Destructive Mistake

I don’t know about you but one of my great struggles as a pastor, dad, and man is the desire to be liked and loved by all. You have probably figured out, like I have, that this is impossible.  If we are not careful, this desire will cause us to live our lives based on what others want over what God wants. A verse that God reminds me of regularly is Proverbs 29:25.  It says “Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety.” Recently, I read a blog by Pete Wilson on the idea of needing to be loved. It spoke loudly in my life so I thought I would share it with you today.

Brad Snipes

Middle School Youth Pastor

A Destructive Mistake

By: Pete Wilson

Probably the most asked question I get in interviews and by pastors I’m mentoring is, “If you could go back and change anything in your ministry, what would you change?”

Usually I’m thinking, You don’t have enough time for me to actually answer that question. I’d change tons of things.

However, at the very top of the list would be my driving desire to be “loved” at all costs.

I have a lot of friends in ministry that are addicted to this pride-swelling choice as well.

For most of my life and certainly all of my ministry, I’ve been addicted to pleasing everyone. It didn’t matter if it cost me my personality, my family, or even at times, my vow to speak truth. I just wanted to be “loved.”

•   I would ignore the sincere compliments of others to be obsessed with the few critics.

•  I would abandon my boundaries and go above and beyond to “help” someone while ignoring my family.

•   I would put off the tough leadership decisions trying to keep all sides content.

           Why? Simple. I wanted to be “loved.”

But let me tell you something. Leading with a desire to be loved is dangerous. Parenting with a desire to be loved can be destructive. And if you spend your life trying to be loved instead of being loving, it’s going to lead you to all kinds of unhealthy extremes.

Part of learning humility for me is to understand I simply can’t please everyone. Not everyone is going to like me, love me, or think I’m great. They’re just not.

I feel like I’m growing in this area. I’m learning the freedom that comes along with seeking to love, instead of always desiring to be loved.  The first leads to meaning and significance while the latter  is an emotional black hole that can never be filled.

I pray you will learn to live in the Kingdom and be freed from the sheer stupidity and vanity of going through life trying to make sure other people think the right things about you.  If you depend on other people loving everything you say or do, you will end up doing and saying nothing. I pray you’ll receive the fact that you are loved in the eyes of God in such a way that you can then go out to lead and live, seeking to truly love the people around you.

Community News 3/25/14

Messianic Passover Authentic Seder Meal!

This special meal will be in the worship center here at BCC on Sunday, April 6th starting at 5 PM.  Tickets are only $6 per person and can be purchased in the rear of the worship center on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Childcare will not be provided.  The last day to purchase the tickets will be Monday, March 31st.  

Shannon Compton Speaking Tomorrow Night!

Shannon Compton will be speaking tomorrow night at midweek worship.  His message is "I AM the Son of God" from John chapter 5. Join us at 6 PM for snacks and 6:30 PM for worship.  

Talk to God Now!

Ladies, save this date!  On Saturday, April 12th from 9 AM to 4 PM there will be a one day conference here at BCC.  This study, Talk to God Now, focuses on learning and sharing about prayer and resting in God.  The cost is $10.  A light breakfast and lunch will be provided. Childcare will not be provided. 

Discovering Membership Class Coming Up!

Interested in becoming a member of Brevard Community Church?  Join us for Discovering Membership Class on Sunday, April 13th at 12:30 in the worship center.  Lunch and childcare will be provided.

Easter Sunday!

This year on Easter Sunday, we will be celebrating the Risen Savior with believers who want to make their faith known by being baptized. Our praise choir will also be singing that day.  If you are interested in being baptized, call the church office at 884-5932.

Starting Point Class!

Starting on April 27th a six-week class will be held during first worship in the brown house led by Shannon Compton.  If you are curious about following Jesus Christ, new to Brevard Community Church, or interested in connecting deeper, join us for Starting Point.

VBS DATE CHANGE!

Due to inclement weather Transylvania and Henderson County Schools have revised their calendars; therefore, July 28th through August 1st are the news dates for VBS.   It will be held from 9 AM to 12 PM.  This is free for kids who are 4 years old by September 1st, 2014 through rising 6th graders.  Please mark this week on your calendar  so that your children will be able to participate.  

Summer Camp for Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers!

Middle Schoolers will be going to Johnson City, Tennessee from June 16th to June 20th!  The cost is $199 and the deposit of $50 is due by May 1st.  High Schoolers will be going to Panama City, FL from July 7th to 11th.  The cost is $225 and the deposit of $50 is due by May 1st.

