THE HEARTBEAT OF THE
HORSE CAVE BAPTIST CHURCH
301 E. Main, Horse Cave, KY 42749
786-2970 786-4650
horsecavebaptistchurch.com
Vol. 145, No.2 February 2012
We have had a challenging January. No, it was not the weather. It feels like Spring! And no, it was not low Sunday School and Worship attendance. Actually we have had our best attendance in years. The challenges came in the form of facing the curse of fatherlessness in our area, refocusing our purpose as a church, working through a new disciple-making process, becoming aware of the depth of lostness all around us and the fact that we have not made a dent in that darkness. That is enough to keep you up at night or cause you to pass out with the overwhelmingness of it all.
But as my mother would say to my siblings and me “Fret not, little flock.” Our Lord has a plan, it is His harvest and He is actively pursuing those in darkness. We need to focus on what is our part of the harvesting process. This new logo is really nothing new to us, just put in a new way. This is our disciple making strategy. It is our part to help as many people become as much like Jesus as soon as possible because He is coming again.
All we have done is taken the five purposes of our church and applied them to a process that will help us all see how we are doing in becoming and making fully developed followers of Christ. The diagram identifies where you are in the process and the next step you need to take. For example, most people who attend a new church for the first time will usually go to the worship service. That is great! If the Lord leads them to stay or even join, their next natural step would be to attend, connect to, a Sunday School class. It’s difficult to connect to over 200 people in worship. It’s much easier to connect to 15 in a room. The natural, next step would be to get a better idea about the Bible, the church, and your part in it all. That is where a small, short term discipleship training class, or as we are calling it a Grow Group, would be helpful. Just try to do at least one a year. Consider it continuing education just like you do in your work. Once you learn, you will want to share what you know. Here is where getting involved in a ministry come in, serving others. But we are not a fully developed follower of Jesus until we are reaching the unchurched. That fifth step is where most of us drop the baton, the ball or just drop out all together. We want to stop that from happening to anyone. There are few more thrilling experiences in the Christian life than seeing a family member, friend or neighbor to whom you have invited and shared your testimony, come to faith in Christ. The day they are baptized you will feel the wet on your face. The Lord of the harvest has used you, His faithful servant, to bring in His harvest. Makes you want to go and invite someone to Christ today!
To help us all stay on task, we will use this diagram to keep track of how disciple making is advancing or declining. Beginning this month, you will notice in the weekly bulletins these five words - come, connect, grow, serve, go and a number beside each word showing how many of us were involved in the process during the past week. It will be very helpful to see how well we are obeying our Lord’s command to “go, make disciples.”
Another way to help us keep focused is by emphasizing one step of the process each month. The emphasis in January was Come through Worship. For February, we will focus on Grow through Discipleship. March will be Go through Missions. That is fitting because four of our folks (Sherman, Sharon, Sheldon and Madison Ballou) will be on missions in Honduras and we will be receiving the Annie Armstrong Offering for North American Missions. Does all this make sense to you?
February is Grow through Discipleship. We are offering four different Grow Groups you can join this month.
Fatherlessness, Honor Begins at Home - for men on Mondays at 6 p.m.
James, Mercy Triumphs - for women on Wednesdays 8:30 a.m. and 6:15 p.m.
The Call to Follow Christ - for all on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m.
The Legacy Path - for parents and grandparents on Sundays at 5 p.m.
If this month is not a good time for you, just pick up another Grow Group at a later date. We will be offering in April an eight-week co-ed study base on the movie Courageous called “Honor Begins at Home”. We will show the movie on Saturday night, April 14, in the auditorium. This will be a big outreach opportunity. Invite everyone you know. The small group study begins the next week. Volunteer to teach or host a small group. We need 20 men who will step up and lead a group. The study will begin the week of April 15 and go through the week of June 3. This will be a powerful, challenging study culminating on Father’s Day, June 17.
Vacation Bible School is scheduled for Sunday, June 10 through Thursday, June 14, 6 to 8:30 p.m. Mark this date because it is a week later than normal. We are trying to give a space between the end of school and VBS. Look at the diagram again and then think about VBS. We Go and bring the children to VBS, the children Come to Worship, Connect to a Small Group, Grow in the study, and the Adult workers Serve the children. Then we want to Go invite their unchurched families to Come to Worship the next Sunday, Connect them to a Sunday School class . . . Get the picture?
