The new sign: I confess that I stole this from my pastor's facebook page. :) This is our home church's latest ministry--Crosspointe Church in Fleming Island, Florida.Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90:17
Wow! Two posts in two days...that doesn't happen very often. But this, too, has been on the list of things to write about, and a picture on facebook pushed it to the top of the list. Plus, it's Sunday, and I always think about and pray for my home church on Sunday. (I think about and pray for my church here in Vienna on Sunday, too. No worries that it's getting left off the list!!) Let me challenge you, by the way, to pray for your church. Pray for your pastor and the whole pastoral staff. First of all, you should be doing that, anyway. It's no small thing to shepherd a group of believers--we're a cantankerous lot, collectively. And secondly, it'll make you less likely to complain about stupid stuff. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. It's too hot, it's too cold, the worship team's outfits didn't match, the pastor needs a tie/doesn't need a tie, his tie was offensive...you know you do that sometimes. And so does Jesus. And He wants you to stop it. :) So if you are praying for them, you'll be less likely to do that.
Now, if you're not a believer, or if you hate Southern Baptists, this is probably not the post for you. I do have friends who read this who don't believe what I believe (I love you so much for loving me in spite of our differences!!), and I don't want you to get midway through this and feel like it wasn't useful to you. But I'm a Baptist girl. I was raised a Baptist girl, and when I was an adult and had the choice to be anything, I was still a Baptist girl. I work for a Baptist agency. Technically, I work for the Southern Baptist Convention. So--full disclosure--I'm pro Southern Baptist. That doesn't mean I think we do everything right, or that I haven't been in some truly dreadful Southern Baptist church services where I wanted to put a needle through my eye. But I believe what Southern Baptists believe. And so, I am one.
Our home church is interesting to me, because I think it's not what you would assume it is at all. First of all, it's in the middle of podunk. Now, I'm a Middleburg girl, so I can say that. You people from Orange Park better hush up. :) And don't get me started on the Jacksonville folks and how they see our little town. But if you're not from there, you might assume, because it's Florida, that it's all sand and ocean. Think more farms, dirt roads, and pickup trucks. (By the way--that's not a criticism. We LOVE Middleburg.) Now, there are also some gorgeous neighborhoods and a beautiful waterway and more and more stores there, so it's not like I'm talking about something out of Deliverance. But it is a rural area. So you would not assume that this big church would be there. But there it is. And it's big. It's grown exponentially since we arrived in 2002. (That isn't because of us, by the way. We didn't show up and draw the multitude.) It's due to a lot of things--good outreach, good preaching, good programming, good music...you get the idea. It's a big, growing church in the middle of a pretty small place.
More than anything, though, I really believe the growth is centered around a group of people who have caught a vision of what church can be. In lots of churches, you have a core group (let's be honest--usually of folks who have been there a long time) who are naysayers. We've never done that before. That's not how Pastor Whoever did it. And I'm sure that exists and has existed at our church. But for the most part, you have a group of believers who understand that the church has nothing whatsoever to do with the building. They have done some incredible, nontraditional things that have really ministered to the community. They have put on incredible events, often outside what the norm for churches is, in order to minister to their community. A personal favorite of ours is the quilt ministry that my mother is involved in. And from even half a world away, they minister to us faithfully. Sweet cards, emails, calls, packages, and above all, prayers have been sent to us and on our behalf again and again and again. Over the years, what the majority of folks at our church have bought into is the idea that God uses whatever He's gifted you with for His glory. Every gift is to be used to glorify Him in all things. You get a group of a couple thousand thinking in that same direction, and I'm telling you--stuff gets done. So First Baptist Church of Middleburg, Florida, has ceased to "do" church, and instead, have become the church. And for us, it's really a beautiful thing to behold, something that makes us so proud and so happy and so excited for what's next.
Well, what's next is rescuing a church that's run into some trouble. And now, FBCM is stretching out their arms to a new community and revitalizing a church that has watched its membership drift away over time. And Marc and I are really excited about it. Not just because we hate to see churches close their doors, though we do. But also because we love the excitement we hear in the voices of people we really love and pray for often, who are rolling up their sleeves and getting to work with a whole lot of gusto. Yes, our church sends mission teams to various places around the world, including to us. But what makes us proudest is that they are willing to do the kind of missions that simply requires them to walk across the room, across the street, across the block, and now, across the county. We're glad the sun never sets on the First Baptist Middleburg family, because that means we get to still be a part of them, however remote our "campus" may be. But we're so glad to watch them be the church right there in Clay County, Florida. And we're praying that God confirms for them the work of their hands.
Well, time to get moving. Marc is preaching tonight at our church here in Vienna, John and I are organizing snacks, and Hannah is singing on the praise team, so it's a busy day in the Hooks household. Thank you for your sweet prayers for Marc's return. There is nothing in life I love more than watching him walk through that door. And this was a particularly good trip, with an incredible visit with an old friend in Moscow to top it off, so there was lots to tell at the dinner table last night. Sweet, precious moments for us, those hours spent listening to Marc tell us how God is at work in whatever remote part of Russia he has been in. I believe long after we're gone, our kids will remember listening to Daddy tell them stories about eating pony (it was pretty good), learning about new cultures, and sharing the sweet, old story of Jesus and His love with people we love. It never gets old. When it does, it's time to come back to the States. :) Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you love your church as much as we love ours, and that you are looking forward to your guy preaching a great sermon tonight, too. Blessings to you and yours!!
