Mission—How Important is it?

Our Mission: to glorify God by sharing the gospel and serving others.

Our mission is clear and simple, yet we can easily be distracted from it. We live in a “consumer driven culture” that corrupts us to “want, want, want,” things our way. We must hold fast to the same attitude that is in Christ to overcome the consumerism of our day so we stay on mission. Christ did not consider His will or desires to take first place, instead He considered first the will of His Father in heaven (Philippians 2:6-11). In fact the bible says “he made himself nothing,” meaning he humbled himself as if His will meant absolutely nothing compared to the will of the Father. To overcome the “selfish culture” of our day and to stay on mission for God, we must do likewise.

Question: Do we exist to preserve our present brand, structure, and systems, or do we exist to advance the gospel together in our community, regionally, and around the world?

If we drift continually into a focus on structures, budgets and competing projects, rather than keeping our focus on our mission to reach the world, we will lose our identity and our reason for existing altogether. This will lead to discouragement, fall out, and lack of fruit bearing. Thus, for the sake of the gospel and the glory of God we must not drift and we must focus on that which is imperative—gospel sharing and serving others.

Our mission is too important! Our mandate is too precious! “strive together, side by side, for the faith of the gospel…” (Phil. 1:27). Truly, nothing else matters if we don’t do this first. 

I Love My Church!

Lately I’ve been contemplating all the great things I love about Shadycrest. As I began to make a list I was overwhelmed by the number of great ministries and great people we have here who serve the LORD so well. It literally made me exclaim, “I love my church!”

I LOVE:

Watching our kitchen crew serve our members with great love.

Hearing the stories of members like Alvin Rose and Gene Weaver who visit our homebound and nursing homebound. 

Listening to the testimonies of our youth (Blaine Israel) about what God is doing in their young lives.

Hearing the giggles and watching the smiles as the children played this past week at our AWANA kickoff carnival.

 Praying with our prayer warriors during our 40 Days of Prayer.

Singing with our Celebration Choir and awesome praise band. 

There is so much to love about Shadycrest! What a great place to serve the LORD!
What do you love about Shadycrest? I’d love to hear your story. If you have a story to tell, please contact me. I’m collecting stories and I truly want to hear yours. Call or write me ASAP, and tell me why you love your church! 

Break Our Hearts, Oh God

When God looks down on the greater Pearland community He sees two kinds of people. It’s not black and white. It’s not rich or poor. It’s not Republican or Democrat. He sees lost people and saved people. He sees people on the way to heaven and people on the way to hell.

The words “lost” and “hell” are no longer politically correct. We want to say people are “unchurched” or “unsaved” or “spiritually challenged.” But the Bible says they are lost. Jesus said, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10).

We don’t sing, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound; that saved a wretch like me; I once was confused” or “I once was unsure” or “I once was unchurched.” We sing, “I once was LOST and now I’m found; was blind, but now I see.”

According to the Apostle Paul, he really was a man of constant sorrow. He was broken-hearted because of the lost condition of his fellow Jews. He wrote, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel” (Romans 9:2-4).

Are we broken-hearted for the lost in our community? We must be! Our mission compels us to be! If we are not, then we must seek God, change our ways, and pray daily for a broken heart…until it comes!

Givers…Can I Get an Amen?

Two men were marooned on a tiny island. One man paced back and forth worried and dreadfully frightened, while the other man sat back, whistling and sunning himself. The first man said, "Aren’t you afraid we’re going to die here?" "Nope," said the second man. “How can you be so sure?” the first man asked. “Well, you see…” said the second man, “I make $100,000 a month and I tithe faithfully to my church… My Pastor will find me."

Did you laugh at that? That is a funny story, but it speaks of a perception that isn’t true in most cases. The perception is that pastors are motivated to preach on giving because of their selfish concern for the church budget and building program. Do pastors shy away from preaching on giving so as not to appear focused on the bottom line? (not this one) No, our mission is not to “pay our bills,” instead our mission is the glory of God through gospel sharing and serving others!

Can’t we just assume if people are growing spiritually they will eventually learn to give? Consider this: there is no other area of spiritual growth where we make assumptions that believers will grow without reminders, exhortations, and accountability. Do we learn to pray, witness, or serve without being taught these things? No. Nor should we learn to give without being taught to give.  

The reality is the bible speaks extensively about giving, tithing, sacrifice, sharing, and stewardship. Therefore, we should have the conversation and challenge one another to such obedience with regularity. We should embrace the conversation about giving with great joy and give, give, give!

GOD WANTS TO USE YOU!

Dwight L Moody was the Billy Graham of the 19^th Century. He was an international celebrity. He was a shoe salesman in Chicago when a Sunday School teacher walked into the shoe shop and led Dwight L. Moody to Christ and he became a Christian. He figured he ought to apply to become a church member, because that’s what you do when you become a Christian he thought. He applied but he was turned down. One of the men who interviewed him for church membership wrote these words. “I can truly say that I have seen few persons whose minds were spiritually darker than was Mr. Moody’s when he came into my Sunday School class. I think that the committee of the church had seldom met an applicant for membership who seemed more unlikely ever to become a Christian of clear and decided views of the gospel truth.” That’s what they wrote about him when he applied for church membership. They said, “Hey you’re too dense you’re too dark and there is no change in your life.” A year later he applied again and they said, “You’re still as dark and dense as you ever were, but at least we think you are sincere so come on and you can join our church.” God used Dwight L. Moody to shake up two continents for Jesus Christ. Today there is the Moody Press, the Moody Broadcasting Network, the Moody Institute and the Moody Bible Church.

Maybe you feel unusable or too dense to be of any good to God or His Church. Don’t believe it! God has a place for you! Let us help you find that place! 

Bulletin Updates & Records

I am a member of Shadycrest Baptist Church. I happen to be the called Pastor as well, but like you, I am a member. As a member I take great pride in our church family and I want to see the health and success of our church. That is why I do the following:

• ·         Volunteer where I can
• ·         Give sacrificially to the church to help meet her needs
• ·         Pray for the church family
• ·         Lead my family to be healthy church members
• ·         Seek to be a unifying member
• ·         Treasure my membership here

And, as a member, when I see some things changing I frequently ask, “why are we doing that?” or “why are we doing it that way?” Those are perfectly good questions, especially when asked with sincerity and with a gentle spirit.

Therefore, when the proposal to change our bulletin was put forth I asked, “why would we do that?” The answer is at least 3-fold: 1) It saves a lot of money to print them “in house,” 2) The bulletin shells we were purchasing were constantly causing our printer to break down, causing work delays during the week, and 3) The smaller format is easier to manage, to store, to carry, and fits in your bible/purse.

But…It creates a communication challenge that will take some time for us all to fully embrace. With less room to work with I ask for your understanding. We will be: 1) prioritizing written announcements each week, and 2) including “The Record Speaks” in the bulletin once per month (1^st Sunday of the Month).

The Record Speaks is also posted weekly in the church office hallway and is available to you weekly via email at your request. Use a connection card to request this service or simply email Vicki at vprebilsky@shadycrest.org.