Bradley Baptist Beacon

Transcription

1 Bradley Baptist Beacon Bradley County Baptist Association February BBA To Partner With The Gulf Coast For Hurricane Katrina Rebuild For God so loved the world, That He gave His only BegottEn SoN That whosoever Believeth In Him Should Not perish, But have Everlasting life." A partnership has been formed with the Gulf Coast Baptist Association in Gulfport, MS. to help families in three counties rebuild their homes. A meeting is set for Tues., Feb. 7 at 1:00pm and 6:30pm at the North Cleveland Baptist Church to give an update about the next phase of work and the new structure of our Disaster Relief. Volunteers will be needed immediately and throughout the year. BBA Churches will be able to do very economical mission trips. Choose the time that fits your schedule and plan to attend this meeting. Your continued support will be greatly appreciated. Youth Evangelism Conference To Be Held At Municipal Auditorium In Nashville March 3 & 4 John 3:16

2 Risking to Renew 2 M O R E B BA D i s a s t e r R e l i e f T e a m s respond in December in New Orleans All the way up to Christmas, we had BBA Disaster Relief Teams responding to Hurricane Katrina. Team leaders, Lou Sadowski and Ron Chastain (Waterville) led 25 volunteers from BBA churches to serve in New Orleans on a mass feeding unit December From August to One of the mass feeding BBA crews December approx. in New Orleans 170 BBA disaster relief volunteers responded 13 times to the Hurricanes that swept through Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. They have been involved in Mass Feeding, Chain Saw & Recovery, and Chaplain Ministry. BBA Volunteers have been instrumental in Jim Polier (FBC CleveBill McConnell leading more than 20 individuals to Christ land) cleaning mass (Westwood) helping to feeding equipment prepare a meal. through their disaster relief work. Calling All BBA Disaster Relief Volunteers: Tues., Feb. 7 at 1:00pm or 6:30pm (choose the time the fits your schedule) At North Cleveland Baptist Church P ro j e c t H e l p i n g H a n d s c l o s e s o u t w i t h i t s b i g g e s t y e a r. T h a n k yo u B BA C h u rc h e s a n d Vo l u n t e e r s! Project Helping Hands is a special care ministry network that has connected over 350 needy families living in Bradley County to churches, organizations, businesses and individuals who provided them with some basic assistance during Thanksgiving and Christmas. The help that is provided is usually such things as food, clothes and toys for children. Thirty three BBA Churches partnered with PHH and 20 Pictured w/randy are some of the children and faculty from the Blythe/ individuals made professions of faith. A special Bower Elementary Food Drive thanks goes out to following church youth groups who delivered food boxes and Christmas gifts to needy families: FBC Cleveland, Michigan Ave., Parkway and Union and thank you to Hopewell and Westwood for helping with additional families at the last minute as well as to Darlene, Vicki, Wendy, Stacey, Marty, James, and Terry who helped us (l to r) Paige, Jack & Judy with extra projects. This year we had five schools assist Adkisson from the White Oak PHH by having food drives: Black Fox Elementary, Long Beards Wild Turkey Federation gave 25 turkeys to Blythe/Bower Elementary, Stuart Park Elementary, Arneedy families. nold Elementary, and Cleveland St. College. Page 2 YOUTH EVANGLISM CONFERENCE March 3 & 4, 2006 Municipal Auditorium, Nashville The Association is sponsoring a trip to the Youth Evangelism Conference for BBA Churches to travel and stay together. 135 youth and adults are signed up from the following churches: Hopewell New Horizons North Cleveland Union Valley View Coming In March & April LateNight Baske tball Outreach provides H.S. students and young 20 s a safe environment to go to on Friday nights where volunteers from BBA Churches build relationships and share Christ. Tentatively starting March 24. Summer Missions Job Opportunities Ocoee Outreach will be hiring several College or Graduate a ge students to serve as a Summer Missionary for approx. 8 weeks during June & July. A weekly stipend (& more) will be provided. Call for more info or come by the BBA office to fill out an application.

