Gospel Night for VBS
The first and most important item is the Gospel Night for Vacation Bible School this coming Thursday. Every year during VBS we present the Gospel in a clear and compelling way. This year, Tanner Clarke will be making that Gospel presentation on Thursday night from 6:30-7:45 or so.
There are three rotations and each group will receive a separate presentation. If you can pray for the entire hour please do so! If you can’t, please pray as much and as often as you can. Salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit regardless of the person’s age. God’s Spirit will move in response to the prayers of His people. Through your prayers, you’ll be playing a pivotal role in the lives of these kids. I’m excited to see and report back how God moves.
Personal News
Right after VBS, my family and I will be taking a trip up to Nashville, Tennessee. The trip has a three-fnew agenda.
First we are going to Hendersonville to attend Sunday worship at Long Hollow Baptist Church. This church is pastored by Robby Gallaty and has been experiencing a unique movement of God since December of last year. I’ve been following this movement from a distance for many months now and I’m very excited to witness it in person.
After church on Sunday we will drive down to Nashville, TN and attend the SEND conference and SBC Annual Meeting. The SEND conference is Sunday and Monday. The SBC Annual Meeting is Tuesday and Wednesday. For those who don’t know, Broadview is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and have been since our founding.
There are many things going on in the life of our convention. If you keep up with that sort of thing, you’ll know there are multiple points of tension and disagreement among our cooperating churches. It will be an important and defining moment for the life of our denomination.
As of now, there are over 16,000 messengers. Myself and a few other members of our church will look to represent our congregation well during the time of the annual meeting. Please be praying for that gathering as well as the public witness of the SBC. The reputation of the SBC positively or negatively affects our own public witness as we are an affiliated church.
The last and most important reason for this trip is a family vacation. My wife and kids will stop in Arkansas on the way back home. We plan on staying a few days in Boles, AR right next to the Ouachita National Forest. I’m really looking forward to renting an ATV and riding around in the forrest with my family, enjoying God’s good creation.
We’ll be leaving on the 10th and back home on the 20th. During those two Sundays someone else will be covering the pulpit. Tanner Clarke will be preaching this weekend and Randy Voorhees will be preaching the weekend after that. I’m really looking forward to the trip but I’m also excited for our church to hear from these two men while I’m away.
Pastoral Ordination Service
Part of the reason Tanner is preaching this Sunday is because our congregation will soon be affirming the call of God on his life into pastoral ministry. Before coming to Broadview Tanner and Kendra served as missionaries with the International Mission Board. Tanner currently serves as the director of the BSM at Hardin Simmons University.
Broadview’s commitment to international missions was part of the reason Tanner and Kendra originally joined our church. We are committed to being a sending church. That’s part of the reason we want to affirm God’s calling on Tanner’s life through an ordination service. Whether it’s pastoral ministry here in the states or a missionary ministry overseas, we want to be a church that sends and supports them for whatever comes next.
Some of you participated in a similar service when we performed it for Taylor and Jospeh a few years back. Tanner’s pastoral ordination service will be on July 18th. So I hope you’ll be praying for him this weekend and also for that special time. We’ve been praying for God to make us a “sending” church and it’s exciting to see that play our more and more with each passing year.
Men’s Conference
The last thing I’ll mention before signing off is a Men’s Conference coming up August 20th. This is really a simulcast of a live event hosting by Right Now Media in Rockwall, TX. The speakers, however, are so top notch that I thought it a worthy investment of our time.
There has been a growing interest in some type of organized men’s ministry at Broadview. We used to meet weekly for a men’s breakfast and there are still a handful of men who meet throughout the week whether Tuesday morning, Wednesday lunch or Sunday nights. However, a larger more organized approach is still lacking.
This conference is not a solution to that problem but it IS an opportunity to get together, study God’s Word on biblical manhood and connect with like-minded men in our congregation. With the two different campuses and four morning worship services it’s hard to get to know every one.
Unfortunately, there’s a $20 ticket fee if you sign up through the Right Now Media website. There’s nothing I can do about that fee as it’s set by Right Now Media. That $20 does not come back to our church. It’s a way for them to cover the extensive costs of streaming the event to so many people. If that’s a deterrent, I understand. However, if you can make it, I really think it’ll be a great time of worship and fellowship.
The event starts at 6:30PM and goes until 10:00PM.
Conclusion
That’s it for me this week. Remember that our next Monday prayer gathering isn’t until the LAST Monday of this month. We will meet on June 28th at 6PM. Even though we’re no longer meeting weekly for prayer, I still want to challenge you to press into a life of prayer and fasting throughout the summer.
Over these past few weeks the Lord has been teaching me that with every new season comes a new opportunity to grow and learn new things about the Lord. In a season of sprinting there are spiritual rhythms that best position you to grow in your walk with Jesus. In seasons of resting/Sabbath those spiritual rhythms may change. The key is to take advantage of whatever season you’re in and leverage it for growing in your knowledge of God.
If there is any way I can pray for you in particular please reply to this email and let me know. Be sure you check out the upcoming events below for how to stay engaged throughout the rest of the summer!
Until He Comes,
Pastor Wes |
