Is every person worth the same, or are some better than others? Jesus said that the people who society overlooks are exactly the ones we should reach out to so they know they're invited into the family of God, to God's spiritual banquet. Today, we rarely think about where our produce comes from, but the workers who harvest it often can't afford food themselves or stable housing. Rick & Ellen Burnette work in Immokalee, FL, to serve that group, which most people overlook.
Read Luke 14:1-6, 12-14 online here.
To learn more about Rick & Ellen Burnette, click here.
Bible Study – Inspired by Missionaries, College Ministry with David Stone
College years are an important time of development in people's lives. Away from home for the first time, they're growing intellectually, socially, and spiritually. So we are very glad that there are good folks like our very own David Stone, who work on many campuses to provide spaces for worship, Bible study, questions, and also fun.
To learn more about Baptist college ministry going on around the state, click here.
Bible Study – Inspired by Missionaries, Welcome Houses: Marc & Kim Wyatt (Eph 2:12-22)
When refugees arrive here, they often have no belongings, no place to stay, and have been through overwhelming trauma. Marc & Kim Wyatt have set up Welcome Houses around North Carolina to provide refugee families a safe place to settle and help them get their lives started strong. By inviting them into the family of God, everyone is blessed and lives are changed.
Read Ephesians 2:12-22 online here.
To learn more about the Wyatts and their Welcome House ministry, click here.
Bible Study – Inspired by Missionaries, Grace & Main Fellowship in Danville (Eph 2:12-14)
Even though Danville, VA, had a lot of churches, there were still many people who were hurting and overlooked. So Grace & Main Fellowship was started to make sure any person could get support in life and be welcomed into a loving Christian community. Through food ministry, Bible study, worship, and a community garden, lives are being changed because life is being shared.
Read Ephesians 2:12-14 online here.
To learn more about Jessica & Josh Hearne's work at Grace & Main, click here.
Bible Study – Inspired by Missionaries, The Beloved Community (Eph. 2:12-22)
The New Testament presents a vision of what a real Christian community is like, and it's starkly different from what the world naturally looks like. Martin Luther King called that vision "the beloved community," where everyone was welcomed and valued, so no one was mistreated or went without. We get an overview of three mission work centers around the world that we'll learn more about later, but they're each trying to build the beloved community in their area.
Read Ephesians 2:12-22 online here.
Bible Study – Inspired by Missionaries: Scarlette Jasper (Kentucky), Matt. 28:18-20
As Christians, we are called to show Jesus and to see Jesus in everyone we encounter. That means connecting with them through relationship, and figuring out how we can minister to their needs. It's what Scarlette Jasper does in the poorest counties of Kentucky, as she figures out what each community needs by getting to know the people there, and loving them as children of God. So how can we do that in our community?
Read Matthew 28:18-20 online here.
To read more about Scarlette and the work she does, click here.
Bible Study – Inspired by Missionaries: Kirk & Suzie (Thailand), Matt. 28:18-20
Surprisingly, there are still some people and groups in the world whose language has never been written down. Not only do they not have a printed Bible in their language, they don't have any books at all. Kirk & Suzie are missionaries that our offerings support, working with the Bisu people in Thailand. Over years of serving and loving, they have produced a Bible in their language, but more importantly, have helped lives be transformed by God's love.
Read Matthew 28:18-20 online here.
To read more about Kirk & Suzie and the work they do, click here.
Bible Study – Inspired by Missionaries – Dianne & Shane McNary (Slovakia), Luke 14:16-25
What would it feel like to never be included, or never understand what was going on? In many European countries, the Roma people are still discriminated against as outsiders, even though they've been there 800 years. But they are kept on the margins of society. Jesus, however, made it a point to reach out to people on the margins, help them with whatever they needed, and tell them they were loved. Dianne & Shane McNary are missionaries trying to do exactly that for the Roma people around Slovakia.
Read Luke 14:16-25 online here.
To read more about the McNarys and the work they do, click here.
Bible Study – Inspired by Missionaries, Project Ruth (Romania), Acts 16:13-33
Our missions highlight this week is a ministry center in Bucharest, Romania. It began as a program to help young Roma (gypsy) children learn to read, and it has expanded into a K-8 grade school that also offers parenting classes, job skills training, minister workshops, and more. We read a story in Acts about people being set free, then hear the incredible things Project Ruth does to set people free, and then think about how we can do that here!
Read Acts 16:13-33 online here.
To open the handout and read more of Project Ruth's story, click here.
Bible Study – The Early Church part 16: Overcoming Differences (Acts 15:22-35)
It's human nature to be suspicious of people who are different from us, whatever the difference might be–the way they look, talk, live, dress, act, anything. But what God's Holy Spirit has always been working to do is overcome the divisions we put up, so that all people can be welcomed into the church, and even Christians who might not agree on everything can work together to spread God's good news.
