Family News

We’re now heading into the last of the summer months.  Before we know it, the cooler weather will arrive, and the leaves will begin to turn that beautiful color of yellow, red & orange.  Folk from all over the USA will come to our area, or roam over to the Blue Ridge Parkway, to just soak in the colors that God has made for us to enjoy. 

 Though the weather and the leaves change, the Lord’s work on the Hill continues!  Programs come and go with the calendar, but the focus remains constant…..imploring our friends, neighbors and far-away acquaintances to consider the saving Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and yield their lives to His loving command & authority.  Making Him Savior & Lord is the ONLY thing that makes Life worth living! All other pursuits…even good church programs…are vanity; they vanish into thin air when the heat is turned up & Time passes on.

So, keep these programs & changes in perspective.  They are transient things.  They have no glory in themselves, except as they promote the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our personal lives, where the rubber meets the road, where the moment by moment decisions are made of what to think, what to say, and what to do.

1) Sunday School is changing over.  Soon we’ll post the new quarter’s teachers and subjects.  In the meantime, if you are a teacher…either “permanent” or “relief”…plan to join Jason & Stacey Hatley in the kitchen/fellowship area for an early -morning meeting on Sunday, August 15.  The time is 7:45.  Coffee & rolls will be ready for you.  Come prayed-up and ready for the Spirit to do His unifying and clarifying work as only He can do it!  Note: That’s this coming-up Sunday….only a few days away!

 2) The Nursery is full these days….precious little ones who are reaching for love & guidance.  Has God gifted you with His strength (as in a strong back)?  Has He given you a measure of calm spirit in the midst of seeming chaos?  Do you love those little people who can’t yet talk well?   If so, consider giving back to Him in the form of volunteering your time, energy & skill during the Sunday School hour.

 There is a sign-up sheet in the foyer, or call Stacy Hatley at 336-364-3560, or email her at  bhcssdf@yahoo.com

3) This week our Beulah Baptist Association is organizing some general community good-works.  These range from yard sales, landscaping, cookie bakes, school supplies & eye exams.   For details about these daily events, check out their website pdf description at  http://beulahassociation.com/PDF%20Files/missionblast11.pdf

   4) The pillars have arrived!!!  And so has the paint!   These are our new pillars, which will replace the rotting ones on our front porch.  Cal Berry is looking for a few good men (or women) to help transfer the paint from the buckets to the pillars.  All supplies are provided (except your painting clothes).  I can personally recommend the Ethiopia Painting Crew of Jason Evans, Danny Chambers, Ed Johnson, the Humphries family, Bange and Oshe.   Call Cal if you’d like join this fun & work…or call one of the Ethiopia Painting Crew.

 5) It’s that time again!  Deacon nominations are being taken.  Now, here on the Hill, we don’t just recommend those men that are good-lookin’, or known as “good ole’ boys”, or the umpteenth descendent of a founding member.  No…No….No!  We see what the Head of the Church says about who we should nominate.  And He’s given pretty clear instructions through two of His apostles. In Titus 1:5-11, the Apostle Paul outlines very clear character/lifestyle issues we are to look for…without unconfessed/blatant sin, having only one marriage, having a calm/peaceful home, showing good stewardship under God, not strong-willed/selfish/short-tempered, not undisciplined in matters of drink or money or physical behavior, treasuring the Word of God & able to use that Word to encourage & correct others.    Those men chosen by the Holy Spirit through us have been given a clear job description by the Apostle Peter in I Peter 5:1-3.  Read the list yourself….Feeder, Guider, Protector, Server (without hidden agendas), Example/model.

 God has already placed men in our midst that meet these qualifications and that are willing to do this work.  Here on the Hill, He’s given us many truly godly, humble servants of the Lord in His church.  And by His Spirit, if we are willing to obey the Scriptures and seek His Voice on the matter, He will show  us whom He has chosen.  Remember Jason’s sermon a few weeks back from Acts 13?  The people were praying when the Spirit said “separate for me, for work I’ve appointed, Saul & Barnabas.”  And we can trust Him to give us this same guidance on the Hill.  …  So let us give our hearts to the Word of God, and our ears to the Voice of God…and then let us nominate those men that He settles in our soul.

