Why Go On A Mission Trip When There Are So Many Needs Here?

In preparations for our mission trip to Malta last year, the mission team had to read the book "Radical" by David Platt. This book is a dangerous book that everyone needs to read. It is dangerous because it calls for an unapologetic, extreme sacrifice of our lives for Jesus Christ and the Glory of God.

In his book, Platt addresses the common question of "why should we go on a mission trip when there are so many needs right here?" Platt answers this question by saying:

"As we have seen in scripture, God's heart is for the world. So when we say we have a heart for the United States, we are admitting that we have a meager 5 percent of God's heart, and we are proud of it. When we say we have a heart for the city we live in, we confess that we have less than 1 percent of God's heart."

"Certainly there are great needs here. But must we insist on dividing the Great Commission into an either-or proposition? Who told us that we have to choose to have a heart for the United States or for the world? Based on the purpose of God we've seen in scripture, shouldn't every Christian's heart be consumed with how we can make God's glory known in all the world?"

Lottie Moon's Heart for the Chinese

This past Sunday, I preached a message from Hebrews 12:1-2 about running the race God has marked out for us unhindered. As illustrations for the text, we looked at one of our Southern Baptist hero's - Lottie Moon. Since I never get to share everything I research in the sermon, I would like to provide two convicting quotes from Lottie as she served our Lord in China:

Published in the January 1888 Foreign Mission Journal.

"The needs of these people press upon my soul, and I cannot be silent. It is grievous to think of these human souls going down to death without even one opportunity of hearing the name of Jesus. People talk vaguely about the heathen, picturing them as scarcely human, or at best, as ignorant barbarians. If they could live among them as I do, they would find in the men much to respect and admire; in the women and girls they would see many sweet and loving traits of character. They would feel, pressing upon their heart and conscience, the duty of giving the gospel to them. It does seem strange that when men and women can be found willing to risk life—or, at least, health and strength—in order that these people may hear the gospel, that Christians withhold the means to send them. Once more I urge upon the consciences of my Christian brethren and sisters the claims of these people among whom I dwell. Here I am working alone in a city of many thousand inhabitants, with numberless villages clustered around or stretching away in the illuminate distance: how many can I reach? It fills one with sorrow to see these people so earnest in their worship of false gods, seeking to work out their salvation by supposed works of merit, with no one to tell them of a better way. Then, to remember the wealth hoarded in Christian coffers! The money lavished on fine dresses and costly living! Is it not time for Christian men and women to return to the simplicity of earlier times? Should we not press it home upon our consciences that the sole object of our conversion was not the salvation of our own souls, but that we might become co-workers with our Lord and Master in the conversion of the world?"

Published in the May 1889 Foreign Mission Journal.

“One cannot help asking sadly, why is love of gold more potent than love of souls? The number of men mining and prospecting for gold in Shantung is more than double the number of men representing Southern Baptists! What a lesson for Southern Baptists to ponder!”

Children's Calendar 2011

I am excited to announce that we have a children’s activity calendar established that will provide children with a fun church event for every month of this year! Our children’s committee and I worked hard on putting together a list of fun activities to do throughout this next year. 

To Download a Calendar for printing - click here. 

Here is what we are going to be doing in 2011:

2011 Children’s Activities:

January 29 – Bumper Bowling at Bowlarama

10AM-Noon $2.75 per game/$1 for shoes

February 26 – Pitmasters BBQ Party

11AM-1PM $5 per child

March 15 – Finley’s Fun Park (Danville) 6-8PM (Free)

April 23 – Easter Egg Hunt at Fort Harrod 11AM-1PM

May 28 – Louisville Zoo Trip (Details T.B.A.)

June  – Children’s VBS Musical (Details TBA)

July 10-14 – Vacation Bible School  6:30-8:30PM

July 15 – Pool Party (And. Dean Pk.) 6-9PM

July 30 – “The Downtown Showdown” (12-4PM)

Held at the Mercer County Association of Baptists Building

August 26 – Fall Festival at Anderson Dean Park

From 6:30-8:30 PM featuring food, games, and inflatables.