3 The ministry of Christ was marked with compassion. Compassion is that deepseated place of tenderness and mercy within the person. Compassion is revealed by the ethos and pathos of the leader. The attitude and aptitude of the pastor toward his flock will impact his ability to lead. The servant leader will demonstrate his concern and connection to the congregation through his interaction with the church body. The pastor must be accessible to the people and understood as someone who cares about their needs. Several months ago I was having lunch with Pastor Keith Watson, Council Baptist Church in Charleston. He told me about the exciting things God was doing and how wonderful his church was. Something he shared stayed with me. He said, Every Sunday morning I tell the church they are the most beautiful people I have ever seen. Those words did not really sink in until I had the opportunity to preach for Keith on the morning of January 29. I stood before the packed church and saw what he sees every Sunday: people full of love, compassion, and sincerity, and full of the spirit. I was so moved from what I saw and felt, I paused in the middle of my sermon, and gave them a big Pastor Watson quote, You are the most beautiful people I have ever seen. It was a humorous moment but I believe they felt my sincerity. What really caught my attention is something that I do not always see, and that was a diverse church. Diverse because I saw people of all ages, black, white, Hispanic, people searching, poor, rich, sick needing healing, young families struggling, and retired couples enjoying the fruit of their labor. It was a true picture of the body of Christ. It was Risking to Renew a God-sized moment. Why? Because I believe the compassion of the pastor has set the stage for the presence of God. The process of becoming a pastor involves the investment of one s life in situations of need. He becomes the leader of the church only after the trust level is developed between the pastor and the church. Preacher, pastor, and leader are all ministries that one knows he can do for the church. But one has to allow the church to see the heart before they are willing to accept one in these roles. Wise counsel enabled me to recognize that a church would respond if they could sense my heart. You cannot lead with a dictator or director mentality and expect people to view your compassion. Effective pastoral leadership requires the balance of love, mercy and concern, with vision, direction, and purpose. The risk of opening your heart is worth the reward of the ability to lead your congregation to growth. A leader who is moved with compassion will pray, visit, and respond to the needs of his congregation. Your church can sense the difference between genuine concern and concern expressed because it is expected. Are you moved to the place of tears and prayer for your people? Do you weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice? Demonstrated compassion is the key to positive leadership within the Body of Christ. You must engage your life within the highs and lows of a congregation. I confess that this area of compassionate response is a challenge for the pastor. You are not always aware of the needs, and you are assumed to possess an ability to know and see all needs. The expectation is to be all things to all people when your concern is preparing the sermon for Sunday. Time management becomes a major issue for your ministry. How do you guard your time? The Page 3 realization that Sunday is always coming, ministry requirements, committee meetings, ministry team needs, support staff issues, building projects, preaching engagements, denominational responsibilities, family needs, and personal time lead to a high level of stress in ministry. It is indeed overwhelming and, if you sense the frustration of this matter, then you are not alone. You feel like the person who is spinning multiple plates on top of sticks and you must keep all the plates rotating while more plates are set up. You are constantly running from stick to stick in order that no plate comes crashing down. If you are not careful it will not be the plates but you that will come crashing down. Ministry is not a reciprocal arrangement, and your acceptance of this fact is important. Individuals will not remember your last sermon, but they will remember how you gave of your life to them. If you are perceived as a man of compassion, then your leadership ability has been enhanced. Guard against becoming too professional and programmed in ministry to the point that you are no longer personable to the people. The leader who is moved with compassion will demonstrate and receive love from his flock. Compassion is an important quality of leadership. The revealing and opening of your heart to your people is a necessary component for developing a bond of trust between pastor and church. Prayer: Please pray for our churches without pastors. Antioch Big Spring Maple Street Tasso Valley View West Cleveland

