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Making Disciples through Worship, Relationships and Service Thank you for serving at Churchill Downs ministry! We sent 29 people and served over 150 people. A special thank you to Jarvis Williams for bringing a powerful word during the worship time. - HBC WMU Vacation Bible School June 13th—17th 9:00 am to 12 Noon Pre-register at the welcome center or at hurstbournebc.org/vbs! Dear Hurstbourne Church Family, Things have been crazy these last few months as we have transitioned from Kentucky to Tennessee, but God is blessing us in tremendous ways. We have seen his hand in so many situations. Our Louisville house has sold and we have found a house to purchase in Hendersonville. Justice and Maria are enjoying school and extra-curricular activities. They are making new friends. The Parkway Baptist Church Staff and congregation have welcomed us with open arms. We wanted to thank you for your generous love gift to our family. It has really helped us with expenses we have incurred during the transition. Also we want to thank Andy Weeks, Matt Coffman and those that helped them with the breakfast, reception and special gifts in our honor. You will never know what your cards and comments have meant to us. Again if you are in the Nashville area, we would love to see you. Our mailing address is: Chris & Jena Kihn P.O. Box 2842, Hendersonville, TN 37077. Sincerely, Chris, Jena, Justice & Maria Kihn ATTN: GRADUATES If you or a family member are graduating high school, please submit a senior picture, name of high school & future plans to the church office. Also, submit your school and degree if you or a family member graduated college or graduate school this year. You may submit to [email protected]. Deadline to submit is Wednesday, May 18th. Recognition is Sunday, May 22nd. Lowe Elementary Graduation Wednesday Evening, May 25th We need approximately 20 ushers/greeters to serve and welcome our neighbors during their graduation here at HBC. Sign-up at the Welcome Center or call the church office! See Vince for more info. 8800 Shelbyville Road Louisville, KY 40222 (502) 426-2444 www.hurstbournebc.org Week of Prayer for Fred Tucker Offering May 15-21 HBC Goal: $5,000 The LRBA serves metro Louisville and supports BCM of UofL, Louisville Rescue Mission, Baptist Fellowship Center, Friendship International, metro church planting, and our local churches. Please give today! Alpha Club Tuesday, May 24th @ 11:30 am Fellowship Hall Don’t forget a dish for lunch! Chai Tea Cart Now that the weather is warm, we will be hosting our South Asian Tea Cart in the parking lot on May 20 & 27th. Sign-up at the welcome center to set-up & serve! Support HBC anytime, from anywhere. www.hurstbournebc.org/donate 5/17 - Dona Lee Hurrelbrink, Megan Laffoon, Kristina Breland 5/18 - Ashley Kirzinger 5/20 - Julie Hillen, Linda Williams, David McDowell, Michael Martin 5/21 - Casey Culbreth 5/22 - Janeice Davenport, James Tavelli, Bethany Littlefield 5/23 - Tiffany Diehl, John Schreiner 5/26 - Ida Hedgespeth 5/27 - Marilyn Owens, Leigh Stiles, Rejoice Olaolorun 5/28 - Gail Sandburg, Spencer Barham, Samantha Littlefield 5/29 - Charles Davis, Lenora Kirkpatrick, Casi Burger, James Newman 5/30 - Carolyn Popplewell, Joshua Littlefield Habakkuk Words of Grace without Complaint Over the past few weeks, I have been continually drawn to the Old Testament prophets, particularly to the minor prophets. The prophet Habakkuk has intrigued me. We only encounter him in the Old Testament book that bears his name. Typically, when we think of prophets we think of Vince them as those that are called to speak the message of God Scarbrough to the people. Yet in Habakkuk’s case, he spoke to God on behalf of the people. In the first chapter, Habakkuk says: O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted. (Habakkuk 1:2-4 ESV) Habakkuk struggled with understanding God’s ways. Most of us can identify with that, can’t we? We see the wicked and sinful prosper and we ask why. We see the wicked and sinful oppress others and mistreat them, and we cry out to God. We ask God, “Why do You just sit idly and allow all these 'wrong' things to happen?” As we read through the book of Habakkuk, I believe we witness the transformation of Habakkuk’s understanding of God. While God certainly had no need to explain Himself or justify what was taking place, He did reveal truths that put His character and His purpose on full display. In His answers to Habakkuk, we see that God is sovereign over all things (1:5-11), He is eternal (1:12), His words always come true (2:3), and God will ultimately save His people and overcome the wicked (3:13 -15). The prophet wanted so see and witness God’s opposition to injustice, but he came to see that it is often impossible for us to see the justice of God working through the acts of human history. While