You can make your recommendation multiple ways:

• You can come by the church office and share your suggestion with me.
• You can call me at the church office (816-452-5761) or on my mobile (816-225-5649)
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• You can fill out the reply form in this post (it works just like leaving a standard comment in a blog post)

Thank you for taking time to let us hear from you on this important matter in the ongoing, growing life of our church.

By Grace Alone,

Pastor Scott

Kyle Idleman, the author of Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus, writes an excellent challenge which fits nicely with the way our first study of Matthew 16:24-28 ended last Sunday. Focusing on Jesus’ words from His teaching in Matthew 16:24 (also in Mark 8:34 & Luke 9:23), he draws attention to the word “anyone”:

See, when Jesus invites anyone to follow him, He doesn’t just break down the barriers that keep so many people from learning more about God. He also gets rid of all the excuses different people were hiding behind. So now the tradesmen had no excuse not to follow a rabbi. Now the drop out student couldn’t complain about his past anymore. Now the mother of four couldn’t say she never got a chance to learn from a rabbi.

So what has your excuse been? I think most of us have been holding off on a relationship with Christ because we say we’re busy. So what is it for you? Is it because you’re too busy with putting in hours at the office?

Is it because you’ve really been focusing on your marriage lately? Is it because the kids need a lot of time and attention? Is it because times have been tough and you just got a second job?

Others say it’s because they’ve got a past they’re not proud of. So the baggage from the addiction or the divorce or the bankruptcy has been your excuse for a long time. It’s easy to hide behind those kinds of excuses, because who’s going to argue with someone who’s been through a tragedy, or someone who’s been emotionally scarred? But Jesus gets rid of all the excuses when he invites “Anyone.”

Anyone is welcome to have a relationship with Jesus. Anyone.
Sexual past? Anyone. Ex-con? Anyone. Inmate? Anyone.
Recently divorced? Anyone. Legalist? Anyone.
Alcoholic? Anyone. Pot head? Anyone.
Addict? Anyone. Hypocrite? Anyone.

Now, we need to be ready for what can happen when we embrace the invitation to “Anyone.” Because if anyone can come to church, that’ll kind of mess things up. All of the sudden, the church gets filled with a lot of “un-churched” people. If we really accept “Anyone” into our churches to follow Christ, we’ll be forced to deal with our unwritten codes. We’ll be forced to get out of our comfort zones and rub shoulders with people from different backgrounds and social circles, people who have different music collections and recreational activities than us, people whose wardrobes confuse or annoy us, people who are hard to tolerate and even harder to love. But followers are willing to break down walls, trash the unwritten codes, and welcome “Anyone” into God’s family right alongside Jesus.

Some of you are probably thinking, “Wait a minute! We can’t just let anyone into our church! We can’t just let people show up and invite them into God’s family and tolerate anything they want. That’s not Biblical!” And you’re right. That’s not Biblical. I’m not saying we tolerate or condone anything sinful. When a person wants to become a Christian, it’s right to make sure they understand what God’s Word allows and what it doesn’t.

But when Jesus makes the invitation, he says, “Anyone.” So some of the people who respond to that invitation will have a past that you don’t approve of. Some of them will have been involved in lifestyles you’d be embarrassed to hear about.

Fans don’t know how to handle new people like that. They prefer not to know. Fans prefer things to be shallow and comfortable. But followers are willing to listen, willing to hear stories of brokenness and sin and still welcome those people with open arms.

WOW! I share with you this challenge because I believe that it hits all of us where we live. I pray that we all grow in our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. I also pray that if you are a follower who’s been living like a fan you’ll stop…and if you’re discovering that you’ve lived your whole life as merely a fan, you’ll heed Jesus’ call to become His follower–His disciple–His child.

By Grace Alone,

So begins the classic verse about the primacy and reliability of God’s Word, The B-I-B-L-E. We essentially affirm this truth with our lips. Do we apply it to ALL of the Bible just like that verse begins? Sadly our actions betray us…We prefer the New Testament to the Old. We enjoy the Major Prophets but avoid the Wisdom Literature.

In order to help us keep a daily focus on Scripture, I encourage everyone to find a Bible reading plan which interests you and pursue it for this year.  Make sure it is one which takes you through the whole Bible and not just the aforementioned treasured areas of God’s Word.

Here are a few plans (The type of link, e.g. ‘printable’ or ‘RSS,’ is indicated next to the plan):

Canonical (going straight through from Genesis to Revelation) – Print
Chronological (putting biblical books in historical sequence, e.g. Job with Genesis, or Psalms with 1 & 2 Kings) – Print – Mobile – iCal – RSS – Email
Through the Bible in a Year (daily OT & NT readings) - Print – Mobile – iCal – RSS – Email
M’Cheyne Reading Plan (through the OT 1x; the Gospels & Psalms 2x)  - Print – Mobile – iCal – RSS – Email

It is my prayer that we all pick a plan like one of these and be very intentional in reading God’s Word each day.

