October Ministry Update

    Hey there! Hope you're all doing well. I know we're already over halfway through November, but better late than never, right? I wanted to update you all on what we've been up to at CTF, and how my apprenticeship has been going!

 Classes

    Our classes continue to be one of my favorite things about this apprenticeship! Over the last month we've finished our classes on Evangelism and the Old Testament. We've also started a class on Financial Stewardship and another one on Spiritual Leadership. I think so far Old Testament Foundations has been the most impactful class for me. A lot of Christians either avoid the Old Testament altogether, don't see it as valuable, or just don't like reading it. I think that's really sad! Over the last three months, I've absolutely loved reading, learning about, and discussing the Old Testament. It really is an absolute treasure! 
    For our last OT class, we got to have a zoom meeting with Dr. Iain Provan, the Marshall Sheppard Professor of Biblical Studies at Regent College in Vancouver. We listened to Dr. Provan's Old Testament Foundations lectures throughout the semester and discussed them in our classes. This was such a cool opportunity! We literally got to ask him all of our questions about the Old Testament. I felt like a kid on Christmas!

CTF Nights!

    Over the last month, we've been continuing in our series on Growing in Godliness on Wednesday nights. This has been a really good sermon series for our teens right now. It's been really cool getting to hear how this series has helped our teens work on things like escaping the corruption of the world, growing in moral excellence, pursuing knowledge, and being a godly friend. We also had our annual Songs n S'mores event this month! Every fall, we take one of our Wednesday nights, go to a local park, sing some worship songs and make s'mores. We had a great turnout this year, and it was super fun. 
My little three-piece band! Kole and Savannah consistently serve our community by helping lead worship
on Wednesday nights. They're awesome!

Small Group 

    Story time! A couple of months ago Kole, pictured above, was sharing with me about the group of friends that he had from school. He mentioned to me that he and his friends were wanting to grow in their knowledge of the Bible and their pursuit of Jesus together. I asked Kole if any of them would be interested in getting some time with me, or coming to CTF on Wednesday nights. It took about a week before they were all coming to CTF on Wednesdays, as well as meeting with me weekly for Bible studies. All of these guys go to Wylie Prep, which is my alma mater. Two of these guys' moms taught me in high school, and one of their dads coached me in football! God just works in really cool ways. I've absolutely loved getting to know these guys, and teach them about God. My prayer for them is that they would be lifelong friends who love each other well and always point each other to God.
Logan (white hat) and his parents had us over for dinner a couple weeks ago. Love these guys!

    As always, thank you guys for your love, prayers, and support. I'm thankful for each one of you and the relationships we have. I couldn't do any of this without you. Feel free to reach out to me anytime! 

William Royal
972-979-6722
william@ctfwylie.org 

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