4 Risking to Renew Page 4 Beginners Basics: Publishing in the Christian Market This class will introduce writers to the how-to s of getting published in inspirational magazines and periodicals. The class will be led by Lettie Kirkpatrick Burress who has written for: Discipleship Journal Lifeway Christian Resources Today s Christian Woman Christian Parenting Today and many more She has also taught related topic at Chattanooga Bible Institute, Southern Christian Writers Conference, Cleveland State Community College, and Lifeway Writers Workshops. Course cost of $50.00 per person Contact person: includes lunch and materials Please call for more information or to pre-register. Please visit CHURCH LIBRARIES PLAN WINTER ADULT READING WONDERLAND With the great reception for last year s association-wide adult reading program, the Bradley Baptist Church Library organization has another adult reading program that is sure to be a hit. You and your church will want to be a part of the ADULT READING WONDERLAND that began January 15 and runs through March 26. Adult readers will have the opportunity to be recognized at a church level as well as eligible for prizes at an association level for reading only four books (one of which must be non-beautiful snowflakes falling from a winter sky and sing along to the tune of Winter Wonderland Adults read, will you join in? From the shelves, books are callin. A beautiful sight. We re happy tonight. Reading at our church li-brair-ree. When we read, it will be thrilling, cause it s spiritually fulfilling. We ll read everyday, right after we pray. Books from our church library. If your church would like more information, please contact Janice Baker at Next Scheduled Library Meeting: Saturday, February 11, 2006 Westwood Baptist Church 9:00am Program: Summer Reading Program Attention All Paid Church Emploees! 2006 GuideStone Financial Resources Conferences Thursday, February 16 Hamilton Co. Baptist Association 10:00am Planning Financial Support A Biblical basis for financial support Advantages of a good financial support plan How to handle business-related expenses Developing appropriate benefit arrangements Regional Secretaries Computer Training March 21, 2006 Ridgedale Baptist Church, Chattanooga 8:30-11:30am & 1:00-4:00pm A one-day event offering three hours of training in Microsoft 2003 Word, Excel, Power- Point, and ACS, Version 8. Cost is $30.00 if you register by February 24th.

5 Risking to Renew Page men attended the Men s Conference February 27 & 28 at First Baptist Church, Cleveland. Danny Singleton who filled in for Dr. Johnny Hunt was tremendous. God moved in the hearts of men. Look for another possible Men s Conference with Dr. Johnny Hunt in A special thanks to First Baptist Church, Cleveland for being our church host. BBA pastors, wives and staff enjoyed a night of fellowship and food at the annual Christmas Banquet held at Candies Creek Baptist

6 Bradley Baptist Association 2707 N. Ocoee Street Cleveland, TN Phone: Fax: Website: Non-Profit U.S. Postage Paid Permit #288 Cleveland, TN Phil Taylor Director of Missions Randy Bonner Ministry Evangelism Dir. Chris Stewart Ocoee Resort Ministries Denise Roebuck Collegiate Ministries Dimple Cox Ministry Assistant News from our Churches Westwood has called Chad McPhatter as their Minister to Students and Collin Cooke as their Assistant Minister to Students. Clingan Ridge has called Kenneth Kesley as their Minister of Music. Candies Creek has called Bo Dunkle as their Interim Student Minister. White Oak has call Gene Smith as their Pastor. Macedonia has called Judson Kirkpatrick as their Interim Student Minister and Paula Neighbors as their Children s Ministry Director. Arris Cavender, Pastor of West Cleve land, has resigned. He is available for pulpit fill-in or an interim position. Call The Valley View StoreHouse has an immediate opening for the position of Director/Project Coordinator. You must be spiritually mature, have management experience, organizational skill, and able to communicate well. Call for more information. February, ESL Training, Hamilton Association 9:00am- 3:00pm 7 Disaster Relief Meeting, North Cleveland Church Sanctuary, 1:00pm & 6:30pm 8 Ministry Development Team meeting, BBA, 10:00am 11 Church Media Library Meeting. Westwood B. C., 9:00am 14 Valentine s Day Conclave 2006, Chattanooga 18 Beginners Basic Writing Class, BBA, 10:00am 2:30pm 22 Pastor and Staff Luncheon,