Write the names of those who are settled in  your soul on a piece of paper, and give the paper to someone on the Nominating Committee:  Paul Bentley, George Woody, Nora Pixley, Danny Chambers or Cindi Jacobs (I think I got them all )

 6) In somewhat the same vein as the Elder/Deacon nomination, the Committee has suggested folk on the Hill for the other ministry needs.  A listing of their recommendations is in the Foyer.  There are a few blank spaces. Pray over these blank spaces, and if the Lord of the church spurs you, then call someone on the Committee & volunteer to have your name put on that blank place.  Then move forward into the new year trusting the Lord’s Voice to you and His ability to complete that which He has begun in and through you.

 7) M&M Kidz….anyone interested in joining a children’s Bell Choir?  Call Joni Dudley if you are.

 8) Our Ethiopia Team made The Courier Times newspaper of Roxboro, NC on July 10.  It’s a full-page article, complete with many pictures and an interview with our own Dr. Rick.   Unfortunately, the article is no longer on their website, but you can read it on the bulletin board at the kitchen…which, of course, is the happenin’ place on the Hill )

 9) Youth for Christ Warehouse is starting up again each Saturday evening.  Our family on the Hill has volunteered to help out on the SECOND Saturday of each month, from 5pm-10pm.  This is a time of touching the area’s youth with the love & purpose of Jesus.  Food, Games, Bible Teaching are bound up in friendship….and that friendship could make the difference between Life and Death for a young person who is confused, distraught, strung-out, or otherwise searching for purpose in living.  Will you bring this before the Lord, and ask Him simply: “Do You want me to help these Saturday nights?”  …  Then just be obedient.    Jason Evans and Joel Bradsher are working with Tim Bowes in this work; let them know if you are appointed to join the force for Jesus amongst these youth.

10) “Thank you” from the family of Basil Clower.  In the providence of God, he was taken from us, following weeks of sickness.  “We want to thank  everyone for the calls, visits, food, and especially your prayers in the loss of our Dad, Basil Clower…..Rose & Wendy.”  Be sure to keep this family in your prayers, as they continue to adjust to his absence.

 11) And the grand finale of this listing of family news is the decision of Miss Taylor Watts.  “Are you willing to follow Him and be obedient to Him the rest of your life?”   So asked Joel, publically, before all the people, high up in the pool of water.  “Yes”, she replied.  And under she went…completely immersed, picturing for us the death, burial & resurrection of our Lord Jesus.  The waters did not save Taylor this morning.  No…her decision was made some weeks back.  Her sister had been reminding her of Jesus’ love & claim on her life, and the week at Youth Camp brought the quiet, thoughtful surroundings to spur the questioning of others about the salvation that was needed in her life.  The whole issue of baptism took us back to the second chapter of Acts.  Peter was reviewing with the Jewish leaders the record of redemption in their religious history; his conclusion: Jesus is the culmination of all this history.  The Temple, the Sacrifices, the Promises, the Prophets….it all culminated in the great Sacrifice and Resurrection of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ Himself!  Such a review of the record makes people either rise up in anger & rejection, or break in wonder & ask “So now what do we do?”    Sometimes Peter’s audiences did one, and sometimes they did the other.  In Acts 2, thankfully, they did the latter….and Peter answered very directly & simply: “Repent & be baptized.”    Repentence means a complete life change…in values, in actions, in focus, in goal, in relationships.  And repentence is linked by the Apostle Peter with baptism.  They go together.  If someone has repented, he has been saved from sin…and if he’s been saved, he’s been saved to obedience…and baptism is the public declaration of the intent to be obedient. 

As Taylor walked up out of the pool of water, Joel put the lid on the issue: “Jesus calls us to live a public life for Him.  There is no such thing as a private Christian.”   The relationship between the Savior and the Sinner is a personal one, but it is never private.  Never.

Have you entered that relationship with the Savior?  Have you embraced the Culmination of history and asked the question “So what do I do now?”   Have you repented (turned around from the old life) and made that decision public through baptism?

Much to think about…..  I’m sure Taylor would love to share her story of her Savior with you.  But the decision is yours…and so are the consequences.