Up’ing Your Game

Pastor Jason said a statistic that really caught my attention this
morning. He said that only 20% of the people in Warren County attend
worship - on any given Sunday. That number is not just Christian
worship...it is all faith systems. I was thinking, "Wow, that is a lot of people that don’t worship Jesus each week." It seems there are two main reasons people don’t come to church 1) because they don’t have a relationship with Jesus; or 2) they are believers and they choose not to go to church.

During the missions conference yesterday, Dr. Sills said that you are
either a missionary or an impostor. Yikes. That is strong. It is
true though. Believers are called to be missionaries (Matthew 28:19,
20). No options are given. If you believe in Jesus Christ, you must
pursue missions. It is not a program. It is a lifestyle. So when
our feet hit the ground...we are in the mission field.

Dr. Sills said that it took Coca Cola only 113 years for 94% of the
world to recognize the Coca Cola logo. He also shared that although believers have had the Great Commission for over 2000 years, 2 billion people still haven't heard the name of Jesus. Hmmmm. Makes one think...there are more people that know Coke than Christ. The Kingdom of God needs people stepping up their “game.” Are we impostors or are we sharing what we know about Jesus?

Pastor Jason has been challenging the congregation each week about
being active in our faith and sharing Jesus with others. Today he
communicated about how we need to be active in politics (local and
national). Believers need to be voting what we believe. We also need Christian men and women to be active in all areas of our government, schools, and city.

Big challenges today...are you ready to “Up Your Game!”?

Pastor Jeff Carlisle, Missions Pastor

"This is an Emergency”

We have an emergency here on Earth. It is a challenge, as Christians, to fear Hell and share with others about the Savior who can keep them from Hell. It is a challenge of evangelism that not only reaches to the people next door, but to the farthest stretches of the earth. It is a global emergency, one that Christians should warn everyone about.

My name is Emily Harrod- I’m a sophomore Elementary Education/ESL major at WKU, and I love being involved in the College Ministry at Living Hope! The College Ministry has been such a great way to respond to the global emergency of winning people to Christ. Even this past weekend, several college students participated in Trunks of Treats by creating “Bible Story Lane” to walk children through the story of the Bible, sharing how each story ultimately points to Jesus. We were able to share the Gospel with so many children and their parents!

The College Ministry redefined evangelism for me. Evangelism comes in many forms- it can mean dressing up like a “wee little man” so children will know the story of Zacchaeus and see that God loves all people. Evangelism can mean investing in an international student with a completely different worldview. It can even mean giving up a summer, winter, or spring break from classes to travel across the world and evangelize to the unreached people groups. Whatever the case, we have been encouraged to evangelize during this unique time in our lives!

After the sermon we heard Sunday on the challenge of evangelism, my heart was burning for the people I met while serving in Asia this summer. I cannot wait to go back one day and continue the work the Lord has given to me. Until then, however, we have been encouraged to channel that motivation into our classmates and friends here on our college campus, and to simply pray for those in the unreached countries. Live like there is an emergency wherever you are, in every situation!

“I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me, the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”- Acts 20:24

Family Dedication Ceremony

Yesterday morning we celebrated our Family Dedication service. On the surface this is a ceremony of wonder, of hope, of delight as we see these young families and adore the precious babies on the platform. However, below the surface lies a greater call.

Our commitment to Family Dedication is founded on the Biblical principles of both Psalm 78 and Deuteronomy 6. Both passages clearly define the utmost responsibility of the parents to remember the words of Scripture and to teach them to their children. God makes parents responsible for passing on the truths of their faith within every afforded opportunity. In addition, the community of faith was held accountable to bring support. This is why we have “raised the bar” so to speak by requiring membership of one parent and attendance at a “parenting class” by both parents prior to our Family dedication Sunday. These prerequisites strengthen the lines of accountability.

Deeper still is our realization of the power and sovereignty of God in the lives of our children. This is why it is always stated that “this ceremony is not one of guarantee, but rather intent”. This serves as a reminder that we are fully dependent on God. We are called to obedience; we are called to treasure God’s Word; we are called to obey the commands of God; we are called to live in the light of His glory and persevere as witnesses for the Gospel. The results of our obedience rest in God alone. Every act of salvation is a miracle of God and if we were going to stake our lives on the “probable” we would all come up short. Instead, we stake our lives on the power of God, His unwavering attributes, and the truth of His Word. God is the one who changes hearts and saves us from sin. This is why the Family Dedication service and the covenant expressed there is so vital to the health of our community of faith. It is because we are coming together and committing ourselves to connection, accountability, fervent prayer, and clear teaching with the hope that our children will come to know Christ as Savior and will continue in the faith as powerful witnesses.

Join me in commitment to guardianship – guarding our hearts and minds so that we treasure God alone and communicate and live that lifestyle in our homes, in our faith community, in our world, and thereby show the next generation the glory of God through our lives.

HE Holds the Future

It has been an honor and privilege to serve as a Trustee for the past three years. As I reflect on my time of service, I can honestly say that it’s been very educational, thought provoking, challenging, sometimes frustrating and humbling. I listened with interest this morning during the worship service as Trustee Chair, John Mark Fones outlined how mightily God has worked in our building project over the past several years. Just when we thought we’d go this or that direction, God had another plan. Many times, the Trustees were anxious as to what was going on, but all along, trusted that God would work it out for His glory.

I hope that everyone in attendance in worship today was inspired to trust God daily – to expect great things from Him. I was encouraged to hear again how the Lord made our building program possible; slowing us down for the day HE would act to make it a reality. I think it is important to note that the Trustees and Building Committee were prepared for whatever God had in store for us; whether it was just building the education wing, building the whole planned project or to build nothing at all. Like John Mark, I greatly appreciate the years of service the members of the Building Committee and collateral committees have put into this new project. While witnessing the new building project go from idea to design to reality is exciting, it’s what will be happening inside those walls that count – the lives saved and relationships made. That’s why God showed up – it’s not so Living Hope could brag about what we have; it’s so Living Hope could live out the great commission. It is also so people like you and I could be encouraged to trust God with all areas of our lives.

John Mark’s testimony was reinforced by the songs in worship today – all describing the character of our Lord. We sang, “You are God, you are holy, how awesome are the things we’ve yet to see” – we sang “Holy, Holy, Holy” and we heard a beautiful song about how “Beautiful” our Lord is. Why is it, that as Christians we many times have to be cornered to trust Him? Why is it that we cannot daily trust and depend on our holy, awesome and beautiful God? My experience as a Trustee has provided me with firsthand accounts of how the Lord has been faithful with our church’s finances and in the lives of our pastors and staff members. I am thankful to have been able to serve Him in this capacity.

As Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Please continue to pray for our church’s ministers, our staff, the Trustees and the various other committees who are dedicated to doing the Lord’s work. According to a certain Bible commentary, “As long as God, who knows the future, provides our agenda and goes with us as we fulfill His mission, we can have boundless hope. This does not mean that we will be spared pain, suffering or hardship, but that God will see us through to a glorious conclusion.”

Stacey Sims

Events for Everybody!

As I shared during the Worship Service on Sunday, we have some exciting events coming up in the Adult Discipleship Ministry. Here are a few events coming up in the next two weeks that we would love for you to consider participating in:

Women’s Muslim Prayer Tea: (Saturday, October 17th at 9:00 a.m.)
This is an opportunity to join other women in praying for Muslim women around the world to come to faith through Jesus Christ. For more information, please contact Dwan Graham at
dwan.graham@gmail.com.

Man to Man Retreat: (Friday, October 23rd to Saturday, October 24th)
This is our annual Men’s Retreat in Hardin, KY. This is a great opportunity to fellowship with other men and to grow in relationship with Christ. The cost is $45, which covers meals and overnight stay at the retreat center. Tickets are available at the Men’s Ministry kiosk in the church lobby. For information contact t.brown@tomjames.com.