What Matters Most

Late March is such a great time of year, but not for the reasons you think.  Springtime is great, but what makes March so great are two things.  Those two things are the college basketball tournament (March Madness), and Opening day of professional baseball.  Like a lot of guys, sports are something I follow and love.  With the joy of having two boys that enjoy playing sports, it is easy to get consumed in it. Recently, I read an article. As a parent it made me think about sports, my kids, and how I react to my kids involved in sports.  I would like to share this article with you with the hope that it makes you think about your kids or grandkids and sports.  Enjoy the read!

Marty Burgess

College Pastor

The Only Six Words Parents Need to Say to Their Kids About Sports—Or Any Performance

By Brad M. Griffin

I’ll be honest: I kind of hate a lot about kids’ sports. It’s one area where Kara and I hold different opinions. I’m the wet blanket in the office about everything from little league to major sporting events. Mainly I get concerned about the ways our culture obsesses about kids’ performance. All kinds of parental anxiety and dysfunction plays out on the sidelines and in the bleachers, and you only need walk to your local park to catch a glimpse for yourself. Sports have such potential to build character, perseverance, and skill. Sometimes they succeed, and other times coaches, parents, and mobs of hot-or-cold fans burn out or puff up kids in quite damaging ways. All that aside, my son’s getting ready to play T-ball this spring. I say getting ready, because after sign-ups we were informed that “spring training” would begin immediately this week. I didn’t sign up for that. They want kids there four nights a week, pre-season, to build skills prior to being placed on teams. Did I mention this was just at my local neighborhood park league, not “competitive” T-ball? In the midst of considering my own response to this, I stumbled across this great article by student leadership development expert Tim Elmore. In it he discusses research on what parents can say both before and after the game to encourage their kids, without making everything about performance (either positively or negatively). 

Elmore suggests: Based on psychological research, the three healthiest statements moms and dads can make as [kids] perform are:

Before the Competition:  

Have fun.

Play hard.

I love you.

After the competition:

Did you have fun?

I’m proud of you.

I love you.

It gets even better. Researchers Bruce Brown and Rob Miller asked college athletes what their parents said that made them feel great and brought them joy when they played sports. Want to know the six words they most want to hear their parents say?

 “I love to watch you play.”

That’s it. Nothing aggrandizing like “you’re an all-star,” and nothing discouraging like “here are a couple of things I noticed that you can work on.” Just “I love to watch you play.”

As I gear up for T-ball, band concerts, gymnastics practice, and everything else I’ll be watching my three kids do this year, I’m internalizing these six words. I’m sure I’ll say other things, some that are helpful and some that aren't.

But I want my kids to hear that doing what they do, and learning about who God created them to be, is a joy to watch as it unfolds.

Community News 3/18/14

Midweek Worship Tomorrow Night!

Todd will be speaking and his message is "A Great Testimony" from John chapter 4. We challenge you to come and discover that your testimony is really great!  Join us at 6 PM for snacks and 6:30 PM for worship.  

Mom to Mom!

Mothers come to an evening of inspiration and parenting encouragement led by Joleena Cantrell this Thursday, March 20th in the blue room from 7 to 8:30 PM.  No childcare available.

Local Opportunity for Ladies!

Patty Stump, of The Cove (Billy Graham Training Center) will be speaking on "Women: the heart of family and community" this Saturday, March 22nd, from 9 AM to 1:30 PM at Sacred Heart Church.  Registration is $10 which includes coffee and goodies in the morning as well as lunch.  Attendees can bring non-perishable food items that will be donated to Christian Ministries in Brevard.  Contact Karen Henegar at 230-8427 or Debbie Felker at 884-5321 to register. 

Messianic Passover Authentic Seder Meal!

This special meal will be in the worship center here at BCC on Sunday, April 6th starting at 5 PM.  Tickets are only $6 per person and can be purchased in the rear of the worship center on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings.

Talk to God Now!

Ladies, save this date!  On Saturday, April 12th from 9 AM to 4 PM there will be a one day conference here at BCC.  This study, Talk to God Now, focuses on learning and sharing about prayer and resting in God.  The cost is $10.  A light breakfast and lunch will be provided. Childcare will not be provided. 

Vacation Bible School! Save the DATE

This year Vacation Bible School will be June 9th through the 13th from 9 AM to 12 PM.  This is free for students who are 4 years old by September 1st, 2014 through rising 6th graders.  Please mark this week on your calendar so that your children will be able to participate.  

Summer Camp for Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers!

Middle Schoolers will be going to Johnson City, Tennessee from June 16th to June 20th!  The cost is $199 and the deposit of $50 is due by May 1st.  High Schoolers will be going to Panama City, FL from July 7th to 11th.  The cost is $225 and the deposit of $50 is due by May 1st.

  

Movie Theater Popcorn

I love movie theater popcorn. There is just something about it that makes it taste amazing. I’m not even really a popcorn fan, truth be told, but movie theater popcorn is one of my favorite foods. I’ll even disclose a little secret… Sometimes I’ll suggest a movie for a date night with Trista (my wife), not because I want to watch a movie, but because I want movie theater popcorn. That’s right, I said it! I go to the movies not for the movie (the main attraction) but for the popcorn.

