General Superintendent
Max Edwards
July 16, 2024
Due to the tumultous events of the past few days and weeks in American politics, and the see-saw of emotions and opinions surrounding those things, I thought it might be nice to steer 1000 miles wide of those topics and write about something entirely devoid of big emotions and heightened excitement. �
And so, I thought I’d give your passions and intellectual head space a rest, and hey, what could be less exciting than a new set of graphics for the Tuesday Brief! You’re welcome!
The former Tuesday Brief mo0f
It’s been just over a year since I started writing my weekly serial called the Superintendent’s Tuesday Brief. Most weeks, it’s fairly easy to decide on a topic of interest (to me, at least), but occasionally, it is a bit more challenging to know what to share. I’ve written about EMC saints who have passed. I’ve celebrated significant milestones in the lives of ministry colleagues, praised God for new church plants, been thankful for exciting gatherings, expressed amazement over a solar eclipse, and shared some words of admonition and encouragement regarding our walk with Christ.
Starting next week, I’ll begin a series of weekly thoughts about the priorities of the early church that we find clearly layed out in Acts chapter 2. The things that occupied the time and attention of the believers in the first century are the same things that should occupy our time and attention here in the 21st century.
They studied together … they enjoyed meals and gatherings … they cared for each other … they prayed … they worshipped … they experienced God’s power … they welcomed new believers … they were financially gracious. So look for that series to start on July 23rd and run through early September.
Those of you who are pastors might desire to incorporate some of these same themes in a vision-casting preaching or teaching series in the fall, and if so, please feel free. I don’t mean to insinuate that my short explorations of those themes would be sufficient as sermons – I only wish to convey that if you resonate with these priorities of the early church, I certainly invite you to explore them more deeply in your prep and prayer time to see if the Holy Spirit would enliven some of them in your hearts as you plan and preach.
And hey, don’t get too excited about the new “blue” graphics for the Tuesday Brief. I wouldn’t want to stretch your emotions over such frivilous details. You’ll need them for much more important things!!