Single Parents University (Saturday, October 24th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m)
Join us as we gain some great insights from guest speakers Dr. Bruce Ware of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary & Children’s Minister Cindy Starr. There will be several breakout sessions offered to help equip single parents on a variety of areas. Lunch & childcare provided. The cost is $10, and you can sign up at www.livinghopewired.com/spu.

We hope that you will join us for one of these Adult Discipleship Ministry Events!

Grace and Peace,

Richard Carwile
Adult Discipleship Pastor

Senior Adults

My name is Teresa Willoughby. I serve on the senior adult council of which I am the current president. I am chairperson of the bereavement committee and the kitchen –hospitality committee. I serve monthly with the hospital hospitality ministry, and most recently have been volunteering my time on Tuesday and Thursdays at Hope House. I facilitate the ABF lesson when our regular teacher isn’t present. My husband, Steve, and I host our small group in our home. I feel as though I am an active senior adult, but still can’t be compared to what others in our church are doing.

These are some of the areas of ministry that Living Hope’s senior adults are active participants:

BASKETS of LOVE Baskets are assembled at church containing items that are useful to hospital patients. The baskets are delivered to local hospital patients who are listed on the church CAREnet.

HOSPITAL HOSPITALITY Volunteers assemble bagged lunches which are prepared at church and taken to family members of patients in the waiting rooms of local hospitals.

BEREAVEMENT When the need arises, volunteers are phoned and asked to
prepare a dish of food. They may also be asked to help serve the meal or clean up afterwards.

NURSING HOME MINITRY Volunteers meet to practice and then go to local nursing homes to sing. Volunteers don’t have to have a beautiful voice just one that makes a joyful noise and a willing heart that wants to share the love of Jesus.

HOPE HOUSE This is a new outreach ministry which seeks to meet a material need, but more importantly share the Gospel so that unsaved people will come to know Jesus and get connected with an area church. The ministry includes all ages; however, several seniors play an active role.

I would like to share how serving in one of these ministries has helped to change me. I am a retired elementary school teacher and have been so for six years. I still enjoy returning to the school from which I retired and substitute. Eleven years ago we purchased a newly constructed house. Recently I began to think of some updating that the house needed especially the kitchen. My husband said we need to wait until we finished paying for our youngest daughter’s college education before we took on such an expensive project. Not wanting to concede that he is right, I begin to think of how this could be done sooner. After much thought the idea come to me that I could save all of the money that I make substituting this school year and if I taught as many days as I usually do I could probably pay for the upgrades by next summer or early fall. I felt that was a great solution.

Shortly before this school year began, I attended a training session at Hope House. I immediately felt that this was a ministry that I needed to be a part of. After praying about when and how much time I should commit to Hope Hose, I felt led to serve each Tuesday and Thursday. I became very excited about this time and found myself wishing for Tuesday and Thursday. Shortly after I begin giving of my time to Hope House school opened. Wouldn’t you know that for the first three Tuesdays of school, I received a call about 6:00 A.M. asking if I was available to teach. I said I had a prior commitment. I began to think will I ever get called on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday. Still I was glad that I had honored my commitment.

After serving a few weeks at Hope House, God began to change the desire of my heart. Seeing the many material needs that the guests have not to mention their spiritual needs, made me realize how truly inconsequential and unimportant updating my kitchen really is. I now have a heart that is full of so much more gratitude than before. God has lavishly poured out his blessings on me both materially and spiritually. He has given me much more of a servant’s heart. I see the hurt in these people’s eyes, and their troubled faces and I can’t help but want to more. What a wonderful opportunity God has placed in my path. I want to be faithful and honor my commitment to God.

James 2: 14-17 says: What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well”, but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works is dead by itself.

We are saved by grace and through our faith by trusting in and committing to Jesus Christ. We must do more that just talk about faith. We must demonstrate compassionate actions. Genuine faith is active and productive. We show that our faith is genuine by doing good works. We can not do everything and help every body but we are not exempt from translating our faith into concrete actions.

Once again James reminds us in 2:26 that faith without works is dead.

Please as a senior adult join with others as we live out our saving faith. Prayerfully consider serving in one of these ministry areas.
A call to service is not limited to Senior Adults. No matter how old you are, if you are a Christian, you are called to serve. Please find your place of service so that together we can fulfill Living Hope’s mission Get to God, Grow in Christ, and Give to others.

Adult Bible Fellowship

Tim Brown has been a member of Living Hope since moving to Bowling Green in 1997. Tim has been an ABF teacher for 9 years and currently teaches an ABF Class at 9:30 and 11:00 and is also active in the Mens Minstry at Living Hope. Tim has been married to his wife Mylinda for 24 years and their family is made up of son Travis and daughter-in-law Laura, and another son Tyler.

I have had the honor, blessing, and responsibility the past nine years of teaching an ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) class at Living Hope. During that time I have seen so many lives changed and watched as God increased the hunger for Him in many individuals. ABF’s (AKA: Sunday School Classes) are the greatest venue to make sure God’s Word is being taught in a group setting every Sunday in the local church. ABF’s provide three crucial benefits: 1)A place to study God’s Word with others 2)A place where you can get plugged in right away and where questions can freely be asked 3)Equips the participants to serve and provides a great place to connect to maturing believers.

I believe the greatest opportunity it provides is a place where individuals can discover or rediscover the Person of Christ. A quote I recently came across by Major Ian Thomas, who founded Torchbearers International states, “The upmost need in the ministry of the church today is to rediscover the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ and the indispensability of His indwelling presence within the believer”. I believe the tool of ABF is where that has the best chance of happening.

I am an old football player so I use a lot of analogies from my playing days that give me a visual of things in my spiritual life. I compare ABF’s to the fundamentals of blocking and tackling – no matter what else you do in the game of football, if you can’t block and tackle, you are not going to win a lot of games. ABF’s are where blocking and tackling get done in our spiritual lives. Every week up and down those hallways you have the certainty that blocking and tackling is going on. We are in a “war” with an enemy who hates our guts and doesn’t want us to work on our blocking and tackling so he tries to convince us that we don’t need to be connected to an ABF class, especially if we are connected to some other group. Truth is --- we need both! Barna Research has revealed that Sunday School attendance has actually grown due to attenders saying they needed more than they were getting in the groups they were connected to. In other words they needed more blocking and tackling to help them SIMPLY BE THE CHURCH GOD HAS CALLED US TO BE.

So let me challenge everyone to get involved with an ABF class and let God take you deeper as He uses the following individuals to help reveal the Person of Christ to you:

Tony Walker Todd Steward

Peggy Easley Andy Parsley

Sharon Stokes Ed Wilson

John & Nan Higgins Steve Henry

Dennis Strom Larry Causey

Mike Wilson Peggy Parrot

Tim Brown Pat McCubbin

Thomas Weakley Dan Edmonson

Sean Latham Gary Allen

Kimmy Stofer Matt Haste

Mike Roemer Bryan Keene

Brenda Martin Norris Shehan

Jackie Stewart

One Great Day

For me, this is one of the most exciting times of the year. I think it is great to see so many from Living Hope out in our community on the same day serving our Lord and our city. Each Sunday we gather together to worship and listen to Pastor Jason’s teaching. Each encounter we have with God’s word we become more like him. One Great Day is a great example of us acting on our understanding. Each year we seek to, as a community, go to our city and serve the people that need it. It could be building a wheel chair ramp for a disabled person, or mulching a flower bed at a local non-profit. It could be sorting clothes at Hope House or delivering meals to shut-ins in our city. Whatever projects happen, they do so to make God’s name great in this city. This year is even more special as Living Hope is teaming up with more than 20 other churches in our county on this Saturday to have One Great Day. This is possible through the Warren Association of Baptists.

