Archive for May, 2010

Mayo28

Chase

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Hello all,

Welcome into another Agape mini-newsletter. After a great Family Fun Day last Sunday, I don’t have a ton of news to report this week, but we do have an important gathering this Sunday morning, and some important prayer requests to cover:

This Sunday, we will be looking at one of the primary prophetic predictions in the scripture, known theologically as “The Great Apostasy”. This is a predicted/prophesied falling away of many in the church in the last days. In simple terms, the Bible teaches that in the days before the return of Jesus, that many people will leave the Body of Christ, pursuing a sort of one world religion. You’ve probably heard preachers teach about this before, but what you might not have heard about is the other side of the coin: concurrently with the great falling away, there will be an almost unprecedented revival, in which tons of people will come into the Body of Christ. It is possible that we are either entering into this period of time, or we are entering into a preview of it. Come join us Sunday as we delve into the last days, and what the Word of God says will happen to his people in those days.

Also: a preview: At some point in June, we are going to launch into a series that will seek to answer the question, “Why does a good God allow terrible suffering and evil?” This is one of the most common questions asked by those who are outside of the church, and this will be a great opportunity to invite your friends to hear an explanation of this perplexing question, to watch a video debate of a Christian scholar and an agnostic scholar wrestling over this issue, and to be able to ask questions that they may have always wondered about. Stay tuned.

Prayer Requests:

  • Please pray fervently for Linda Roberts. I have just found out that she had to be re-admitted to the hospital with an infection, and a very high fever. Pray for her quick healing!
  • Please pray for Greg Cusimano’s father, who had a serious stroke this week, and is still in the hospital. He is unable to move on one side of his body, and his language has been affected greatly. Please pray for his healing, and for the Cusimano family in general - lift them up!
  • Please pray for Steve Sellers and his mother Evelyn, who is back in the hospital, and struggling with her O2 numbers. Pray for her healing, and for strength, peace, joy, and upholding for Steve, and his brothers.
  • Please pray for Ann and Lynn and Sue’s uncle Gray Brumbloe
  • Please pray for my daughter, Kassidy (the youngest), as she seems to be developing bronchitis, and as my kids are asthmatics, bronchitis hits them very hard.

Thanks for your prayers, and I look forward to seeing you Sunday!

Chase

p.s. - Thanks to all who helped with the food pantry Wednesday night - we had a huge crowd of people, and a great number of helpers!

Mayo21

Chase

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Family Fun Day this Sunday!!!

Due to unprecedented rains, we have moved our Family Fun Day venue onto an Ark that we are constructing for that purpose.

Okay - I’m just kidding, but my - we have had a bunch of rain, haven’t we!? The good news is that the rain will be gone by Sunday, and it will be nice and sunny. (bring sunscreen and a hat).
Here’s what you need to know for this Sunday:
  • Small Groups will be held as normal, and corporate worship will start at 10:45. Instead of a sermon, we will hear from a few different people encouraging us to rise up as families of God.
  • Invite your friends and family members! This will be a very casual and fun day, that will be ideal to bring a friend with you.
  • Folks: Even if you aren’t entering the baked goods contest, or the man food contest, we do need you to bring a side dish of some sort for sharing. This will be a covered dish type day, with the church providing some great baked beans, and smoked turkeys, thanks to Greg Cusimano, David Ledbetter, Jason Roberts (and maybe more).
  • The Man Food Contest will be held shortly after the conclusion of morning worship. There is a prize - a gift certificate to Long Star Steakhouse! Man-Food entrants - be sure to cook enough food to share - the point of our contest is to share your manly food with as many people as possible. Judges will be picked from the congregation. Women and youth (and children) are allowed to enter - indeed a woman won the contest last year!
  • The baked food contest (cake, pie, cupcakes, etc) will be held at roughly the same time - again, bring enough to share, as this will most likely be our dessert table!
  • We are also going to have a great moonwalk - a dunking booth, and a ton of fun and games for the kids and adults. If you have fun items (Lassos, badminton sets, Frisbees, etc) - BRING THEM!
  • Our day will conclude with an awards type ceremony to celebrate the winners of all of the games that we will be playing.
Come join us Sunday, and don’t forget to invite your friends!
Chase
(email me back with any questions)

Mayo19

Chase

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Agape: Wednesday night Last Days Bible study + Man-food contest and Family Fun Day preview.

