Summer Mission Trip Profile

Where will we be going?  To the Moore Activity Center in Covington. Located at 304 Linden Ave. Covington, KY 41011. (phone number 859.261.2300)

When is this trip? Monday, July 8 – Friday, July 12. While you are welcome to come and go at any time, our team will meet at the church at 9AM on Monday, July 8 and return on Friday, July 12 by 12 noon.

What is the Moore Activity Center? The Moore Activity Center is designed to show Love to inner-city individuals and families by developing the whole person (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) through teaching, nurturing, mentoring, tutoring and lay counseling based on Christian values.

Under the direction of Amy Wilhelmus, the MAC is literally reaching thousands of people by "Meeting Needs - Sharing Christ" through the vehicles of various activities and programming: tutoring, family fun nights, bible programs, community service events, recovery programs, giveaways, summer programs and so much more.

How was the Moore Activity Center established? On April 1, 2000, South Side Baptist Church in downtown Covington, KY took ownership of the "Salty Dog Saloon" as an answer to 33 years of prayer of former pastor Harold Pike. With the financial help of the church, special friends Elaine & Jimmy Moore, and former saloon owners Mr. & Mrs. Salter, that saloon became South Side's and ultimately became the Moore Activity Center, known as the MAC. The MAC has become a beacon in the downtown Covington area, seeking to reach what some may call the unreachable.

What will we be doing?

Mornings - Construction and community work. Construction includes fixing up a bathroom, painting, floor work, plumbing, and landscaping. Community work includes helping with the food pantry, counseling, handing out fliers for the evening outreach, and feeding the poor.

Afternoons - Variety - more construction, community work, outreach, sightseeing, counsel with children during the day program, go to nursing homes ministry, evangelism, or taking a break.

Evenings - We are running a large "Backyard Bible Club" in the Covington community called "Fun in the Son." We will have to plan and implement this by ourselves and we can use our VBS material or any other material we desire.

What is the cost? While the trip is free, you will need to bring about $30 for eating out.

What about lodging?

-       The Moore Activity Center sleeps 14 in three different rooms. These rooms have beds for mission team guests. Two rooms sleep 4 and one room sleeps 6. There are two full bathrooms between these three rooms that have showers.

-       South Side Baptist Church, which is located on the same block as the Activity Center, has many rooms available to sleep on the floor using air mattresses or sleeping bags. There are bathrooms with showers available in the church. The church can sleep up to 50 people.

What do I need to bring? Snacks, sheets for the bed or air mattress or sleeping bag. clothes for warm weather and clothes for construction. Towels and bathroom stuff.

What are some of the needs?

Construction - We need Construction workers for painting, plumbing, landscaping, and tearing down.

Backyard Bible Club Leaders - We will need a person for the Gospel story, missionary story (optional), crafts, games, and snacks. Talk to Amy Riley for more information.

Cooks - We have to bring and cook our own food and we have access to a full kitchen.

Driver - We will need to take the church van or bus, depending on interest.

Please pray about your role in this trip, and whether God would have you join with us!

May God bless us as we give, pray, and go on missions!

-       Bro. Dave

Words on Revival from Charles Spurgeon -

It is incumbent upon all Christians to be thoroughly awake to the interests of Zion, but upon the leaders most of all. Special supplication should be made for beloved brethren in office that they may be full of the Holy Ghost.

Workers in the Sunday-schools, tract distributors, and other laborers for Christ, what different people they become when grace is vigorous from what they are when their life flickers in the socket! Like sickly vegetation in a cellar, all blanched and unhealthy, are workers who have little grace; like willows by the water-courses, like grease with reeds and rushes in well-watered valleys, are the servants of God who live in his presence. It is no wonder that our Lord said, "Because thou art neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth," for when the earnest Christian's heart is full of fire it is sickening to talk with lukewarm people. 

While a true revival in its essence belongs only to God's people, it always brings with it a blessing for the other sheep who are not yet of the fold. If you drop a stone into a lake the ring widens continually, till the farthest corner of the lake feels the influence. Let the Lord revive a believer and very soon his family, his friends, his neighbors, receive a share of the benefit; for when a Christian is revived, he prays more fervently for sinners. Longing, loving prayer for sinners, is one of the marks of a revival in the renewed heart. Since the blessing is asked for sinners, the blessing comes from him who hears the prayers of his people; and thus the world gains by revival. Soon the revived Christian speaks concerning Jesus and the gospel; he sows good seed, and God's good seed is never lost, for he has said, "It shall not return unto me void." The good seed is sown in the furrows, and in some sinners' hearts God prepares the soil, so that the seed springs up in a glorious harvest. Thus by the zealous conversation of believers another door of mercy opens to men.