Yesterday we heard a great testimony from Josh Porter, one of Living Hope’s own, about how his school has been impacted by One Great Day and the opportunities that it has given him to share about Christ. In everything we do on this one day it provides opportunities the other 364 days of the year. It might provide you those opportunities as you connect with a family through your group’s project or it might be another believer that works at the organization that you served. Either way the day’s impact stretches much further than the couple hours that you and your family serves on Saturday, September 26th.

One Great Day is for everyone! While we are getting ready to end our Church On Mission small group emphasis, its open to anyone who wants to serve our city. So if you are in a small group you should have been talking about what projects you want to do and have decided. If you are a small group leader and haven’t looked at the projects that are available yet, click here and login. If you are an individual or family that isn’t in a small group, but want to participate then please contact me (email or 270.843.9462) and I will get you connected to a project.

Stuart Borders

First Impressions

Greetings to my Living Hope family! I am Kirby Ramsey, the First Impressions Coordinator at Living Hope. I work with and assist Mark Gilliam, the Staff Liaison, for First Impressions. My wife Judy and I have been attending Living Hope for almost ten years. We chose to attend Living Hope to be with our youngest son, Derek Willis and his now wife, Ja’net as they worshiped our Lord. We are blessed with five grown children and ten grandchildren and truly enjoy serving in First Impressions at Living Hope. We both got involved in the First Impressions Ministry at the Knicely Center assisting Jeff Carlisle for the period of time Living Hope maintained two locations for Sunday services. We found that by serving in First Impressions you could not help but meet new people, both members and visitors who were trying us out for the first time.

Most people realize that members of the First Impression team serve to create an atmosphere of welcome to all who venture onto Living Hope property. The First Impressions program consists of several divisions with everyone performing their duties in a manner both pleasing to our Lord and respectful to everyone who frequents our worship services and activities. Our divisions include:

First and foremost the task of helping members and guests find a suitable parking spot in our huge parking lot is directed by David Knighton. David always arrives early to strategically place entrance and directional signage for everyone. Along with the First Touch team members, members assisting with vehicular traffic serve in all kinds of weather, both good and bad. The First Touch Ministry is under the supervision of Tim Booth. You’ll find First Touch in our parking lot looking for and greeting visitors and guests as well as regular attendees. First Touch is simply an extension of the Greeters division headed by Cathy Adams. Greeters are stationed at every entrance for every service and with a smile, a friendly handshake and a welcoming comment, make sure everyone who enters our facility feels at home once inside. The Welcome Center team is headed by Murl and Trudy Weaver and offer everyone literature, information, and assistance in locating particular classrooms at Living Hope. Ushers are led by Blaine Whitmer and provide a third round of welcoming smiles, handing out worship guides, assist individuals in locating an available seat and collect offerings. Last but not least First Impressions also handles hall monitoring under the direction of Jimmy Thomas. Particular emphasis is placed on areas in and around the children’s area of our facility.

With all this being said, it’s important to realize that First Impressions is all about serving with a goal of having individuals experience such a fantastic feeling of warmth and friendliness that they will want to keep coming back. In Matthew 13:9 it says “Let anyone with ears listen.” From a First Impressions perspective, one can’t hear the word of God nor listen and understand its meaning, without being present. For this very reason First Impression team members have numerous opportunities to make Living Hope stand out as a godly place of worship, with loving people who want and pray for non-believers to “Get to God, Grow in Christ, and Give to Others.” It’s a very small part but as the saying goes, one’s first impression is usually a controlling factor in their decision to like or dislike someone, some place, or some thing. It’s hard to change someone’s first impression so members of the First Impression team know full well the importance of putting their best foot forward so if Living Hope is being appraised by someone visiting for the first time, it will be a positive appraisal. Helping Living Hope grow by making a fabulous impression on people is a major goal of the First Impressions Ministry. If you’re not currently serving in another ministry at Living Hope, please know that you are so welcome to become an active member of our First Impressions team. May God bless you and your family and may He help you find your ministry at Living Hope.

Something Bobby Welch Taught Me

At Living Hope yesterday we enjoyed a time of Spiritual Renewal. Dr. Bobby Welch was our guest speaker for the day. Bobby is a man I have admired for many years. It was an honor to have him come and share the Gospel at Living Hope. You can listen to his message to us by clicking here. We put up the 8:00 and 9:30 service because what he said at the 8:00 service was somewhat different than what he said at the 9:30 and 11:00 services, especially at the end.

He talked to us about authentic faith. One of the things he shared that I had never heard and absolutely loved was how the people in his small Northern Alabama town would describe someone that had become a Christian.

When a person in their town would come to that place in their life where they surrendered their life to the risen Christ, they were said to have changed. For instance someone might ask, "Jimmy, what year was it, when you changed?" Or asking about someone they might say, "Has Joey had a change yet?"

What I love is that this language speaks to what happens to a person's life. When a person comes to faith in Christ, they are changed. Jesus saves by grace through faith and not by works, but anyone who has been saved by grace through faith always has works. A person of faith always lives out their faith and their life is changed and other people can see the change in the way they treat others, speak, and approach their life.

I think I am going to start using that because it is Biblical.

James 2:17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

John 15:8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Galatians 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Pastor Jason

Being a Deacon at Living Hope

Greetings Living Hope family! I am John Paul Blair, 2009 Deacon Chair.
My wife Leslie and I began attending Living Hope in the late 80's when dating as WKU students. We now have two children, John Robert ("Jack", age 10) and Margaret Grace ("Maggie", age 5) growing their faith as a part of the Living Hope family as well. What a blessing our church has been and continues to be!

What a pleasure it is to serve the Lord as a Living Hope deacon! As
deacon, our primary role is to serve the membership by extending the
reach of the pastoral and ministry staff. On Sundays, you see us
prepare and serve Communion, and you may notice us congregate in the
front of the worship center to assist in decision counseling. We enjoy
these parts of our ministry.

During the week, every member of our team (38 strong) makes visits to
hospitals and long term care and rehabilitation facilities, including
Nashville. We visit funeral homes and follow up at least once with all
we've touched. We visit not only those from our membership, but also
regular attenders, family members and friends of our congregation. This
also is a joy.

We help care for the widows and widowers in our fold through service
projects and special events. We are joyfully exploring ways to serve
our shut-ins (members who cannot make it to church on Sunday) and to
help welcome new members to our church family.

What a joy it is to serve alongside our staff and to serve as a vessel
for the Lord to work through! If we have visited you, our hope is you
were blessed as much as we are to serve His Kingdom.

Thank you church family for your recent nominations to add to our
ranks. Thank you for allowing us to serve you. We are blessed.

John Paul Blair
2009 Deacon Chair

Grace Community and Grattitude

I would never want to imagine life without a being part of a group of fellow believers. This morning, Rick gave his testimony about how much the choir means to him. He shared that his life is richer, and his family's life is richer because of his decision to be part of the Worship Choir. He talked about the opportunity in that group to share concerns, hurts, and victories with each other. We were created to live in community. I am thankful for my choir family and my church family.

Today, as Living Hope gathered to worship, I was struck by the strength that I gained through the unity of the congregation singing together great truths about God, Jesus, and Spirit and the Word of God. There is something very powerful about the gathering of God's people to declare praise, thanksgiving, and truths in unity. Again, in community, we not only live life together, we also gather to worship in Spirit and in Truth. What a great priviledge!

As Jason preached today, there was a strong movement of the Spirit of God among us. I consider myself gratdful person. However, I realized that a life completely given to gratitude would be a life refusing to sin against Jesus who paid the ultimate price for my sin. I also realized that my life has much room to grow in gratitude. As the Holy Spirit faithfully does, He challenged me through Jason's sermon to press on to become a person totally given to a life reflecting my thanksgiving to a loving God, Savior, and Spirit.

