April - Capital Baptist Church

Transcription

April - Capital Baptist Church
Edition 150C Printed 2/19/2015
APRIL 2015
“As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions
that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches
were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.” Acts 16:4-5 NRSV
Fourth in the list of Eleven Resolutions we adopted at the Annual Meeting of the Northwest Baptist Convention is this: “Being blessed by the addition of 22 new churches to affiliate
with the Northwest Baptist Convention, we resolve to pray for God to bless and grow these new
churches and their pastors in these beginning years of their ministries.”
How do new churches begin? There are a variety of answers to that question. To me,
the most appropriate answer is that which is modeled in the Book of Acts.
Individuals, so dramatically moved in their spirit by the change that faith in Jesus Christ
has brought, cannot help but tell others about that change. They are convinced that everyone
can be changed. So they go out of their way to tell people, then gather those who respond into
new congregations.
The two verses I’ve referenced above present such a case. The mission movement of the
earliest church was fully in motion. The driving personality in that movement was Paul, the
Apostle. His work quickly moved out from the community of believing Jews and into the
communities of the many villages and cities he visited. He possessed the unique ability to
quickly gather and sufficiently organize people. Therefore, the fruit of his labor was preserved.
We’ve been hearing about our friends, Leon and Kay, at work in East Asia, doing the
same kind of work. Their strategy is Entry, Seed Sowing,
Discipleship, and Church Planting. This simple strategy is modeled
after the pattern presented in the Book of Acts, the pattern of
the Apostle Paul.
This ages-old method still works. If we need evidence,
here are the names of the twenty two congregations and their
“church planting pastors.” All have constituted and affiliated with
us during our Annual Meeting in November. When the Northwest
Baptist Convention meets again this November, there will be
another group of churches, probably between 10 and 25 different
Baptism at The Hallows Church,
congregations from Washington, Idaho and Oregon, doing the
Seattle, WA
same thing.
This is how we serve our part of the world with the gospel message. It’s also a direct
outgrowth of our gifts to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions.
We have set for ourselves an achievable goal of $3,000. Every dollar we give, combined
with thousands of other churches and millions more dollars they give, goes to help start new
churches in our region and around the country.
Here is this year’s list. Keep these churches and their pastors in your prayers.
1.
2.
3.
4.
As One Community Church, Tacoma, Washington, Soong Yol Hong, Pastor
Bethlehem Korean Baptist Church, Everett, Washington, Moses Yi, Pastor
BridgeCity Church, Snohomish, Washington, Nathan McGlinchy, Pastor
Bridge of Grace Church, Renton, Washington, Baron Mbala, Pastor
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
Casa de Paz, Monroe, Washington, Leonardo Nestico, Pastor
Chin-Burmese Believers Church, Kent, Washington, Ezra Thang, Pastor
Church of the Beloved Seattle, Renton, Washington, Daniel Son, Pastor
Essential Church, Bellevue, Washington, Warren Mainard, Pastor
Faith Chapel, Dayton, Washington, Tony Sykes, Pastor
First Slavic Evangelical Baptist Church, Vancouver, Washington, Peter Krishcko Pastor
Iglesia Cristiana Cristo Vive, Edmonds, Washington, Oscar Cruzado, Pastor
Ignite Church on Fire, Yelm, Washington, Sean McKale, Pastor
Karen Baptist Church, Portland, Oregon, Nay Blu, Pastor
Leaven Church, Bellevue, Washington, Kibum Park, Pastor
Light Church of Federal Way, Federal Way, Washington, John Kamiya, Pastor
Reliance Fellowship, Kennewick, Washington, Jacob Morris, Pastor
Restoration Church, Camano, Camano Island, Washington, Gary Ray, Pastor
Seattle Bridge Church, Lynnwood, Washington, Won Lee, Pastor
Seattle Fellowship Church, Federal Way, Washington, Samuel Lee, Pastor
Story Church, Portland, Oregon, Kyle Raney and Jeremy Dane, Pastors
Vona Church, Seattle, Washington, Wil Mayfield, Pastor
The Well Community Church, Bellevue, Washington, Tim Pak, Pastor
Cooperatively yours, Pastor John
-
-By Pastor Steve
You heard a number of things about stewardship lately. As a church we have talked
about the challenge of effective management of resources entrusted to us. I’m thankful for our
Stewardship Committee’s honest educational report to the church recently, and for your
response to that report. The truth is we don’t want to always be sounding an alarm and talking
about the urgency of financial need, but when faced with a crisis it becomes critical that the
whole church family be aware of the struggle. Thank you Capital Baptist family for hearing and
appreciating the work of your fellow members who serve in this way.
Our discussions have brought to the surface a few questions. One of those questions is
“Why do we encourage tithes to be given primarily to the general budget?”
The development and adoption of each year’s budget is the outcome of a series of
steps. First, we ask each person responsible for the various aspects of ministry to itemize the
plans and expected expenses for their area of ministry and submit a budget request. This
includes Sunday School, children and youth ministries, outreach and evangelism, discipleship
and small groups, and direct missions activities. Those responsible for Capital’s property
calculate the cost of ownership, maintenance, and use, which includes mortgage and utilities.
The Personnel Committee brings recommendations for compensating staff and other ministry
needs. When all of the budget requests are gathered, the Stewardship Committee puts these
amounts on a spreadsheet and develops a budget which is presented to the church for approval.
The budget represents the bulk of the work that the church hopes to do in the coming year.
That is why we hope members’ tithes will be given primarily toward the budget. This enables us
to operate with a level of confidence that needed resources will be available to pay bills as they
become due.
A second question relates to additional gifts and offerings; annual mission offerings and
other needs not identified or represented in the church’s budget. These are called designated
offerings. It is hoped that your gifts to these will be over and above your regular tithe.
Annual offerings include the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions,
the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions and the Sylvia Wilson
Missions Offering for Northwest Missions. These offerings help to underwrite the budgets of
each of these agencies charged with the responsibility of Southern Baptist Missions around the
world.
Additional designated items you may choose to give gifts to in a given year might
include the purchase of needed equipment, major property maintenance, special mission trips
by members, and camps. These are all things we value, but are not considered in the list of
essentials when developing the church budget, which during the recent economic downtown
has become a “bare bones” document.
While the Stewardship Committee has helped us to understand the significance of the
need, I’d like to turn our focus to the greater need in the life of any church, anywhere, at any
time.
If there is an alarm to be sounded, it is the alarm of the lostness of our world, and the
truth that people who are without Jesus are without hope for eternity. This is the one truth that
should bind us together and drive us to do the things we do. This is the reason we have
properties and a building and staff and ministries to reach out to children, teens, and adults.
Jesus is why we care and develop ministry to help people to heal from the brokenness produced
from life. Jesus is the Savior who has come, God in human flesh, in order that we might have
abundant life, and life everlasting. This world needs Jesus. Let’s give and go that others may
know Him!
Sunday School at Capital
Where God’s Word is Taught to all Ages
Remaining Department Meetings for this quarter are listed below. All meetings will be in the
conference room unless otherwise arranged. It is critical for all teachers to attend to review next
quarter’s materials, summer schedules and activities. Mark your calendars!
May 3, 2015 – Youth/Adult 4:00
May 17 or 24 – Preschool/Children 7:00
Changes
 Adult 6 will be taught by Matthew Shockey, taking James Cross’ place.
 The Youth will be team taught by Becky Peters, Linda Warberg and Jamie Stell.
 Adult 1 will not be meeting at this time. Members of this class will fold into Rob Tavares’
class, Adult 2.
 After many discussions and countless hours of prayer, Adult 4 (Fowler’s Flock) has flipped
the direction of their room! With the addition of two portable white boards, Diane now
teaches into the room rather than to the kitchen.
 Morning Fellowship around the coffee pot was great, but it detracted from the start of Adult
4’s teaching time and created interruptions throughout the hour. Thank you, Fowler’s Flock
for your flexibility as we strove to resolve these two issues.
Preschool

