Merry Christmas

As we approach the weekend before Christmas, I want to take a moment to say thank you to some people who have made 2018 amazing!

Amy Keller…my bride, my ministry partner, my support, my comfort, my love…thank you for being who you are.  You mean the world to me!

My Family…My kids Ashton and Elijah, My son in law James, my grandbabies Emory and Odin…I love you all so much, you all are my best.

My Extended Family…parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews, Aunts and Uncles, and cousins…thanks for being awesome!

My Church Family…BRADY LANE CHURCH…YOU ROCK!!!! Amy and I Love you all!

BLC Elders…You guys are my teammates, my go to guys, my friends, my brothers.  I love you guys!

BLC Staff…You ladies keep this place afloat!  Without all of you we would not have the growth we have had in 2018!

BLC Team Leaders…All of you and your teams have done an amazing job lifting all the areas of ministry up in 2018!  Keep up the good works for Jesus and His Kingdom!

Paul Del Valley – My Preaching Partner, confidant and friend!  May God continue to bless your ministry at Colfax Christian!  Looking forward to working through 2019 together!

Rob Brown – My good friend.  May God bless you in 2019!

All of you mean so much to me, and there are so many I didn’t have time or space to mention individually who are on my mind and in my thoughts all the time!  

As we head into the new year, let us be mindful of Christ, lifting His Name up high as strive to continue to GROW UP in HIM.  Our first sermon series in 2019 will be titled GREATER, and will be represented by the “greater than” sign in between the years 2018 and 2019.  The “alligator mouth” is pointed at 2019…indicating that we are going to be striving to be greater in 2019.  Greater at what you might be asking.  Greater at producing the fruit of the Spirit!  We will spend the first 8 weeks of the year going deep in scripture to push ourselves to produce and bear more fruit in 2019!!!  Join us beginning January 6th 2019!!!!!

https://bradylanechurch.org/2018/12/20/1439/

We just finished a sermon series called Too Much: Living with Less in the Land of More. It is inspired by the book written by Dr. Gary Johnson, long time Lead Servant of The Creek, a book about making Jesus the Lord of our finances…and approaching our lives in a way that avoids the myth of more…a life that mirrors the humility, generosity, sacrifice, and love of Jesus.
One of the most troubling things about ministry is watching people who have tremendous potential to be amazing Kingdom workers just go through the motions. I think we all…myself included need to examine our hearts daily to determine if we are going through the motions enjoying the gift of salvation without the dying to self part…making Jesus first, others second, ourselves last. The picking up our cross daily and following Him part.
There are many who seek the salvation of Jesus who don’t want anything to do with Lordship of Christ. I’m not just talking about finances. I’m talking about wanting the gift without the surrender. Trying to have a foot in both worlds will only end with grief. Jesus never said we had to give up the things of this world that are good…and created for our pleasure and enjoyment…he just said we have to seek Him first…meaning we have to make Him Lord.
I encourage you to take a moment as we head into the season of MORE to read Matthew chapter 6. The entire chapter…part of Jesus Sermon on the Mount…is about making Jesus Lord. Here are some of the most important verses from the chapter…
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Before there was a Black Friday, Turkey Thursday, Wonderful Wednesday, Terrific Tuesday, and Marvelous Monday – yes according to the Amazon commercials…one day of deals was not enough…now we have a whole week! Before any of these temptations of MORE existed, Jesus taught us that the myth of more was just that…a myth…more will not satisfy you. It will not make you happy. It will not fulfill you. It will not fill the Jesus shaped hole in your soul.
Depression, anxiety, suicide are all out of control, people are seeking things to remove these feelings and hopelessness…Folks they never will. God created us to have that desire and desperate need to find fulfillment. That fulfillment comes from letting Jesus be the LORD and savior of your life.
I share this with you not to scold…not to judge…not to hate…but to remove the hopelessness and replace with HOPE. To remove the depression and anxiety and replace it with peace. To remove the darkness and replace it with light.
If you want something different…I am here – and ready to listen, and help you find the ONE you are missing.  God bless you and keep you, may He cause His light to shine upon you, and grant you peace!

https://bradylanechurch.org/2018/11/27/1368/

Hey everyone!  It’s Tuesday morning of Holy Week, the week that leads up to Resurrection Sunday – the title I prefer to Easter Sunday.  Sunday is the day that we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ!  The Maker and Perfector of our faith!  As we head through the week I want to challenge you to read some scriptures and do a few things to prepare for Sunday! 

