The MESSENGER February 2019 Volume 7, Issue 2 We are one month away from the end of our Freedom Initiative Campaign! As most of you know, we entered into this campaign 3 years ago on March 6, 2015, with a goal of being a debt free church. We were $1.5 million in debt at that time, and our ability to allocate resources to outreach, ministry, facility improvements, and missions were strapped due to the monthly debt payments we were obligated to pay back. So on that day in March of 2015, we committed as a church to each give above and beyond our normal giving to the Freedom Initiative in hopes that we could free ourselves from the bondage of this debt. I am so proud to announce that as of January 27, 2019, with everything that has been given to the Freedom Initiative along with what we have paid out in our monthly debt payments, we have reduced our debt down from $1.5 million to around $120,000! We are planning a Celebration Sunday for March 3 to celebrate all that God has done in us and through us in this campaign, and I hope that you will make plans to be there. It is going to be a great time of celebration and worship as we honor God and give Him glory for what He has done. However, we have not officially reached our goal of being completely debt free. So I want to encourage you to consider prayerfully giving to the Freedom Initiative between now and then so that we finish strong! Some of you may be prayerfully giving to finish off a pledge you made to give a certain amount over this 3-year campaign, while others of you may be prayerfully considering making another gift above and beyond the pledge you originally made, or even a first time gift to the Freedom Initiative. Still others of you may prayerfully consider selling something and using the proceeds to give to the Freedom Initiative. Also, don t forget that you can donate stocks, bonds, and property to the Freedom Initiative if that is a direction the Lord is leading you as well. I cannot begin to express all of the emotions I have inside as I have seen this church give sacrificially in order to commit to becoming a debt-free church! I am so proud of you and what God has done over this past 3 years. Thank you for listening to the Lord s voice throughout this campaign and for trusting Him with where He has led you personally and us as a church. I can t wait to celebrate with you on March 3! In His Name, Jason White, Lead Pastor 512.282.0875, x14 jason@manchacabaptist.org A Message from Pastor Jason White Inside this issue: Music Ministry News News Kids Ministry News News February Calendar Date Night Baby Dedication Ladies Event 2 3 3 4 6 Special Points of Interest: Fostering Hope Class Menchaca Elem. School Project 5K & Kids Dash Family Ministry Flag Football
Missionaries Among Us.. I heard a pastor quote another pastor recently, remembering a conversation where he heard something to the effect of If you are going into the ministry, you either need to be a missionary or a missions minded pastor. I really like that statement, but I feel that it applies to the rest of us in a way too, not just lead pastors. I m not called to be a lead pastor and I don t think God would have put me in the exact place that I am right now, if He intended me to be a foreign missionary. With that said, there is so much room in between full time, foreign missions and doing absolutely nothing and hoping that my church is supporting some worthy missionaries that are called to go to the ends of the earth. What about this community and what about the lost people that find their way to our church that need to know about the gospel? Week after week, I am seeing new faces in both worship services and I m super excited about it because God is bringing people to our church. Maybe they are being invited by our members or maybe they are just randomly finding their way here and giving MBC a try. Either way, we are opening our doors and welcoming them in. There is a group of missionaries in our church that probably don t even realize the impact they are having on people. Who are they, you may ask? The choir. Our choir is mostly made up of people who prefer to attend the second service, but have felt the call, from the Holy Spirit, to lead worship in the 8:30 service. Week after week, I am amazed that the choir keeps showing up and growing in number because it is extremely inconvenient to get up early, lead worship in the 8:30 service, go to life groups and