Monday Musings 1.8.2018

Yesterday was a great day of worship and celebration. It was exciting to get a new year launched and return to “normal.” We also launched our new sermon series, “Nehemiah’s Experiment.” As I stated yesterday, I hope this will be so much more than a series. I pray that God will use this as a time to bring about revival. 

Nehemiah’s Experiment

There are several upcoming events related to “Nehemiah’s Experiment” that you will one to be aware of:

A Celebration of the Word, February 25 – March 4. During this time, we will read the entire word of God, aloud, in our worship center. We will begin on the morning of February 25 by reading the first few chapters of Genesis as part of our worship service. We will conclude on Sunday morning March 4 by reading the last few chapters of Revelation as part of our worship service. During the week, Monday-Saturday, 8 AM – 8 PM, you can sign up to do one of two things, or both: you can serve as a host or as a reader.

Host will serve in four-hour blocks. Your job will be to sign people in as well as make a reminder call to each person one-hour before their scheduled reading time. Having a host will also prevent someone being in the sanctuary alone. The host will sit in the foyer.

Readers will be in the sanctuary, reading God’s word aloud as an at of praise to Him. I trust that this will be a moving time for the reader, but also to Northside as a body, knowing that God’s word has been celebrated in the very place where we gather to worship. Readers will sign up for 30-minute blocks. However, if you feel that you would like to read longer, you may sign up for two consecutive blocks.

We will make sign ups available as the time draws near.

Fifty-Two Days in Nehemiah, February 8 – March 31. Each of these days a devotional will be made available to you via Facebook and the church website. This will be a time for us to reflect, pray, and journey together as God speaks to our hearts.

As part of the Fifty-Two Days in Nehemiah, we will have a season of prayer and fasting. This will be the week of March 18-25. Obviously, participation is optional. However, if you do choose to participate, you can do so at several levels. You can do a complete fast, eating no meals during this time, you might choose to fast one meal a day, or you may choose an alternate fast. An alternate fast would be giving up social media, television, or the like. All I ask is that you would do what God call you to do.

Groups

Last night was our GroupLife Preview. I hope you were able to attend, but if not, check out the website or call the office for information. We feel it is vitally important for each of our members to be involved in a group whether that is Sunday School or a LifeGroup. Real growth happens in smaller groups, not large groups.

We also want to encourage you to attend “Rewind,” especially during this season of Nehemiah’s Experiment. We gather each Wednesday night, at 6:00, in building D. We discuss the previous Sunday’s sermon and pray together.

Ministry Teams

In the days ahead, you will hear about a number of ministry teams that you can be involved with. Our desire is that each member of our church would be engaged at some level as it relates to participating in ministry. Three of our newest teams that will afford you an opportunity are the prayer team, missions team, and evangelism team. Allow God to lead you as to where you should engage.

I pray that God will use the next several months, and beyond, to touch your life. I pray that you will be changed as a result of His marvelous grace. As God speaks to us, let us respond with obedient hearts.

Honored to be your pastor,

Darrell

Monday Musings 1.1.2018

As a new year dawns, we have an opportunity to set new goals and new priorities. We often do this as individuals, but we can also do this as a church. A new year affords us the opportunity to both look back and look ahead. In looking ahead, there are some things I would like us to think about as a church.

Every organization has core values. These core values can be identified, or they may be accidental, but they are there all the same. Many churches will make an effort to define core values, but what they are really defining is aspirational values. Aspirational values are values that you would like to define your organization. Aspirational values are not bad, but they define a goal, not a full reality.

So, in this new year, I would like to list five values that I hope would come to define who Northside Baptist will be in the future. Some of these may be core values, but if we are honest with ourselves, I think we will have to admit that most are aspirational values.

Authentic Worship – Worship must be thought of in two ways. One, we come together on Sunday mornings to worship our Lord through the singing of praise and the study of His word. When we join together, we want this to be an authentic experience. We do not want to come together and simply go through the motions. The second way we think of worship is that it is a lifestyle. Romans 12:1 reminds us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice. Paul says this is your spiritual worship.

Purposeful Prayer – If you have been around church very long, you know that we do a lot of praying. We start Sunday School with prayer, worship with prayer, we pray several times during a worship service, we have prayer meeting on Wednesday night, and we encourage personal prayer. However, in the wash of all our praying, do we forget to really pray? It is our desire for Northside Baptist to be known as a praying church. We want to be a church that prays for big things and expects God to answer. We want to be a church that steps out in faith as it relates to prayer and trust that God will do things beyond our wildest imagination.

Naturally Occurring Evangelism – We know that we are commanded to go and tell (Matt. 28:18-20). Unfortunately, we depend too much on our hired hands (our pastors) and organized programs to accomplish this task. The fact is, God intends for us to share the gospel in very natural ways as the opportunity presents itself in the flow of life. It is our desire to see Northside be very obedient in this area. We want to know that those people that God brings into our path have the opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel.

Intentional Discipleship – In considering the Great Commission, we know that we are not simply called to make converts, but to make disciples. A disciple is one who knows and obeys all that Christ has commanded us. In order for people to know these things, they must be taught. We will make it our goal to provide a clear discipleship program for Northside Baptist Church and her members.

Missional Lifestyle – While a missional lifestyle certainly includes supporting and giving to missions, it is not limited to that. A missional lifestyle is a way of life. A missional lifestyle recognizes that we are called and sent by God. Everywhere we go, everything we do, and everything we are is to be aligned with God’s call on our life. This means that every time we wake up and walk out the door, we realize that we are entering a mission field. As a church, a missional lifestyle means we will keep missions endeavors front and center. As individuals, it means that we will be fully and completely surrendered to God.

As I stated, much of what I have said would fall into the category of “Aspirational Values.” These are values that will guide us as we seek to define what the future of Northside Baptist Church will look like. We will continue to give our attention to these values in a very intentional way until they become the core of who we are, as a church, and as individuals. May God bless us with a powerful 2018.

Honored to be your pastor,
Darrell