same commitments you expect of them. Be a disciple as you make disciples.

When we read, we focus on Jesus — and respond to His greatness, goodness and grace.

Let us know how we can be a resource to you as you teach your children who Jesus is, why He came, and what it means to follow Him together.

Because Jesus is everything,

Jeff Patterson
Associate Pastor

We want to point out the new site we launched last weekend with some helps for enjoying God and His Word: the ROAD.