His,
Kellye
Wow! Two posts in two days...that doesn't happen very often. But this, too, has been on the list of things to write about, and a picture on facebook pushed it to the top of the list. Plus, it's Sunday, and I always think about and pray for my home church on Sunday. (I think about and pray for my church here in Vienna on Sunday, too. No worries that it's getting left off the list!!) Let me challenge you, by the way, to pray for your church. Pray for your pastor and the whole pastoral staff. First of all, you should be doing that, anyway. It's no small thing to shepherd a group of believers--we're a cantankerous lot, collectively. And secondly, it'll make you less likely to complain about stupid stuff. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. It's too hot, it's too cold, the worship team's outfits didn't match, the pastor needs a tie/doesn't need a tie, his tie was offensive...you know you do that sometimes. And so does Jesus. And He wants you to stop it. :) So if you are praying for them, you'll be less likely to do that.
Now, if you're not a believer, or if you hate Southern Baptists, this is probably not the post for you. I do have friends who read this who don't believe what I believe (I love you so much for loving me in spite of our differences!!), and I don't want you to get midway through this and feel like it wasn't useful to you. But I'm a Baptist girl. I was raised a Baptist girl, and when I was an adult and had the choice to be anything, I was still a Baptist girl. I work for a Baptist agency. Technically, I work for the Southern Baptist Convention. So--full disclosure--I'm pro Southern Baptist. That doesn't mean I think we do everything right, or that I haven't been in some truly dreadful Southern Baptist church services where I wanted to put a needle through my eye. But I believe what Southern Baptists believe. And so, I am one.
Our home church is interesting to me, because I think it's not what you would assume it is at all. First of all, it's in the middle of podunk. Now, I'm a Middleburg girl, so I can say that. You people from Orange Park better hush up. :) And don't get me started on the Jacksonville folks and how they see our little town. But if you're not from there, you might assume, because it's Florida, that it's all sand and ocean. Think more farms, dirt roads, and pickup trucks. (By the way--that's not a criticism. We LOVE Middleburg.) Now, there are also some gorgeous neighborhoods and a beautiful waterway and more and more stores there, so it's not like I'm talking about something out of Deliverance. But it is a rural area. So you would not assume that this big church would be there. But there it is. And it's big. It's grown exponentially since we arrived in 2002. (That isn't because of us, by the way. We didn't show up and draw the multitude.) It's due to a lot of things--good outreach, good preaching, good programming, good music...you get the idea. It's a big, growing church in the middle of a pretty small place.
More than anything, though, I really believe the growth is centered around a group of people who have caught a vision of what church can be. In lots of churches, you have a core group (let's be honest--usually of folks who have been there a long time) who are naysayers. We've never done that before. That's not how Pastor Whoever did it. And I'm sure that exists and has existed at our church. But for the most part, you have a group of believers who understand that the church has nothing whatsoever to do with the building. They have done some incredible, nontraditional things that have really ministered to the community. They have put on incredible events, often outside what the norm for churches is, in order to minister to their community. A personal favorite of ours is the quilt ministry that my mother is involved in. And from even half a world away, they minister to us faithfully. Sweet cards, emails, calls, packages, and above all, prayers have been sent to us and on our behalf again and again and again. Over the years, what the majority of folks at our church have bought into is the idea that God uses whatever He's gifted you with for His glory. Every gift is to be used to glorify Him in all things. You get a group of a couple thousand thinking in that same direction, and I'm telling you--stuff gets done. So First Baptist Church of Middleburg, Florida, has ceased to "do" church, and instead, have become the church. And for us, it's really a beautiful thing to behold, something that makes us so proud and so happy and so excited for what's next.
Well, what's next is rescuing a church that's run into some trouble. And now, FBCM is stretching out their arms to a new community and revitalizing a church that has watched its membership drift away over time. And Marc and I are really excited about it. Not just because we hate to see churches close their doors, though we do. But also because we love the excitement we hear in the voices of people we really love and pray for often, who are rolling up their sleeves and getting to work with a whole lot of gusto. Yes, our church sends mission teams to various places around the world, including to us. But what makes us proudest is that they are willing to do the kind of missions that simply requires them to walk across the room, across the street, across the block, and now, across the county. We're glad the sun never sets on the First Baptist Middleburg family, because that means we get to still be a part of them, however remote our "campus" may be. But we're so glad to watch them be the church right there in Clay County, Florida. And we're praying that God confirms for them the work of their hands.
Well, time to get moving. Marc is preaching tonight at our church here in Vienna, John and I are organizing snacks, and Hannah is singing on the praise team, so it's a busy day in the Hooks household. Thank you for your sweet prayers for Marc's return. There is nothing in life I love more than watching him walk through that door. And this was a particularly good trip, with an incredible visit with an old friend in Moscow to top it off, so there was lots to tell at the dinner table last night. Sweet, precious moments for us, those hours spent listening to Marc tell us how God is at work in whatever remote part of Russia he has been in. I believe long after we're gone, our kids will remember listening to Daddy tell them stories about eating pony (it was pretty good), learning about new cultures, and sharing the sweet, old story of Jesus and His love with people we love. It never gets old. When it does, it's time to come back to the States. :) Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you love your church as much as we love ours, and that you are looking forward to your guy preaching a great sermon tonight, too. Blessings to you and yours!!
His,
Kellye
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