Our Young Adult group is the greatest ever. I mean that.

It's common knowledge at our church that, when anyone new comes to the church who might be somewhere within the age group of 18-35, especially if they don't seem like someone who is particularly churched, then they are directed to the Young Adult class. We meet Sunday mornings for Sunday school, and the second and fourth Wednesday of every month for student-led evangelistic service. It is amazing.

Over a year ago, we started a series on doctrine. Every Sunday morning, we go through and methodically discuss doctrine, from "Does God Exist" to defense of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and then into repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost and tongues, holiness, and then we started exploring The Teachings of Jesus. We've been going through the Sermon on the Mount, and we're finishing that up now. I vote that we look at Romans next, but it's not entirely up to me.

Anyway, our class is doing something that, I think, is really lacking in Pentecostal churches is expository teaching and preaching. We go through, and study the scripture systematically. It's a good thing, and it's a needful thing. Oh, and you can stream the sermons as mp3s here, or you can click here to subscribe to an iTunes podcast here. How cool is that?

Anyway, I've met a couple of people who have been visiting the class, and I've started Bible Studies with them. Phillip has little experience with church, Chris was raised Catholic and has some experience with Baptist churches, and Taren's grandfather is a Pentecostal missionary.

When I met Phillip, we talked, and I realized that he was desperately hungry for God. He is incredibly sensitive to the Spirit, and weeps when God moves. He came the first time on a Wednesday, and he was baptized the following Sunday. We've done a couple of Bible studies, but he has been recently influenced by some peddlers of false doctrines. I'm praying for him, but he needs some stability in the truth.

Chris has such an awesome God story. He was walking by the church during IBC MusicFest, heard the music, and came in to check it out. He loved what he heard, so he came back the following Sunday morning. Three weeks later, he made his way down to the Young Adult class, where I met him, and that morning, he got baptized. After he came out of the water, he looked at me and said, "I have all kinds of questions about this Pentecostal thing. When can we do a Bible study?" HA!! He got baptized before he even totally understood it. He heard the Word of God, received the Word, believed it, and obeyed. I love that kind of faith.

Taren is the most recent guy I've met and started working with. Sunday morning, I was praying at the altar after church, and the evangelism pastor came to me and asked me if I would come pray with a guy. I went over, and we prayed, and he received the Holy Ghost with the sign of speaking in tongues! The minister praying with him asked if he'd been baptized in Jesus' name, and he hadn't, so we went upstairs and baptized him. In the past two weeks, we've baptized almost 10 people. It's so exciting!

Keep Phillip, Chris, and Taren in your prayers. God is doing awesome things, and I'm excited to be a part of it.