Community News - 3/26/13

Join us for MidWeek U Tomorrow Evening! 

Tomorrow night is the last MidWeek U of the semester! What an incredible time of growth it has been! You don't want to miss the final sessions of these incredible classes! Come join us at 6:30 PM! We'll see you there! 

Invite Someone to Church this Easter Sunday! 

8 out of 10 people say yes to an invitation to church on Easter Sunday! Invite someone to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and join with us in worship this Sunday! You never know how God may speak to their hearts!

Pursuing Adoption? We'd Like to Hear from You!

Several couples in our body are currently pursuing adoption! Praise God! If you are currently in the process of adoption, we'd love to hear from you so we can lift you up in prayer and encourage you in this process! Contact Todd at todd@brevardcommunity.org to let us know how God is stirring your heart in this way!

Blood Drive at BCC on Monday, April 8th! 

Every 2 seconds, someone in the US needs blood - that's more than 44,000 donations needed every day! You can be one of those donors on Monday, April 8th from 3-8 PM! Contact Paula Piercy to donate at (828)553-1272 or bobbynpaula@comporium.net. 

 

101 Membership Class Coming Up Wednesday, April 10th! 

Interested in becoming a member of Brevard Community Church? Join us at 6 PM on Wednesday, April 10th for our Discovering Membership class where you can ask questions about our vision and purpose, and discover if you want to unite yourself to the body of BCC! Dinner and childcare will be provided. 

Tee Off for Missions: Dominican Republic Golf Tournament on May 19th!

Want to play golf and support missions? Sign up for the Golf tournament on May 19th at 2 PM to help send our high school mission team to the Dominican Republic this summer! Cost is $75 to play! Sign up in the Welcome Center. Contact Brent at brent@brevardcommunity.org if you have any questions! 

Man of Peace

One of the richest experiences I have had as a Christian has been to participate in a handful of short term mission trips in Asia.  The time spent on them has always refreshed my relationship with the Lord as I see firsthand the vastness of his love for the nations and the intimacy we can experience with Him no matter where we are on the globe. And it is very good to “fast” as it were, our own culture for a while and bathe oneself in Kingdom culture without day to day distractions.

I was reading an update today from our short term group in SE Asia. There was specific prayer request that a meeting with a person(man) of peace would go well. If you have never been a part of one of these encounters firsthand, it might be easy to breeze over this kind of request. But these meetings are no less than miraculous!

This morning, before I even read the prayer request, I was reading in Luke chapter 10 about Jesus sending out the 72 to announce his arrival. One of the instructions He gave was to enter a house and say “Peace to this house.” He goes on to say that if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him. Then, Jesus says to stay at that house while in that town. Reading this passage always takes me back to a trip I went on 6 years ago, to a time when I got to participate in exactly that kind of thing. Our person of peace was a man named “Achu,” (yes, pronounced just like a sneeze.)

Over the 4 days we were with him in his small village, he took great care of us. Achu received the peace we had to share with him in Jesus Christ, and we could tell that the peace had stayed with him as he invited many to hear the Gospel from surrounding areas. When it was time to go, it was with tears on everyone’s part that we went separate ways. It was a beautiful picture of God’s Kingdom and how it was that only by the power of the Holy Spirit could we have worked with this man, let alone even find him!

Getting to meet with a person of peace is a privilege. They are handpicked by God from the multitudes in spiritual landscapes to receive and spread the Gospel in their context. There is no way to determine how you might cross paths with a person or peace. But if you earnestly listen to God and look with anticipation, your chances will increase! There are people of peace here in our context too. Be still before the Lord and see if He will lead you to one!

In His Steps

Chris

Community News - 3/19/13

Join Us for MidWeek U Tomorrow Evening!

Just two more classes left of this MidWeek U Semester! You don't want to miss tomorrow evening - here's a taste of what to expect in every class! 

The End: A Study of Revelations & Prophecy will be learning about the events and prophecies in scripture concerning the Millennium. 

Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships will be digging into God's word to discover a better way to do relationships than the way of the world. 

One to One Discipleship will be walking through Week 8 of the blue book, looking at how we guard our heart against temptation.

Max Q will be continuing to look at how we can become students of influence and have an impact on those around us.  

