Hello Church Family!
I hope you’re having a great day! It’s hard to believe January has already come and gone! 2018 is moving fast. Things are in full swing up here at the church and January was a really great month of ministry!
We had our 21 Day season of prayer and fasting. Many of you engaged in the devotionalsand participated in the fast. I want to thank you for that. I really believe the Lord used it in a powerful way. I know there was significant spiritual work done in my own heart. One of my favorite parts of this season was the Sunday night service of worship and prayer. If you’d like to watch the messages from that series or download the devotional and discussion guides you can catch it online here.
Disciple Now
We kicked off the month of February with our Disciple Now. The student ministry had around 40 students signed up for the event with close to 80 in attendance during the worship gathering on Saturday night. Multiple first-time decisions for Christ were made. There was also an intentional focus on the building blocks of being a follower of Jesus. The students walked away from the weekend with a greater love for the Lord Jesus and for one another. A big thank you goes out to Taylor and the student ministry volunteer teams for making it happen.
Work As Worship Retreat
The next big thing coming up this month is our Work as Worship Retreat.It will be held at Primetime Entertainment on February 23rd from 7:30am to 2:30pm. This event is for business owners, employees, educators, leaders of all types and anyone looking to integrate their faith and work.
People have a tendency to compartmentalize their life into different spheres. Francis Schaeffer referred to it as the “Sacred/Secular Split.” Nancy Pearcey helpfully describes it this way.
“Modern society is characterized by a sharp split between the sacred and secular spheres – with work and business defined as strictly secular. As a consequence, Christians often live in two separate worlds, commuting between the private world of family and church (where we can express our faith freely) and the public world (where religious expression is firmly suppressed).” (Total Truth, p. 65)
In other words, Christians can sometimes struggle with making the connection between their faith convictions and their workplace responsibilities. Since many people spend the majority of their waking hours “on the job” we have to find a way to stop this compartmentalization so that we can better live out the Gospel in and through our work.
That’s where the Work as Worship retreat comes in. Because of the generosity of one of our ministry partners, Right Now Media, we’re going to be able to live stream teaching from eleven influential business leaders and pastors as they discuss what it looks like to connect faith and work.
Speakers for the event include Patrick Lencioni (Author, The Advantage and Five Dysfunctions of a Team), Joel Manby (CEO, SeaWorld), Phil Vischer (Creator, VeggieTales), Wendy Davidson (President, Kellogg Co), Matt Chandler (Lead Pastor, The Village Church), Tommy Nelson (Lead Pastor, Christ Community Church) and many more.
It will be a day filled with real-life stories, biblical teaching, and practical wisdom that will equip believers in the marketplace to see their work as an opportunity to care for their families, fulfill their calling, and bring glory to God.
There will also be a Q&A Lunch Panel with educational, governmental & business leaders from the city of Abilene. Panelists include Police Chief Stan Standridge, Mayor Anthony Williams, AISD Superintendent David Young and business leaders Randy Voorhees & Caleb Kelso. It really will be a great investment of your time so I hope you’ll consider joining us.
You can register for the event here. There’s a $25 registration fee but it is 100% refundable for college students on the day of the event. If you’d like to learn more you can visit our local Work as Worship Retreat website and get the details. You can watch a local news story about the event here. You can also spot some of our billboardsposted up around town!
Multiply: Bless The West
In other news for the month of February, we’ve officially PASSED our WOWLELUJAH goalfor Multiply: Bless The West. We still had two months left to go but, as usual, you all went above and beyond with your generous giving. The concrete has been poured, the slab is down, the building will arrive tomorrow and the fun begins! I can’t wait for all of us to join together on location at West to give thanks for what God has done and will do in the future.
For those of you who gave, you really have made friends for yourself in heaven through the wise stewardship of your financial resources. The Kingdom of God has multiplied in it’s influence, our city has been blessed and we are more spiritually mature as a result of this project. Way to go!
Spiritual Warfare Seminar
Sunday we continue our series “God at Work” with a special message on Jesus’ power over Satan and demons. Mark it down. Anytime you see God at work in you or through you there will eventually be opposition to that work from the evil one.
Because this is a topic that sparks a lot of questions, I’ve asked Cecil Peasleyto provide a seminar on spiritual warfare when he comes to visit us March 4th-7th. If you don’t remember Cecil, he preached a revival for our church in October of 2015. Please be praying for Cecil as he prepares for this event and also for the message this coming Sunday.
If there’s anyway I can pray for you, please let me know. I’m so thankful to be part of Broadview along with the rest of you. I’m prayerful that the Lord will continue to unite our hearts as one as we move forward together in the mission and vision that God has given.
With you in the journey,
Pastor Wes