Week of Thanksgiving 2007
2007 was yet another year of grace and growth for the body of Christ. We concluded our Nehemiah study titled, "Rise Up and Build" and went into a series called the seven realities of HBF. The seven realities of HBF basically define the core values of HBF.
There was much excitement and anticipation surrounding the completion of our new facility. We hoped to take occupancy by Easter of 2007 but that would not be the case. 2007 marked the last Vision Conference held in the west campus of the Harrisonville Christian School. Our faithful Friend Gene Purtle brought the bread along with a new friend from BEAMS Bible named Ben Graham. We had another great vision conference in 2007of course the theme was "Prepare To Launch" and that is exactly what we were preparing to do.
HBF took possession of our building the last week of May. We held our building dedication June 3, 2007 on a Sunday evening. Dr. Jeff Adams, Sr. Pastor of Kansas City Baptist Temple, was our special guest speaker for this celebration. Jeff did a great job of challenging us to stay focused on the Mission of God as we launched out to be part of a mission greater than ourselves. He also pointed out our rich heritage and our connection to those who have gone before us. It was a tremendous evening. We made sure to honor as many people as we could that evening. We were off and running!
The praise band did a great job of getting up and running. Ron Kassen, Matt Franklin, Erin Melton, Mark Filer, Mark Wilson and James Horton did an excellent job of pulling the praise band together in just a few short months.
Just as God had tempered my zeal the year before through the loss of my father, our church faced a big shock in July of 2007 as we lost Eric Montgomery in a swimming accident in Lakewood. God used the loss of this nineteen year old young man to shake up several folks who needed to establish a personal relationship with the Lord. God had been drawing Josh Sites to repentance for years, and he finally yielded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and accepted Christ the evening after Eric's visitation. It was a wonderful blessing to see God work so mightily through Eric's promotion to Heaven. To this day we are still seeing the fruit from this tragedy. Praise God for his power over death and hell and the grave!
2007 brought several transitions. Tracy and Michelle handed over the reigns of the STORM ministry to Tom and Becky Feurt. Jim Boyette was our official discipleship Pastor and took on the new position of Facilities Manager. It was clear that Roger Heath's adult class was becoming a young families class and Bob Bohlken handed over the reigns of the Berean ministry fellowship to Jim Boyette.
HBF's membership had grown to 192 members and we were steadily growing. Along with numeric growth we could see very tangible spiritual growth in the body of Christ. Bryan Hunter, who gave his first devotion only a few years before at a men's breakfast, had been unleashed to establish the Kingdom Kid's ministry on Tuesday nights during our adult Bible study. 2006-2007 was the maiden voyage of this home grown children's ministry, but there was no doubt the good hand of God was upon Bryan, Trish and this area of ministry. From the inception God used Bryan to build adults as he fed the lambs. Who needs AWANA's when you have T.N.T. When we entered the building we changed our Tuesday night bible study to Wednesday night. Bryan changed the acronym from Tuesday Night Training to Training iN Truth! I praise God for his provision to HBF in this area and so many others as He continues to build his church and bring the right people at the right times to build the body of Christ. Our 2007 VBS was great too! We were in the new facility and the energy and technology at our disposal was excellent. All praise to God for his grace!
I took a trip to Brazil in 2007 to visit Harold and Tammy in Brazil. It was a joy to see Harold and Tammy adjust to the culture and Language of Brazil! We took our second trip to visit Manuel Estabane in Juarez, Mexico. It was our great joy to continue to build a relationship with Manuel, Martha in Juarez as they are ministering in a key border city at a key time in history. Even as I reflect on our relationship with them, I can not help but pray for them and the church in Juarez as they minister in one of the toughest cities in our hemisphere. It's ironic that such a key city in the war for the souls of men and nations is just a car drive from Harrisonville. I praise God for his good hand upon our partnerships with like minded men and congregations all over the earth.
HBF wrapped up our sixth year in good stride. So many of the ministers of HBF had been working so faithfully so long, it was good for them to see the fruit of their labor. While they needed rest, it was refreshing to see the pay off in the souls of men, women and children.