Benny Stofer
Worship Pastor

Church Picnic

We had a fantastic time last night at our church picnic. There were a lot of people there from all different ages. We had lots of babies, students, seniors, singles, and families that were laughing and enjoying time together. The picnic was geared around getting small groups together to launch our fall focus "Church on Mission." It was a lot of fun to walk around and talk to hundreds of people and see old friends catching up and seeing new friendships formed.

I met two small groups last night that were all meeting each other for the first time. It was quite a logistical feat for them to figure out where to meet, but they got connected. It was clear in both of those instances that these groups of people were going to become great friends and grow together in Christ and in their love for one another.

Whenever I see a small group form I get excited because I know that if the group does what it is supposed to that these people are going to be blessed. Over the next few years as each person in the group experiences sorrow, success, and everything in between, there will be friends that will be there with them. I am on call this week so I will be visiting those that are in the hospital. I know that those that are connected in a small group or an ABF are going to have already been cared for and prayed for. I will be there just to bless God's people doing what God's people do: loving Jesus and loving each other.

Pastor Jason Pettus

Closing the Gap

Greetings Living Hope Family! I’m Robert Duvall; my wife is Amy, and I have 3 sons: Alex (13), William (9), and Grayson (5). Amy & I have been members of Living Hope since 1996. I’m currently serving as the elder overseeing ABF and small groups. Amy is serving as a high school table leader & a high school girls’ small group leader. We are excited to see what God is doing at Living Hope as we take a step of faith each day to serve Him and bring glory to His name.

We talk about it all the time: “How are we going to close the gap?” The gap between broken relationships…. The gap between the amount of money we overspend & our income…. The gap between the amount of time we spend developing our children & the actual amount of time we invest in their lives….. The gap between loving our spouse like they’re the most important person in our life & the demonstration of love through our words and actions…. The gap between what we say & what we do. In today’s sermon, Pastor Richard spoke of the gap between our knowledge of God’s Word & its application in our lives. It is not enough to say we love someone or to say we love God. We must demonstrate this love. The apostle John writes in I John 3:18, “Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” Yes, Brothers & Sisters in Christ, we must do all we can to close this gap.

As part of God’s perfect design, we need each other to help close the gap. Rick Warren writes, “It may seem easier to be holy when no one else is around to frustrate your preferences, but that is a false, untested holiness. Isolation breeds deceitfulness; it is easy to fool ourselves into thinking we are mature if there is no one to challenge us. Real maturity shows up in relationships.” God intends for us to develop these authentic relationships so that we can both challenge one another & encourage one another. There must be a healthy balance between the two.

As Christ’s Church, as a country founded on biblical principles, as a local community of faith, as a small group, as a family, and as an individual, we realize there is little evidence of perfection. Consequently, there is a gap between our commitments and our accomplishments. To a world that would call us “hypocrites”, what can we say? Or a better question is, “What can we show?” There must be fruits of our labor culminating in an undeniable evidence of LOVE. I am proud to be part of a local body of believers who “get it” and who “show it”. At Living Hope, I believe our gap is relatively small. We understand, albeit imperfectly, that we have been called to love God, love each other, and love lost people. Certainly there is room for improvement, but I believe our members’ “heart’s desire” is to embrace Pastor Jason’s challenge to “be the most LOVING place on the planet.” We have seen this through our support of Hope House by loving people and expecting nothing in return. We have seen this in our deacon ministry by loving people in their most desperate hours of sickness and grief. We have seen this in our children’s ministry as volunteers love our kids through the teaching of God’s Word while having lots of fun. We have seen this in our senior adult ministry that celebrates God’s gifts of wisdom and self-sacrifice. We have seen this in our ABF’s and small groups by fulfilling Christ’s example of serving one another & speaking the truth in love. We have seen this in a senior pastor leading his flock with a simple, yet powerful, message of love, “To help people: Get to God, Grow in Christ, and Give to Others.”

Pastor Richard accurately said that we have a Family Reunion of God’s people each and every Sunday at church. Without hesitation, I can say that I’m proud to be a member of this loving Family called Living Hope. Let’s close the gap TOGETHER!

Excited to be "On Mission"

My name is Todd Crosby and my wife's name is LeAnn. I have one daughter Anslee and one daughter (Averi) on her way in about 2 1/2 weeks. They are truly gifts from God. My family lives in Knoxville, TN and my wife's family lives in Owensboro. With both sets of families away our small group has truly become our family. I also am a small group leader and it is an absolute passion that God has given me to edify our small group and be edified myself at the same time. Being a small group leader has forced me to study the word of God more often and with more intensity than I would have ever imagined. I once thought that a small group leaders role was insignificant and trivial in the church, however in the process I have found that no role in God's church is trivial or unseen by God. In 1st Chronicles I recently read how Mattithiah was entrusted with making flat cakes in 1st Chronicles 9:31. This may seem dull and mundane but what is interesting about this text is in God's Authoritative, Inerrant, Clear, Sufficient, and Necessary eternal word he took notice of this man's faithful service of making flat cakes. The point is clear that no job is trivial and God commends faithful service, no matter how small or large. As a small group leader this text is very encouraging.

As we gear up for the Church on mission I personally am excited to take a deeper look into the book of Acts. As small groups become more and more a source of where people seek Biblical training it's encouraging to see true Biblical training as the emphasis. As I have followed along with Pastor Jason this year and read commentaries on Acts I have been most profoundly transformed by chapter 15 (The Jerusalem council). If I take nothing else from the whole years worth of study in the book of Acts, I will take chapter 15 with me. Chapter 15 shows us the first and longest lasting heresy within the church. It also showed me how easily heresy can creep into the church if we are not careful. Of course the central doctrinal issue of chapter 15 was the doctrine of salvation. The leaders of the church make it very clear that it is by Grace "Alone" that we are saved. Bill Star's wonderful testimony recently was the essence of this truth. His testimony and many
others may not be as clear had Peter, James, and Paul not stood up for the truth that we indeed are saved by God's unmerited favor. In chapter 15 scripture is used to validate the truth. This emphasizes the importance of reading, studying, and applying scripture in order to proclaim and defend truth. So as we collectively as a church dig into the scripture I get really excited about that because we too will be able to with confidence proclaim and defend truth because of such Biblical training.

I do believe that we will only get out of this study as much as we put into it. If we show up to small group, service, and etc unprepared and unwilling to put forth the effort in our personal quite time the impact will be quite sub par. However I firmly believe that if we will put forth the effort if even for just these two months we will see a wonderful transformation in our own lives and most importantly give God glory because of it. Considering the success that we have had before with church wide studies like this I think the same will happen this go around as well.

Therefore my thoughts and prayers are with Jason as he preaches, with Richard as he prepares the lessons, and the rest of LHBG staff for so many details that goes into a study like this. My thoughts and prayers are also for us within the congregation who will be fed by this study and hopefully in return feed others and give God glory.

Thanks and God bless.
Todd Crosby

Four Friends and Jesus

Hi, my name is Bill Starr and my wife Cindy and I have been Members at Living Hope for the past 5 years. We have three grown daughters, all of whom are married and three grandchildren. I currently serve as a 4th grade boys shepherd at 9:30 and as a teacher with the 3 year olds at 11:00.

At the beginning of Scott’s message yesterday he was discussing how we look at our faith and the fact that we often treat God as a cosmic bell hop who exists to meet our needs and grant our wishes. I believe that if most of us listened to several days of our prayers we would find that much of our prayer time is spent presenting a “to do” list to God and then following up to see what the hold up is on getting our requests answered. The scriptures present a very different picture of what our interaction with God should be. God is worthy of our worship and our service. As we consider what He has done for us in sending His son Jesus to earth to take on flesh, live a sinless life and then be offered as the final sacrifice for sin, how can we have any response other than thankfulness and gratitude? When my heart struggles to evoke this type of response, I have learned to go back and consider again what God has done through Christ on my behalf. As you read the Psalms look how often the Psalmist reflects on how God has acted in the past and this makes him worship and it gives him hope for the future.