Hello friends,


Tonight at Agape, in addition to having great Kid’s Revive and EPIC youth classes, we are also going to have our Adult last days Bible study class. Here is one of the passages that we are going to look at:

1Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”

What a mysterious and compelling passage! What does it mean? Join us tonight as we delve into the mysteries of Revelation in order to get a closer look at the One who gave the Revelation - Jesus.

Also - I hope that you men are sharpening your knives, and preparing your cooking tools for this Sunday’s (May 23rd) man-food contest. I hope that you ladies are preparing your cake pans and your flour for our baked items contest this Sunday. I note, with some degree of manly shame, that it was not a man that won the man-food contest last year - it was a woman, our own Kay Trimm (alias: Kay Turner). It is a wonder that most of us men didn’t handle this shame with the traditional samurai method of dealing with disgrace, but this year, we have a chance to redeem ourselves. So - gird your loins men, and get ready to make the best manly food ever created. This year will be the year that we triumph!

And, for those who will ask - Men are welcome to enter baked goods, and women are welcome to enter man-food. In fact, the more food the merrier!

See you tonight!

Chase

p.s. - Kids Revive and EPIC youth kick off at 6:30, and that Adult Last Days Study starts at 7:00pm.

Mayo17

Chase

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Paul Tillich, jumping.

This is a picture of theologian Paul Tillich jumping. I am not a big Tillich fan, but unfortunately, I do not possess a picture of Wayne Grudem or D.A. Carson jumping. This will have to suffice until then:

paul-tillichFamily Fun Day, by the way, is this Sunday, May 23rd. Details soon!

Mayo05

Chase

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FREE CHEESE TONIGHT AT AGAPE! ;)

Wednesday!, Wednesday!, Wednesday! (you should “hear” this whole paragraph as if it was read by a guy advertising a monster truck rally). This Wednesday, only at Agape Baptist church, we are giving away a free 2 pound block of cheese to the first twenty people to attend tonight’s Adult Last Days Bible Study and say the words, “Agape Baptist is the best church to get free cheese at on a Wednesday night!”   “What’s the catch”,  you ask? There’s no catch  - just come!   “There’s gotta be a catch, like I probably have to get baptized or something.” I hear you thinking - but no - you don’t even have to get baptized to get a free block of cheese tonight - just come and ask!  Also witness Clobberalla the giant Monster Truck crush a bright blue pick up truck IN THE CHURCH PARKING LOT!!*

Okay okay - I suppose I am being a bit silly. Wayne and I picked up about 240 pounds of cheese today at United Way, and we don’t really have a good place to store it for very long, so if you would like some fresh, Bordon Cheddar cheese tonight, all you have to do is ask! Whether you need cheese or not,  I would urge you, however, to come join us for tonight’s last day’s Bible study, as it should be action packed, encouraging, interesting, and faith building. In addition to looking at the devastating but God-breathed trumpet judgments, we are also going to begin to look at the second coming of Jesus - probably in a way that you’ve never considered before. We will look at some specific Old Testament and New Testament passages that will give most of us a clearer, and more detailed picture of His return than we have had before. I hope you can make it, whether you need cheese or not!! :)  The fun starts at 7pm, but come early for some coffee and fellowship!

Also, don’t forget about Kid’s Revive tonight at 6:30pm, where Sam and Laurie (and team) will be teaching our kids the Word of God, and leading them in worship. EPIC youth also begins at 6:30 with worship led by John Talley, followed by David McConnell.

Men of Agape: We need your help to get us ready for Mother’s Day this week! If you can help weed-eat, or cut the grass some this week, please let Greg or I know. I will write more in a couple of days about our plans for this Sunday, but Mother’s Day @ Agape should be wonderful!

Prayer Requests:

Please pray for Dennis Underwood, as he had surgery on his leg this past week, and will have to be off of his artificial leg for several weeks.

Please pray for my Grandmother, Ann Partain, as she broke her back last week.

Please pray for Linda and Jason Roberts, as Linda has now come home, and is celebrating her birthday this week!

Please pray for our Mother’s Day worship time this Sunday that it would bless our moms, and that God would be most glorified!

See you tonight, I hope!
Chase

(* Not really - no trucks will be crushed tonight)