L I F E AT I M M A N U E L M AY / / J U N E 2 0 1 6
FROM OUR INTERIM PASTOR Spring time is always a time of new beginnings. Arkansas explodes with color and outdoor activity. For Immanuel Baptist Church, spring time brought me. You have a new Interim Pastor and I am delighted to serve with you. This is not the normal mode for Immanuel, whose history consists of capable long-term pastors performing commendably. But all churches face an interim transition eventually. This truth brings to light several questions. What is the interim period? It is that time between the sad leaving of Gary Hollingsworth and the prayerful selection and inauguration of a new pastor. Although the interim length is unknown, we do know it will culminate in God’s man for Immanuel Baptist Church. What is an Interim Pastor? The answer varies depending on the church and its particular needs. My role is to fill the pulpit, work with your great staff to move forward in the important ministries of the church, and aid the deacons and leaders in maintaining the spiritual health of the church. I also hope my role will offer your search committee the freedom to do the important work assigned. Pray for all the leaders during this time, and especially pray for and encourage the wonderful ministry staff as they bear the heavy load in the absence of a full-time pastor. I look forward to a great ministry relationship with Immanuel and its special people. I pray for you Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Eph. 3: 17-20) Let’s work together to make this interim time a great part of Immanuel’s wonderful story. Dr. Terry Carter Interim Pastor
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DEAR CHURCH FA M I LY A MESSAGE FROM THE PASTOR SEARCH TEAM
The Pastor Search Team would like to thank you for your prayers, support, encouragement and patience. What a privilege it is to serve our Lord and you. Jeremiah 32:17 reminds us that while this task is not easy, we’re confident it is possible by the great power of our God. We have divided this process into five parts: 1. Personal Season of Prayer We have spent the past weeks in a season of prayer, renewal and direction, both personally, and as a team. In some of our meetings, as 1 Thessalonians 5:17 has instructed us, “Pray without ceasing,” prayer has been our only business. It is our most important step in this process. We want to be clean vessels prepared to hear direction from the Holy Spirit. The team determined that without this step, the others would not be possible. 2. Identify the DNA of Immanuel What are our needs and where is Immanuel at this time in our history? We’re reviewing statistics and data, listening to focus groups, and are available to meet with Sunday School and Grow Groups as requested. 3. Desirable Attributes of Our Next Pastor This step has been completed and may be accessed on the Pastor Search page at www.ibclr.org. We’re also sharing them in the classes we visit. Many of you have given us excellent suggestions. 4. Reviewing Resumes, Listening to Sermons and Taking Site Visits We’re also well into this step. Once again, we thank you for the resumes and recommendations you’ve sent to us. Not one of them has been overlooked. Each and every one is being logged, listed, listened to and read. You are our best asset in this area. 5. Meeting With Our Prospective Pastor We’re all looking forward to step five! How can you help us right now? Please continue to pray. There are specific requests on the website. We love it when we see you in the church halls and you tell us you’re praying for us! Please continue to send us your recommendations. (Forms are available on the website and should be returned to Deana Loyd: deana.loyd@ibclr.org) Please don’t hesitate to ask us any questions you may have. Serving Christ Together, Your Pastor Search Team
SERVING TOGETHER BRANDON WATSON // Associate Pastor for Young Adults You have heard the the old adage that says, “a family that plays together, stays together.” It should also be said that a family that SERVES together is obedient to God. When we serve God as a family, not only does that please Him, but it also carries the potential to impact countless lives for His kingdom. Parents must not only teach their children what it means to follow the Lord and make disciples, but they must also model that lifestyle. So, how do we serve together? What does that look like on a practical level? Serving not only takes an idea, it takes follow-through on a daily basis. Here are 6 practical ways your family can serve together: 1. Constantly think about the Gospel We must never forget what compels us as believers. It is the gospel. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, it is clear that before we serve, our motivation and our attitudes need to be grounded in the gospel. Talk about God’s goodness all the time. When we do that with our families, it will be surprising the power that comes from the good news. 2. Pray Scripture says, “Pray without ceasing.” Pray about what’s on our hearts, and what’s in our hearts, and prayers, will come out in our actions. Pray about continual obedience in serving together!