The same can be said sometimes for Christians when it comes to worship. Now just so we are clear, worship is a word used to describe a lot of things. (For a comprehensive definition of the word “worship” and its Biblical meaning and usage, check out the Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. It is a great resource.) I will use the word worship in this blog post to talk about what is referred to as corporate worship or a church service.

When God first saved me, I was 23 years old. I can remember going that year to some sort of massive retreat for Christians. It was held in a packed auditorium and everyone was passionately pouring out their heart in worship to our great God. I can remember thinking; worship should always be like this. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that was a dangerous thought. Don’t get me wrong; my heart was in the right place. I could feel the presence of God and I never wanted to experience worship without that again. That is a very right and Biblical thought. However, the thoughts that I had about my little, less than passionate, 50-100 member country church’s worship service after that retreat were less than kind, right, or Biblical.

Please know, before I launch into the teaching point in this blog that I am not pointing the finger at BCC specifically. I can honestly say that my experience being a pastor on staff here has been the best. Trista and I have felt loved and supported, however, this is an issue that exists everywhere, even here. Please know that my intention, if this is a struggle for you, is not to condemn, but to lovingly point out a “blind spot” that you may not be aware of. After all that is what good pastors and good community should do for one another. So, onward…

If you ask someone to describe his or her perfect worship service almost every Christian on this planet would tell you something different. Especially since most churches are multi-generational (many different generations attend), the music that people enjoy listening to can range from rap and hip-hop, to bluegrass or polka. This can make selecting songs that can engage a church somewhat difficult. Yet for me as a worship pastor, this is not the thing that challenges/scares me the most. What scares me the most is that people can come into a worship service with a preconceived idea of what worship should be like, and they feel as though they cannot worship if what happens in the service doesn’t line up with their idea of what worship should be. Please understand that there are some WRONG ways to do worship, however, the Bible gets to dictate that, not us. I am horrified at the notion that many of us may be coming to a worship service with an idea (or sometimes a better description might be a graven image) of what the experience of God ought to be like, and expect the music to simulate that experience in us. It could be a piano and organ or an electric guitar and drums—either can create a God experience that may not have any of God in it at all. But people will feel like they’ve worshipped because its what they want. Could it be possible that in our consumerist-culture that we are actually worshiping worship rather than the only One who is worthy of our worship? Could it be possible that we, as Christians, can create an emotionally gratifying experience within ourselves, a.k.a. a counterfeit worship experience? 2 Corinthians 3 talks about a people whose hearts were hardened to true worship because they expected that salvation/worship should be one way (through the Law), and they refused to change or bend even when God Himself showed up through Christ and showed them a better way (grace through Christ). And as verse 17 says, true worship of the true and living Christ invites God’s Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty indeed!

If we want to experience true life-giving worship at BCC, we must never start being concerned with the inferior matters such as style, instrumentation, order of service, etc. We must concern ourselves with connecting in gratitude and passionate worship of our risen Savior, Jesus Christ. I am just as guilty as the next person of trying to make my worship experience about lesser things, but it is exactly like to going to the movies only for the popcorn. The popcorn is good, but it is not the main attraction. Our worship service is great but let us never be a people who are guilty of forgetting the wondrous cross and Prince of glory, the God man Jesus who died on that cross so that we could have life, liberty, and a right relationship with God. That is so much better than movie theater popcorn! 

Brett Best

Worship Pastor

Community News 3/11/14

Communion Tomorrow Night!

It has been an incredible 40 Days of Experiencing Jesus.  Please join us tomorrow night for communion as we remember the unbelievable sacrifice made by Christ.  Worship will begin at 6:30 PM. Snacks will not be provided.

Special Announcement

Some of you have probably heard that Mayor Jimmy and Carri Harris' son, Quinn, passed away Sunday afternoon.  We would ask that you pray for this family as they go through this very difficult time.  May the peace and comfort of Jesus Christ be with them.  The Memorial Service will be held at First Baptist Church in Brevard on Thursday at 4 PM. 

Middle Schoolers to Fun Depot!

Middle Schoolers! Meet at the Student Center at 5:15 PM this Saturday.  The cost is $20 for 2 hours of play!  Make sure to eat before coming!  Students should be picked up at the Student Center at 8:45 PM. Students are welcome to invite friends!

Talk to God Now!

Ladies, save this date!  On Saturday, April the 12th from 9 AM to 4:30 PM there will be a  one day conference here at BCC.  This study, Talk to God Now, focuses on learning and sharing about prayer and resting in God.  The cost is $10.  A light breakfast and lunch will be provided.  Childcare will not be provided.