As you can see, we've got a great line-up tomorrow so we look forward to growing with you at 6:30 PM!

Mom to Mom This Thursday, March 21st! 

Calling all moms for a morning of fellowship, inspiration, and parenting encouragement this Thursday, March 21st from 9:30 to 11 AM in the Blue Room. Come grow and be uplifted in your week with other mothers! 

Baptism This Sunday, March 24th!

What an incredible time of worship we had this past Sunday celebrating communion. Now let's get ready for another celebration this Sunday! Join us as we rejoice with believers who want to make their faith and devotion known! Join us during both worships on March 24th as we celebrate all Christ has done! If you are interested in being baptized, or would like to be baptized in order to join the church, it's not too late to sign up! Contact Bre at (828)884-5932 or breanna@brevardcommunity.org! 

Invite Someone to Church on Easter Sunday! 

8 out of 10 people say yes to an invitation to church on Easter Sunday! Invite someone to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and join with us in worship on Easter Sunday! You never know how God may speak to their hearts!

Pursuing Adoption? We'd Like to Hear from You!

Several couples in our body are currently pursuing adoption! Praise God! If you are currently in the process of adoption, we'd love to hear from you so we can lift you up in prayer and encourage you in this process! Contact Todd at todd@brevardcommunity.org to let us know how God is stirring your heart in this way!

101 Membership Class Coming Up Wednesday, April 10th! 

Interested in becoming a member of Brevard Community Church? Join us Wednesday, April 10th for our Discovering Membership class where you can ask questions about our vision and purpose, and discover if you want to unite yourself to the body of BCC! 

We Need to REST.

I am not sure if it is ok to admit this or not but I am tired. I can tell because lately when people ask me how I’m doing those three words are the first ones to come to my mind. I usually give another answer but honestly I’m thinking I am tired!  I have a hunch that I am not the only one that feels like this as well. We need to rest. Now before you say amen and stop reading this to take a nap, let me share with you why I think we need something more than that.

Before we dismiss our tiredness as something physical I think we need to examine and make sure that it is not a deeper weariness that comes from inadvertently following an age-old pattern of life that is so easy to slip into. This pattern promises to bring us joy but instead leaves us worn out both physically and spiritually. Paul records it for us in 1^st Corinthians chapter ten. Israel, God’s chosen nation failed to enjoy the rest God had promised them because of a specific pattern of disobedience. We can see it starting in verse six.

First they craved evil things. Go back to Numbers 11:4 and you can read how not long after God delivered them from the harsh slavery of Egypt some of them began to long to go back there again. They began to crave the fish, the melons, and the cucumbers they once had there and started complaining and leading others to crave those things too. Instead of being thankful for God’s daily provision of manna and trusting that the land He was leading them to was so much better, they turned their hearts away from God and wanted to return to the place He just freed them from.

Their craving leads them to idolatry. They needed a new god that would let them indulge these evil desires so they went to Aaron and demanded that he make them an idol. Aaron takes the gold earrings that they brought out of their slavery in Egypt and makes a golden cow and proclaims that this is the god who brought them out of slavery. They then worship their new god by getting drunk and being sexually immoral which is something they probably used to do in Egypt when they worshiped their gods.

What they didn’t think about was that God was still God and their sin will lead to His judgment. Sin promises a lot but always delivers death in the end. Idols might let you play for a little while but when God returns, the party is over and its time to answer to your heavenly Father. This pattern of disobedience (evil craving-idolatry-immorality-judgment-continued rebellion-destruction) continued on until a whole generation of Israel died on the edge of the Promised Land never having entered into the rest God had promised them.

I think a lot of us are so tired because we slip off into that same pattern today. In fact both Paul and the writer of Hebrews warn us as Christ followers to not follow that same pattern of disobedience but to be diligent to enter into the Sabbath rest of God. Be diligent to enter rest? That sounds like a oxymoron but listen to what Jesus says to the weary in Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

A vacation might help but I think the real answer to a lot of our tiredness is found in these words from our Savior. We need rest in our soul. The only way we can enter that kind of rest is by turning from our idols and coming to Christ to learn a whole new pattern of life. It’s a pattern marked by faithfulness, obedience, love, humility, hope, and results in genuine complete rest (shalom). We need to be diligent to take on His yoke so we can enter His rest. The good news is that His yoke is easy and His burden is light because He is the one who shoulders the weight. The answer to our tiredness is to walk in close communion with Him by faith. 

