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