Estes Echo

February is nearly upon us and that means it’s time for the annual Bible lectureship at FHU. On February 2-6, the campus will play host to a couple thousand of our brothers and sisters who have travelled from near and far to benefit from what is arguably the world’s largest Bible study!

This year the main theme for the lectureship is The Patience of Hope: First and Last Things in Thessalonians. In the words of Lectureship Director David Lipe: “Paul wrote these two letters to a young church he had established in the upper part of what we would call Greece, a church suffering persecution because of its faith. These two warm, personal letters provided the guidance those Christians needed in this life and gave them a divine perspective on what would happen when Christ returns. They will do the same today.”

The fact that the Lectureship takes place on our own doorstep provides a tremendous opportunity for us at Estes. There are programs available at the Welcome Center. Take one and scan through it. Find some things that interest you and go listen. You will be challenged and encouraged by some of the most outstanding voices in our brotherhood.

To get us started, the Estes elders have decided to dismiss the Sunday evening service on the day the Lectureship begins. They would like to encourage us instead to attend the evening lecture that day and as much as possible during the week, since they believe this will help promote the spiritual growth we seek as members of the family of God. We will be running a shuttle service to and from the evening session on Sunday; one before the singing and another before the lecture. They will leave the Estes building at 6:40 and 7:10 and will return to Estes after the session concludes.

As is our custom, we will also have an early service on Wednesday evening to allow our members to enjoy a special speaker here at Estes and then make it to the University for the evening session. We have invited Jay Lockhart to speak at Estes at 6:00 and Bill Watkins will be the Lectureship speaker that evening.

There is a lot going on and it presents a wonderful occasion for spiritual encouragement. Don’t miss this opportunity!

–Mark Blackwelder