September 24 – Devine’s Corn Maze (Details T.B.A)

October 30 – Trunk or Treat 6PM

November 12 – Movie Day (Details T.B.A

December 18 – Happy Birthday Jesus Party

In church fellowship hall at 6PM.

Please stay tuned for further details by checking out

our church website at www.brunerschapel.com.

Children's Calendar 2011

I am excited to announce that we have a children’s activity calendar established that will provide children with a fun church event for every month of this year! Our children’s committee and I worked hard on putting together a list of fun activities to do throughout this next year. 

To Download a Calendar for printing - click here. 

Here is what we are going to be doing in 2011:

2011 Children’s Activities:

January 29 – Bumper Bowling at Bowlarama

10AM-Noon $2.75 per game/$1 for shoes

February 26 – Pitmasters BBQ Party

11AM-1PM $5 per child

March 15 – Finley’s Fun Park (Danville) 6-8PM (Free)

April 23 – Easter Egg Hunt at Fort Harrod 11AM-1PM

May 28 – Louisville Zoo Trip (Details T.B.A.)

June  – Children’s VBS Musical (Details TBA)

July 10-14 – Vacation Bible School  6:30-8:30PM

July 15 – Pool Party (And. Dean Pk.) 6-9PM

July 30 – “The Downtown Showdown” (12-4PM)

Held at the Mercer County Association of Baptists Building

August 26 – Fall Festival at Anderson Dean Park

From 6:30-8:30 PM featuring food, games, and inflatables.

September 24 – Devine’s Corn Maze (Details T.B.A)

October 30 – Trunk or Treat 6PM

November 12 – Movie Day (Details T.B.A

December 18 – Happy Birthday Jesus Party

In church fellowship hall at 6PM.

Please stay tuned for further details by checking out

our church website at www.brunerschapel.com.

New Year = New Bible Reading Plan

As we approach the New Year, this is a great time for laying down some new resolutions and establishing new habits. One emphasis that I always stress during this time of year is obtaining a good reading plan for going through the Bible. While I am still behind a few months on my plan from last year, I am already enjoying a new plan that I would like to share with you today.

Most of the plans I have used require a straight read through the whole Bible.  This can become very difficult as you journey through the more tedious portions of scripture. To spend a month in Leviticus or Chronicles is a challenge for most Christians. I have found this following reading plan both address this challenge and provide for fruitful and enjoyable daily reading:

Grant Horner’s Bible-Reading System –

Grant Horner’s system requires reading 10 chapters a day. The 10 chapters are from 10 different sections throughout the Bible. Reading one chapter from each section each day exposes you to an amazing overview of scripture. Here are the 10 sections:

Section 1 (89 days) Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
Section 2 (187 days) Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Section 3 (78 days) Romans, I&II Cor, Gal, Eph, Phil, Col, Hebrews
Section 4 (65 days) I&II Thess, I&II Tim, Titus, Philemon, James, I&II Peter, I,II&III John, Jude, Revelation
Section 5 (62 days) Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
Section 6 (150 days) Psalms
Section 7 (31 days) Proverbs
Section 8 (249 days) Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I&II Samuel, I&II Kings, I&II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
Section 9 (250 days) Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Section 10 (28 days) Acts

As you complete a section, you go back to the beginning of that section and begin reading it again. Grant Horner says, “Since the lists vary in length, the readings begin interweaving in constantly changing ways. You will NEVER read the same set of ten chapters together again! Every year you'll read through all the Gospels four times, the Pentateuch twice, Paul's letters 4-5 times each, the OT wisdom literature six times, all the Psalms at least twice, all the Proverbs as well as Acts a dozen times, and all the way through the OT History and Prophetic books about 1 ½ times. Since the interweaving is constantly changing, you will experience the Bible commenting on itself in constantly changing ways.”