3. Start at Home God has strategically placed us in our neighborhoods to make a difference where we live. Find ways to serve and love your neighbors. Host a cookout, take them cookies or help them with a project. Surprise them with the love of Christ. Be a “bridge-builder” in your neighborhood. Be ready to share your motivation for the love you have for them. 4. Serve at Church Serve the Body of Christ together. It may be as simple as being a family of greeters at the doors or in the parking lot on Sunday morning. Speak with a minister as a family about projects you could take on. It might even be at the Food Pantry. Be creative! 5. Serve our City Look around. There are countless organizations and outreach facilities in our city. They need help or items. Make sure you talk with them and find out how families can be involved and serve. 6. GO Trips Our church has many local, national and international opportunities to take the gospel and serve our world for Christ. Some are perfectly suited for the family or a parent/child. “Serve the Lord with gladness.” (Psalm 100:2a) Don’t waste the chance to serve together as a family!
FA M I LY MUSIC & MISSIONS // THE ZONE END OF YEAR PROGRAM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 // 6:00 PM // SANCTUARY If your kids and preschoolers have been in Music & Missions or The Zone this year, then join us on May 25 for our End of Year Program!
WORD ON WEDNESDAY
BEGINS JUNE 8 // 6:00-7:15 PM // PRAISE STATION If you have kids who have completed 1st-5th grades, they are invited to join us at W.O.W. (Word On Wednesday) for a fun, exciting Bible study for kids!
DISCOVERY DAYS
THURSDAYS // 9:00 AM-2:00 PM // $25 Children who have completed 1st-5th grades are invited to come discover God’s Creation at Discovery Days! We will not meet the weeks of VBS or Summer Camp. Sign up the Children’s Ministry Office by May 31.
VBS: GOLD MEDAL ARENA
SAVE THE DATES // JULY 11-15
STUDENT CAMP
JUNE 11-15 // OUACHITA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY This year’s camp theme is Marvel! God desires to lead each of us on a faith journey. What is your next step? Students in 6th-12th grades (completed) can sign up today for this awesome camp!
KIDS BASKETBALL CAMP June 28-30 // Completed K5-5th Grade
Sign your kids up today for our Kids Basketball Camp! It’s a super fun way for your kids to get out some energy and learn valuable lessons through sports and teamwork! This is a great outreach opportunity for your kids to invite their friends and neighbors. Contact the Rec Center for more information. MORNING SESSION // 9:00-10:30 AM (Completed K-2nd Grade) AFTERNOON SESSION // 1:00-2:30 PM (Completed 3rd-5th Grade)
A D U LT S CHURCHWIDE GOLF TOURNAMENTS
Join us for the Immanuel Cup Churchwide Golf Tournament and connect with other golfers at one of our upcoming tournaments! IMMANUEL CUP 2ND LEG // MAY 20 // GREYSTONE IN CABOT Cost is $40 and includes a catfish lunch, cart and a round of golf on the beautiful greens at Greystone. Lunch is at 11:30 am and tee off will be at 12:30 pm. IMMANUEL CUP 3RD LEG // JUNE 18 // HARBOR OAKS IN PINE BLUFF Play a four man scramble at Harbor Oaks in Pine Bluff. Cost is $35 and includeds range balls as well as cart and green fees.
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE WORKSHOP
MAY 24 // 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM // HORNE HALL Join us for this informative workshop to help you plan for your future! Guests will include Dr. David Moore, Dillon McClain and Dr. Sara Beth Harrington. Lunch is $5.
UPCOMING HOLIDAYS
MOTHER’S DAY // MAY 8 // NO EVENING SERVICES MEMORIAL DAY // NO EVENING SERVICES MAY 29 // OFFICES CLOSED MAY 30 FATHER’S DAY // JUNE 19 // NO EVENING SERVICES
GOD & COUNTRY SERVICE
JULY 3 // ONE SERVICE AT 9:00 AM Join us for our annual God & Country Service as we celebrate freedom and pray for our nation. We will have one service at 9:00 am, featuring our patriotic musical presentation. The service will be followed by Sunday School. There will be no evening service.