then attend another service at 10:45, but I haven t ever heard a single complaint. If you haven t seen it with your own eyes, there is a revival brewing in the 8:30 service and I firmly believe that it has a lot to do with these everyday missionaries that are bringing the good news of the gospel to people that need to hear it. We have decided to do a full-scale Easter Musical for 2019 and the choir has already started rehearsals. There are 10 weeks left until Easter and we need you, yes even you, to pray about whether God is calling you to join us, even if it s only for the next 10 weeks. There is something about the joy I see on people s faces when the choir starts up on Sunday mornings that makes me realize how relevant a choir leading worship still is. Help us expand our mission field to the entire community, when we open our church to lost people this Easter and proclaim the name of Jesus, the risen king! Keith Davis, Worship Pastor 512-282-0875 keith@manchacabaptist.org Music Ministry Family Ministry Baby Dedication On Sun., March 10 we will have a baby dedication ceremony in the 10:45am service. To sign up or for more information, please email jason@manchacabaptist.org. Page 2 The MESSENGER
Hey MBC Family, Over the last couple months the Great Commission that Jesus gave just before he ascended into heaven has been sticking heavily in my mind. 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. - Matthew 28:16-20 (NIV) This is such a beautiful passage, and there is so much we can go into, but what I really want us to think about this week is verse 19. I know so many have heard this verse so many times and feel it s a call to missions, which is not wrong, but I feel sometimes we blow over it without asking ourselves some questions. Specifically, why did Jesus choose to tell us to make disciples? Why not make believers of all nations? In scripture believers and disciples are different. If we look at how Jesus was with His disciples, we get a glimpse of it. The 12 were different than the people Jesus taught to. Discipleship isn t mass teaching, it s small groups or one on one time. It s being real and open with one another. It was the shepherding of an individual in their walk with the Lord and guiding them along the way. These are just pieces of discipleship that Jesus shows. So, the only questions I think we can ask ourselves are, are we making disciples? Are we following Jesus lead and being discipled? Are we being discipled, so we can learn more about how to make disciples? Don t get me wrong, discipleship isn t easy. It s being vulnerable and real with someone, which isn t an easy task. But, Jesus gives it to us as His last command before He ascended. He could have said anything but He chose these words. Let s not take that lightly. Something the Spirit has been laying on my heart that I would like to ask you as well to end this is this, HOW CAN I ALLOW THE SPIRIT TO USE ME TO MAKE DISCIPLES? Because of Grace, Tanner Shumake, Student Pastor 512-282-0875, ext. 22 tanner@manchacabaptist.org Children s Ministry It is so great to be back from maternity leave and we can t wait for you to meet our newest family member, Kacey Noelle. Kacey was born on December 5th and she is doing great! We want to thank each of you for your prayers, gifts, encouragement, and love during this time of adjustment to a family of four. This month in MBC KIDS our preschoolers are learning about connection. They will spend February learning that knowing Jesus loves us and wants to be our friend forever, changes everything. God gave us a forever friend that wants to spend time with us and help us. Also in February our elementary kids will be learning about compassion and restoration. We will teach lessons about how we reflect the character of Jesus to the people around us when we lend a hand and serve. On that note I wanted to end this article by letting you know that we have a few Ministry volunteer opportunities within our elementary grades on both Wednesday evenings for AWANA and Sunday mornings. Please be praying for how you can serve and help this age of kids grow in their faith and knowledge of Jesus. It s going to be a great month In His Joy, Jenny Childress, Children s Pastor 512-282-0875, ext. 26 jenny@manchacabaptist.org Volume 7, Issue 2 Page 3