The four friends of the paralytic put their faith into action. What did they know about Jesus? Perhaps not very much, but they did know that Jesus had healed people of various afflictions. They believed that He could heal their friend and they took steps to make it happen. Scott noted their perseverance – the room was full, the way was blocked. They did not give up but became creative and found a way to get their friend face to face with the Savior.

Notice that Jesus deals one on one with the paralytic. The friends have done their part; they have brought their friend to the Messiah. Do you think the paralytic was surprised when Jesus said “Son your sins are forgiven”? Jesus got right to the ultimate core issue – the sin problem. Notice also how the paralytic did exactly what Jesus told him to – take up your mat and go home. This is a great example of simple obedience.

Scott closed the sermon by mentioning that the man came in on a mat and he went home carrying the mat. To Scott’s point this morning, my guess is that the man shared the “good news” of his encounter with Jesus with everyone he met. When we encounter Jesus our lives are no less changed than this man’s. We experience a heart change. This heart change should be as evident to those around us as the change in the paralytic was to those who saw him walk out of the room carrying the very mat he had been carried in on.

God is good

Bill

Missional Living

Hi, my name is Dwan Graham. My husband Jason and I started attending Living Hope in 1999 and became members in 2001. We have three children—Isabel, Mattie and Noah. We currently serve as small group leaders, work in the children’s ministry and are active in missions. I have also had the privilege to serve in Women’s Ministry leadership through MOPS and most recently missions. Serving at Living Hope has given me the opportunity to use the gifts God has given me and it is through service that He has shaped much of my life.

Living Hope is more than a church building, Living Hope is an extension of who we are as we come to serve, to worship, to grow, and to live missional lives. Jason and I do hold many different service titles within the church body; however, Small Group Leaders is one specific title that continues to stretch us, mold us, and encourage us. We believe Small Groups are an extension of the body of Christ that serves and loves one another as family but also reaches out to the community as a group to effectively serve and share the love of Christ with others.

Small Groups are a community of disciples who carry out Christ’s ministry. So how do we carry out Christ’s ministry? We do this by studying God’s word together, serving in love, praying for one another and others, providing support for those with a need, and going where He asks. In short, Small Groups are the Christian community living missional lives in relationship to one another and the world. Mark 10:45, says “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

So what does this look like inside our Small Group? Providing meals, mowing one another’s lawn, offering/giving financial assistance during difficult times, babysitting one another’s kids, praying for each other, holding one another accountable and so much more! During our meetings, we have the opportunity to study, to worship, to pray, and to have communion with one another. Yet, even more than the love and service and study with one another as a Small Group, we have had the great opportunity to serve our community by adopting angel tree families, giving food baskets to people in need, providing lawn care for widows, taking care packages to an assisted living center, and presenting Backyard VBS for an apartment complex. This summer will be the second year our Small Group has hosted the Backyard VBS.

All these ways of serving and studying together grows you close in relationship with one another as a Small Group family but more importantly grows you into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. I praise God for our Small Group which has walked along side us during difficult times as well as joyous occasions. And through each circumstance or season our Small Group has joined us in prayer, provided spiritual support and loved us unconditionally. God is sovereign and faithful—and has given us a loving, giving Small Group Family.

The heart of the church is covenant: God’s commitment to us in Christ, and our commitment to God and one another in Christ. Do you realize that the phrase ‘one another’ is used 153 times in scripture? Love one another, spur one another on… Through Small Group we commit to help one another live our lives in grace by vowing to support the church’s common life and ministry with our prayers, presence, gifts, and service. Without covenant and commitment, there is no church. And what better way to commit to the church than through living life-together as a Small Group.

Commit today to either strengthen your Small Group or to join a Small Group! And may Christ be manifested in the life of our church and Small Groups today! Glory be to God!!

Father’s Day provides a nice backdrop for considering family and the role God has for us. No matter how you remember your time with your father, family is where we learn what kind of parents we want to be. Some of us are fortunate to have great biblical examples in our fathers, who taught their children about God, the power of his Word and how to pray. Others may have longed for that kind of time and interaction with their dad, but it was not forthcoming. This often builds determination to take a different path with your own family. Whatever your experience, that has shaped your approach with your children, we are fortunate that our heavenly Father has given us instruction in His Word and has charged us with teaching, loving and correcting our children to build a strong foundation for a faith filled life. My favorite verses on this are Deut 11:18-19 as Moses is instructing Israel on how to use God’s word: “You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.” (NASB 1995) How’s that for clear practical instruction? (Also see Deut 4:10; Deut 6:7; Ps 78:5).

Hello, my name is Steve Pattison, the newest Elder affirmed by Living Hope. My wife Karen and I have been members and have served at Living Hope since 1994. Our four children have always enjoyed attending and worshiping with us: Tracey, Steven, Heather and Kristina. I have been blessed to see three of my children baptized in the church with the fourth firmly on the same path. Karen and I have served together as children’s Sunday school teachers. I have served on and chaired the personnel committee, led and coached small groups, and was ordained as a deacon in 2005, serving as chairman for two years.

My own experience was likely common for many. My mother took me to Sunday School, but I received no teaching at home from God’s word or instruction in prayer. My stepfather pointed to some bad experience as a child with someone from church as his reason/excuse to avoid church and matters of the faith altogether. Fortunately, God’s call to me brought with it a hunger for the Word, and being a skilled reader, I learned a great deal about God’s nature from Old Testament stories. Still I wonder, what mistakes and consequences would I have been spared, had my spiritual walk been fully developed before leaving home.

Without a doubt we all want the best for our children. But often we feel we can only teach up to the limits of our own knowledge and experience. This should certainly drive us to our own personal studies and a desire for a firm understanding of God’s word. However, don’t under estimate the wisdom already present in God’s word and the power of the Holy Spirit in you to interpret its meaning. Simply reading God’s word directly to your children carries an innate lesson in every chapter. Learning together with your children is certainly far superior to leaving them to learn on their own, or relegating that responsibility to the church. You may not be able to answer their every question right away. But you have a large church family to lean on for help with those tough questions. I am convinced that God will bless efforts like these mightily, and you will find joy in learning and hearing God’s wisdom come from your own child’s mouth. All it takes from you is time and commitment. That sounds like love to me!

May God bless you and your family richly!

Steve Pattison

God, Grandmothers, and the Great Commission

During spring break of 1983 while I was in high school, I was staying with a friend who attended Living Hope. We were suppose to play baseball that week for the junior varsity team, but we got rained out the entire week. Being young boys, we were obviously full of energy and needed something to do. My friend Scott, whose mother Cheryl has served at Living Hope for a number of years, suggested we might help come and do some cleaning and chores around the church. At the time, the church was what we know as fellowship hall today. We spent most of the day working and getting the church ready for Sunday morning worship. Little did I know at the time that I would have a chance to serve Living Hope in a whole different role.

My name is Greg Morris and my wife Mia, daughter McKenzie and son Max have worshiped at Living Hope since 2003. Our journey began at Living Hope after a request from my daughter to visit where some of her friends from school worshiped. We visited that day and have been here ever since. I have had the privilege and blessing of serving in the children's ministry, on the men's ministry team, and as a deacon. I also was blessed to baptize my daughter McKenzie in 2006.

It has truly been a humbling experience to consider serving as elder of Living Hope.I have spent much time in prayer, studying the Word and talking with others. God spoke to me in a number of different ways. None more that yesterday when after giving my testimony at the 11:00 service a lady met me in the hall and said "I am waiting to see you!". She continued by saying "I have got something we have got to talk about". I must say I don't recall meeting her before, but she had my attention. With my family by my side, she said "I was friends with your grandmother and we used to play golf together. She would have been so proud of you!" My grandmother passed away September 11,2001, not a date that's hard to remember.

