Agape Baptist Newsletter - February 5, 2009: What about those who never hear the gospel?

Hello friends and family, and welcome in to another Agape newsletter. Here’s what’s going on in the near future: 

This Wednesday night we had a very interesting (to me at least) and deep discussion on what constitutes blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and why that particular sin would be listed by Jesus as the unforgivable, or unpardonable sin. In the midst of that discussion, yet another very interesting issue was raised: “what happens to those who are born and die, never having heard the gospel - do they go to hell?”This Sunday (instead of next Wednesday), we are going to return to talking about the vision of our fellowship for 2009, and we are going to use this very question as a springboard to discussing what it is that God is calling us to this year. This won’t be a merely theoretical discussion of an interesting Bible theory, but hopefully a vibrant look at the character of God, and the very real importance of evangelism. Come with your Bibles and your opinions, and let us consider together what God is calling us to, and what God’s word says about this important issue. Is God fair? 

If you missed last week’s message, (by my friend Sam Knowles) then you missed a fantastic one, as well as an extremely colorful illustration that you will remember for quite a while. In completing our three part series on holiness, Sam gave us some practical instruction on how to actually walk in holiness. Dealing with holiness in a practical way is kind of a rare thing - often the church preaches the why of holiness, but not the how - this message has the how. Check it out: CLICK HERE

Coming next Saturday (Valentine’s) night, Dennis, Cindy and the missions team are going to be hosting a Valentine’s night dinner and movie for adults and kids. The adults will get a free STEAK meal (can you resist that?!) as well as be able to watch the excellent movie Fireproof. The kids will be watching Horton Hears a Who (another very good movie), and having food of their own in another room. You better believe my family will be there (who can find a baby sitter on Valentine’s night?), and I hope yours will be too! 

Also note, Food pantry will be this next Wednesday the 11th (at 6:00pm). We need your help! Whether you want to help Dennis bring down food to get ready for Food pantry, or whether you want to help John Talley’s team evangelize, or whether you simply want to help people get food to their car - come join us Wednesday night to feed the hungry, and reach the people! Also, Angel Food orders are due Sunday, February 15th. 

And finally, I would like to say, that in my annual February listing of my personal favorite states in America, the state of Alabama still ranks as #1 - my favorite state for at least two years running. (What, you thought I might be talking about something else??)    ;) 

Here’s some interesting/edifying/fun links for you to check out: 

*****     Where is the worst place in the world to be a Christian?: (hint: N.K.) CLICK HERE 

*****     What is the most religious state in the union? Did you know that Alabama is the second most religious? CLICK HERE 

*****     Free messages from the 2009 Desiring God pastor’s conference: CLICK HERE 

*****     NOT FOR SALE: a free audio book describing the efforts of 21st century anti slavery abolitionists: CLICK HERE 

*****     Randy Alcorn: Are you willing to be hated? CLICK HERE

Agape Newsletter #1 - August 22, 2008

Good Afternoon, and welcome to the first (at least the first that I’ve written) Agape email newsletter. The hope is to have a weekly newsletter that will give you a list of upcoming events at Agape, announcements, sermon subjects, as well as some other fun and edifying material. In the future, if you have any announcements or prayer requests that you’d like to be in the newsletter, please send them to me by Wednesday morning of each week.

If you missed this past Wednesday night, you missed a great fellowship time together, featuring a wonderful meal cooked by Jennifer Z, as well as corporate worship, Bible trivia, a Jesus video, and some Nintendo Wii gaming on the big screen. In case you were wondering about the boxing match that David McConnell and I were scheduled to have, don’t fret that violence has taken over the church - we simply boxed each other via Nintendo Wii Sports. We’ll be doing fellowship supper’s now every third Wednesday night, so be sure and come, if you can!

Coming up this week:

Sunday at 8:30, we will be having our weekly corporate prayer time. We usually meet in the back, right hand section of the sanctuary, in the “room” that has been constructed of partitions. This is a great time to meet together and pray for the needs of the church, and to seek God’s will together as a group.

Sunday at 9:45 - Small Groups: We have several small groups, and this is a great opportunity to actually begin building deeper relationships with others at Agape, as well as spending some quality in studying the word. This Sunday will be promotion Sunday for our children, so some children will be in new classes.

Sunday at 10:45 - Corporate worship and word time. This week the message will continue to focus on worship, with the goal to not teach us all that we can know about worship, but to help us go deeper and furthur in our worship of God.

Sunday afternoon at 4:00 - Leadership Team Meeting

Wednesday at 6:00: Food Pantry Outreach (helpers needed, see Cindy Underwood for more details)

Wednesday at 7:00 - Worship and adult Bible study, as well as youth and children’s groups. This Wednesday night during the adult Bible study, we’ll finally get back to Matthew 8, and look at the interesting question - can demons possess Christians?

Finally, next Sunday, August 31st, at the end of our corporate worship and teaching time, we will be having a comssioning for Bubby Burchfield, who will be leaving us during the first week in September to spend a year as an urban missionary in Wilmington Delaware. After the service, we will also be having a pot-luck luncheon to celebrate Bubby and his calling, and also as a going away party. Sue Taylor is our quarterback for this gathering, so if you haven’t received her email on it, please email me, and I’ll forward it to you.

Prayer Requests:

Please continue to remember Hannah Hicks, the newborn daughter of David and Kristy Hicks. Hannah is still in the hospital - pray for her heart and for her breathing, and that she would be able to come home soon. Of course, also pray for Kristy and David! In addition, please continue praying for Hannah Underood, as well as Cindy and Dennis. Hannah went home from the hospital this week, which is great news, but let us keep praying that God would cure Hannah of Multiple Sclerosis, and that He would comfort and hold Dennis, Cindy and Hannah throughout this time.

News Stories and other links:

As I noted above, most weeks this newsletter will contain some updated news from the Christian world, as well as links to edifying, challenging, interesting or funny material. I encourage you to check out the links below:

Often when we go through hard times, we wonder if God is punishing us, or what exactly is going on. Here is a short message, based on Hebrews, that points to the loving heart of God towards us as we go through trials.

Here’s an interesting one for parents: Discovering your child’s strengths through play

I wonder how good I would be at Nintendo Wii Prayer? (Click Here)

The world likes to tell us that no serious scientist could be a Christian, but did you know that the inventor of the MRI, as well as the head of the Human Genome Project (and many other notable scientists) are Christians? Read: Men of Science, Men of Faith.

Well, that’s it for this week’s newsletter - stay tuned next week for another one, and please let me know if you have any questions, requests, or you’d like to get off of this list.

Grace and Peace,

Chase Thompson

www.AgapePinson.com
www.ChaseandJanet.com
www.ChaseandSam.com