When you think. The Encourager JULY / AUGUST Message from our pastor

Transcription

1 L a k e v i e w B a p t i s t C h u r c h The Encourager JULY / AUGUST 2015 Message from our pastor When you think of the Summer season, what words often come to mind? Warm. Ahhh! Vacation! Fun. Finally, Lake Michigan! No snow! Enjoy it while it lasts. For me? Rest. After moving the proverbial ball forward for the majority of the year, summer is a time to slow down a bit, spend some time outside, brew some sweet iced tea and find a pool or a lake to be near. We live in a culture that doesn t always value rest. If a friend asks you, how are you? and you don t respond with crazy busy, you re almost judged or seen as lazy. To be sure, idle living isn t the answer. The Bible clearly condemns those living idle lives, refusing to work (2 Thessalonians 3:11). In my experience, those whom this verse refers to are outliers in a workaholic world. God has given us times of rest as a gift a time to restore our minds and souls so that, in time, we can go on living productive lives in his Kingdom. In fact, he doesn t just give us rest as a gift, he commands that we do it! It even made his top ten list: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work Exodus 20:8-11. Rest. It was a pattern that Jesus modeled for his disciples. After a few long days of preaching, teaching, healing and feeding crowds of people, Jesus and the disciples became weary. Jesus plan? Let s get some down time! He said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. Mark 6: Rest. In other places in scripture, Jesus retreated not just from the crowds, but even his own disciples! Mark 1:35-38 records it: Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" People were looking for Jesus, but Jesus wasn t looking for people. Jesus was great at hiding when he needed to get away. Rest. God himself even modeled rest for us in the creation of the world: By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:2-3. I recently heard Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California speak on this topic. He states all of us need to Divert Daily, Withdraw Weekly and Abandon Annually. It s a great pattern for our lives worth considering: Sadly, Sadly, the need for recovery is often viewed as evidence of weakness rather than an integral aspect of sustained performance. The result is that we give almost no attention to renewing and expanding our energy reserves, individually or organizationally. To maintain a powerful pulse in our lives, we must learn how to rhythmically spend and renew energy. Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, The Power of Full Engagement. Inside: Scholarship info Small Groups Volunteers New Members Finances Calendar Birthdays/ Anniversaries

2 He said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. Mark 6: Continued from front page Divert Daily. Warren writes: Divert Daily means every day you do something fun. I don t care what it is. Just do something. Get a hobby. You want to paint, play the piano, sing, go shoot some hoops, work out, go work in your garden, or wrestle with your kids. Whatever relaxes you. Different things relax people differently. You need to have a little bit of fun every day in your life. I would add an important note: spend a few minutes quietly before the Lord, perhaps reading a passage of scripture to reflect on. This does not have to be a long time, but enough to divert your attention and escape momentarily from the daily grind. Some might get up early to do this, others might take time over an extended lunch. Others might prefer to do this to close out the day before their head hits the pillow. Whenever it s done, be sure to divert a little bit of time to spend with the Lord. Withdraw Weekly. Warren writes: Take a day off every week to relax, restore [and not work]. Turn off your phone and don t check your . This is the Sabbath. It s a day where Godly permission is given for you to say enough! to the busy, chaotic world we live in. It s permission to say no to anything that resembles productivity. The world won t fall apart because you took time to rest your body, mind and spirit. Abandon Annually. Warren writes Go away once a year for an extended period of time like a week or two. Don t give work a thought. Abandon yourself to the moments of rest and relaxation. Get. Out. Of. Town. This is often difficult to do because people need you. They need your input, your knowledge or your skill. But it s interesting that even in the midst of a crazy ministry season where so many people needed Jesus, he learned to abandon the work for a period of time, even though everyone was looking for [him] Mark 1:38. Jesus knew the value of appropriate times of rest! * * * Like any gift, it s up to you to open it. Divert Daily, Withdraw Weekly, Abandon Annually. Summer might be a good time to start! Enjoy God s gift to you. Adam New Member Dedication Service July 12th Billy Blankenship Louise Butler Jenna Haapapuro Wanda Hartman Connie Summers P.S. To hear more of Rick Warren s words on this topic, watch him being interviewed by Andy Stanley at a recent Catalyst Conference. Log in to our church s right now media account and type in this URL: Training/Post/ View/ If you do not have a Right Now Media account or are unsure what this incredible resource is, please talk to me! Page 2

3 Quilt Workshop July 23rd & Aug am Noon (LBC Parlor) Plan to come on the 4th Thursday of each month. Learn something new or bring your own project to work on. Contact Rolllie Longman ( ) or Mary Kline ( ) XYZ All retirees of the church are invited! The next meeting will be Tuesday, July 21, :30 a.m. Meet in parlor for devotions with Hal Longman. Eating out & fellowship at Riverside Inn, Bellevue Small Groups XYZ August Mystery Trip August 18th 11:30 am meet in parlor For devotions with Deni Fry Eating out and fellowship Frogs (for school-age kids.) Watch for special summer events Sunday AM Acts of Worship Sundays, 9 AM LBC Church Office Contact Ted Headings, ; Carl Corless, Office closed Friday, July 3rd The Encourager Page 3