I have been using this system for two months and I cannot express how much I have personally enjoyed using it. I try to read 5 chapters in the morning and 5 chapters at night. Though it takes more work than other systems, I have found it to be more fruitful.

As we embark on a New Year, may God bless us as we endeavor to read through his Word!

-       Bro. Dave

Here are the two Bible Reading Plans for Bruner's Chapel Baptist Church for the New year. Feel free to download them, print them off, and place them in your Bible.

Grant Horners Bible Reading Plan 

In PDF Format. Will require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to open.

Through the Bible Plan

In Microsoft Word Format.

Book at a Time Plan (From Discipleship Journal)

In PDF Format. Will require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to open.

Other Plans that may be of interest

Chronological Plan

In PDF Format. Will require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to open.

New Testament and Old Testament Plan

In PDF Format. Will require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to open.

(New!) Topical Bible Plan (Read a different topic each day through the Bible)

In PDF Format. Will require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to open.

For more plans check out the following links from:

www.bibleplan.org

www.zondervan.com

www.esv.org

What Heaven Lacks

(The following comes from John MacArthur’s book, the Glory of Heaven.)

One is tempted to say nothing will be lacking in heaven, but happily that is not the case. The apostle John lists a number of things utterly absent from heaven. You may be surprised by some of them.

No Temple

John writes, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple” (v. 22, NASB). So in one sense there is no temple in heaven. In another sense, however, God Himself is the temple.

In what sense is God the “temple” of heaven? A temple is where you go to worship. John is suggesting that in heaven when we worship, we will worship in the very presence of God. He is the place of worship. He spreads His tabernacle over all who are in heaven (Rev. 7:15, NASB). They serve Him day and night. The worship never stops.And since worship is simply glorifying God, this means there is nothing required of us that cannot be done as an act of worship. Therefore, if we were perfect beings, sinless in every regard, our lives would be non-stop worship.

No Light Source

Revelation 21:23 says, “The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”

No Security System

The apostle John further writes, “And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there” (Rev. 21:25). In an ancient city the gates were shut at night to protect the people from robbers, bandits, and invading armies. Gates that are always open speak of perfect security and protection. There will be absolutely no threat to the security of heaven, so there will be no need of closed gates.

No Curse

If any aspect of heaven stirs my heart with eager anticipation, it is this: “ And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”   —Rev. 22:3–5

The curse will be overturned and erased forever, with all its painful and detestable ramifications. Pain, the agony of toil, sweat, thorns, disease, sorrow, and sin will have no place whatsoever in heaven.

May God bless us with a stronger love for heaven!

-          Bro. Dave

Prayer Needs and Update from The Malta Mission Trip

On our recent mission trip to Malta last week, we were able to pass out more than 1600 outreach packets. We would talk to anyone who would listen to us and would gently share the gospel as we passed the packets out. Each packet included a tract, info on how to get a free Bible, an invitation to an area Bible study, and contact information for prayer needs and any spiritual questions. In recent feedback from the Malta team, we have learned that the responses from these packets is already coming in:

The KY team did arrive home safely and their visit was a big blessing for us personally and also for the Maltese. They did practical ministry (helping install a kitchen in a church), prayerwalking, evangelism, and distributions [in towns] adopted by churches in their association, [and] encouraged us. We’ve already received some responses from the distributions too!

Here are some post-trip prayer needs:
- Please pray for more people to respond to the outreach packets and for the Holy Spirit to draw the people to read through the materials.
- Please pray for the permanent team in Malta that God would bless them as they follow up on these responses.
- Pray for the area Bible studies to continue to grow and grow!
- Pray for God to bless the wonderful people of Malta with a deeper love for Jesus Christ!
- Pray that God would send more laborers to Malta to work in the harvest fields!




May God bless the seeds that have been scattered, that they may develop and produce fruit!

- David Crowe