• First read the arrest and crucifixion narrative sometime this week from all four Gospels.  Maybe Read one Each day starting on Wednesday.  They are each two chapters long.  (Matthew 26 & 27; Mark 14 & 15; Luke 22 & 23; John 18 & 19)
• Also Read 1 Corinthians 15.  I am going to be preaching out of that chapter but for time’s sake won’t be able to cover the entire chapter.  We will be specifically studying verses 3-8; 18; 20-22; and 57.  But to have a good grasp of the context it will help if you have read the text before coming.
• PRAY. Meditate.  If you feel led…fast.  Prepare your heart and soul for something from God.
• Join us at Elmwood Church of Christ on Friday night at 7pm for our Good Friday service.  This will prepare you even more for what is to come on Sunday.

Resurrection Sunday is always a special day.  I have many beautiful memories from past observances of the resurrection of Christ.  I know this coming Sunday will be added to those!  Join us at 8:30am or 11:00am.  Breakfast will be served between the two services!  Lots of good food and great fellowship!  We will be finishing our Song of the Ages teaching series with a message titled: O Glorious Day! 

I hope this past month you have taken it to heart and been encouraged by the fact that Jesus Paid It All, so that we could understand How Great the Father’s Love is, and realize that each one can come, Just As I Am, to receive his Amazing Grace, so One Day we can share in His resurrection…O Glorious Day!

May God bless you and keep you, may He cause His Light to shine upon you, and grant you peace!

In HIM

Pastor Jeff

A vision from God cast for us!

We have been spending the last 8 months or so, working on the next three year vision for Brady Lane Church.  This past Sunday and the next two Sundays our Elders will be continuing to reveal this vision to the congregation.  I would like to take a moment to share the vision with you.

The meaning of our VISION – ANTICIPATE – is through God’s prompting of  us through the Holy Spirit, and with His guidance and direction, we as a church begin to Anticipate the needs of our church and the community around us, to use our resources with good stewardship to meet those needs, both spiritual and physical.

INVOLVEMENT

Involvement in our vision pertains to us making more of an effort to connect our body of believers to each other through opportunities to do ministry together, and to be in life groups together.  We also desire to make sure we make a better effort to connect with guests and new attenders, to do a better job of getting them involved in the body of Christ at BRADY LANE!  Some of the things we will be doing in the next three years to help with that are:

• New interior signage to eliminate guest and member confusion
• New Service Times Beginning on January 7th, 2018 – (8:30 Worship/9:45 Sunday School/ 11:00 Worship)
• Move Coffee Bar away from children’s hallway to the adult hallway to alleviate congestion and add security to our children’s area
• Formation of a security ministry team
• Annual Ministry Fair in all three years
• Implementation of Involvement Plan (1st time guest – to meet the pastor – to BLC 101 & 102 Class – to involvement in life group or ministry team
• Formation of an intentional Connection Team
• Improve guest services team by adding new members and upgrading our welcome area to help people get involved.
• More mentoring and discipleship opportunities – Goal was set that everyone who serves in a ministry will have trained someone to do what they do before 2020.

COMMUNITY

Community in our vision pertains to our desire to get more connected to the community around us.  We have been very internally focused over the past three years as we healed the grew through a difficult season.  Now we are ready to turn our eyes out to the community around us, and get busy making Jesus famous in Lafayette, Indiana.  Some of the things we will be doing in the next three years in this area are:

• Better follow up on our events to help connect with our community and get them to come back again.
• More focused outreach opportunities, being intentional with our calendar to match up with community events.
• Connecting with Pheasant Run Apartments to reach to their tenants
• Electives for the community – ESL, Help Groups, Recovery Groups, Financial Classes, Etc.
• Increase in our involvement at Miami Elementary School, our adopted school.
• Increase our presence in our community at events, festivals, parks, city schools, and Purdue and Ivy Tech events.
• Become more culturally diverse to match our community around us.
• More involvement in Missions both at home and abroad.

