The Missional Church: Simple

(HT: Mark Combs)

How To Visit Your Families in Your Churches

This is a topic of discussion with our deacon ministry.  May it be of use to you in your ministry setting.

When it comes to visiting:

1. What is the part that to which you most look forward? ___________________________________________________

2. What is the part that you least look forward to?  ___________________________________________________

3. What keeps you from visiting your families?

• ______________________________________________
• ______________________________________________
• ______________________________________________

4. When is the time we usually find it most necessary to visit?

• ______________________________________________
• ______________________________________________

Kevin DeYoung put out a helpful blog post on visiting the sick. 

Brian Croft, Pastor at Auburndale Baptist Church in Louisville, has written a helpful little book entitled Visit the Sick: Ministering God’s Grace in Times of Illness. Pastors, elders, and deacons would do well to read it. It wouldn’t take much more than an hour.

On p. 67, Croft lays out a visitation checklist. I found this extremely useful. The comments after each item are mine.

Theological

• Ask leading questions – Don’t chatter away, inquire
• Read Scripture – Let God do some of the talking
• Pray the gospel  – You may not be able to share it, but you can always pray it
• Affirm the promises and attributes of God – Listen first, but don’t be afraid to gently teach
• Trust God’s sovereign plan – Remind them again and again

Pastoral

• Prepare your heart – don’t coast into visitation, get spiritually ready
• Watch your time – five or ten minutes can be enough, thirty minutes tops in most situations
• Listen, don’t solve – They’ll remembered you were there, not your advice
• Leave a note – Good way to salvage an “empty” trip
• Enjoy the moment – Visitation is a privilege

Practical

• Make eye contact – Shows you care
• Touch with discernment – A held hand in the right situation can speak volumes
• Be pleasant – Being a jerk is a bad idea
• Be perceptive – Pull up a chair and sit at their level
• Freshen your breath – Give them Christian Hedonism, not Christian Halitosis

Here some references to some Scriptures on visitation. What is happening here, and what lessons can be learned from these visits? How can you apply these lessons to your particular visits?

• Matthew 9:9-13: ______________________________________________
• Mark 1:29-34: ______________________________________________
• Luke 10:38-42: ______________________________________________
• Luke 19:1-10: ______________________________________________
• John 4 ______________________________________________
• Acts 5:32-37: ______________________________________________
• Acts 9:36-43: ______________________________________________

Ten Things our Boone’s Creek Family Should Know

Dear Boone's Creek Family:

What a wonderful day we had worshiping together at Boone's Creek.  Even with the weather, we had 88 come to worship, with at least half of them college students!  I'm ready for God to send warmer weather so all of us both young and old will be able to come and worship together.

Please keep in mind some opportunities for you to minister.

1. Revival Services with Dr. Hershael York begin next Sunday night and go through Wednesday night.  Attached is a flyer.  Feel free to pass it along via e-mail or print it out and pass along to your FRANs (friends, relatives, associates, neighbors).  The challenge is to think of ten people you could invite and bring to these services.  We will be calling around for volunteers to work in the nursery and with our small children, so be praying about this and help us out so our parents will be freed up to hear the Word.
2. Come join us for a churchwide dinner on Wednesday, February 10th at 5:45 p.m.  This will be a time for you to fellowship with Dr. York and his wife Tanya.  Feel free to bring a dish to share with our people, but most of all, bring yourself!  We look forward to being together!
3. Our On-Mission Team will meet on Wednesday, February 3rd at 6:15 in the library.
4. Our deacons will meet on Tuesday, February 2nd--also in the library.
5. Youth Valentine Banquet takes place on Saturday, February 13 at 6:00 in the Fellowship Hall. 
6. Youth Luncheon for Kentucky Changers on Sunday, February 21st after church.  Bring a hearty appetite and a generous gift to help our youth attend this important missions opportunity.  Contact Bro. Ron for more information (263-5466 / ronchaffins@gmail.com) .
7. Our BMen Fellowship will take place on Saturday morning, February 27th in the Fellowship Hall.  Read up on Titus 2--especially in the areas that applies to the older men and the younger men.
8. Winter Jam at Rupp Arena on Saturday, March 13th.  Contact Bro. Ron for more information (263-5466 / ronchaffins@gmail.com).
9. Be in prayer for our Youth Rally.  It will take place on Saturday, March 20th at 6:00 with youth groups from all over in attendance.  Matt Henderson (http://www.matthenderson.org) will lead in worship and I will be speaking.  You don't need to be a "youth" to come out for this.  Support your youth ministry and see how God is using these young people.
10. Our Sunday evenings in March will be visitation evenings.  Through the KBC's Find It Here Initiative, we will use these evenings to minister to our neighborhood to invite them to our Resurrection Sunday services and get more information about how to minister to them.  We will also use this opportunity to share Jesus with them in some neat ways.  This begins on the evenings of March 7-28.

