Brookside Institute Fall Launch: What Really Gets Me Excited

We had a great "launch Sunday" for Fall Institute classes!  There's a lot I could mention.  I'm grateful for all the behind-the-scenes help that goes into the launch of a health ministry.  I'm glad there's a strong team of teachers that support each other, and that help create a reputation of excellence and faithfulness in teaching.  I love that our classes are full of people who are eager life-long learners and who are hungry for Scripture and truth - whether they've been attending multiple classes, or this semester is their first exposure.  I love that I got to get back up and teach, and interact, and learn alongside others.

All these things get me excited about the Institute.  I think the thing that gets me MOST excited, though, is dreaming about where these classes can take people:

• I imagine how parents (and grandparents, and uncles, and aunts...) who are better equipped in certain areas can faithfully guide and be a model for their families.  
• I picture how Community Group members and leaders will be better equipped to think well and handle Scripture responsibly, as they meet in living rooms and coffee shops around the city.  
• I imagine how class attendees will be better equipped to graciously provide reasoning and answers to neighbors and co-workers who ask them about their faith in Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Peter 3:15).  
• I pray for the material we cover in classes and the power of God's Word to shape people individually, forming their character, their knowledge, and their actions.  I pray that all of our classes would lead people to experience transformed thinking, renewed character, and obedient action.
• I believe that the textbook and class notes can be an ongoing resource for all in our classes - handy reference material that attendees can turn to repeatedly as they need it.
  

To sum things up: What really gets me excited isn't that classes have started, but knowing where any of our classes can (and should!) take people.  Let's invest ourselves in the material and pray that our trajectories stay lined up with these outcomes!

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Are there ways you've experienced any of these above-mentioned outcomes after having taken an Institute class?  Are there other ways Institute classes have been helpful at lining up the trajectory of your life with right outcomes?