Vacation Bible School!  Save the DATE

This year Vacation Bible School will be June 9th through the 13th from 9 AM-12 PM.  This is free for students who are 4 years old by September 1st, 2014 through rising 6th graders. 

Summer Camp for Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers!

Middle Schoolers will be going to Johnson City, Tennessee from June 16th to June 20th!  The cost is $199 and the deposit of $50 is due by May 1st.  High Schoolers will be going to Panama City, FL from July 7th to 11th.  The cost is $225 and the deposit of $50 is due by May 1st.

My Testimony!

We at BCC have been asked to submit our testimonies.  Write out your simple yet powerful story by giving glory to Christ, our Savior.  If you haven't done so, visit BCC's website at www.brevardcommunity.org and click on My Testimony on the right hand side or pick up a form in the rear of the worship center.

Special Announcement

Good morning,

Some of you have probably heard that Mayor Jimmy and Carri Harris' son, Quinn, passed away yesterday afternoon.  We would ask that you pray for this family as they go through this very difficult time.  I cannot image a more painful thing happening to a parent or family.  May the peace and comfort of Jesus Christ be with them during this time.

We were just informed that the Memorial Service will be at First Baptist Church in Brevard on Thursday at 4 PM. 

Thanks in advance for your prayers.

The Family Conversation Jar!

I am preparing to teach this weekend about the woman at the well in John 4.  You may know that Jesus met her in the middle of the day when she was all alone and did what men were not supposed to do in that day – He had a conversation with her!  Now that was a very big deal in that day.  But the story has an amazing ending as she trusted in Jesus to save her from her sin and give her a new life.

I love her passion for Jesus as she runs into the city she previously wanted to avoid and tells the men, “Come meet a man who told me everything I ever did!”  I’m not sure if some of the men were real excited about Jesus knowing her past because they might have been in it.  But many come and Jesus meets with them – and many trust Jesus as their Savior!

Maybe it’s just me, but my mind runs wild with the possibilities of how her life turned out.  Did she have any children?  Did she marry a man that loved Jesus?  I am sure she moved out of the man’s house she had been living with before she trusted Jesus to be her personal Savior.  Maybe I had better stop!  I know one thing for sure, I will get to see her in heaven and talk with her and hear her story. 

There are many stories in the Bible that make for some interesting conversations.  Just like Jesus took the time to have a conversation with the Samaritan woman, and answer the questions on her heart, we, too, have opportunities to have conversations with our own families.  Conversations are a great way to see what is on your children’s hearts, to hear their ideas of who Jesus is, and learn together from His Word.

Jesus was never too busy to stop and talk.  He wanted to hear from the people He encountered, and He loved a sincere, seeking question-asker!   To think about:  how intentional are we to have conversations with our family?

Along those lines, I discovered a resource for you to consider.  Check out this link: http://www.toshowthemjesus.com/family-conversation-jar/.  It’s a great list of conversation starters, to get your family talking.   Check it out.  I believe you will enjoy learning about each other, and in the process, create opportunities for some great faith conversations.

By the grace of God, I am what I am,

Todd Alewine

Lead Pastor

Community News 3/4/14

Brett Best Speaking Tomorrow Night!

Come join us tomorrow night as we continue our 40 days with our Worship Pastor, Brett Best speaking. Snacks start at 6 and worship begins at 6:30 PM. We will end 40 days next Wednesday, March the 12th with Communion. Please make plans now to attend.

Spring Forward!

Daylight Savings Time is this weekend! Don't forget to set your clocks forward an hour before you go to sleep on Saturday night!

Israel 2014 Meeting!

Walk where Jesus walked! Space is filling up, so come learn how you can take a journey of a lifetime.  Join us for a brief informational meeting this Sunday, March 9th held in the Student Center after second worship.  We will be leaving for Israel on August 30th and returning September 8th.

My Testimony!

We at BCC have been asked to submit our testimonies.  Write out your simple yet powerful story by giving glory to Christ, our Savior.  If you haven't done so, visit BCC's website at www.brevardcommunity.org and click on My Testimony on the right hand side or pick up a form in the rear of the worship center.

Baptism Coming Up!

Rejoice and celebrate on Sunday, March 16th with believers who want to make their faith and devotion known.  If you are interested in being baptized, or would like to be baptized in order to join the church, contact Lauren at 884-5932 or lauren@brevardcommunity.org.

Mission Trip to Mexico!

Help lead discipleship or training in Conversational Evangelism! There are possibly other ministries such as medical and eye-glass clinics.  This trip will be July 8th through the 15th.  It will continue the partnership in Mazatlan.  The cost will be $1300.  If you are interested or have questions contact Alan Perry alan@brevardcommunity.org.