Our Blog

Women On Mission July 2017

A FOCUS ON COOPERATIVE PROGRAM
 Accomplishing More Together. 

English Baptist William Carey answered the call to carry the gospel to India in the late 1700s.  He recognized that to be effective in his efforts, he needed partnership and cooperation.  He challenged churches to “hold the ropes” by committing to pray for and give to missions efforts.

In 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention was formed and continued in the spirit of fulfilling the Great Commission.  The initial approach was a societal method of giving.  Missionaries had to raise their own financial support and devote significant time to cultivating churches and individuals for that support.  As missions efforts grew rapidly, so did the competition for funding.  God led Southern Baptist in 1925 to launch a unified channel of giving called the Cooperative Program.  It is a lifeline of support that begins with individual believers in each Southern Baptist congregation.  As believers respond in obedience to give to the Lord in the local church, churches, in turn, allocate a percentage of undesignated gifts through the Cooperative Program for state, national, and international missions.

The simple principle that more can be accomplished together than alone is the genius of the Cooperative Program.  For almost 90 years, Southern Baptist have supported thousands of missionaries, planted multitudes of churches, and witnesses countless lives profess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Can one local church support more than 6,000 missionaries as well as six seminaries and    engage more than 3,000 unreached people groups around the world?  By giving through the Cooperative Program, yes, it can.

Please continue to feed your World Hunger bank.  These will be returned Sunday, August 20th.  Women on Mission will meet at the church on Monday, July 10 at 6:00pm.  All our    ladies are invited to join us.

Pastor's Points June 2017

Last month I wrote an article declaring my love for our church.  I meant every word of that article.  I love our church deeply and pray you do as well.  This month I want to share an article with you that Daniel Darling wrote a few years back entitled, “Five Ways you can love your church”.  I pray it will encourage you to love your church in some very practical ways.

1) Extend your church the same grace you give yourself. I find it amazing that we are so good at finding all the flaws in our churches while simultaneously getting peeved because that same church is “judgmental” towards me. The truth is that the church, your church that you go to on Sundays, has flaws. Some are rather obvious. Some might be embarrassing. But if they are preaching the gospel, sharing the Word, and have a genuine sense of community, then why not give your church the same grace you want to receive?

2) Be intentional and dependable. Churches depend on volunteer effort. Without active members regularly giving their time and energy, the church simply can’t function. In fact, I would argue that every Christian should have active ministry in a local, Bible-believing church. In fact, the Bible says that it’s the pastor’s job to equip the lay people who do the ministry (Ephesians 4:12). Here is what can make your church function at optimum levels–your faithfulness and dependability. Be on time every week for services. If you sign up for a job, take it as seriously as you would your other obligations. And do it well. You have no idea how precious your gift of faithfulness is to a church.

3) Speak well of your church in the community. How do you speak of your church in the community? Do you regularly rag on its faults? I’m not saying to “spin” things that are wrong. Don’t do that. It’s inauthentic. But leave those things “in the family.” When you’re out, speak well of your church and the people there. Invite folks to the functions. Post positive things on social networks like Facebook or Twitter. You might even blog about it. If Jesus is the groom and the Church is the bride, then Jesus must love when we say nice things about the Church.

4) Build intentional relationships in your church. How many deep, satisfying relationships do you have with folks in your church? Maybe there is nobody like you, your age, your station of life so you shy away from deep relationships. Why not try to move out of your comfort zone and engage someone, that widow or that teenager. Have that family over for dinner. Do coffee with the retired school teacher. Your pastor is busy trying to make this happen, but he can’t do it all. Your intentional efforts at fostering community will help your church move forward in a big way.

5) Give regularly to your church. Yes, you should give out of the love in your heart toward God. And no, you shouldn’t give simply because the church needs money. But, let’s be honest, the church needs money. It takes money to keep the lights on, have that cool new Sunday School curriculum, and to host that missionary from Ecuador. So, be biblical, and commit to
sustained, regular giving that the church can count on. This demonstrates the commitment to the local expression of Christ’s body in your community.

Let each of us experience the love of Christ in our church family.  And let’s make sure that love for one another is the testimony of our lives to a watching world.  They will know us by our love!! (John 13:35)

I love you and I love being your pastor!