Volume 57, Issue 4 Kern County Southern Baptist Association APRIL Grow in Christ In This Issue Message From Dr. Bennett Continued 2 Our Monthly Financials 3 Calendar of Events 4 KCSBA VBS Training 5 Watson/Wagner Run 6 News From Churches 7 KCSBA Kid s Camp 8-9 CSBC On-Track 10 Miscellaneous 11 A Special Message From DR. RANDY L. BENNETT We are getting ready for our 2016 Semi- Annual Meeting of the Kern County Southern Baptist Association. Fairview Baptist Church (Union and Fairview Ave) will be our host for the meeting. There will be a dinner at 6:00 p.m. followed by the meeting at 7:00 p.m. Date: April 25. Moderator: Eddie Garza. Speaker: Sid Peterson. Sid surprised us a few weeks ago when he announced that he would be moving to Arizona once their home sold and other issues were resolved. I just assumed Sid would be here for the rest of his life. He has been an active part of our weekly Minister s Breakfast since I became missionary and of course years before that. He has been a faithful advocate of Evangelism and Church Growth all these years. Please come out, hear him preach, and say goodbye to Sid and Linda. Most of our Pastors are aware that the only time we collect information on worship attendance is Easter. This is generally a great day for most of our churches. Of course there are some churches whose attendance is lower on Easter. For some reason their people travel to visit family outside their church area. Here is the listing so far: Country Oaks Baptist Church with Brent Whitney - 730 Daybreak Baptist with Mitch Minson - 306 with three baptisms Fellowship Baptist with Pastor Rick Prevost - 263 Hingepoint with Russ Chambers 426 with thirteen baptisms North Heights Baptist Church with Frank Meyer - 80 Northside Church - 450+ Set Free with Mike Salazar - 200+ Sovereign Grace with Chad Vegas - 550 Valley Baptist Church - 6,639
Page 2 The Good News Grapevine Behind each number is a great story of faith, courage, and commitment. Just a year ago North Heights was considering whether or not to close its doors. Eighty is an amazing number considering where they ve been in recent history. I am always amazed at how God can turn a congregation around in such a short period of time. I am also every interested in the growth of both Sovereign Grace and Hingepoint. Even though both are new churches they have been blessed with excellent growth both quantitatively and qualitatively. Both are very healthy churches with excellent leadership. Many of you may not be aware of the work of Country Oaks Baptist Church. They are our second largest church behind Valley Baptist Church. They have developed a very strong and healthy church in Tehachapi. They recently had a major staff change when Pastor Andy Walker stepped aside due to health issues and Brent Whitney stepped into the role as Senior Pastor. Andy is still involved in the church as a Teaching Pastor. Now comes the challenge of following up on those who visited your church. We learned recently at our March Pastor s Forum led by Rick Prevost that if you can t do anything else, write each guest a handwritten note thanking them for attending your church and inviting them to come again. Have a great Spring. See you April 25 at Fairview Baptist Church. Since I reported last time Carol and I have either worshiped or led in worship at the following churches: FBC Alpaugh, Daybreak Baptist, First Baptist Church of Tehachapi, First Baptist Church of Porterville, Northside Church, and five times at Buttonwillow (restart led by Fairview Baptist Church with Robert George). Your Missionary, Dr. Randy L. Bennett Plant Seeds of Truth 1 Cor. 3:6
Volume 57, Issue 4 Page 3 MARCH 2016 FINANCIALS We sincerely thank the following churches and missions for their contributions during MARCH 2016. Financials are based upon contributions received by the last work-day of the month. Any contributions received after the last day of the month will be accounted for in the next months financials. We are grateful to those churches that make missions a priority and give faithfully to KCSBA. Bakersfield Chinese Baptist Ch Columbus St Baptist Church Country Oaks Baptist Church Crossover Church Fairfax So Baptist Church Fairview So Baptist Church Fellowship Baptist Church First Baptist Ch, Edison First Baptist Ch, Kernville First So Baptist Ch, Porterville First So Baptist Ch, Shafter First So Baptist Ch, Taft First So Baptist Hispanic Ch Golden Valley Christian Fllshp Griffith Ave Baptist Ch, Wasco Hingepoint Baptist Church Mt. View So Baptist Church North Heights Baptist Church Primera Iglesia Bautista, Delano Primera Iglesia Bautista, Wasco Rising Star Baptist Church Set Free Christian Fellowship Sovereign Grace Church Trinity So Baptist Ch, Taft Valley Baptist Church Vision Plus Church Way of Life Westchester Baptist Church Income from Churches 2016 Monthly Difference for March 2016 Budget Projection for this month Pray $8,800.44 $ 11,358.18 -$2,557.74 Working together to spread the Gospel of Christ... Thank you for your giving!