As I shared during my time Sunday the passage from Hebrews 12:1-3, I thought about my grandmother. In that passage it says "since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses". The writer is talking about so many examples of those whose past life of faith have been an encouragement to ours. When I read about these witnesses, I think about many examples from scriptures, but I also think about those people in my life who have given me encouragement. When I read that passage Sunday morning before coming to church, I thought about her and remembered back on what she had taught me. Little did I know there would be someone who was connected to one of those witnesses that has encouraged my walk of faith.

I look forward to what God has in store for not only this community, but for the world as the Lord works through us to help other people get to God, grow in Christ and give to others.

"Others"

During the late 1800s, William Booth the founder of the Salvation Army was preparing to send out his annual Christmas message to the workers around the world. At that time communication was by telegraph & you paid by the word. At first his message was a paragraph. When told the cost was prohibitive to send it out to all the workers, he pared the message down to a couple of sentences. Still the cost was too much. Finally, Booth sent out simply one word..."Others". That was the message he wanted his missionaries & workers in the field to remember. That is also the mission of the deacon body here at Living Hope Baptist Church.

Hello, my name is Mike Wilson. My wife Lori & I started attending Living Hope in 1992 & have been here since then. We were married here, have served here & raised & dedicated three children here - Meredith, Josh & Madelyn. Living Hope is more than just our church...it is where our family goes to learn, be refreshed, serve & love.

As deacons at Living Hope, we are simply focused on others. Whether they are sick, infirm, elderly, poor, widowed or simply in need; our deacons are here to serve others. Our deacons go to hospitals to visit & pray with those who are ill. Visitations at funeral homes to comfort those in need of solace. A friendly visit to take a flower or a good word to those in rehab or nursing homes. Helping clear a flower bed for a widow or delivering the only presents some less fortunate children will receive for Christmas. These are some of the activities of your deacons. With almost 40 men currently serving, the deacons at Living Hope are totally service oriented & are always on call along with our pastoral staff to help serve others both within & outside our church. I encourage you to assist us in identifying willing men to join this group of deacons to help continue the mission of focusing on others here at Living Hope. Please feel free to contact our group of deacons with any needs you may have. We are here to pray for you & with you as well as serve in whatever capacity we can. Having been a deacon here for almost ten years, I've had the opportunity to see love in action through the work of the men who are deacons. I've often said & have heard other deacons say as well, that we have often been blessed more than any blessing we may be to those we see. It is truly an honor to represent Living Hope by doing the work Jesus would have us do. To love others even more than ourselves. That is our calling as deacons.

Thank you Living Hope for being such a great congregation to serve with & for.

Mike Wilson
Matthew 7:12

Summer Camp: -)

Jeff Armstrong is the Next Generation Pastor at Living Hope. He oversees birth through high school graduates. His job is to make disciples out of students so that they are capable of living well for Jesus the rest of their life. He is married to Kelly and they have two children Dallas and JT and they have one on the way.

I recently ran across a Top Ten List from David Letterman about Summer camp, here are 5 from the list I thought were worth mentioning:

Top Ten ways to know your kid is having a bad experience at summer Camp:

Have to toast marshmallows by laying them on the exhaust pipe off counselor's Buick.
Camp's Indian name translates to "Land of the Giant Ticks"
When you visit, proudly shows off tunnel he's digging under cabin
“Craft time" is 14 hours of making counterfeit Nikes.
You ask to see picture of his friends -- he sends photo of a stick.

Trust me; our students will not have any of those experiences at the camps we attend. This summer we have three fantastic camps that our next generation ministry will attend. All three camps are top notch and will provide a fun, safe, environment that will enable them to grow in their relationship with Christ.
Camps are unique because they promote separation from a student’s everyday hectic, media filled, fast paced lifestyle. This allows a student to focus on God’s word, because they are saturated with it from the time they wake up, until they go to bed at night. Many first time decisions for Christ, rededications, and calls to full time Christian vocation are made at camp.
On a personal level, I have made serious spiritual decisions at the camps I have attended. Someone the other day asked me how many years I have been going to camp. Since I was 8 years old, I have not had a summer where I did not go to camp as a camper, a counselor, or taking a group to camp. Every summer for 30 years, I have eaten camp food, lost sleep, and pulled pranks, or been targeted with pranks.
Please pray for our camps this summer:
Pray for our students and counselors.
Pray that God will speak to the hearts of our campers.
Pray for Ross Wellman, our interim junior high minister as he attends J Creek, July 13-17th.
Pray for Cindy Starr as she takes our children to Centri Kid the week of July 13-17th.

Finally, as many of us retreat this summer to camps and vacations, pray that we come back from our retreats, and advance….
Advance in our knowledge of Christ.
Advance with a passion to reach the lost that have not heard the gospel.


Jeff Armstrong

Suffering for Jesus?

Dr. Bill Daniel has served as an elder for over seven years at Living Hope. He and his wife Annie are faithful members of the church and participate in small group together. Bill is a teacher, a leader, and regularly serves on foreign soil as a medical missionary.

What am I willing to die for?

What am I willing to suffer pain for?

What am I willing to be imprisoned for ?

These are the deep questions that are answered by the martyrs.


" some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated--- of whom the world was not worthy--- wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." Hebrews 11:35b-38


Those are safe questions for me to ponder because in the thirty-five years I have been a Christian I have never had to face such situations. More appropriate for me is...

Am I willing to be socially uncomfortable?

Am I willing to be rejected?

Am I willing to be made fun of?

These are the questions I find most uncomfortable.

Am I willing to risk my shallow and uneasy associations I have with my non-Christian friends for the joy of seeing their salvation?

As Brandon Porter shared with us on Sunday morning in worship, persecution is accompanied by pleasure as we see God at work through us. Or as Jason shared last week - how much do I have to hate some one not to share God's salvation with them.

Giving Them What They Need…

My name is Caroline Millette. My husband Eric and I have been members of Living Hope for 2 ½ years. We are blessed to be involved with several ministries at Living Hope, including small group, mentoring, volunteering with our Burmese/Karen families and Children’s Ministry.

A few weeks ago, my husband and I took the elevator to our Sunday School class. Our hands were full and one of our “senior saints” kindly held the door for us. After greeting each other, my husband asked the lady, “What floor, please?” The lady answered, “Why I just don’t know? There are so many choices!” He pressed the 3rd floor button as she smiled and laughed. Imagine her surprise when the doors opened! She quickly turned to us and said, “We have a 3rd floor? How long have we had a 3rd floor? And what goes on up here?!”

I thought about her puzzled look and curious questions that week. I kept wondering how many other people don’t know we have a 3rd floor or what goes on “up here?”
“Yes, Virginia, there is a 3rd floor!”

The Children’s Ministry is a vital part of Sunday mornings at Living Hope. On 3 floors, we have hundreds of children who come to learn and grow in Christ. There are many volunteers who serve those children as well, teaching them that God is faithful and holy, a God of mercy and grace.

The 3rd floor is where our 4th and 5th grade children meet. This year they are studying “To Be Like Jesus.” Each week, the kids take home a handout to give to their parents. It lets them know what we have studied for the day and how to focus on the lesson at home during the next week.

Here is a quote from a recent handout: “The world has an agenda for our children and it is well written. Do we have an agenda for our children?”

What are we teaching each Sunday morning, on 3 floors, to hundreds of children? The Word of God!

Do we have an agenda for them? Absolutely…to love and obey God and to become like Jesus as we walk with Him daily.

Jason stated this morning that Stephen didn’t give (the people) what they wanted; he gave them what they needed. (Ref. Acts 7)

The same is true of Sunday mornings on the 3rd floor. We are giving the children the only thing they will ever need…a foundation in Christ Jesus, solidly built on the Word of God. The hope is that they may not only know the Word, but the Word Giver.