Baptism Sunday Fostering Hope Austin Fostering Hope Compassion Building Class On February 10, we will be doing baptisms in the 10:45am service. To sign up email Jason: jason@manchacabaptist.org This class will be held on Feb. 9, 9:00-11:00am in the Kids Worship Room, and is for anyone interested in learning how to best show love to at-risk kids. For more information contact Claire Davis, claireewren@gmail.com, 512-971-7462. (Refreshments will be provided.) Magnify Menchaca Elementary School Project The following is a letter from MES Principal and PTA President: Construction is underway for the new school buildings, and in the short time between the passing of the bond in the fall of 2017 and the actual ground breaking in the fall of 2018, prices for concrete and steel increased beyond the proposed budget for the buildings. Due to these budget conditions our PTA is hoping to raise enough money to: upgrade our playground structure to accommodate all of our students, even those in wheelchairs; build an outdoor classroom space with a deck in the central courtyard; Add murals to our common areas; Supply furniture for the community common areas The PTA has elected to raise these funds through a campus wide classroom coin challenge and a brick paver walkway that will wind it s way through various parts of the campus. Please visit our website for this project, www.magnifymenchaca.com. There you will find order forms for the bricks. You can buy them as a business, as a community member, and of course in honor or in memory of past or current Menchaca students and their families. This is a wonderful opportunity to share the legacy of Menchaca Elementary while we build our new beautiful campus for the children of the future. This campaign expires on April 30, 2019, so please order you paver bricks today! Thank you so much! Ms. Loyola, Principal Lydia Valdez, PTA President Page 4 The MESSENGER
E-GIVING UPDATE IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Please note that if you use e-giving that we are switching over to a new company to manage that for us. The new link on our website will take you directly to the new e-giving site, but if you had set up e-giving to automatically give a certain amount on a consistent basis, you will have to update this beginning February 1. If you have any questions, please call the church office at 512-282-0875. Operation Christmas Child Operation Christmas Child (OCC) is a ministry of Samaritan's Purse. MBC collects various items all throughout the year. Items to be donated all year are: shoeboxes, and cash donations which we will use to buy Bibles for the boxes and for shipping. For the month of February we are collecting hats, gloves, scarves & wrapping paper. To find out more information about OCC, or to volunteer to serve in this ministry, please contact Marta Knight 512-657-2366. Wednesday Dinner Menu Exercise Classes Come join us for a lunch time exercise class led by MBC s own Lindsey Lear. Classes are held on Thursdays from 12:00-12:30pm in the Gym. This class is for adults of any age, and will be exercises that can be adjusted for any fitness level. Got questions or want to know more? Contact Lesa Yanes in the Church Office at 512-282-0875. O.A.S.I.S. O.A.S.I.S. (Older Adults Still In Service) ALL Senior Adults are invited for our monthly gathering on February 8, at 11:30am, in, for some good food, wonderful fellowship and dominoes! Ladies Ministry Events Feb. 6 Spaghetti, Greet Beans, Bread, Dessert Feb. 13 King Ranch Chicken, Vegetables, Dessert Feb. 20 Burger Patty & Gravy, Egg Noodles, Dessert Feb. 27 Chicken & Rice, Salad, Dessert IF:TABLE - ALL LADIES are invited to our Jan. IF:Tables. For locations and times, please contact Amanda Burchett: burchett.amanda@gmail.com LADIES BIBLE STUDY - All ladies are welcome for Bible Studies on Fridays at 9:30am in. LADIES COFFEE - Ladies meet at the Texican Café at 9:00am the 4th Sat. of each month (excluding Nov. & Dec.) for coffee, Dutch-treat breakfast and great fellowship. Volume 7, Issue 2 Page 5