SENIOR ADULT SUMMER SERIES June 2 // July 7 // August 4 Senior Adults are invited to attend our summer teaching series in Horne Hall, featuring wonderful guest teachers, yummy treats, and fellowship with other senior adults. JUNE 2 - NANCY MORTON // JULY 7 - STAN PARRIS // AUGUST 4 - JEFF KINLEY
9:00 AM // BREAKFAST GOODIES 9:30-11:30 AM // TEACHING (break in the middle)
W H O WA S BLESSED MORE? PHIL SPIGNER // Associate Pastor for Ministries & Leadership
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38
the others were back at work, the teacher bent over Douglas’ desk and asked whose hand it was. ‘It’s your hand, teacher,’ he mumbled. She recalled that frequently at recess she had taken Douglas, a deserted child, by the hand. She often did that with the children. I love how God’s Word takes a totally different But it meant so much to Douglas. Out of view than the world’s all the things he could perspective. The world have been thankful for tells us to grab all we at Thanksgiving, he was “ S E RV I N G O T H E R S can grab and the Word most thankful for his C R E AT E S I N U S of God tells us that if teacher’s hand!” You tell FULFILLMENT AND we give and serve, we me, who received the P U R P O S E . will receive even more. blessing that day? S E RV I N G O U R L O R D Here is a story that I AND MAKING A read from Stories From Perhaps from this story, the Heart: “A few years we can learn that one DIFFERENCE IN OUR ago, a Thanksgiving of the most important W O R L D I S W H AT day editorial in the things you and I can give BRINGS US JOY newspaper told of a someone is a hand that AND GROWTH. school teacher who O N T H E O T H E R H A N D , reaches out to them with asked her first grade the love of Christ. WHEN WE FOCUS class to draw a picture Truly, God’s Word is O N S E L F, T H E R E I S of something they were truth. When we serve A LWAY S A D E S I R E F O R thankful for. But she others is when we MORE, A FEELING knew that most of them receive a larger blessing. O F I N A D E Q U A C Y, would draw pictures We learn that serving INSECURITY OR of turkeys or tables of others creates in us food. The teacher was fulfillment and purpose. DEPRESSION.” taken aback with the Serving our Lord and picture Douglas handed making a difference in in; a simple child-like drawing of a hand. our world is what brings us joy and growth. But whose hand was it? This class was On the other hand, when we focus on self, captivated by the abstract image. ‘I think there is always a desire for more, a feeling of it must be the hand of God that brings us inadequacy, insecurity or depression. Do You food,’ said one child. ‘A farmer,’ said another, Want Joy? Do You Want to Grow? Take the ‘because he raises the turkeys.’ Finally, when emphasis off of yourself and serve others.
LOVE & SERVE WARREN GORMAN // Associate Minister for Recreation
“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6:10 Our instruction to love and serve one another is an absolute, and according to this scripture in Galatians, we are to take special care of fellow believers. For some, taking that initial step to reach out is challenging and full of doubt. “What if I don’t know what to say? What if I don’t do this right? What if I mess this up?” All these questions of uncertainty are normal, but that doesn’t relieve us from the unnegotiable command: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 Jesus’ call on our lives is the same as it was for His disciples… “Follow Me.” So often we want to try to do something in our own power that we have never been equipped or called to do with good intentions and cannot understand why it failed to meet our expectations. God has gifted us and equipped us to be unique followers of him. A wise saint once told me “if we were both exactly alike, one of us wouldn’t be necessary.” She was right! What it specifically looks like for me to
follow Jesus is not going to be the same for you. We are not all called to be missionaries to the end of the earth, we are not all called to be preachers or teachers, and there is no calling that is greater than any other – we are all part of the body of Christ and we need each other. We are at our best when we understand how God uniquely created us and gifted us to serve Him in our own unique way. So, if you are finding yourself frustrated and disappointed in your walk with the Lord, step back and take a look to see if you are following Him. Or are you trying to be someone other than who God created you to be?
GO WIND TUNNELS
Wind Tunnel prayer meetings are held Sunday evenings at 6:00 pm in the living rooms of church members around our city. GHANA // MAY 1 PERU // MAY 15 MACAU // MAY 22 MALAYSIA // JUNE 5
SAN DIEGO // JUNE 5 VIETNAM // JUNE 19 AMAZON // JUNE 24 NYC: FSF // JUNE 26
GO INFO MEETINGS
Where is God calling you to GO in 2016? Come to our GO info meetings to find out more information on our upcoming trips! SUNDAY, MAY 1 // CHAPEL FOYER // 5:00 PM New York City (FSF) // Taiwan // Malaysia // Seattle & Vancouver // Milan SUNDAY, JUNE 26 // CHAPEL FOYER // 5:00 PM New York City // NYC: Global Gates // Dubai (Men) // Amazon // Thailand Vietnam // Israel // New York City (FSF)
UPCOMING GO TRIPS
Please be praying for our GO Teams headed to the Amazon, Haiti, Toronto, Ghana and Peru in May and June. Pray for safety, pray for boldness as they share the Gospel, pray for the hearts of the people to be softened and for the Holy Spirit to move in their lives.
