Hello Everyone, I want to give you an update of what is going on with my German Class. A few weeks ago I asked all of you to please pray in regards to a letter that I would give my classmates. During our last days in our class before the Christmas break, I passed out this letter to them. Rebecca was also such a blessing and made all of them christmas cookies and wrapped them in individual bags as a gift to each of them. This all took place on a Thursday. During this day my classmates asked me to play some music for them since they all knew that I played the guitar and sang. So one of the students quickly went home to get a guitar so that I could give them a mini "concert." My only fear was that the guitar would be so out of tune... and that is exactly what happened. This guitar had such old guitar strings on it, that there was no one that could tune it in the class. So I decided to bring my guitar the next day. It was great! I had the opportunity to play 4 German worship songs and 1 English Christmas song! They said they all loved it! What an opportunity! I never thought that would happen! But when we are willing, God is able to do great things!
So far, no one commented on the letter that I gave to them, but maybe after the break, some discussions might arise. So please pray for that! Here is a little video slide show of my classmates and I to give you an idea of who to pray for! And for those of you who are new to the blog... my classmates are from Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, North Africa, India, Poland, Czeck Republic, Russia, Ukraine, Iran, and one other American.
German Class from Joey Roper on Vimeo.
Below is the letter that I wrote to them...Greetings to all of my classmates and teachers,
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I want to take this opportunity to write to you and share with you some things from my heart. First of all, I want you to know that I am so thankful for each of you. It is amazing to think that at the beginning of this year, we didn’t know each other at all, and yet as we are coming to the end of this year, I feel as though we have truly become a family. As we look over this past year, we have been through many situations together and as I have sat back and watched each of you, I have truly seen a love for one another. I have thoroughly enjoyed our time together throughout this year. I have enjoyed the times of laughter, the time that we have spent getting to know each other, helping each other understand this German language, and so much more. Everyday I come home and tell my wife how the class went, what conversations we had, and what we are learning. Once again, I am so thankful for each of you and that I have been able to be a part of your lives throughout this year. Secondly, as I look ahead, I do know that our time will come to an end and we will all part in our different ways. And for this, I am saddened. In fact, a few weeks ago, I told my wife that I will miss seeing each of you and it is my prayer that we can really stay in contact somehow. I know that we have joked around about getting together as a class someway, somehow, and I hope we do. I personally would like to have each of you and your family over to my house some time for a meal together, if that is even possible. So I will truly enjoy our time together, as long as we have it. If you are interested in having our families get together, as hard as it may be because of the different languages, please let me know, and we can try to set it up.
The Last reason why I am writing to all of you, is because it is Christmas time! This is one of my favorite times of the year. This is one of the times of the year that we get together with all of our friends, family, and relatives. We give gifts to each other, sometimes some really special gifts to let the other person know how much they mean to us or how much we love them. So since I don’t have enough money to buy all of you gifts, I want to tell you about a gift that was given to me so many years ago that has completely changed my life, and I believe it is the greatest gift that I can give to you this Christmas.
You see, the gift that I am talking about is the gift of love. But what do I mean when I say, “a gift of love?” The Bible tells us about a love that is beyond our understanding; it is a love that is everlasting, a love that we do not deserve and yet the God of the Bible has freely given to us. This love that I am talking about is the gift of His only Son into this world. Around 2,000 years ago there was a little baby that was born that changed the world, as we know it. This little baby’s name is Jesus. A question that I have for you is, why? Why was He born into this world? The Bible teaches us that He came ‘to save His people from their sins.’ You see, this little baby would grow up one day and the Bible teaches us that He would go to the cross for the sins of the world. In the Bible it states that ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.’ As you read these verses from the Bible you can see how much love that the God of the Bible has for us as human beings. You see, the Bible teaches that God truly desires to have you and I spend eternity in heaven, but there is only one problem. In order to go to heaven, you have to be perfect. And I don’t know about you, but I am not perfect, I fall so short of perfection. The Bible states that ‘all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.’ And yet it is clear that God desires us to spend eternity with him. You see, the Bible teaches many things about God, but I just want to point out two things to you. 1) He is a God of Love. ‘In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (covering) for our sins.’ 2) He is a Just God. Because He is just, He must do what is right. And because He must do what is right, He must judge our sin. For as I have already stated; we are guilty and we deserve judgment. So how do we as sinful people obtain the right to spend eternity with God in heaven if we are so full of sin? That is exactly where Jesus comes in. You see, the Bible teaches us that Jesus can relate to us as humans in every single way, except the fact that He did not sin. Because of this, the Bible teaches that He became that perfect and acceptable sacrifice upon the cross for our sins. The Bible states that ‘He who knew no sin became sin (died upon the cross & took our judgment) for us, that we might become the righteousness of God(have a right standing before God).’ Isn’t this amazing! As I think about it personally; I am the guilty one. I am the one who has done the wrong. I am the one that deserves judgment for my sin, and yet He (Jesus) took all of my sin, and not only mine, but all of the world’s sin upon Himself on that cross and took the judgment that you and I deserved. And yet the Bible states that ‘that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.’ Saved from what? Saved from judgment of your sin. Saved from eternal separation from God for all eternity. Saved from hell. So my question to you is this. Do you have the assurance that if you died today that you would spend eternity in heaven? If yes, why? Is it because you think you’re a good person? Is it because you are depending on your good works? Just briefly remember this, even if we are a “good” person and have “good” works, there still remains the fact that have sin in our lives. So what will we do with those sins? If you do not have the assurance of heaven, why not? I would love to talk to you about it either way.