4 Worship at Goguac Lake Sunday, August 23rd Lakeview Baptist Food Pantry Day Friday, August 7 (9:30 am) Please contact Mary Kline or Hal Longman, if you are willing to share your time with this ministry. The Encourager Page 4

5 JULY: Nursery Volunteers 5 Donna Headings & Tonya Metzger 12 Shauneene Crowe & Christi Marsh 19 Betty Trumbull & Kathy Snyder 26 Lisa Thomas & Marni Haapapuro July Kid s Church leaders: Debbie & Amy 252 BASICS Greeters 5 John & Marilyn Edwards 12 Richard & Eleanor VerLee 19 Tom & Linda Hicks 26 Ted & Donna Headings Coffee Hour Hosts 5 Rollie & Mary 12 Pat DeVoll & friends Deb Zesiger Financial Record Budgeted need for: May June Monthly: $ 24,626. $ 13,624. Received: 5/3 3,043. 6/7 2,508. 5/10 1,579. 6/14 2,242. 5/17 2,125. 6/ / /28 5/31 13,353. TOTAL $ 20,846 $ 5, Year to Date : (January May 2015) Received: $82,506 Need: $87,324 MEIJER COMMUNITY REWARDS UPDATE Earned in May: $ Since start of program $7,889 (9+ years) LBC earns up to 1% of your purchases each time you use your Rewards card and make a payment by Meijer Credit Card, Cash or PIN- Debit payment. To join go to: If you have any trouble at all hearing the morning worship service, listening devices are now available. Please ask an usher for assistance. Page 5

6 AUGUST: Nursery Volunteers 2 Donna Headings & Mary Kline 9 Shauneene Crowe & Debbie Brown 16 Betty Trumbull & Kathy Snyder 23 Service at the Lake 30 Rollie Longman & Marni Haapapuro August Kid s Church leaders: 252 BASICS Greeters 2 Phil & Sandy Allwardt 9 Jan Tichenor & Alaine Ratliff 16 Bill & Emily Blankenship 23 Service at the Lake 30 Louise Butler & Donna DeBow Smith Coffee Hour Hosts Service at the Lake 30 Gather Visitation Mary Kline, as team leader of Visitation, encourages YOU to prayerfully consider participating in the visitation of our members and friends. You are part of God s as you make visits on your own or part of a team. Help us make this ministry serve at its best by letting us know who you visit so we can be sure not to miss anyone in need. Please let Mary, Pastor Adam or the church office know if you would like to participate with the Visitation. Also, please let us know if you or someone you know would like or is in need of a visit. Lakeview Baptist Worships at the Lake Sunday, August 23rd

7 July 7 S. 20th Street Battle Creek, MI info@mylakeviewbaptist.com Ph Fax: Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat th of July Holiday Office Closed 4 Independence Day 5 Communion Sunday New Member Dedication Service AM Quilt workshop :30 XYZ

8 7 S. 20th Street Battle Creek, MI Ph Fax: August Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Communion Sunday :30 AM LBC Food Pantry Day :30 XYZ AM Quilt workshop Worship at the Lake Page 8

9 JULY Birthdays 2 Robert Lamb 3 Evelyn Holcomb 5 Nick Batch Neveah Herris 6 James Barlow 7 Men K Cing Kap Bernadine Kelly 8 Linda Daniel 9 Zeretta Lane Frances Williams 10 Marilyn McKenzie 13 Gerhard Loewe Cheryl Marsh Kathy Snyder 15 Valerie Selbee 16 Daniel Thawngza Kap 21 Grayson Wood 22 Caitlin Hicks 23 Michelle Loewe Terry Nixon 25 Heidi Chmiel 26 Morgan Allred 27 Cayden Wood 28 Juanita Castellanos 31 Jonathon Barnes Anniversaries 12 Phil & Kathy Niece 24 Pastor Adam & Tonya Metzger 29 Robert & Connie Russell 30 Nolan & Shauneene Crowe 31 Tony & Tiffany Allred AUGUST Birthdays 2 Ron Blankenship 3 Linda Hicks 5 Meghyn Kornoelje 6 Jamie Kosciuszko Richard Raber 8 George Darnell Andrameda Palmiter 10 Herb Colwell Nolan Crowe 12 Richard Trumbull Eleanor VerLee 16 Pat DeVoll 17 Marilyn Edwards 20 Rod Sigourney 21 John Schenk 22 Kim Allred 23 Cora Beebe 25 Connie Russell 26 Robert Russell 29 Rod Bolte 30 Emily Batch John Chmiel 31 Terri Loewe Anniversaries 7 Richard & Eleanor VerLee 8 Wayne & Deb Brown 14 Tom & Tara Begley 24 Jack & Mary Willavize

10 7 S. 20th Street Battle Creek, MI Ph Fax: Sunday, 10:00 a.m. Worship & Kid s Church