WHAT ARE WIND TUNNELS? In the valley of dry bones, God commanded Ezekiel to gather the bones and call on the wind. He obeyed and the bones came together in recognizable bodies with even skin, flesh, and tendons. It was not until Ezekiel called on the wind, however, that the bones “came to life and stood up on their feet – as one, vast army.” (Ezekiel 37:10) Like Ezekiel, in 2016 we will also be creating wind tunnels by hosting evenings of prayer for specific people groups and partnerships. Wind Tunnels are held Sunday evenings at 6:00 pm in the living rooms of church members around our city. Contact the GO Office for locations.
B U I L D I N G R E L AT I O N S H I P S THROUGH SERVING MARK CARTER // Associate Pastor for Discipleship
“Discipleship is a lifestyle filled with relationships, a life of pouring yourself out for others.” There is no better way to build relationships than through acts of service and support. Reaching out in a spirit of love and compassion exemplifies the life of Christ and provides insight into how He loves each of us as the individuals He created us to be. The Word of God tells us that we should love and serve one another, continuously working to build genuine relationships and grow the Body of Christ; but what does this look like for us as believers? Serving with a Heart of Love Love will inspire us to joyfully put the needs of others above our own. Helping others through a time of crisis or simply face the challenges of life is a significant way to share Christ’s love. Mowing a yard, providing a meal or helping out with housework are all great opportunities to model discipleship to those God places in your path. Serving our friends happens organically, but serving a stranger may start a new relationship and introduce a life to God’s love. What’s important is that we let love motivate us as the Spirit makes us aware of opportunities to serve. “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13 (NKJV) Carry Each Other’s Burdens Some things are too heavy to carry alone. This fallen world is full of ups and downs, trials and tribulations, and no one is immune.
God does not intend for us to go through this life alone, but rather in community with other believers, and always reaching out to those in need of hope. We don’t have to have the “right words” to make a difference in hard times. People who are struggling don’t necessarily need someone to fix their problem; they need someone who will listen and share the journey in uncertain moments. “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it…” 1 Corinthians 12:26 (NKJV) Build Each Other Up “Building up” or “edifying” one another is sharing what Christ is doing in our lives to encourage others in their walk with the Lord. Nourishing one another’s spiritual life also helps us grow closer to Him and should be something that happens naturally when believers are together. You can build each other up by sharing what God is teaching you and how God continuously makes His love known to you! Your sharing will often result in the other person sharing, and the depth of the relationship will grow. “ . . .but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:13 (NJKV) There are endless opportunities to build relationships by simply caring for other people. Remember, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35 (NKJV)
RESOURCES CHECK OUT THESE GREAT SERVICE RELATED RESOURCES AND MORE ON RIGHTNOWMEDIA.COM!
HAVING A MARY HEART IN A MARTHA WORLD JOANNA WEAVER With her fresh approach to the familiar Bible story, Joanna Weaver shows how all of us — Marys and Marthas alike — can draw closer to our Lord: deepening our devotion, strengthening our service, and doing both with less stress and greater joy.
SERVING A MOVEMENT | TIM KELLER Best-selling author and pastor Timothy Keller looks at the nature of the church’s mission and its relationship to the work of individual Christians in the world. He examines what it means to be a missional church today and how churches can practically equip people for missional living. Churches need to intentionally cultivate an integrative ministry that connects people to God, to one another, to the needs of the city, and to the culture around us.
Staff Highlight
BRANDON BIRMINGHAM Meet Brandon Birmingham! Brandon has been faithfully serving Immanuel for almost two years now. As Maintenance Tech, Brandon is a “behind the scenes” guy who ensures the operations of Immanuel run smoothly day after day. As a graduate of ITT Technical Institute with an Associate degree in computer aided drafting and design, Brandon supports all engineering systems and performs building maintenance and repair. The entire Immanuel staff counts on Brandon so we can all carry out the tasks the Lord has called us to do. When Brandon is not at IBC making sure that everything is running like a well-oiled machine, he enjoys deer hunting and participates in Boy Scouts of America. The next time you see Brandon, please introduce yourself and thank him for his service!
501 N. SHACKLEFORD RD. | LITTLE ROCK, AR 72211