May 1, 2018 The twice monthly newsle er from Brown Deer Bap st Church, Brown Deer, WI. Building people through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God. Psalm 42:1 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Psalm 25:4 2 Church News 3 From the Pastor s Heart 4 Praying for Missions 5 Spring Cleaning Day 6 Extended Session News and Announcements DANIEL GRIFFITH will graduate from Germantown High School, May 20th. TONY GEIGER will graduate from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, May 20th Ponder On This: Jesus takes us as we are and makes us what we should be. If you know of others who are graduating, please let Pastor Larry or Judith Sagen know. 1
HAPPENINGS AT BDBC: Every Sunday morning at 9:15 we offer age appropriate Bible Study for everyone, birth through senior adults. Our goals include learning what God said to us, and how to apply His teachings to our everyday living. At 10:30 on Sunday morning, following Bible Study, we join our hearts together to praise God and worship Him from Whom all blessings flow. Wednesday evening at 6:45 our adults enjoy in-depth Bible study. We are currently studying the Epistle to the Hebrews. While the adults are delving into the Scriptures, our youth and children are learning about missionaries and what they do. They also learn how they can share the Good News with their friends. If you miss a Sunday, you can still hear God s message as shared by Pastor Larry. Each week Gary Holt makes the morning message available on our church website. Link to Sermons: http://www.browndeerbaptist.com/sermons.html Real Life Discipleship Group The Real Life Discipleship Group meets each Sunday after worship at the Geiger home (7702 N. Edgeworth Dr. Brown Deer. 414-354-6878). A light lunch is served after the class. If you have not joined the class yet, you are always welcome to begin at any time! 2
FROM THE PASTOR S HEART But these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. Jude 10 NCV All pastors have some stories about dealing with difficult people who test their resolve. However, every adult has these types of troubles in dealing with humanity. Some of my more memorable challenges in ministry fell to me because church members determined that the pastor s job description included dealing with nuisance animals. Although I have never seen animal control in a pastor s job description, being the shepherd sometimes really does involve protecting the flock from wild animals. I have dealt with wolves in sheep s clothing I was warned about that in seminary and from mentoring pastors. But I was not prepared to deal with real animals in the church building. Some of you at Brown Deer Baptist Church remember the great Pastor Armed with a Broom vs. Squirrels in the Nursery battle on a Sunday morning. If you don t know the story, ask me or some of our long-time members to tell you the story. Some of the battles were relatively tame: birds that flew in an open door, stray cats and dogs getting in the building or hanging out in the church yard. Snakes, mice, etc. have been uninvited guests. Some of the battles have been more challenging: bats inside a new church building, raccoons in the church attic, and Texas red wasps in the air ducts. The red devils would come out of the vent just over the pulpit and sting me on the neck or bald head a couple of times a year while I was preaching. Did the pastor just get stung again, or is that the Holy Ghost making him shout? There is one animal control issue I recall that stands above all the others. It was a beautiful spring day in 1988 when this young pastor arrived at the Union Baptist Church in Normangee, Texas for Sunday school. The members of this country church loved each other so much that they would typically arrive well before time to start in order to visit with one another. As I pulled into the gravel parking lot in my car, I noticed all the folks were outside under the oak trees in the front of the church yard. I wasn t even out of my car before one of the older ladies was telling me, Brother Larry, there s a skunk in the church and we have been waiting on you to get here so YOU can get it out! (I thought about asking where that was in the job description but knew it would have been futile it was my job to protect the sheep even from the danger of skunk spray.) My nose helped me quickly locate the threat. I was face to face with the pole cat in a Sunday school room. I took a large curtain off a window and held it out in front to shield me from attack and used it as a moving wall to slowly guide the skunk out of the room, down the hall, and out an open door. I guess I could put skunk herding on the skills list portion of my resume. The common thread in all these animal situations is that the actions of these animals were instinctive. They just were trying to find food, shelter, and comfort to meet their basic needs. Jude 10 reminds us that people without Christ live instinctively, too. As we share the hope of Christ with people, don t be surprised if they scoff, run, or fight. Just like those animals in the church didn t understand that staying where they were would lead to their destruction, people lost in sin and needing Christ don t understand they must change. They must come to Christ for their survival. They can t stay where they are at. We must guide them through the door into the light of God s love. Most people have compassion when they see an animal suffering or in danger. Do I, as a Christian, have a heart of compassion when I see a person without Christ suffering and in eternal danger? Love, Pastor Larry 3