In closing, I've included some interesting 'links' in a recent blog post (http://grippedbythegospel.com/2010/01/31/links-to-help-your-grip-2-1-10-review-of-the-shack-matt-chandlers-faith-e-book-fad-and-more/) that I hope you will read through and find of help.  Being gripped by the gospel means having a heart of not only discerning the gospel, but discerning other issues in light of the gospel.

Be blessed.  See you at REACH on Wednesday night at church (7 p.m.) or on Thursday night at the Clayton's (1550 Trent Blvd., Apt. 810) at 7:00 p.m.

Bro. Matt

Important Announcements for Tomorrow

Dear Boone’s Creek Family:

I wanted to pass along some important announcements about tomorrow. Please inform others in your Sunday School classes who do not have e-mail/Internet so we’re all on the same page.

1. We will no have our Sunday School tomorrow morning, but our worship service is still a go at 11:00 a.m.
2. Also, we will postpone our Lord’s Supper until next Sunday, February 7. There is difficulty for those who prepare to make it out today (their usual day of preparation and prayer over the elements and our people).
3. We could use some volunteers to help shovel off the sidewalks and entry ways at church. If you would like to help shovel, come on out around 10:00 a.m.
4. We need some men to be valets for our members. As far as valets, come to the entry way around 10:45 with smiles to help warm hearts as we worship together.
5. Read over your newsletter (hope it made it) and take up the challenge I’ve given of thinking of ten FRANs (friends, relatives, associates, neighbors) that you could invite to our revival services on Feb 7-10. I have attached a flyer for our revival services. Print 10 off, and use this as a tool to invite a FRAN. It’s the new math: addition by multiplication—we add to our church when our people multiply the effort to reach others and make disciples for Jesus.
   

Lord willing, I’ll see you Sunday. Be blessed!

Bro. Matt

Is “Deacon” Just a Servant? (Russ Moore)

Russ Moore has a very good article on the office of deacon that I highly recommend to all of you.  I’d love to know your thoughts!

Blue Grass Christian Camp Suffers Serious Flooding

(This is a letter from the workers at Blue Grass Christian Camp just outside of Winchester, Kentucky.  Please pray and help if you can!)

As many of you may have heard already, we have experienced major flooding here at Blue Grass Christian Camp. The water from Boone's Creek swelled to levels not seen in at least 20 years. Everyone is safe and none of the residences here on the camp were damaged. However the current and debris from the flood has leveled our maintenance shop. The tools and equipment we use in our daily operations were in there, and now are strung out for miles down the creek. We have recovered some tools, and some we will be able to salvage but some will be a complete loss. Other damage includes complete loss of the compressor for our kitchen appliances, 3 furnaces, and 3 water heaters. We have groups scheduled to be here at the camp starting on Thursday (our Wednesday group has already cancelled) and depending on the status of our kitchen and water heaters we may have to reschedule with these groups as well which means that we will also suffer a loss of revenue for this weekend. We have been meeting with some contractors and service tech about repairs, but we have no definitive answers at to time frames yet. I have attached a couple of pictures of the flood and the damage.
Several people and group have already inquired as to how they can help. I will answer these questions as well I can as right now, and will send out more information as we get it.

1) Is there work you can help with? Yes, if you are interested in coming our today, we would have cleaning up small natural debris (limbs and such) and/or cleaning dorms and building which were not effected by the flood but still need to be cleaned and prepared for the potential of hosting our groups later this week. This work can be done throughout the week and even after dark. If you would like to come out later this week, we will have a dumpster here tomorrow morning (Tuesday) and we begin cleaning up the debris from the shop and basement. You could come any time during daylight hours to help with this, someone will be here. You can also email me or Kelly (kelly@bluegrasschristiancamp.org ) if you have any question or want to set up a time to come out. Email is the best way to contact us.

2) Do you have insurance to cover this? We have spoken with our insurance agent and he will be here later today to survey and make reports. We have $10,000 in flood insurance and that is all that will be covered.

3) Do you need financial assistance? The answer to this question is yes. The camp is always dependent upon monetary gifts from individuals, groups and churches to operate. Due to the loss of revenue that we have incurred and possibly will incur in days/weeks to come even day to day operations may become tighter financially. Our initial estimate (and this is sure to change) is that it cost about $35,000 to replace the contents of the shop and kitchen equipment that has been damaged. This does not include the cost to construct a new maintenance building. So any help would be appreciated. We are working to post new information as well as an online giving link on our website within the next 24 hours. You can check that out at www.bluegrasschristiancamp.org

4) If you know someone with access to a backhoe and or skid loader the camp could use these to help in clean up.
We will continue to send out updates as we know new information. Also please feel free to pass this information along to others that may be interested.

Bobby Cairell
Kelly Brandenburg
Adam Tipton

Attend Evening Worship

"... attend evening worship. If we believe the whole day is the Lords day, then it ought to be framed with worship. Morning and evening worship in the Reformed tradition is the single most powerful and effective total congregational disciplesh...ip program in the history of Christianity. I have never known a family that was faithful in Sunday evening attendance in an evangelical church, that, when the great crises of life came, did weather the storm and walk in faith, and persevere." Ligon Duncan on ways to promote family religion