we often struggle to see the hand of God in the events of life as they are unfolding around us, we can completely trust in the God who created us and sustains us. God instructed Habakkuk, and in doing so He instructed us also: “the righteous one will live by his faith" (2:4). In order for us to faithfully serve the Lord, we have to trust in His goodness even when we do not understand all the things that are going on around us. As we grow in our faith walk, hopefully we can see ourselves in the life of Habakkuk. In him we see a man who was transformed from a man who struggled with understanding God’s ways to a man who fully trusted in God no matter what his circumstances here on this earth might be: Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:17-19) May we be people who rejoice in the Lord and find our joy in the God of our salvation, the One who is our strength. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:5-6 NIV) An updated survey by LifeWay Research* shows an interJeff Smith esting dynamic at work when it comes to American perceptions of religious freedom. In both 2013 and 2015, the researchers asked respondents to rate their level of agreement with the following two statements: - "Religious liberty is on the decline in America." - "American Christians complain too much about how they are treated." The researchers found that the level of agreement for both statements increased from 2013 to 2015. So it seems that more people believe that religious people are facing intolerance, but at the same time, more people are becoming weary of Christians crying foul. In any case, the survey's result highlights some difficulties that a Christ -follower can face in America if they are trying to live according to the Bible and at the same time reach out compassionately to their culture. So what should be our response if we are a Christ-follower and find ourselves caught between our Biblical conviction and our compassion for those who don't share that conviction? I think the example of Jesus can help us there. In Jesus' time, the popular opinion was heavily influenced by religious leaders, who were zealous for their law and who were also anxious to see their Roman oppressors overthrown. In one sense, it was a much different scenario than the cultural debates we usually engage in America today. But still, in that context, Jesus was constantly being faced with polarizing issues, like divorce, paying taxes, the afterlife, and religious rules. So we can take note of the way he engaged those polarizing issues, and follow his example when engaging the polarizing issues of our day. If we'll read through the Gospels, we'll find numerous times when Jesus faced those polarizing issues. Jesus' pattern, demonstrated repeatedly, was to process the situation and then respond in a way that caused people to think more deeply how God's truth and grace applied to the issue. At times, Jesus did speak forcefully. Other times, he told a story. Many times, he simply asked a question. But one thing we won't find is Jesus whining about how he's being treated. Not once. We who are Christ-followers in America will probably not face such dramatic situations as Jesus did. But we can still bring his example of thoughtful grace into our conversations about culture, and avoid complaining about how the world doesn't agree with us. Yes, our world often doesn't agree with Biblical norms on what's right and what's wrong. But we didn't really agree with those norms either, not until the mercy of Jesus overcame our unbelief. So our ultimate goal should not be to win the cultural argument, but to instead point people to the grace of Christ that reconciles us back to God. *http://lifewayresearch.com/2016/03/30/religious-liberty-on-decline/ Visit our staff blog at www.hurstbournebc.org/blog for more posts! Financial Report Attendance Report Budget May 1st, 2016 $30,172.50 EACM Sunday Morning Worship Service 359 Sunday School Attendance 279 Fred Tucker 528 May 8th, 2016 $80.00 Wales Mission Trip Lottie Moon Offering Sunday School Enrollment 5/01/16 5/08/16 $18,765.76 Pastor - x.308 Education / Administration- x.313 $390.00 Vince Scarbrough Carolyn Holm Chase Grubb Matt Williams Students x308 Media Director - x.322 $100.00 $10.00 $220.00 Total Receipts $30,482.50 $19,305.76 $23,879 $23,879 Sunday Morning Worship Service 315 Year to Date Budget Needed $835,760 $859,638 Sunday School Attendance 255 Year to Date Budget Received $714,930 $733,696 Sunday School Enrollment 527 Difference Receipts-Budget to Date ($120,829) Cameron Debity Jeff Smith $50.00 Sound System Weekly Budget HBC Staff ($125,942) Admin. Svcs. Mgr. x.305 Family & Connections- x.315 Carmen Gibson Sandra McCormack Comm. Coor. x302 Worship & Music Asst Amos Valentine Andy Weeks Maint. Supervisor Interim Worship/Music Prasad Aghamkar Phone: 426-2444 South Asian Mission Catalyst