Read Acts 15:22-35 online here.
Bible Study – The Early Church part 15: Compromising as Courage (Acts 15:13-21)
When there's an important discussion that needs to happen, it's common for things to get heated. When the early church had an argument over who could join and what they had to do, eventually they were able to reach a compromise. Compromises can be hard to reach, but it's the only way to get big things done, and it truly shows love to brothers and sisters with whom we disagree.
Read Acts 15:13-21 online here.
Bible Study – The Early Church part 14: Church Disagreements (Acts 15:1-12)
Acts shows us that God's good news of love is always trying to welcome more people, even if some inside the church don't want it to. The first Christian church had a heated debate about who would be allowed in, and what they would have to do beforehand. Do we follow the old laws and traditions and prejudices, or do we let the love of God expand our welcome?
Read Acts 15:1-12 online here.
To open or download the handout this week, a story of when Pastor Stuart was blessed by a church of refugees, click here.
Bible Study – The Early Church part 13: Missionary Reports (Acts 14:21-28)
It's so inspiring to hear about mission work going on in our country and the world that we get to support and be a part of. After the very first missionary journey, Paul & Barnabas returned to their church in Antioch and reported everything that God had done through them.
Read Acts Acts 14:21-28 online here.
To open or download the handout this week, with stories of inspiring missionary work around the world, click here.
Bible Study – The Early Church part 12: Sending Missionaries, Acts 12:25–13:5
When the Holy Spirit moves, it often surprises us in a direction we weren't planning on. The new church in Antioch was flourishing, and it had great leaders. But then the Holy Spirit went and called two of their best leaders away. The folks in Antioch didn't resist but blessed Paul & Barnabas in this new kind of venture, the first examples of missionaries. So what's God calling you to do today?
Read Acts 12:25–13:5 online here.
Bible Study – The Early Church part 11: Responding to Needs (Acts 11:19-30)
As the message of Jesus spread outside Jerusalem, one place it really took off was the city of Antioch. All people were welcomed into the new church there, and their lives demonstrated the love of Christ so much that that's where people were first called "Christians." One way they showed that love was through providing food to hungry folks, which we can do today.
Read Acts 11:19-30 online here.
For the handout this week, click here.
Bible Study – The Early Church part 10: Moving Beyond the Old Ways (Acts 11:1-18)
It's hard to let our minds be changed, even when God's trying to do the changing! In Acts, God wanted the new Christian church to change what they always thought were the rules for who could join, but it was hard for them to evolve their thinking. Peter needed a direct vision to be convinced that no one should be excluded, but then he had to convince the more skeptical church members too. What does it take for us?
Read Acts 11:1-18 online here.
For the handout this week, click here.
Bible Study – The Early Church part 9: Genuine Witnessing (Acts 10:34-48)
There are a lot of different ways to help another person learn about faith. Some are direct, while some are more indirect. The most important thing to remember is to just be honest and authentic, with whomever God might lead you to interact with.
Read Acts 10:34-48 online here.
To open or download the handout this week, click here.
Bible Study – The Early Church part 8: Witnessing to All (Acts 10:1~43)
When Peter stepped into the house of a Roman centurion, the Christian church only grew by a few people in numbers, but it represented the complete explosion of barriers to all the world. At the time, Peter should've never spoken to Cornelius, since his religious upbringing said that would be sinful. But Peter let God change his mind, so he stopped thinking that any person was impure, and let the gospel break through the human barriers that separated them.
Read Acts 10:1-43 online here.
Bible Study – The Early Church part 7: Taking Risks (Acts 9:10-19)
The Bible is full of stories where God called someone to do something that was risky and uncertain, but it unlocked incredible blessings for everyone involved. This week we talk about one early Christian (Ananias) who was called to help a known enemy of the Christian church (Saul). He was naturally unsure about it, but he followed the Holy Spirit's nudging anyway, and both men were changed.
Read Acts 9:10-19 online here.
To open or print the handout that Pastor Stuart passed out at the end, with stories of Baptists taking risks and being blessed, click here.
Bible Study – The Early Church: Breaking Barriers (Acts 8:26-38)
The Bible passage this week is about two men who are so different, they should never have even spoken to each other. But the Holy Spirit guides Philip the deacon to reach out to an Ethiopian eunuch on the road. There were so many barriers that other people and the world had put up, which should have kept the two men separate. But the good news of grace that welcomes all people into God's kingdom is able to break down all the walls that separate us.
Read Acts 8:26-38 online here.
To open or print the handout that Pastor Stuart passed out at the end, with stories of Baptists breaking barriers, click HERE.