When Christians are revived they live more consistently, they make their homes more holy and more happy, and this leads the ungodly to envy them, and to enquire after their secret. Sinners by God's grace long to be like such cheerful happy saints; their mouths water to feast with them upon their hidden manna, and this is another blessing, for it leads men to seek the Savior. If an ungodly man steps into a congregation where all the saints are revived he does not go to sleep under the sermon. The minister will not let him do that, for the hearer perceives that the preacher feels what he is preaching, and has a right to be heard. This is a clear gain, for now the man listens with deep emotion; and above all, the Holy Spirit's power, which the preacher has received in answer to prayer comes upon the hearer's mind; he is convinced of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come, and Christians who are on the watch around him hasten to tell him of the Savior, and point him to the redeeming blood, so that though the revival, strictly speaking, is with the people of God, yet the result of it no man can limit. 

Brethren, let us seek a revival during the present month. Let us pledge ourselves to form a prayer-union, a sacred band of suppliants, and may God do unto us according to our faith.

(You can read the rest of this sermon here)

Spring is Here!

'For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. 'The flowers have already appeared in the land; The time has arrived for pruning the vines, And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land. 'The fig tree has ripened its figs,  And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along!' " Song of Solomon 2:11-13 (NASB)

Spring is here! With spring warming things up, I would like to share some upcoming events that will need your prayer and participation:

Spring Revival with Dr. Shane Garrison and Sola Grace.  April 21-24, 2013.

Dr. Shane Garrison is the assistant professor of Educational Ministries in the School of Theology at Campbellsville University. There is hardly a Western Recorder in print during the last three years that does not have a quote from or a conference advertisement featuring Shane Garrison. Shane’s preaching is beloved throughout the state and he has been recently featured in a number of national VBS conferences for Lifeway. Bruner’s Chapel Baptist Church will have the honor of hosting Shane for a four day revival on April 21-24. Please pray for Shane and for our church that God would “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.”

July Mission Trip to the Moore Activity Center in Covington, Ky. July 8-12, 2013. (Details will be forthcoming)

All volunteers will be needed to assist with Northern Kentucky evangelism, discipleship, and construction needs. In April of 2000, South Side Baptist Church in downtown Covington, KY, took ownership of the “Salty Dog Saloon” and turned it into the Moore Activity Center, a place for inner city outreach. God has been blessing the outreach of this center to where it is now one of the most sought after mission experiences in the state. Bruner’s Chapel Baptist Church has a full week scheduled in July and we will need volunteers for all types of service. If you are interested in more information, please check out our website and look under the “Show Jesus to the World” tab and click on "Mission Trips."

While these two events should provide some great memories for life, will you join me in praying for their eternal impact? I pray that God would open up the windows of heaven and rain down such a blessing on us that we would not be able to contain it!

May God bless us with a fruitful spring!

-      -  Bro. Dave

When the perfect comes...

“…when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away” (1 Corinthians 13:10). (The following post was adapted from an article by Jon Bloom)

“When the perfect comes.” Those inspired words stir up deep longings for a time we have never known and yet desperately want.

Right now even the best things are not what they should be. And so much goes so very wrong. In this partial age, our bodies, our loved ones, our careers, our creations, our investments, and our plans are all subject to the forces of uselessness (Romans 8:20). This age is marked more by suffering (8:18), longing (8:19), groaning (8:23), and hope (8:24) than by fulfillment.

We must remind each other that the partial, this age that is all that we’ve ever known, is passing away and the perfect is coming. To all you road-weary travelers who have found that the way that leads to life (Matthew 7:14) is harder than you ever imagined, the perfect day of rest is coming (Matthew 11:28).

To all you who find yourself poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3), humbled, desolate, and in desperate need of what only God can provide, the perfect day of the all-abundant kingdom is coming.