I invite you to take a ride or stroll up to the 3rd floor. Come and watch. Listen to the children recite scripture, pray for their lost friends, and sing praise songs to Jesus!

Yes, there is a 3rd floor Living Hope. And we will not be silent! We have an agenda and are ready to share with the world!

Sacrificial Service

My name is Jason Graham. My wife Dwan and I have 3 children Isabel (8), Mattie (4) and Noah (3). Dwan and I have been members of Living Hope for 9 years. We currently serve as small group leaders, work in the children’s ministry and are active in missions. I also currently serve as a deacon. Serving at Living Hope has given me the opportunity to use the gifts God has given me and it is through service that he has shaped much of my life.

The title of today’s message was The Church is Built Through Sacrificial Service. The title is as true of the church in the 21st century as it was in the 1st Century. Ultimately God builds the church, but he does so through the blood, sweat, and tears of followers of Christ. This morning I heard the message at the 8 AM service. Afterwards, I was able to walk through the halls of Living Hope and see that message being lived out in the lives of men and women who have chosen to make service in the name of Christ a part of their Sunday morning.

The great challenge of any sermon is not in listening to the sermon, it is not even in preaching the sermon. The great challenge is in how we actually live the sermon. It is here that we must stop and ask ourselves, are we really allowing the gospel to penetrate us to the very core? Are we living a life of sacrificial service? Are we being poured out as an offering to the Lord? This morning the special song was entitled Alabaster Jar, the interesting thing about an alabaster jar is often in order to get access to the contents of the jar – it had to be broken. 2 Corinthians 4:7 describes the followers of Christ as “earthen vessels” – fragile pots. The verse goes on to say that we are fragile so that the strength and greatness of God may be made known.

We at Living Hope have a wide variety of opportunities to serve both our church body and the surrounding community. We must continually be available to share the gospel with unbelievers. These individuals need their names lifted up before the Lord in prayer. Also, unbelievers need to see the body of Christ in action—loving one another and living sacrificial lives of service. Within Living Hope there are numerous opportunities to serve. The Bible commands us to love one another, encourage one another, build up one another, and comfort one another. Actually that list could be lengthened. In fact the words “one another” occur together approximately 93 times in the New Testament. That means that we are unable to obey a good part of the New Testament if we are not in community with other Christians.

I leave you with these words from Aristides as he describes the early Christians to the Roman emperor Hadrian:

Falsehood is not found among them; and they love one another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver the orphan from him who treats him harshly. And he, who has, gives to him who has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him in to their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother; for they do not call them brethren after the flesh, but brethren after the spirit and in God. And whenever one of their poor passes from the world, each one of them according to his ability gives heed to him and carefully sees to his burial. And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free. And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food.

May Christ be so manifested in the life of our church today! Glory be to God!

Authentic Pursuits

Charles Fortney has been a follower of Christ for more than 40 years, first responding to the call of the Holy Spirit to accept Christ after viewing a Billy Graham film at a local theater in his hometown. Charles and his wife, Connie, have been members of Living Hope for 19 years and they both currently teach Middle School students. They have two sons, Stephen and Casey, who both attend Greenwood High School. Living Hope ordained Charles as a deacon in 1992 and for the past 10 ½ years he has been an elder. He will rotate off the elder body next month. Charles co-owns an occupational health business based in Bowling Green.



One of the joys of my life is teaching students and I currently co-teach Middle School students with Ross Wellman. Today, as we studied 1 John 3: 18 – 24, we emphasized that being a Christian and having Christ in you is evident by what you pursue. 18th century theologian Jonathon Edwards, a key figure in the Great Awakening, wrote A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections to make that very point. Edwards says it is not an isolated experience in our lives that defines us as Christians, but rather the continual pursuits, or affections, that the Holy Spirit places in us. One of Jason’s points in Sunday’s service was how Barnabas sold a piece of land and gave all of the proceeds to the church. When Ananias and Sapphira sold some land and only gave a portion of the proceeds to the church, they were struck dead. The basic concept of giving to God out of what he has blessed us with is a sound one. But this couple gave the illusion of making a greater sacrifice than what was really true. It was deception and a lack of authenticity that did them in.

All of us are prone to making bad judgments, but what drives those decisions? It was clear from Peter’s declaration that Ananias and Sapphira allowed Satan to guide their decision. Are we as Christians driven by God’ Holy Spirit to pursue Him in all our decisions? If so, this is a mark and an assurance that our faith is real.

I also saw another “real” example of Christian service on Sunday. It came during Terry McDaniel’s report on the status of the Building Expansion project. There are many questions unanswered. What will the bids for construction come in at? We have very real shortfalls in our general fund giving and the More Hope for More People Capital Campaign has come in at about 53% of the original amount pledged to date. Based on that information, how much can we build? What long term affect does our current economic situation play in our building and funding other ministries? Terry chairs the Building Design Team and he and many others have been working on this project for several years now. They and our other leaders face the challenge of making difficult decisions. But what struck me was the commitment that Terry and his family made to this project. Even though they completed their pledge today, he said they would continue to give to the More Hope fund, over and above their regular tithing. Their commitment has already been fulfilled, but a need still exists. And they believe in the cause of expanding facilities here to help reach and disciple people for Christ.

Authentic Holy pursuits please God. He gives us many opportunities to follow Him each day. I want to do this in all areas of my life – financial, spiritual, social, work and family. We have an opportunity as a local body of believers to express our pursuits through missions, volunteering in ministries at Living Hope and outreach areas like Hope House. None of these is authentic without the leading of our hearts, following the Holy Spirit, guiding and driving us each step of the way. Take a look at your heart and pursuits today. How authentic are they?

Faith

Don and Paula Basham have been members of Living Hope since 1995. Paula has been a director in the preschool ministry now for over 10 years. Don is currently assisting with Plan B volunteers and also, is currently serving as a deacon .They have been involved with the same small group for over 11 years which now they consider them as family. They have a son Ross, age 13, that is activity in the middle school ministry, and their daughter, Hannah, age 9, is activity in children’s ministry. They will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary this summer.

When you know God, you know there are no coincidence. Everything from every moment has a reason. So this morning when Paula and I arrived in worship at 8am, and we saw our names in the bulletin sharing our testimony in addition to “blogging” there was that deep breath before the plunge.

Quickly years of serving with preschoolers presented itself before my mind. I tried to make mental notes at dizzying pace but mostly I was reminded of my own initial training in God’s Word as a High School Junior not in Sunday school class of my peers but as an assistant to a friend who was teaching Royal Ambassadors (kids).

Benny put our mind at ease that Mr. Bill would be sharing his testimony.

I told Mr. Bill we should frame his 10 reasons for serving because each was very true.

Most of the initial truths about our faith I learned playing Bible baseball and other fun stuff with these little guys. The “Being” with Jesus I had done with my “Belief” in God’s power and sacrifice for me. I guess it was the “Belonging” I desired that was lacking at first. And it was my infants knowledge of the Bible and its truths that I needed training in. Faith can move mountains, make the lame walk, cast out evil, and see God at work all around us every moment. Faith comes easy to me because I believe without a doubt that each breath I take is sustained by Christ and every atom of my being is in existence due to Him. I take those spiritual gifts test and faith is always head and shoulders above the others in score. So it was no surprise to me that Jason’s sermon from Acts today was the “foundation” of a small group Bible study we currently have been doing called “Go Fish” by Andy Stanley.

Now since there is no such that as a coincidence it is opportune to tell you that that is a study you should take at the earliest opportunity. It will deepen your understanding about what a growing vibrant church like ours should be doing. (Sorry about that deviation from today’s sermon but I know God would have me tell you about something like that when he puts those doors in my path.)