KY Changers is the week of June 9 - 16. There are 10 students and two adults already registered to Go on mission to Harrodsburg, KY. Some of our students need a job to help pay for their trip. So hire a student and give the money in their name to the church toward the $235 needed for this mission. See Gary and Debbie Pennington for the names of students willing to work.
Camp Joy in Brownsville is celebrating their 60th year of pouring Jesus into the lives of children. The 2012 Summer Schedule is now on their website. www.campjoybaptist.com We have a hard copy of the schedule at the church if you need it. This camp is a great place to spend your summer as a counselor. Our own Jay McMahan did so a few years ago. There are also several repair projects that need to be completed before summer camp begins. This would be a great local mission event for your Sunday School class and would move you toward being a Acts 1:8 class. Ask your class outreach leader to contact Stan Tillman at Camp Joy 270-597-3213 to get a list of projects.
These things are not impossible, they are just difficult. But show me something of lasting value that is easy. I have Great Expectations and can hardly wait to see what is next!
In His love,
Bro. Kevin
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The year so far has been rewarding from a music and worship perspective. We have experienced an excitement and anticipation for the activity of God in our services that we haven't experienced in quite a while. The theme for January was worship. We learned that worship is God-focused, cross-centered, and that worship teaches and affirms our faith. When we meet together, we do well to fellowship with each other; let's give God the same attention. As the prophet Joel says in 2:12, "Yet even now,' declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart." May God do great things as we turn our focus to Him in our worship.
Blessings,
Matthew Bone******************************************************************************************
Membership News - Nick Davis joined and was baptized January 1. Nick is the husband of Emily London Davis. Welcome, Nick!
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God Would Like a Word With You. Listen closely.
We will complete the book of Proverbs, reading just one chapter a day, on Tuesday, January 31. Wednesday, February 1, begin reading the New Testament book of Mark.
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Newsletter mailed on February 1, 2012
“The Four Quarters Challenge”
Over the past month, Bro. Kevin has been leading us to expect great things as the people of God. During one of his recent sermons, he shared a God-sized vision for our church as we approach the year 2020. In fact, it’s a “2020 Vision”. (Yes, the pun is intended!) As part of the 2020 Vision, Bro. Kevin shared that we are praying to have over 1,100 people from our community enrolled in a Sunday School class at our church by 2020. You may be thinking, “There’s no way that can happen!” especially in light of the fact that we have just over 300 enrolled right now.
Indeed, if you look at the anticipated result 8 years from now, it almost appears impossible. However, when you break it down, this vision is really quite simple. Allow me to introduce you to “The Four Quarters Challenge”, a plan to enroll 1,100 people in Sunday School by 2020 in two simple steps:
If each class consistently followed these two simple steps in “The Four Quarters Challenge”, we would exceed 1,100 enrolled in Sunday School by 2020! Since 49% of those enrolled in our Sunday School attend on any given Sunday, we could expect to have approximately 550 connecting in Sunday School each week, and over 700 different people connecting in Sunday School each month. Amazing!
If you are ready to respond to the challenge, begin by praying for God to place people in your path that need Jesus. Second, as God reveals these people to you (it could be a friend, family member, co-worker, or neighbor), be intentional in building a meaningful relationship with this person. Third, lovingly invite them to be your guest in Sunday School, and then sit back and be amazed as God transforms yet another life!
May God bless you as you continue to serve Him!
- Bro. Jason Lowe, Minister of Education
Sunday School By the Numbers – January 2012
· Total Enrollment: 313
· Average Weekly Attendance: 163
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Budget Offering needed year to date – $34,722.75
Budget Offering received year to date – $47,870.63
Average weekly offering needed – $8,013.00
Average weekly offering received in January – $9,574.13
Benevolent Ministry love offering received – $447.00
El Faro Tithes and Offerings - $1,996.50
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Student News
Here are the events and dates our Student Ministry is planning.
-Sunday, Feb. 5, Super Bowl Party at the Pennington’s 5 p.m.
-Sunday, Feb. 12, Valentine Banquet for Missions, all proceeds go toward students attending KY Changers and other projects.
- Friday and Saturday, April 20 & 21 – True Love Waits Weekend involving Parents and Students
- June 9 – 16 – KY Changers in Harrodsburg, KY. The total amount due by May 28 is $235. There are students who are willing to work to pay for their trip.