Luke 5:4
Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
There was much excitement and anticipation surrounding the completion of our new facility. We hoped to take occupancy by Easter of 2007 but that would not be the case. 2007 marked the last Vision Conference held in the west campus of the Harrisonville Christian School. Our faithful Friend Gene Purtle brought the bread along with a new friend from BEAMS Bible named Ben Graham. We had another great vision conference in 2007of course the theme was "Prepare To Launch" and that is exactly what we were preparing to do.
HBF took possession of our building the last week of May. We held our building dedication June 3, 2007 on a Sunday evening. Dr. Jeff Adams, Sr. Pastor of Kansas City Baptist Temple, was our special guest speaker for this celebration. Jeff did a great job of challenging us to stay focused on the Mission of God as we launched out to be part of a mission greater than ourselves. He also pointed out our rich heritage and our connection to those who have gone before us. It was a tremendous evening. We made sure to honor as many people as we could that evening. We were off and running!
The praise band did a great job of getting up and running. Ron Kassen, Matt Franklin, Erin Melton, Mark Filer, Mark Wilson and James Horton did an excellent job of pulling the praise band together in just a few short months.
Just as God had tempered my zeal the year before through the loss of my father, our church faced a big shock in July of 2007 as we lost Eric Montgomery in a swimming accident in Lakewood. God used the loss of this nineteen year old young man to shake up several folks who needed to establish a personal relationship with the Lord. God had been drawing Josh Sites to repentance for years, and he finally yielded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and accepted Christ the evening after Eric's visitation. It was a wonderful blessing to see God work so mightily through Eric's promotion to Heaven. To this day we are still seeing the fruit from this tragedy. Praise God for his power over death and hell and the grave!
2007 brought several transitions. Tracy and Michelle handed over the reigns of the STORM ministry to Tom and Becky Feurt. Jim Boyette was our official discipleship Pastor and took on the new position of Facilities Manager. It was clear that Roger Heath's adult class was becoming a young families class and Bob Bohlken handed over the reigns of the Berean ministry fellowship to Jim Boyette.
HBF's membership had grown to 192 members and we were steadily growing. Along with numeric growth we could see very tangible spiritual growth in the body of Christ. Bryan Hunter, who gave his first devotion only a few years before at a men's breakfast, had been unleashed to establish the Kingdom Kid's ministry on Tuesday nights during our adult Bible study. 2006-2007 was the maiden voyage of this home grown children's ministry, but there was no doubt the good hand of God was upon Bryan, Trish and this area of ministry. From the inception God used Bryan to build adults as he fed the lambs. Who needs AWANA's when you have T.N.T. When we entered the building we changed our Tuesday night bible study to Wednesday night. Bryan changed the acronym from Tuesday Night Training to Training iN Truth! I praise God for his provision to HBF in this area and so many others as He continues to build his church and bring the right people at the right times to build the body of Christ. Our 2007 VBS was great too! We were in the new facility and the energy and technology at our disposal was excellent. All praise to God for his grace!
I took a trip to Brazil in 2007 to visit Harold and Tammy in Brazil. It was a joy to see Harold and Tammy adjust to the culture and Language of Brazil! We took our second trip to visit Manuel Estabane in Juarez, Mexico. It was our great joy to continue to build a relationship with Manuel, Martha in Juarez as they are ministering in a key border city at a key time in history. Even as I reflect on our relationship with them, I can not help but pray for them and the church in Juarez as they minister in one of the toughest cities in our hemisphere. It's ironic that such a key city in the war for the souls of men and nations is just a car drive from Harrisonville. I praise God for his good hand upon our partnerships with like minded men and congregations all over the earth.
HBF wrapped up our sixth year in good stride. So many of the ministers of HBF had been working so faithfully so long, it was good for them to see the fruit of their labor. While they needed rest, it was refreshing to see the pay off in the souls of men, women and children.
Luke 5:4
Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
posted by HBF at 3:48 PM
1 Comments:
You can add comments by clicking on the comments link!
Post a Comment
<< Home