Now faith means stepping on toes to do what/when God would have you do something. Being faithful can be painful in the world today because the world tells us to keep it inside the building walls on Sunday only. But I can’t argue theology with you and quote on demand multiple scripture to back up what I may say. But I can tell you that I have hung the hope of my existence, my future past the grave, and the center of my life and family on Jesus Christ because of his sacrifice for me and my trust in Him and His love for me. If we as a congregation want to be a thriving vibrant growing body of believers in the future we need to encourage deep faith in Christ from each other. Since God is love we encourage him into all we do when we do it in love. The preschool ministry is a great place to serve and love others.

You can gain experience to be:
1. a better parent – learning to guide children not your own will help you find nuances of positive influence instead of negative discipline.
2. a better spouse – learning the struggle of guiding and tending children you will experience the frustration and the joys your spouse may experience on a more frequent level. Or you may see the effects of separations on the lives of children.
3. a better brother/sister – you will come to close understanding of interactions and love strangers can provide one another and how children within the church can grow to become closer than family they were born into.
4. a better child – you will learn to see the interaction of parents with children and know that your life can be a blessing to your parents. You will see that the love you shown from kids to parents is a true blessing from God.
5. and a better community member through your interaction – as you watch the kids interact with each other you can see facets of our local community reflected in their actions. You will become keenly aware of both the negative and positive influences each of our interactions can have both for and against Christ at work around us and through our community.

All that is in addition to learning foundational elements of the Bible and Christ’s life here among us. So if you have accepted Christ and truly believe God’s power your next step is to gain that feeling of “Belonging”. Now you are not going to get that from a pew – although if you set in the same place time after time you will get the same smiles around you time after time. You can edge into it in an Adult Bible Fellowship class of your peers, but be fore warned you may need to sharpen your Biblical skills to participate there. You can most easily gain the feeling of “Belonging” from preschool ministry and service there. Who knows you may stumble upon those there you can fellowship with in small group and gain lifetime friends and all because you took time to read a story about Jesus to a kid who couldn’t even read…

Paula’s View of the Day
I was reminded in a statement Jason made on the founding members wanting Living Hope to be a church that embraced children and families today in the sermon. Don and I were members of another congregation when we realized that we would not want to bring our children up in what they valued. We made the decision to leave that congregation due to this even when we did not know if God would bless us with children. At Living Hope, we felt his spirit each week and knew that is where we should be. We were at Living Hope approximately a year when God blessed us with our son Ross through adoption. He came home at 4 ½ months from South Korea and within the first week of being home we took him to the church nursery. It was one of the best parent decisions we ever made.

Right off he was loved by some of the most caring ladies I had ever met. I am still blessed when I run into them and they dote over him. I know that he was loved. They also gave Don and I a gift - a time we could go to worship our Lord. That praise time with our Lord thanking Him for the precious life that he brought to us from across the world. We could also attend our ABF and grow in the word with out any worries. As Ross grew some of the first sentences he said were bible songs that he had learned in the nursery. He continued to grow and learn more truths of God’s Word in his preschool years. It was so precious to see him grasp those truths so innocently that we as adults doubt or forget. He made friends that are still his friends today. Because of these foundation truths that he learned in his preschool days, Ross came to Christ at the age of 6. There is nothing like knowing that you will be part of an eternal family.

When Ross was four God blessed us with a baby girl, Hannah that also came to us through adoption from Korea. I can too say that in her first week at home she was in the church nursery being loved on like Ross and that was beyond belief. I am telling you that it was not the easiest thing that I ever did to leave my babies after waiting so long for them to come home, but it was the best thing I ever did to establish a habit of them being in God’s house learning his word. I am so thankful to say at the age of 6 Hannah came to Christ.

What a joy to know that are family will always be together no matter what life brings. Again, when we were preparing for her baptism, I knew it was due to the precious men and women that had taken the time to plant those truths of his word into her heart. I can also say at the age of 9 and 13 they still will tell you they love Sunday school. They have had opportunities of being discipled unlike Don and I had as children.

How more blessed than that could the Basham’s be?

I am saddened each time I hear a child cry or parent struggle with a little one in the service. I just pray that they would realize what the blessing it would be to their family if their child was involved in the preschool ministry. I know as a parent and volunteer in preschool that child is going to be loved, prayed for, and taught the truth of God’s word.

I was blessed tonight with a lady in my discipleship class give her testimony. She stated that she can clearly remember the Sunday school room that she was in when someone told her that God loved her and he had a special plan for her live at age 3. She stated due to this that her life has always had hope. Do we not all want that for our children, our grandchildren, our neighbor, our niece or nephew? Please encourage our young parents to leave their sons and daughters in our preschool ministry. I know it can be hard but it can be the best decision you ever made for your child.

I continue to serve in preschool ministry because I love preschoolers and their parents. I want them to have the same opportunity that the Basham’s have had for our kids. I was blessed again today to overhear a mom tell a preschool volunteer that her 3 year old got up this morning and asked if this is a church day and when she said yes he got excited because it was his favorite thing to do. What bigger blessing than to see a 3 year old already loved in God’s house and by His people. The preschool ministry is not about childcare but about planting God’s word into little lives.

One Godly Thing You Can't Do in Heaven

Katie Lewis moved to Bowling Green, KY from Cookeville, TN with her family and became a member of Living Hope in 2000. Katie has served in the children’s ministry as a summer intern, attended many youth retreats, summer camps, and volunteered on a couple of mission trips with Living Hope over the years. She is now a sophomore at WKU pursuing a major in exercise science.

Earlier this week, I met with my bible study leader on WKU’s campus, where we decided to share our faith about Christ with someone we did not know. After an hour long conversation with an international student from China, I was reminded just what it means to be intentional about sharing the Gospel with others. That night I listened to someone preach. He said something that stuck, “When you know Jesus, we have to talk about it.”

Jason’s sermon was exactly what God had been reminding me all week – be intentional about sharing the Gospel. We are to present the Gospel when God gives us the opportunity and we should look for opportunities throughout the day. We as a church body must be intentional in sharing about who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.

In Acts 3, Peter and John were on there way to the temple when they came across a crippled man. Peter had nothing to offer the man in way of silver or gold, but he was willing to give the man what he did have. Peter had Jesus. He sensed the urgency of the Gospel despite his agenda in going to the temple. Peter was in the middle of something, he was preoccupied, and was headed to the temple with John, but he stopped. He stopped to share the Gospel.

How often do we share our faith?
How often do we sense the urgency of the Gospel?
How often do we stop our schedules and agendas to share with someone about the hope that we have?

Listening to Jason preach about the Gospel, I was convicted by my own lack of urgency. This week when I was sharing about Jesus to an international student, I left the conversation feeling blessed. Even though she did not choose to accept Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior I could tell He was softening her heart to the Gospel. She was open to hearing what my bible study leader and I had to share, and she listened. Our words were not eloquent and we had nothing [like Peter and John] to offer her, but we stopped long enough to share about Jesus. He can use the least of us to make His name known. It is not about the presentation, but about being obedient to the Lord by sharing what He has done in your life.

The Gospel is what the church should be based on. Are we as a body of believers intentional about sharing the Gospel? “And he [Peter] took him [crippled man] by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.” Acts 3:7 Peter stopped on his way to the temple. He gave all that he had, and helped the crippled man to his feet. The man leaped! When we are intentional about sharing the Gospel, we give all that we have so others might come to know the Lord. It is not the end result that matters, but about following God’s command to therefore go and make disciples.

Where will you go tomorrow that you can share your faith?
Will you stop long enough to share?
Who is that person that God has placed in your life that does not have a personal relationship with Him?

Jason’s Challenge: write three paragraphs.
1. Write about your life before you became a Christian.
2. Write about how you came to know the Lord – who, what, when, where
3. Write about your life now that you know Jesus – priorities, time, treasure

Before this summer, share with three people your three paragraphs.