4 REASONS CHURCHES MUST PRAY FOR MISSIONS Wri en by Jerry Conner The mission of advancing the gospel is the great work of the church, and prayer is the engine that moves it. One of the greatest resources the church has for advancing the gospel is the ability to come before God in prayer and plead for what is already on his heart the growth of his kingdom in the world. Fraser dedicated his life to the teaching and transla ng of the Scriptures un l he died of cerebral malaria at the age of fi y-two in Baoshan, Yunnan, China. His dedica on to the Scriptures was never doubted. He recognized the absolute necessity of prayer in the missions endeavor. With that in view, here are four reasons why churches must pray for missions. 1. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray for missions and modeled it as he trained them. The church must never lose sight that to train disciples to pray is the first step in bringing the gospel to the mission field. 2. Prayer moves the heart of the church toward the heart of God for his mission. When Jesus sent out the disciples to all the places he himself planned to visit in Luke 10, he told them to pray that God would send workers into the harvest field. Then he said Go! I am sending you (Luke 10:3, NIV) as the answer to their own prayer. 3. Prayer opens the doors in the world for the gospel to advance. It is prayer that helps us connect with people who are open to the gospel. It is prayer that leads us to the right place at the right me to take the steps that only God could orchestrate. Prayer connects the church to the ac vity of God who is empowering his people to advance the message of his kingdom. 4. Prayer empowers the message of those going to share the gospel clearly and without fear. It is impera ve that a church prays and engages in the spiritual work of kingdom advancement. When the church prays, Chris ans begin to get a clearer glimpse of the mission. It is by prayer that God s people move closer toward the heart of God for the world. It is by prayer that fears about sharing the gospel are defeated. 4
On Saturday, May 12, 2018 we will have opportunity to do a thorough spring cleaning of our building and grounds at Brown Deer Baptist Church. God has been very good to us and has provided a wonderful building for us to hold activities of worship, fellowship, service, and ministry. It is our responsibility to take care of this gift. Some of our members are from Ghana. Friends of theirs, who are members of the Ghanan Church, sometimes use our building for special activities. To say thank you, and to show their appreciation to God and to Brown Deer, they are sponsoring a Spring Clean-Up Day at our building and have invited Brown Deer members to join them in this day of service and fellowship. The date is Saturday, May 12. Mark this day on your calendar. Watch The Journey and the bulletin for more information. We urge Brown Deer members to join in this opportunity to do a thorough spring cleaning of our building and grounds. 5
Preschoolers, ages birth through 4 years, will always find a warm welcome at Brown Deer Baptist. We have workers who love them and have a desire to help them grow to know and love Jesus. If you have a child in this age group, we urge you to bring them to Sunday morning Bible study at 9:15. After Bible study, they may remain in the same room for continued activities while Mom and Dad enjoy a time of worship with others. May 6 Doug Bachert Sandy Kruchell Nana Yaw Oduro May 13 La Tasha Hazelwood Rachel Krome Kwame Nsiah May 20 Veronica De Ridder Kathy Schulz Aubrey Wycklendt May 27 Nana Nsiah Delmy Geiger Nana Yaw Oduro SPECIAL NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS -You are invited to celebrate Daniel Griffith's graduation from Germantown High School on Saturday, May 19 from 4:00-7:00 PM at 2992 El Camino Dr., Cedarburg, WI 53012. The celebration is a Texas BBQ with brisket, pork, smoked turkey, sides, etc. Just bring your appetite! We thank you for being part of Daniel's life and ask that you pray for him as he starts college next fall. -John Draper will preach on May 20 while the pastor's family is attending Daniel's graduation which is scheduled for that day. -Congratulations to Tony Geiger on his May 20 graduation from UW Milwaukee! -The Giving Day (rummage give away) will be in late August (date to be announced). See Annette Blanchard for details. We will soon announce a storage place for items you wish to donate to this community outreach project. 6