I really believe that we need to constantly guard ourselves from idols just like the apostle John said in 1^st John 5:21. I am thankful that we set aside times like we will this weekend to celebrate communion because they serve as reminders for all of us to examine our lives to make sure that we are not starting to crave evil things but are diligently seeking to rest in our Savior. No matter how physically worn out we become if we stay in communion with Him we will have a deep abiding rest in our spirit that will see us through to the end.

Thankfully in Grace,

Shannon Compton, Life Groups Pastor, BCC

Community News - 3/11/13

New Ladies Bible Study Starting This Evening, March 12th! 

Calling all ladies! Join us for a new Tuesday evening study starting tonight at 6:15 PM in the Blue Room! David Platt's "How to Study the Bible" is a 7-Week workshop on how to study the word of God. Books are $5! If you have any questions, contact Trudy Pierron at gtpierron@citcom.net. 

Pray for the Southeast Asia Mission Team!

The Southeast Asia team is leaving today for a two and a half week mission to share the Gospel and encourage believers in 2 Asian countries. Pray for safe travels, boldness in sharing, and for God to open doors and prepare the hearts of the people they encounter! 

Join Us for MidWeek U Tomorrow Evening!

You don't want to miss MidWeek U tomorrow evening! Here's a taste of what to expect in every class! 

The End: A Study of Revelations & Prophecy will be learning about the events and prophecies in scripture concerning Armageddon. 

Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships will be digging into God's word to discover His formula for sexual purity and love that lasts. 

One to One Discipleship will be walking through Week 7 of the blue book, investigating the christian's call to witness and share our faith. 

Max Q will be looking at growing our own walk with God and how that's the first step to influencing and challenging those around us. 

As you can see, we've got a great line-up tomorrow so we look forward to growing with you at 6:30 PM!

New Keys at BCC This Thursday, Mar. 14th!

We are re-keying all the doors on our campus. If you have a key to the church for ministry purposes, it will no longer work starting this Thursday, March 14th! Contact Stan Metcalf at stan@brevardcommunity.org or 828-884-5932 to get your new key this week!

Pursuing Adoption? We'd Like to Hear from You!

Several couples in our body are currently pursuing adoption! Praise God! If you are currently in the process of adoption, we'd love to hear from you so we can lift you up in prayer and encourage you in this process! Contact Todd at todd@brevardcommunity.org to let us know how God is stirring your heart in this way!

Communion This Sunday, March 17th!

We will be celebrating Communion this Sunday during both worships. We take Communion to remind us of the sacrifice Christ paid for us on the cross! How beautiful the blood flow! Let us join together in reverence to remember the depths of God's unconditional love for His people! 

Baptism Next Sunday, March 24th!

Join us as we celebrate with believers who want to make their faith and devotion known! Baptism itself isn't salvation; it's the proclamation of it - it's the public declaration of a heart that has been switched from allegiance to self to submission to the reigning lordship of Christ! Join us during both worships on March 24th as we celebrate all Christ has done! If you are interested in being baptized, or would like to be baptized in order to join the church, contact Bre at (828)884-5932 or breanna@brevardcommunity.org! 

Parenting Beyond Your Capacity

Parenting is difficult.  Some days you believe that things are going great, but then in a moment you are scared to death thinking that you're blowing it.  We all feel this way at times.  So much of what we want to see our children learn is caught, not taught.  What does this mean?  It means that our children learn far more from what we do than what we say.  Today I want to introduce you to a blog that I try to read weekly, http://www.orangeparents.org/.  The purpose of it is to encourage parents in being the primary spiritual influence in their children's lives.  My hope in sharing this is that it will give you a great resource to encourage you as a parent, but also so that you will realize that you aren't alone.

As we’ve already seen earlier this week, parenting can be emotional.

I also think the combination of sleep deprivation and living in close quarters for years with several other people (an arrangement we call ‘family’) drive people to emotional depths and heights they didn’t know they had.

The idyllic picture of what family life could be (complete with picket fences and picnic baskets) slips away quickly as the sounds of malfunctioning dishwashers, endless repeats of Dora the Explorer, explosions on PS3, and voices on edge fill your home.

