Week Of Thanksgiving 2008
Matthew 11:28-30
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Here we are! The Lord has brought us to our seventh year! One week of years has flown by in some ways and in other ways it has seemed like decades of work. 2008 has been another blessed year.
Our 2008 theme was rest based on Matthew 11:28-30. The point was not to stop working for the Lord, but focus on trusting the Lord and resting in Him with the work he had given us to do. I thank God for the opportunities he blessed HBF with to serve both in our church, Cass County, the metro and around the world. Our first fabulous fifth service of 2008 set the tone for our work for the year. God had given us opportunity to serve the Lord in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. Perhaps the greatest thing that I thank God for in 2008 is the maturity of the vision of HBF in personally involving their lives in the ministry of the gospel. It has been a tremendous blessing to see the congregation invest their time and money in ministering the gospel in Cass County, Kansas City, Illinois, Mexico and India. Dots on the map are not the measure of accomplishing the mission, but the quality of the relationships God has given us with key men in key cities across our county and the world has been truly amazing.
I am thankful for Roger Grant and the all the Kingdom Kid workers at HBF. As that area of ministry has continued to explode, the workers have faithfully served our Lord and allowed the Lord to bless His church. Much of the growth of HBF is a result of the faithful ministry of adults in the elementary ministries of our church. As we look forward to another seven years of service to the Lord (should he tarry) we end this season as we started. Feeding the lambs is the key to ministry to the sheep. A special praise goes out to God for Jamie David who kicked off the Fun in the Son ministry this past summer. It rounded off our commitment to feeding the lambs while building the sheep. God has been awesome!
I thank God for growth! While numeric growth is nice (but comes with responsibility) the growth I'm most thankful for is the growth God is bringing to my life and the church as a whole as we trust him for things far beyond our ability. In reality we are truly in a position where we must trust him for each step and I pray that we never lose our confidence in His ability to work in and through the most common and simple of vessels.
I thank God for the quality connection Blake Anderson brought to our 2008 Vision Conference. Again what an awesome relationship with a key man in a key city. God used Blake this year to speak directly to us when and where we needed it. I am thankful for the friendships God has given us with other like minded ministers and congregations across our community, the metro, the US and the world. Pastors like Mike Blake and the ministry of Maple City Baptist have not only spoken their love but shown it in so many ways over the years. I hate to start naming names because I will miss very special people but suffice is to say God is encouraging and an encourager to those who minister his gospel message faithfully.
I am extremely thankful for our relationship with Doug Pearson and most recently Karl Silva and a host of mighty men of faith in Asia. I know in 2009 God is going to continue to expand our vision and purpose as we look upon the field in a whole new way.
This past spring God blessed HBF with the addition of Randy Foster to the pastoral team as our first associate pastor. Randy have been a great blessing to the ministry of HBF and the office staff. Randy recently started our newest fellowship called Real Life and it is going very well along with all the fellowship classes at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. I am so thankful for the faithful service of our leadership team and the work of the office staff at HBF.
Personally I have a plethora of personal praise and thanks to our Lord. God has provided me the best wife a man can have, but it helps that she is the best pastors wife a man could have. Samuel and Elisabeth are absolutely the most joyous blessing and investment that I have. As much as I am thankful for the Lords blessing upon the souls of HBF and the ministry, ultimately I am thankful for the wife who will be with me until my death and the children who will bear the true fruit of my walk with the Lord.
This year we have experienced the loss of three long time members of HBF. Ms. Kathryn Curtis, John Daugherty and Susan Ryle. We are never prepared to lose members but the passing of John was a collective shock to our congregation due to the circumstances and young age of John. Having said that, we are at peace knowing John is absent from the body and present with the Lord. In every case each one of these losses was difficult but each was exceptionally glorifying to our Lord. I can honestly say that these dear saints glorified God in thier lives and in thier deaths. I thank God for serving with them in ministry and look forward to catching up with them shortly as we meet the Lord in the air.
As we thank God for the past and close the door to where he have been, we now continue our focus on the things yet before. I see the wisdom of the apostle Paul as he wrote to the Philippians to forget those things behind and press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Ultimately Jesus is where we are going and is the praise and thanksgiving of the places we have been. As we move forward I pray that we seek the Lord Jesus Christ fervently to meet the needs of our future as we have trusted him to meet the many needs of our past. Without him we can do nothing.