Page 4 The Good News Grapevine KCSBA CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2016 A p r i l 5 Tues KCSBA Administrative Committee and Associational Council Meeting Associational Office, 25 Garnsey Ave 10:15 am 9 Sat Watson/Wagner Memorial Run Valley Baptist Church 9 Sat CSBC Equipped for Excellence, Magnolia Church, Riverside 10 Sun SBC Cooperative Program Sunday 11-13 Mon-Wed CSBC Pastor s Retreat Jenness Park, Cold Springs 16 Sat KCSBA VBS Training Conference Valley Baptist Church 9:00am 17 Sun SBC Baptist Doctrine Study 27 Wed Administrative Professionals Day 24 Sun SBC Seminaries Sunday 25 Mon KCSBA Semi-Annual Meeting Fairview Baptist Ch 7:00pm (6:00 dinner) 29-May1 Jenness Park Father-Son Retreat May 6-7 Fri-Sat CSBC Healthy Church Multiplier Training Trinity So Baptist Church, Fresno 1 Sun SBC Senior Adult Sunday 5 Thur National Day of Prayer 8 Sun Mother s Day 8-15 Sun-Sun SBC Christian Home Week 20-22 Fri-Sun CSBC/Jenness Park Ministers Wives Retreat Jenness Park, Cold Springs 15-22 Sun-Sun SBC Baptist Association Emphasis 30 Mon Memorial Day (Observed) 29 Sun Life Commitment Sunday Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown. Mark 4:20
Volume 57, Issue 4 Page 5 KCSBA 2016 VBS Conference Kern County Southern Baptist Association 2016 Vacation Bible School Conference Saturday. April 16th 9:00 to 11:30am Registration begins at 8:30am Valley Baptist Church 4800 Fruitvale Ave, Bakersfield Contact: 387-6386 vallekids@valleybaptist.org Workshops Include: Preschool, K - 4th Grade VBX, Music, Crafts, Recreation, Youth, Directors & More
Page 6 The Good News Grapevine WATSON-WAGNER 5K MEMORIAL RUN VALLEY BAPTIST CHURCH Fruitvale Campus Registration 8:00 a.m. Race begins at 9:00 a.m. Donation of $25.00 includes T-Shirt and breakfast burrito. Funds raised are for local and global missions. Karen Watson was a member of Valley Baptist Church and a missionary in Mosul who was killed March 15, 2004. Al Wagner was also member of Valley Baptist Church. He was a missionary to Central America for many years and then became the Administrator of Valley Baptist Church who died unexpectedly October 1, 2012. Come join us for a family day of fun and fellowship to help raise funds for missions. For more information contact: Adriana Andino at 387-6341 Valley Baptist Church, Missions Division "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5
Volume 56, Issue 4 Page 7 NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES Call Stacy for more info at 661/387-6353 VISION PLUS CHURCH Friends and Family Day Sunday, May 29th Height St. Baptist Church 1010 Height Street, 93305 Service at 2:00pm POT LUCK AFTER SERVICE BRING FAMILY AND FRIENDS! "And the LORD will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. Isaiah 58:11
Page 8 The Good News Grapevine KCSBA 2016 SUMMER KIDS CAMP KC S BA 2 016 K I D S C A M P Sierra Christian Camp August 1 4, 2016 Children going into 3 rd grade 6 th grade COST: $150 Non-Refundable deposit: $50 due May 1 Churches need to bring leaders age 18 and up to fulfill a 7:1 ratio of children per leader.
Volume 57, Issue 4 Page 9 KCSBA 2016 SUMMER KIDS CAMP What does it mean to live a life of absolute surrender to Jesus Christ? Our children live in a world where they have to make choices daily that will either please God or just please themselves. The theme of kids camp will revolve around practical ways kids can surrender their every day lives to the Lord. Come join us! Space is limited, so sign up quickly! What to Do at Sierra Christian Camp In addition to lively chapel services, children will be Swimming Playing Horseshoes Playing Basketball Fishing Hiking Free play on the open baseball field Special activities planned For more details call the Association Office 661-325-1265
Page 10 The Good News Grapevine CSBC NEWS
Volume 57, Issue 4 Page 11 Pastor Joel Valenzuela is seeking hymn books to be donated or sold for start up church. If you have any hymn books for him, please contact : Pastor Joel at 661-300-1169 He is hoping for 30 40 books MISCELLANEOUS HYMN BOOKS NEEDED: Photo of some who attended the March Associational Pastor's Forum. In March the group studied Nelson Searcy's Assimilation Seminar hosted by Rick Prevost and Fellowship Baptist Church. Hope to you at the next Pastors Forum! Pour Out Prayers James 5:16