February 2019 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 1 Ladies Bible Study 9:30-11:30am 2 3 Flag Football Front Lawn 12:00pm Volleyball ages 6th Grade up) Gym 2:30pm Choir Practice Choir Room 4:00-5:00pm HS Community Group 5:15-6:30pm 4 MBC Kids Weekday 9:00am-2:00pm 5 Basketball Ages 18+ 7:00-9:00pm Gym 6 KW 9:00am-2:00pm Family Meal 5:45-6:30pm Gym - Men s Study 6:30-7:30pm Room S204 - Women s Study 6:30-7:30pm Room S207 - Sr. Adult Study 6:30-7:30pm - AWANA 6:30-7:45pm 7 *Adventurer s Acad. 1:30-3:30pm Gym *Open Studio 10:00am-2:00pm E115 *Exercise Class 12:00-12:30pm Gym *Men s Lunch Golden Corral 10:45am *Adapted Sports 1:00-6:00pm Gym 8Ladies Bible Study 9:30-11:30am O.A.S.I.S. 11:30am 9 Sunshine Soccer 8:00-9:00am Gym Compassion Bldg. Class 9:00am Kids Worship Room 10 Widow s Lunch 12:00pm Volleyball ages 6th Grade up) Gym 2:30pm Choir Practice Choir Room 4:00-5:00pm HS Community Group 5:15-6:30pm 17 DNOW Weekend Volleyball ages 6th Grade up) Gym 2:30pm Choir Practice Choir Room 4:00-5:00pm HS Community Group 5:15-6:30pm 11 MBC Kids Weekday 9:00am-2:00pm 18 MBC Kids Weekday 9:00am-2:00pm 12 Smithfield HOA 6:30-8:00pm Basketball Ages 18+ 7:00-9:00pm Gym 19 Basketball Ages 18+ 7:00-9:00pm Gym 13KW 9:00am-2:00pm Family Meal 5:45-6:30pm Gym - Men s Study 6:30-7:30pm Room S204 - Women s Study 6:30-7:30pm Room S207 - Sr. Adult Study 6:30-7:30pm - AWANA 6:30-7:45pm 20KW 9:00am-2:00pm Family Meal 5:45-6:30pm Gym - Men s Study 6:30-7:30pm Room S204 - Women s Study 6:30-7:30pm Room S207 - Sr. Adult Study 6:30-7:30pm - AWANA 6:30-7:45pm 14 *Open Studio 10:00am-2:00pm E115 *Exercise Class 12:00-12:30pm Gym *Men s Lunch Golden Corral 10:45am *Adapted Sports 6:00-8:00pm Gym Date Night 5:30-8:00pm 21*Adventurer s Acad. 1:30-3:30pm Gym *Open Studio 10:00am-2:00pm E115 *Exercise Class 12:00-12:30pm Gym *Men s Lunch Golden Corral 10:45am *Adapted Sports 6:00-8:00pm Gym 15 Ladies Bible Study 9:30-11:30am DNOW Weekend 22 Ladies Bible Study 9:30-11:30am 16 DNOW Weekend Project Linus 10:00am 2:00pm 23 Adapted Sports 11:00am-3:00pm MUMC 5K & Kids Run 8:00am Ladies Coffee 9:00am, Texican Café 24 Volleyball ages 6th Grade up) Gym 2:30pm Corley Wedding Shower 2:00-4:00pm Choir Practice Choir Room 4:00-5:00pm HS Community Group 5:15-6:30pm 25 MBC Kids Weekday 9:00am-2:00pm 26 Basketball Ages 18+ 7:00-9:00pm Gym 27KW 9:00am-2:00pm Family Meal 5:45-6:30pm Gym - Men s Study 6:30-7:30pm Room S204 - Women s Study 6:30-7:30pm Room S207 - Sr. Adult Study 6:30-7:30pm - AWANA 6:30-7:45pm 28*Adventurer s Acad. 1:30-3:30pm Gym *Open Studio 10:00am-2:00pm E115 *Exercise Class 12:00-12:30pm Gym *Men s Lunch Golden Corral 10:45am *Adapted Sports 6:00-8:00pm Gym Page 6 The MESSENGER
Ladies One Day Event Women of all ages and stages please join us March 2nd, 9:00am-3:00pm (doors open at 830) right here at MBC! There will be some beautiful teaching, worship & fellowship! Cost of the event is $25.00 (includes a light breakfast & lunch) Childcare will be available for an additional $5.00 Register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/womens-one-day-event-tickets-55193650695 Joanna Corley Wedding Shower Sunday Feb 24 2-4pm, Registered at: Amazon.com, Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond and The Knot Newlywed Fund Visit their website at www.theknot.com/us/joannakosta 5K and Kids Dash Manchaca United Methodist Church s annual 5K Run and Kids Dash is fast approaching and they have asked for help! This event is their biggest fundraiser in support of three area South Austin Schools Menchaca Elementary, Paredes Middle School, and Akins High School. In years past, the proceeds from the race have been used to purchase interactive technology at Menchaca Elementary; send 8 th graders from Paredes Middle School to Texas State University for an all-day field trip; and fund college entry exams, college, tradeschool, and vocational training applications, prom, and graduation activities for homeless students at Akins High School. You can help by signing up to run, being a financial sponsor (as an individual or through your own business), or volunteering along the way. They need everyone s help for the race to be a success! The race is scheduled for Saturday, February 23, 2019, at 8:00 a.m. The Kids Dash will begin at 9:00 a.m. Please visit their website for more information: www.manchacaumc.org Sign up for the race at: tinyurl.com/2019sochac Questions? Contact Jena Abel, SoChac5K@gmail.com Volume 7, Issue 2 Page 7
January 30, 2019 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit #2 Manchaca, TX 1215 W. FM 1626 P.O. Box 400 Manchaca, TX 78652 Phone: 512-282-0875 Fax: 512-292-0043 E-mail: info@manchacabaptist.org Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us. -Ephesians 5:1,2 Return Service Requested Family Ministry Flag Football On Sunday, February 3, we will have a Family Flag Football event immediately after the 10:45am service in the front MBC lawn area. Pizza is provided. Come join the fun!