RESOURCES

Resources in our vision pertains to the abundance of blessings that God has poured out upon us, and using those blessings to bless others.  We have set a goal by the end of 2017 to be out of debt as a church.  We are very close to reaching that goal.  With the freedom that presents to not be making a mortgage payment every month, most churches end up going back into debt to start a new project.  Our elders have made a commitment that BRADY LANE CHURCH will remain debt free – and we will not take on another large debt.  All projects in this area will only be completed when the money has been raised to do them.  Again this means we are going to as a church remain disciplined as good stewards of what we have, while we wait to save up the amount needed to complete the project.  Some of the projects that we hope to complete in this next three years if God continues to bless us are:

• Remodel and Secure Brady Lane Kids Hallway.
• Upgrade Sanctuary Lighting.
• Construct Neighborhood park/playground on our open lot complete with parking and bus stop.
• Outdoor sign replacement to solidify our identity in the neighborhood.
• Bring GSLC Director and teachers on as BLC staff, making our preschool tuition free.
• Upgrade Sanctuary Stage.
• Repair and Securing of Baptistery Well.
• Begin developing a new master plan for our facility taking us beyond 2020.
• in 2020, we will begin early phases of new master plan to add or repurpose space under our existing footprint.

We can’t wait to see what God does with us next.  Come join us to see these items and many other come to life over the next three years! 

Reflecting on a week away with God

Happy July 4th!  I have spent the last few days reflecting on this past week I spent with God at Hanging Rock Christian Camp.  There are so many stories I could tell about the week…how we played paintball with some high school kids, how Nic, Jacob, Lindsey, and I all got our share of welts for Jesus. (I am copyrighting that phrase by the way for next year’s t-shirts).  I could tell tales of awesome worship services, powerful small group experiences, wonderful camp food, and beautiful weather.

The stories I want to share with you are on a much deeper level.  I would like to share a few victory stories from our week.  The victory stories of personal conversations with students that will last an eternity.  I cannot share names or particulars as I do not want to reveal personal confidences that we promised the students we worked with.

But I can tell you that God gave all four of us an opportunity to have influence with students this week that may have not only been forming spiritually, but influence that has saved physical lives as well.  Some wonder what benefit playing paintball at church camp has.  A game that mimics violence seems an odd match for a camp that promotes the love of Jesus.

It’s in that game that some other things are taught.  Teamwork.  Sacrifice.  Mercy.  Love.  In the Gospel of John Chapter 15 verse 13 we find the words of Jesus as he instructed his disciples to love one another…

John 15:13 [Full Chapter]

In playing paintball we teach the kids during the break times about the sacrifice that they may make in a game being a small microcosm of the sacrifice that Jesus describes.  A sacrifice for a friend is the greatest kind of love.

In the process of spending quality time playing this game with these kids, we get the opportunity to have other conversations, which sometimes lead to the life saving counsel that we are blessed to get to give.  We all had those types of influences this last week…with kids who were struggling, depressed with life situations hanging over them that were outside of their control and some that were by their own poor choices.

There was one student, who has been at paintball the last three years, who came up to me and said that if it weren’t for Jacob and I and the paintball camp experience that he has had the last couple of years, that he wouldn’t be alive.  I can’t give more of the story – but suffice it to say as that boy walked away from me I was taken aback – you go into camp with ideas of bringing Christ to these kids to hopefully help them find the saving grace of Jesus…but you don’t really expect to save anyone physically.  Our young people are dealing with real issues, real stress, real heartache.  Pray for them please…they need that… but could I encourage you to take it a step further?  Could I encourage you to build a mentoring relationship with a young person – by spending time with them, teaching them something about life, take them fishing, show up at their sports events and concerts and plays, show them in some way shape or form that their life has value to you.  So many young people are not getting that from anyone…and you could be the very person that keeps them from checking out permanently.  Show people Jesus by loving them and maybe even sacrificing something for them.  This is the greatest love!