Tag Archives: Sermons

Maro26

Chase

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Agape Newsletter: Victory and Suffering. Easter covered dish breakfast and Saturday work day.

“Have you ever done a funeral for a baby before?”

“No ma’am” I said, “This will be the first.”

The above is a real conversation I had this week. I did indeed end up speaking at a funeral for a child this week, and I can tell you that I saw a level of suffering at that funeral that was off the charts, so to speak. The world we live in is capable of inflicting  unbelievable levels of catastrophic suffering. Does this mean that God doesn’t exist? Does it mean that He doesn’t care? Does it mean that Jesus did not triumph over death and hell on the cross?

Have you ever been around somebody who is suffering through a tragedy? It can be terribly disconcerting. Our natural impulse is to want to help, or encourage, but what does somebody who is suffering really need?

Have you been through a terribly difficult situation lately, one in which you prayed, but your prayers seemed to be dissipating right above your head - never reaching their Heavenly destination?

In the midst of a fallen world, is the resurrection really good news, or is it a myth, carried along by people looking for something to believe in and encourage themselves with?

We will be dealing with all of the above issues and questions over the next two weeks in a two part message series, culminating on Resurrection Day/Easter,  called “Suffering and Victory.”  We will consider practical issues like how to help people who are suffering, historical issues such as knowing for certain that Jesus was raised from the dead, and spiritual issues, like how the Resurrection of Jesus helps one in their daily life. Come join us, and be especially intentional about bringing your friends and family over the next two Sundays!

Upcoming Events:

  • Saturday (tomorrow), March 27 8:00 AM:  Churchwide workday, all are invited, men, women, youth and children. Come and help clean and repair the church building, and be good stewards over the things that God has blessed us with.
  • Wednesday night, 6:45pm: Special Youth communion service - invite your friends!
  • Next Sunday - Resurrection Day (April 4) 10:00 AM: Covered Dish breakfast - bring breakfast items (cinnamon rolls, orange juice, egg casserole, etc.) and join everybody for a breakfast and fellowship time, followed by a worshipful, dramatic, and impacting celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus - the Victor over death and hell!

See you Sunday!

Chase

Jano22

Chase

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Agape Newsletter: This Sunday’s message and our efforts to help in Haiti! (BAKE SALE NEXT WEDNESDAY)

Hello everybody, and welcome to a most significant Agape newsletter! This upcoming week @ Agape we will have several opportunities to give of our time, our resources, and even ourselves to help people who are in desperate need! I want to exhort you to take advantage of the opportunities listed below.

Before I get to some important announcements, let me ask you a question. Does God hate Haiti? That is the word on the street currently in Haiti. Pam McCormick, a missionary in Haiti right now, writes this about the earthquakes, ““Bondye pa renmen Ayiti” (God doesn’t like Haiti) is the word on the street. And though I know it is the furthest from the truth, I can’t blame them for feeling like that. From its beginnings as a slave colony, the people of Haiti have suffered and endured unimaginable tragedy, abuse and injustice. When you think things just couldn’t possibly get any worse in Haiti, they do.” Read on for how we can help the people of Haiti, and Glorify God in the process!

  • First up, let me tell you what’s on tap for Sunday morning corporate worship. This Sunday morning we continue our series on the four major purposes of Agape (GRIP or Glorify, Reach, Impact, Propel) we are focusing on the second purpose this week - Reach - reaching people with the Gospel as Jesus told us to in His Great Commission. The title of the message is “No Parking on the Dance Floor“, which might mean something to those of you born in the sixties or seventies. We’ll try to answer the question of how the Great Commission informs our lives individually and as a group, and how practically we can reach people with the good news of Jesus.
  • Next up is the Nest on Tuesday night, January 26. This is where we at Agape feed the homeless of Birmingham, pray for them, provide medical help for them, and point them to the love of Jesus. If you can help, please come to the Agape building at 6:00pm Tuesday
  • Finally, we have a big Wednesday night scheduled for January 27th. We will be doing our normal food pantry outreach that night, feeding many in our area. In addition, we are hosting a bake sale with a silent auction with 100 percent of the proceeds donated to on the ground relief work in Haiti. We are asking our Agape family to do two things:   1. To bake cakes, pies, turnovers, brownies, cookies, etc. for sale that night. The more food you make and the yummier the food, the better! Enlist the help of your friends and neighbors….Draw up a mouth watering description of your baked goods. Whatever it takes!  2. We are asking you to help get the word out about the bake sale. Tell your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Call the local radio stations. Invite your family, and anybody who might come! Put flyers up at grocery stores, and other places. SPREAD THE WORD. Next Wednesday night at 6:30 - Haiti Bake Sale and Silent Auction!  Let people know about this via email, via your Facebook or Myspace page, and however you can think of.

This fund raiser is part 1 of our mission to help Haiti. Part 2 involves us participating in a relief trip with the Alabama or Florida Baptist Association when the doors open to us. If you are curious as to where the money we raise is going to be donated, it will be going to the Haiti Relief Fund of Fellowship International Mission. I found out about this mission via Paula Fargarson, who found it on a post on Beth Moore’s website. If you are looking for more details, I have included the links below:

1. Beth Moore’s daughter talks about Matt and Pam McCormick, missionary friends in Haiti. This link includes Pam’s account of the earthquake in Haiti (Matt and Pam, Pam being 36 weeks pregnant, are on the ground as missionaries in Haiti, along with their 2 under 5 boys.) CLICK HERE

2. Here’s Matt’s post of a few days ago, on how we can help in Haiti. CLICK HERE We will be participating in their efforts to get food from the Dominican Republic directly into Haiti. The current situation in Port Au Prince is that much international relief has poured in, but a great quantity of it is sitting on the tarmac at the Port Au Prince airport. Haiti’s infrastructure and government are not now adequate to distribute it all. Matt is leading a grass roots effort (using small groups and pick up trucks) to distribute aid in a more efficient manner. READ ABOUT IT HERE.

3. Finally, you can read about Fellowship International Mission’s Haiti Relief Fund here: CLICK HERE

Remember to tell your friends and neighbors, and to do everything in your power to spread the word about next Wednesday. While you’re at it - why not invite them to come worship with you this Sunday?!

See you then,

Chase

Febo10

Chase

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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: 

1. This week’s sermon: Vision Part 3: What of those who never hear the gospel? 
2. Last week’s message (by Sam Knowles - a must listen to) available online: CLICK HERE
3. Valentines FREE STEAK DINNER (details below) 
4. Food Pantry Wednesday the 11th. 
5. Angel Food orders are due Sunday, February 15: (CLICK HERE FOR MENU )
6. Alabama is number one yet again!!! (see below) 

 

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