Elaine Lipton continues to do a fabulous job keeping the nursery area clean, well maintained
and staffed on Sunday mornings. The next time you see her, tell her how much you
appreciate her service!
Children
 WOW! Check out the updated projection wall! Pastor Steve removed the worn out sheets,
replaced them with the screen from the old sanctuary, and then repaired the wall and
painted it to match the rest of the room! Thank you Pastor Steve!
 This is the second quarter Preschoolers and Children are using Explore the Bible. Learning is
now a mile deep and an inch wide rather than the other way around! The Sunday School
material is still being used during Children’s Church.
 Explore the Bible is also taught in the classes where their siblings and parents attend. This
quarter the Minor Prophets are being studied.
 To promote each Sunday’s lesson in Explore the Bible, Diane sends a weekly email
introducing the topic and Bryan posts a short blurb on Facebook. We are looking to see if
this encourages family conversation about each lesson.
As always be in prayer for each teacher as God leads them in their preparation and instruction
of His word. Thank you.
“FLAVORS OF CHINA”
A TASTY EXPERIENCE
On February 28 the Fellowship Hall was transformed into a wonderful Chinese dining
experience with cherry blossoms, lanterns, fans and Chinese background music. Twenty-five
ladies sipped Jasmine tea and sampled many types of Chinese food.
We had a fun time learning how to hold chopsticks, singing songs in Chinese with Kay
and hearing a message from Grace Lyn’s living room overseas.
A big “thank you” to our IMB speakers, the Tuesday night ladies’ small group, Janet, Jan,
Linda, Joyce, Julie and others for
their planning, preparation, and
provision. Donations by China Faith
and Kwan’s Chinese restaurants are
greatly appreciated.
If you missed the Tea and
would like to view the program, a
DVD it is available in our church
library.
--Elaine Lipton