1 Thessalonians 5:24
Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Here we are! The Lord has brought us to our seventh year! One week of years has flown by in some ways and in other ways it has seemed like decades of work. 2008 has been another blessed year.
Our 2008 theme was rest based on Matthew 11:28-30. The point was not to stop working for the Lord, but focus on trusting the Lord and resting in Him with the work he had given us to do. I thank God for the opportunities he blessed HBF with to serve both in our church, Cass County, the metro and around the world. Our first fabulous fifth service of 2008 set the tone for our work for the year. God had given us opportunity to serve the Lord in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. Perhaps the greatest thing that I thank God for in 2008 is the maturity of the vision of HBF in personally involving their lives in the ministry of the gospel. It has been a tremendous blessing to see the congregation invest their time and money in ministering the gospel in Cass County, Kansas City, Illinois, Mexico and India. Dots on the map are not the measure of accomplishing the mission, but the quality of the relationships God has given us with key men in key cities across our county and the world has been truly amazing.
I am thankful for Roger Grant and the all the Kingdom Kid workers at HBF. As that area of ministry has continued to explode, the workers have faithfully served our Lord and allowed the Lord to bless His church. Much of the growth of HBF is a result of the faithful ministry of adults in the elementary ministries of our church. As we look forward to another seven years of service to the Lord (should he tarry) we end this season as we started. Feeding the lambs is the key to ministry to the sheep. A special praise goes out to God for Jamie David who kicked off the Fun in the Son ministry this past summer. It rounded off our commitment to feeding the lambs while building the sheep. God has been awesome!
I thank God for growth! While numeric growth is nice (but comes with responsibility) the growth I'm most thankful for is the growth God is bringing to my life and the church as a whole as we trust him for things far beyond our ability. In reality we are truly in a position where we must trust him for each step and I pray that we never lose our confidence in His ability to work in and through the most common and simple of vessels.
I thank God for the quality connection Blake Anderson brought to our 2008 Vision Conference. Again what an awesome relationship with a key man in a key city. God used Blake this year to speak directly to us when and where we needed it. I am thankful for the friendships God has given us with other like minded ministers and congregations across our community, the metro, the US and the world. Pastors like Mike Blake and the ministry of Maple City Baptist have not only spoken their love but shown it in so many ways over the years. I hate to start naming names because I will miss very special people but suffice is to say God is encouraging and an encourager to those who minister his gospel message faithfully.
I am extremely thankful for our relationship with Doug Pearson and most recently Karl Silva and a host of mighty men of faith in Asia. I know in 2009 God is going to continue to expand our vision and purpose as we look upon the field in a whole new way.
This past spring God blessed HBF with the addition of Randy Foster to the pastoral team as our first associate pastor. Randy have been a great blessing to the ministry of HBF and the office staff. Randy recently started our newest fellowship called Real Life and it is going very well along with all the fellowship classes at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. I am so thankful for the faithful service of our leadership team and the work of the office staff at HBF.
Personally I have a plethora of personal praise and thanks to our Lord. God has provided me the best wife a man can have, but it helps that she is the best pastors wife a man could have. Samuel and Elisabeth are absolutely the most joyous blessing and investment that I have. As much as I am thankful for the Lords blessing upon the souls of HBF and the ministry, ultimately I am thankful for the wife who will be with me until my death and the children who will bear the true fruit of my walk with the Lord.
This year we have experienced the loss of three long time members of HBF. Ms. Kathryn Curtis, John Daugherty and Susan Ryle. We are never prepared to lose members but the passing of John was a collective shock to our congregation due to the circumstances and young age of John. Having said that, we are at peace knowing John is absent from the body and present with the Lord. In every case each one of these losses was difficult but each was exceptionally glorifying to our Lord. I can honestly say that these dear saints glorified God in thier lives and in thier deaths. I thank God for serving with them in ministry and look forward to catching up with them shortly as we meet the Lord in the air.
As we thank God for the past and close the door to where he have been, we now continue our focus on the things yet before. I see the wisdom of the apostle Paul as he wrote to the Philippians to forget those things behind and press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Ultimately Jesus is where we are going and is the praise and thanksgiving of the places we have been. As we move forward I pray that we seek the Lord Jesus Christ fervently to meet the needs of our future as we have trusted him to meet the many needs of our past. Without him we can do nothing.
1 Thessalonians 5:24
Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
Labels: Thanksgiving 2008
posted by HBF at 5:39 PM
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