As I have said already, I believe that this is the greatest gift that I can give to you this Christmas. To tell you about the One (Jesus) who has loved us with this everlasting love. Even though we are sinners, He died for us in our place. If we would just turn from our sins, ask for His forgiveness, place our trust in Him alone, He (Jesus) promises to forgive us of our sins, to give us a new life, and to give us this assurance of spending eternity in heaven with Him.
I want you to know that I love you all very much and pray for you often! Once again, I am so blessed to have each of you in my life! I do pray that you would consider what I have shared with you and want you to know that I am interested in talking to you more about it! I do pray that your would receive this gift of God’s love this Christmas! I promise you this, it will be the greatest gift that you will ever receive!
In love, I share all of this from my heart unto you,
Joey Roper
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I want to take this opportunity to write to you and share with you some things from my heart. First of all, I want you to know that I am so thankful for each of you. It is amazing to think that at the beginning of this year, we didn’t know each other at all, and yet as we are coming to the end of this year, I feel as though we have truly become a family. As we look over this past year, we have been through many situations together and as I have sat back and watched each of you, I have truly seen a love for one another. I have thoroughly enjoyed our time together throughout this year. I have enjoyed the times of laughter, the time that we have spent getting to know each other, helping each other understand this German language, and so much more. Everyday I come home and tell my wife how the class went, what conversations we had, and what we are learning. Once again, I am so thankful for each of you and that I have been able to be a part of your lives throughout this year. Secondly, as I look ahead, I do know that our time will come to an end and we will all part in our different ways. And for this, I am saddened. In fact, a few weeks ago, I told my wife that I will miss seeing each of you and it is my prayer that we can really stay in contact somehow. I know that we have joked around about getting together as a class someway, somehow, and I hope we do. I personally would like to have each of you and your family over to my house some time for a meal together, if that is even possible. So I will truly enjoy our time together, as long as we have it. If you are interested in having our families get together, as hard as it may be because of the different languages, please let me know, and we can try to set it up.
The Last reason why I am writing to all of you, is because it is Christmas time! This is one of my favorite times of the year. This is one of the times of the year that we get together with all of our friends, family, and relatives. We give gifts to each other, sometimes some really special gifts to let the other person know how much they mean to us or how much we love them. So since I don’t have enough money to buy all of you gifts, I want to tell you about a gift that was given to me so many years ago that has completely changed my life, and I believe it is the greatest gift that I can give to you this Christmas.
You see, the gift that I am talking about is the gift of love. But what do I mean when I say, “a gift of love?” The Bible tells us about a love that is beyond our understanding; it is a love that is everlasting, a love that we do not deserve and yet the God of the Bible has freely given to us. This love that I am talking about is the gift of His only Son into this world. Around 2,000 years ago there was a little baby that was born that changed the world, as we know it. This little baby’s name is Jesus. A question that I have for you is, why? Why was He born into this world? The Bible teaches us that He came ‘to save His people from their sins.’ You see, this little baby would grow up one day and the Bible teaches us that He would go to the cross for the sins of the world. In the Bible it states that ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.’ As you read these verses from the Bible you can see how much love that the God of the Bible has for us as human beings. You see, the Bible teaches that God truly desires to have you and I spend eternity in heaven, but there is only one problem. In order to go to heaven, you have to be perfect. And I don’t know about you, but I am not perfect, I fall so short of perfection. The Bible states that ‘all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.’ And yet it is clear that God desires us to spend eternity with him. You see, the Bible teaches many things about God, but I just want to point out two things to you. 1) He is a God of Love. ‘In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (covering) for our sins.’ 2) He is a Just God. Because He is just, He must do what is right. And because He must do what is right, He must judge our sin. For as I have already stated; we are guilty and we deserve judgment. So how do we as sinful people obtain the right to spend eternity with God in heaven if we are so full of sin? That is exactly where Jesus comes in. You see, the Bible teaches us that Jesus can relate to us as humans in every single way, except the fact that He did not sin. Because of this, the Bible teaches that He became that perfect and acceptable sacrifice upon the cross for our sins. The Bible states that ‘He who knew no sin became sin (died upon the cross & took our judgment) for us, that we might become the righteousness of God(have a right standing before God).’ Isn’t this amazing! As I think about it personally; I am the guilty one. I am the one who has done the wrong. I am the one that deserves judgment for my sin, and yet He (Jesus) took all of my sin, and not only mine, but all of the world’s sin upon Himself on that cross and took the judgment that you and I deserved. And yet the Bible states that ‘that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.’ Saved from what? Saved from judgment of your sin. Saved from eternal separation from God for all eternity. Saved from hell. So my question to you is this. Do you have the assurance that if you died today that you would spend eternity in heaven? If yes, why? Is it because you think you’re a good person? Is it because you are depending on your good works? Just briefly remember this, even if we are a “good” person and have “good” works, there still remains the fact that have sin in our lives. So what will we do with those sins? If you do not have the assurance of heaven, why not? I would love to talk to you about it either way.
As I have said already, I believe that this is the greatest gift that I can give to you this Christmas. To tell you about the One (Jesus) who has loved us with this everlasting love. Even though we are sinners, He died for us in our place. If we would just turn from our sins, ask for His forgiveness, place our trust in Him alone, He (Jesus) promises to forgive us of our sins, to give us a new life, and to give us this assurance of spending eternity in heaven with Him.
I want you to know that I love you all very much and pray for you often! Once again, I am so blessed to have each of you in my life! I do pray that you would consider what I have shared with you and want you to know that I am interested in talking to you more about it! I do pray that your would receive this gift of God’s love this Christmas! I promise you this, it will be the greatest gift that you will ever receive!
In love, I share all of this from my heart unto you,
Joey Roper
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