Danielle Higgins Baptized August 5, 2012 Chris Kirby Baptized August 19, 2012 Ashley Kirby Transferred August 19, 2012 Brett Kaminsky Transferred September 2, 2012 Jennifer Kaminsky Transferred September 2, 2012 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ~John 8:12 (NIV) Additions Galatians 6:2 – “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” The Apostle Paul explains that we fulfill Christ’s law, the law of love, by bearing each other’s burdens. Christ’s law of love is very practical. It invites us to enter each other’s lives, roll up our sleeves, get our hands dirty, and help shoulder the load of life’s burdens. A women shopping in the mall shared that she witnessed one elderly person pushing another elderly person in a wheelchair. She smiled when she heard the friend in the wheelchair comment to her friend, “When you get tired we’ll trade.” This is what members of Christ’s Body do: when one member grows tired we trade and offer love and support. (Continued on page 2) Special points of interest • September events are highlighted on page 4. The full calendar is on page 6. • New Wednesday Night class information can be found on page 5. • You can receive this newsletter by email. Just go to www.heathchurchofchrist .com/newsletter.htm. Inside this issue Mission of the Month— Dave & Donna Linn Team Expansion Venezuela 3 News and Statistics 4 September Calendar 6 Children’s Ministry 8 Student Ministry 10 September 2012 Newsletter Bearing Each Other’s Burdens ~Greg Robbins Heath Church of Christ
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Transcript
Danielle Higgins Baptized August 5, 2012
Chris Kirby Baptized August 19, 2012
Ashley Kirby Transferred August 19, 2012
Brett Kaminsky Transferred September 2, 2012
Jennifer Kaminsky Transferred September 2, 2012
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
~John 8:12 (NIV)
Additions
Galatians 6:2 – “Carry each other’s
burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the
law of Christ.”
The Apostle Paul explains that we fulfill Christ’s law,
the law of love, by bearing each other’s burdens.
Christ’s law of love is very practical. It invites us to
enter each other’s lives, roll up our sleeves, get our
hands dirty, and help shoulder the load of life’s
burdens. A women shopping in the mall shared that
she witnessed one elderly person pushing another
elderly person in a wheelchair. She smiled when she
heard the friend in the
wheelchair comment to
her friend, “When you
get tired we’ll trade.”
This is what members of
Christ’s Body do: when
one member grows tired
we trade and offer love
and support.
(Continued on page 2)
Special points of interest
• September events are highlighted on page 4. The full calendar is on page 6.
• New Wednesday Night class information can be found on page 5.
• You can receive this newsletter by email. Just go to www.heathchurchofchrist
.com/newsletter.htm.
Inside this issue
Mission of the Month—
Dave & Donna Linn
Team Expansion
Venezuela
3
News and Statistics 4
September Calendar 6
Children’s Ministry 8
Student Ministry 10
September 2012 Newsletter
Bearing Each Other’s Burdens ~Greg Robbins
Heath Church of Christ
2
Bearing Each Other’s Burdens (continued from page 1)
Two requirements are necessary if we
are going to fulfill Jesus’ law and bear
each other’s burdens. One
requirement is that we have to be
honest with one another about what is
taking place in our lives. When
someone asks you, “How are you?”
how do you normally respond?
Probably most of us respond by
saying, “fine.” But the truth is that we
are not always fine. Sometimes we
are worried, hurting, angry, or sad.
The church should be a
place where we can be
honest about how we
are really feeling.
Fulfilling the law of love
requires such honesty.
Related, a second
requirement for fulfilling
Christ’s law is that we have to make
time for one another. Supporting a
person who is being honest about a
struggle in their life takes time. We
cannot bear each other’s burdens if
we don’t know one another. We
can’t bear each other’s burdens if we
only come to church when the
weather is cold and it is the off season
for our kid’s team. We can’t carry
each other’s burdens in a hurry.
Fulfilling this command cannot be
microwaved; rather, it takes time and
commitment.
In our fast-paced world we need to
make the most of the time that we do
have. In our classes and small groups,
carve out a few minutes for bearing
each other’s burdens by sharing and
praying for one another. Take
advantage of the fellowship time
between services. Over a cup of
coffee, ask someone sincerely, “How
are you?” and then give them the gift
of a listening ear.
Maybe God has placed an individual or
family on your heart. Perhaps you
could be a good
steward of your time
by sending a card,
making a call, or inviting
a hurting person over
for a warm meal and
conversation?
I recently read this card
posted in one of our Sunday school
classrooms: “Thank you all for
prayers, cards, and calls during a very
tense time for me. It is so reassuring
to have such special friends in Christ.”
Through simple acts we bear one
another’s burdens. This is what it
means to be the church. This is what it
means to fulfill the law of Christ. This
is what it means to belong to one
another in the Body of Christ. When
we belong to the Body of Christ we
do not face the burdens of life alone.
(Continued from page 1)
. . . help the weak, be patient with everyone. I Thessalonians 5:14
3
Mission of the Month
With a desire to live out the book of Acts, David and Donna Linn
felt called by God to leave their first ministry near Williamstown,
KY in 1987 and become church planters in Caracas,
Venezuela. Working with Team Expansion, 14 churches have been
founded since that date. Vision 2020 goal is to see these churches
multiplied into 120 inside and out of Venezuela by the year 2020.
During this past decade the Linn’s founded the Casarapa
Community Church. Beginning in 2000, the church met in the open air under a
shade tree. Today it is the largest of the Venezuelan mission churches hosting
three Sunday services, multiple staff, dozens of cell groups, and is reproducing
itself in new church plants. Some 700 people have been baptized in this church
in the past decade with a present attendance at nearly 800.
The Linn’s also helped found the Potter’s Inn Camp, a year-round camp/retreat
center where hundreds have come to know the Lord, scores have been
baptized, and dozens more called into Christian service. In 2009, a Bible
institute was established to help multiply national leadership, pastors and future
missionaries. It has over 100 students.
The Linn's returned from the field in 2010 in order for David to serve as
president of the National Missionary Convention, Lexington, KY, now called
ICOM (International Conference on Missions). With two children in college
(Deshay and Dionna) and one finishing high school (Dawson), they presently live
in Indianapolis assisting their children in transition while still heavily involved in
missions.
Currently, their mission involvement is four-fold: 1) Development of Vision
2020 in Venezuela with frequent trips back and forth to Venezuela and other
countries. 2) International Student outreach in Indianapolis through English
classes, especially among Asian & Muslims, 3) Mission mobilization & teaching in
local churches, through courses like Kairos (helping churches accomplish the
Great Commission) and Jonathan Training (best practices in missions today.) 4)
Interim Director of Train International, helping missionaries and churches be
more effective in missions.
While the door is still open for the Linn's to return full-time to Venezuela, it is
anticipated that by the summer of 2013 they will know with greater clarity
God's direction in the next season of their lives. They appreciate your prayers
as they seek God's will in this matter. Thank you for your involvement in their