To all you who are mourning the loss of a precious one (Matthew 5:4) and finding it hard to press on under the heavy cloud of sorrow, the perfect day of death’s death (1 Corinthians 15:26) is coming.

To all of you who are growing tired in the relentless struggle to hold back the flood of unrighteousness, both from within and without, and who long deeply for a time when all is made right (Matthew 5:6), the perfect day of your satisfaction is coming.

To all of you who have been injured by the wickedness of another and have responded with a tear-filled mercy (Matthew 5:7), the perfect day of restoration is coming.

To all of you whose soft heart (Matthew 5:8) is tormented over the sin-hardened, sin-infected world around you, the perfectly pure day is coming when you will see what your soul most longs for.

To all of you peacemakers who are blessed of God (Matthew 5:9) and yet find this blessed work heartbreaking, misunderstood, and underappreciated, the perfect day of reconciliation is coming.

To all of you who find yourselves in a disorienting darkness that feels unbearable and wonder if God has abandoned you (Psalm 88:14), the perfect day is coming when the Light, in whom there is no darkness (1 John 1:5), will shine upon you (Numbers 6:25).

And to all of you who increasingly love and long for Jesus’ appearing (2 Timothy 4:8), who have an inconsolable homesickness for a country far better than any that exists here (Hebrews 11:16), your perfect home, a home prepared especially for you (John 14:2), is coming.

When the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. The promised “soon” (Revelation 22:20) is getting sooner. Let us keep encouraging one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

May God bless us to hold fast to the hope set before us (Hebrews 6:18). And let us press on to know Him (Hosea 6:3)!

Spiritual Gift Survey

In an effort to help you discover your spiritual gift, download and fill out the following Survey from Lifeway:

You can click here to download the PDF file.

If you would like, you can request a copy of this survey from the church office by calling 859-734-3546 during regular office hours. (Tuesday-Thursday from 8:30-4:30)

You can also order Charles Stanley's series, "God's Children: Gifted for Ministry" by clicking here. 

The Chronological Plan PDF Download

We have chosen to use the Read the Bible for Life Chronological plan for 2013. You can download and print off the chronological plan by clicking here.

The Read the Bible for Life Chronological Plan

You can pick up the 2013 Bible reading plan either online or in the Sunday School office. This sheet will fit nicely in your bible, and provide you with a full year of reading through the Bible chronologically. Some of the benefits of this plan include:

1. Reading the Bible chronologically gives one a better sense of the overall flow of Bible history from beginning to end. The reader learns to keep a Bible passage in its historical context and order. By reading chronologically, the Bible student can more easily follow God’s plan of salvation from the beginning – the “mystery” that has been manifest from times eternal to the present (Rom. 16:25-26; 1 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:26). Remember, the Bible is not a catechism or a topical textbook arranged by subject matter: God, man, sin, salvation, etc. The Bible is a single and unified message of salvation that flows through several periods of history.
2. Reading the Bible chronologically allows the reader to put together the historical events with the doctrinal lessons attached to them. For example, in the Old Testament, one can read about the tumultuous events of the life of David in 1 Samuel, followed by the God-honoring feelings of his life in the book of Psalms. Or, one can read about the ungodly history of Israel in 1-2 Kings, followed by the powerful sermons preached by the prophets during that time. The historical events are explained by the spiritual lessons and vice-versa.
3. This plan has only 6 readings per week. You get a free day to catch up or read elsewhere. 
4. You can read through this plan on any electronic internet device of your choice. You can read through this plan on the internet by going to www.youversion.com and setting up the “Reading God’s Story: One Year Chronological Plan”. If you own an apple device (iphone, ipad, or ipod touch) or an android device - you  can download the Youversion Bible app for free and access this resource from your mobile device. This app/website will help you keep up with your readings and will allow you to read through the plan in any Bible version of your choice for absolutely free.  

Let me encourage you to read the Bible in chronological order at least once in your lifetime. It will reward you greatly in your understanding of God’s overall plan for saving mankind. The Bible is one, continuous message of salvation from paradise on earth lost (Gen. 1-3) to paradise in heaven regained (Rev. 21-22). By reading chronologically, you will see the beautiful panoramic view of the Bible’s plan of salvation as it is seen through a series of unfolding events throughout history.

May God give us a greater hunger for and a better understanding of His Word!