Here is irrefutable evidence that bad thinking (actually denying the reality of this doctrinal issue) regarding the exclusivity of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone opens the door to calling a cult ‘true Christianity.’

We must deal forthrightly and compassionately regarding the issue of Mormonism (and other false religions and heresies). To do less is for us to open the door to allowing our family, friends, and acquaintances who are deceived by these groups to believe that they are “OK” while they are actually on what the Bible calls the wide gate “that leads to destruction” (Matthew 7:13).

Here are the details:

Saturday, October 1, 2011. Movie starts at 7:30pm at Northglen 14 Theaters (4900 NE 80th Street, KC, MO. At Hwy 152 & Brighton.)

Cost is $10 for Adult tickets and $7.50 for Sr. Adult tickets. If you’d like, you could go ahead and purchase your tickets online at movietickets.com.

We will have the church open for childcare starting at 6:30pm. Please register your children on the bulletin board in the foyer or by calling the church office no later than Thursday, September 29. Please have fed your children dinner before they come. Snacks will be provided. Children must be picked up immediately after the conclusion of the movie.

Also, if you’d like to carpool…willing to provide or ride or would like to ride with someone…let’s meet at the church at 6:30pm, too. We’ll fire up the bus if we have a big enough need.

With all the good reviews from Jason Smith, Joe Nelson, and Jamie Cartledge, I’m looking forward to this latest production from the fine people of Sherwood Baptist Church.

1

SCHEDULE:

​Sunday AM -

9:45 – Combined Session of Youth & Adult Sunday School classes in our auditorium
11:00 – Session #2 during our Morning Worship Service

Sun-Wed PM  -

6:30 – Sessions #3-6 (one session each night)

LEADING OUR CONFERENCE:

Speaker -

Dr. Jim Burkett
Pastor, Southwood Baptist Church
Tulsa, OK

Worship Leader -

Jason Taylor
Music & Youth Pastor, First Baptist Church
Joplin, MO

Our speaker is Dr. Jim Burkett. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jim Burkett received Christ while watching a Billy Graham Crusade on television. In 1964 he answered “The Call” to ministry while a student in high school where he began to preach in Youth for Christ clubs in area junior high and high schools.  He graduated from high school from the same school and in the same class as my mom. While attending Oklahoma Baptist University, he was involved in numerous revival crusades throughout Oklahoma and the midwestern United States. After graduation from the university in 1969 with a B.A. in religion, he studied at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where he received his Master of Divinity degree in 1973. He received his Doctorate of Ministry degree from Luther Rice Seminary in 1979.

Dr. Burkett has over 32 years experience as a pastor in university communities. In 1985 he founded and was the first President of Shepherds’ Fellowship International which is a ministry to pastors, ministers, and their spouses. Dr. Burkett is also the president of Foundation Ministries International which assists churches and sponsors “Apologetics on Fire” conferences throughout the United States. His message has focused on unity, faith, covenant, and apologetics while developing relevant evangelism and discipleship ministries to collegiates and faculty.

Dr. Burkett has preached and taught in the United States as well as in Great Britain, Africa, Taiwan, and Malaysia. He was also an adjunct instructor in theology at Truett-McConnell College and has written two curriculums on apologetics. He currently serves as the pastor of Southwood Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

He is married to Pamala who received her Master of Religious Education degree from Southwestern Seminary.

Our worship leader is Jason Taylor. Jason Taylor is a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has served in several Southern Baptist Churches in Oklahoma over the past 18 years. He currently serves as Music & Youth Pastor at First Baptist Church in Joplin, MO, where he has been since March of 2008. He leads their worship with a wonderful blend of modern choruses and hymns. The students in his youth ministry are active in weekly Bible Study, Missions Projects, Retreats and Camps.

Over the years, Jason has worked with me in many ministry events, including leading worship in revivals, youth camps, and DiscipleNow weekends, in the churches where I have served. His heart for our Lord and love for God’s people are clearly evident in his life and ministry.

Jason’s wife, Christy, is a Kindergarten teacher in a Joplin-area school district. They are the proud parents of a new baby girl, Abbye Grace.

Our BIBLE 4 LIFE Conference will be a blessing to all who attend! I look forward to seeing everybody there!

Here are some pics from today…

[UPDATE: And here are the supplies brought into the church thus far. We also have monetary donations which will help with more supplies & the transporting of them to Joplin! GOCBC!!! This is awesome.]

GOCBC!