You wonder how you could have signed up for this.

Maybe you’re in a tough season as a parent. You know the right thing to do but don’t feel like doing it.

Been there.

There have been seasons in my life during which:

I didn’t feel like I was in love anymore, but I didn’t want to get a divorce.

I thought I didn’t have the skills I needed to be an effective parent, but I certainly didn’t want to leave my kids.

My relationship with God felt flat and even meaningless, even though I was a Christian (and in my case, a Pastor).

What do you do when you feel that way?

Here’s what I did. Being a Christian, I believed that God wanted me (in all seasons) to lead my family and love my wife.

But there were whole seasons where I didn’t feel like doing that. No surprise here, but (as I would learn as I sat down with a good counselor) the problem wasn’t as much with my wife and kids as it was with me.

Despite my struggles, in those seasons where I didn’t feel the emotions that I thought family was supposed to bring, I did one thing: I tried to stay obedient.

I didn’t leave.

I didn’t quit.

I did my best to trust that a better future would come.

I was amazed to discover what happened next. My emotions caught up to my obedience.

I came through the tough seasons when I was basically trying to do the right thing but not feeling much of anything, only to discover than my emotions came back. They caught up with my obedience.

Maybe you’re in a tough season as a parent. You know the right thing to do but don’t feel like doing it.

My encouragement? Do the right thing. Talk to someone around you (even a counselor), and try to be as obedient as you can and do what you know is right.

And here’s what I think might happen: your emotions will eventually catch up to your obedience.

Because we pushed through things, my marriage has never been better or richer. Sure, we have disagreements, but we are so thankful we didn’t call it quits when we both felt like it.

My relationship with my two sons runs stronger and deeper than I ever imagined it could. I’m so thankful I didn’t just pack up when I wanted to.

It hasn’t been easy, but now we are reaping the benefit of trying to do the right thing in hard times. And  it’s so worth it.

So hang in there, and you might discover what many have discovered. Eventually, your emotions actually do catch up to your obedience.

(from http://www.orangeparents.org/a-little-known-secret/)

-Brent Metcalf

High School Pastor, BCC

Community News - 3/05/13

Join Us for MidWeek U Tomorrow Evening!

What an incredible time of learning and growth in our MidWeek University classes thus far! Join us tomorrow for a time of study and growth in one of our 4 incredible classes at 6:30 PM! See you there! Don't forget that you're welcome to bring your dinner to the church and eat at the tables in the back of the Worship Center with your family! 

Prayer Retreat and Rally This Thursday, March 7th at 7 PM!

Join together with other local believers this Thursday at Morningside Baptist Church to hear from Dr. Chris Schofield, Director of the Office of Prayer at NCBSC and Dr. Mark Harris, President of NCBSC. We will never reach our goal of 1,000 people saved this year if we don't bow our knees and pray for a revival! Let us join together with our brothers and sisters in Christ around us and pray for God's hand on this community! 

Spring Forward This Weekend! 

Longer days are just around the corner! Don't forget to set your clocks ahead an hour this Saturday night! Then join us on Sunday morning as we spring into worship at either 9:30 or 11 am! 

2 New Ladies Bible Studies:

A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place - Going On Now!

Calling all ladies! Join us for our new Beth Moore Bible Study taking place on Friday mornings at 9:30 am! God longs to live among His people and in our hearts. Come grow with us! For more information, contact Carissa Sellers at 828-884-4459 or Paula Hennie at 577-9459. 

How to Study the Bible - A David Platt Study - Starting Next Tuesday, March 12th!

Join us on Tuesday evenings starting March 12th in the Blue Room for a 7-Week workshop on how to study the word of God. Books are $5! If you have any questions, contact Trudy Pierron at gtpierron@citcom.net. 

Share Your Heart in the Children's Ministry! 

There are still several positions available in the Children's Ministry that need new people! Leading kids into lifelong relationships with Jesus is a great privilege we have here at BCC! Contact Chris at chris@brevardcommunity.org or at (828)884-5932  if you'd like to know more! 

New Keys at BCC Next Thursday, Mar. 14th!

