Faith Notes July 31

Normal Believers Community night at the Mudcats baseball game Friday, Aug. 12 is a fundraiser for the pastor's friend ministry. Game begins at 7:15 p.m. There are 11 Sky box tickets reserved in cattails section 3 on sale, $12.50 each. All proceeds are for the Pastor's Friend Ministries. Call Charles Kile at 413-3868 or send an email to ncbelieverscommunity@gmail.com . Rocky Cross Baptist Church in Middlesex is raising money to build a playground at the church. The congregation has applied for a Pepsi Refresh Project Grant and need votes. Each month, Pepsi-Cola awards money to individuals and groups that have the most votes for their project ideas. Church members are asking everyone to go to www.refresheverything.com/ , set up an account, search for Rocky Cross Baptist Church and cast your vote. You can also go to www.refresheverything.com/rockycrossplayground or text 107385 to Pepsi 73774. Your vote could help the church win $25,000. For more information, call 269-9696. The Christians Hooping It Up third annual basketball tournament is 12:30 -7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8 at Knightdale Recreation Center, 101 Lawson Ridge Road, Knightdale. Interested teams should contact Dorothy Ferrell -266-4709; e-mail: cferrell@nowfaithcbc.org ) by Aug. 5. Sponsored by Now Faith Community Baptist Church of Knightdale. This event will help in the church's fund-raising efforts for the new Multi-Purpose Building.

The Gospel-Driven Church: Planting vs. Replanting in New England

And I am loathe to ascribe it to lack of interest, necessarily, because every week I receive emails from men who feel called to minister in New England. Most of these do not believe they are called or gifted to plant churches. (I sympathize, because I am neither called nor gifted to be a church planter either.) So they ask about existing churches needing pastors. Are there churches here in need of pastors? Yes. There are many dying or dwindling churches, and some just plateaued congregations dawdling around, that are in desperate need of gospel-centered shepherding. My church, for instance, has commissioned 4 of our men to provide pulpit supply for a growing number of churches in our area who are without a preacher. One of our guys was recently asked by two churches in the same town to be their regular preacher each week. And whenever I bring up the need for church planting in New England, I will hear from a few cautioning corners that the "real" need in New England is for pastors to take over existing churches. I've seen this happen locally multiple times just in my 2 years here, and I have heard of this difficulty elsewhere. A friend of mine interviewing for churches in another New England state was very much liked for his preaching gifts, his personality, his experience, and his general presence. But he was ultimately rejected for holding to the exclusivity of Christ and the authority and infalliblity of the Scriptures. It is just not as simple as saying, "Hey, there's a bunch of churches who need pastors, why don't you come to one of those?" The reality is that these bunches of churches don't want the kinds of pastors who would be most likely to replant them in the gospel. Even if a pastor wanted to take one over, he would likely not be hired for his conservative beliefs. The notion of replanting is predicated on a church that is eager for someone to lead it into the future of mission and gospel-centrality. But this idea is not only foreign to the theological liberalism and functionally social nature of churches here, it is foreign to the personality of New England, which for all its liberalism is a pretty traditional place. Churches don't want to change. They want to keep doing what they're doing but see different results. Churches are married til death do them part to buildings they can't afford, to denominational affiliations they don't understand, and ways of doing church that don't resonate even with themselves anymore.

Pastor Paul's Blog: Needing And Being An Encourager In The Church - A Mighty Ministry -

Pastor Paul's Blog: Needing And Being An Encourager In The Church - A Mighty Ministry

Pastor Paul's Blog: Needing And Being An Encourager In The Church - A Mighty Ministry

Church was great!!! I am so loving and needing Pastor Andy's summer series!!

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