We are re-keying all the doors on our campus. If you have a key to the church, it will no longer work on Thursday, March 14th! If you need a church key for ministry purposes, please contact Stan Metcalf at stan@brevardcommunity.org or 828-884-5932!

Mark Your Calendars for These Two Upcoming Events!

Communion on Sunday, March 17th!

We will be celebrating Communion on Sunday, March 17th during both worships. We take Communion to remind us of the sacrifice Christ paid for us on the cross! How beautiful the blood flow! Let us join together in reverence to remember the depths of God's unconditional love for His people! 

Baptism on Sunday, March 24th!

Join us as we celebrate with believers who want to make their faith and devotion known! Baptism itself isn't salvation; it's the proclamation of it - it's the public declaration of a heart that has been switched from allegiance to self to submission to the reigning lordship of Christ! Join us during both worships as we celebrate all Christ has done! If you are interested in being baptized, or would like to be baptized in order to join the church, contact Bre at (828)884-5932 or breanna@brevardcommunity.org! 

Drudgery Gets a Bad Rap

While we were sleeping last night, our calendars flipped to a new month.  March is here!  I like March for so many reasons but my favorite is that Spring arrives later this month! I believe many of us are ready for winter to be over. Those of us who aren’t fans of winter don’t dislike the season just for the cold weather; it’s just that everything seems to stop.  It’s like God decided that we needed to hibernate. There are less hours of sunlight.  Almost everything outside has died leaving very little color on the landscape.  By the end of winter, life itself seems to slow down almost to a pace we could call drudgery.  No wonder all God’s creation explodes with life when spring arrives. 

But this year is a little different.  I’m still waiting on spring, but for some reason, God is trying to teach me (and possibly you) that drudgery isn’t always a bad thing.  God is right.  (Isn’t HE always?)  We DO need a time of hibernation; a time to slow down and recharge.  However, our culture rages against the notion.  As I often say, we have evolved into a people obsessed with a never-ending pursuit of all that is fun.  We seem to run away from the mundane, the routine – the drudgery of everyday life.  And we have passed this down to our kids, who have become creatures with no imagination and have to be entertained every waking minute.  This is one of the main reasons the next generation has shown signs of being quitters.  The second something becomes routine, they quit and look for something else to do until they get bored with that.  We’ve lost the art of endurance and our kids are following suit.  We quit marriages, church, jobs, God.  Our kids quit friendships, sports teams, church, God.  God says to endure and persevere, but many times we do the opposite.  I see it even in social media.  Facebook posts have become nothing more than people trying to make the ordinary events of their day sound extraordinary.  Almost like we’re embarrassed that our lives don’t resemble what we see on T.V. shows or in commercials.     

So how did drudgery get such a bad rap?  If you think about it - isn’t most of our life spent doing basically the same things, day in and day out?  If we’re only experiencing God in the every now and then “super” events, then we’re simply missing too many God moments.  The great theologian Oswald Chambers wrote a timeless classic called “My Utmost For His Highest” and in it he says that “drudgery is one of the finest touchstones of character there is.”  Think about that statement for a minute.  It makes sense that if the world around us is dark, we can allow God’s light to shine even more brightly in us when we’re serving Him with a cheerful, thankful heart right in the middle of that darkness; right in the middle of all that seems routine – boring, thankless, drudgery, if you will.  And if we will arise and shine, drudgery becomes divinely transfigured!  In fact, when the Lord does a thing through us, He always transfigures it!  Drudgery is all that we do that’s apart from the ideal.  The same job with the same people, every day.  Changing the same diapers and cleaning the same house. Enduring another class with a teacher/instructor/professor that seems even more bored with their job than you are with their class!  And on it goes.  Endurance isn’t easy.  It does require the inspiration of God to go through drudgery with the light of God upon it – but that inspiration is available to all of us!  Once we start doing the everyday events of life with God’s light shining on them, they take on a special new meaning.  Chambers put it this way: “After we have seen someone do the most commonplace things with God’s inspiration, those things look different!”   I agree.  Colossians 3:23 says that we should do EVERYTHING we do as if for the Lord, and not for man.  And everything, means even the most menial tasks.  So let’s embrace the drudgery in the light of God’s inspiration.  If not, we’ll miss out on way more than just fun!

- Scott Limerick

Worship Pastor, BCC