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Monthly Archives: December 2019
The Pursuit of Glory
No Guts No Glory?
2019 BUV Highlights
Source: BUV News
Hello December…
We have had a very busy end to November, kicking off with a Christmas luncheon with our pastors who are Experienced in Ministry. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and reunion for everyone.
Alan Marr and Lindsay Smith
We also held two big events – SEND and IGNITE Discipling Youth Symposium.
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Alan Hirsh, SEND Conference Guest Speaker
SEND was sold out this year with more than a hundred church and missional leaders coming together over two days of training. Our main speaker Alan Hirsch, gave three keynote sessions outlining the five-fold matrix as a powerful tool for church flourishing and missional revitalization. Attendees also joined in with workshops on church planting, faithful neighbourhood presence, and working with emerging, pioneering, and multicultural leadership.
Pastor Tommy Nguyen, IGNITE Guest Speaker
At IGNITE Discipling Youth Symposium, over 90 people, many from LOTE (Languages other than English) came together to explore the themes of discipling youth in the context of cultural diversity and belonging. Our keynote speaker, Pastor Tommy Nguyen, shared his church’s story of wrestling with expectations from first and second Vietnamese generations, but the key for them has been to respond and practice love as demonstrated by the life of Jesus.
What an encouraging week for our BUV family and a great start to the Christmas season as we finish the year Together on Mission!
2019 BUV Highlights
Hello December…
We have had a very busy end to November, kicking off with a Christmas luncheon with our pastors who are Experienced in Ministry. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and reunion for everyone.
Alan Marr and Lindsay Smith
We also held two big events – SEND and IGNITE Discipling Youth Symposium.
.png)
Alan Hirsh, SEND Conference Guest Speaker
SEND was sold out this year with more than a hundred church and missional leaders coming together over two days of training. Our main speaker Alan Hirsch, gave three keynote sessions outlining the five-fold matrix as a powerful tool for church flourishing and missional revitalization. Attendees also joined in with workshops on church planting, faithful neighbourhood presence, and working with emerging, pioneering, and multicultural leadership.
Pastor Tommy Nguyen, IGNITE Guest Speaker
At IGNITE Discipling Youth Symposium, over 90 people, many from LOTE (Languages other than English) came together to explore the themes of discipling youth in the context of cultural diversity and belonging. Our keynote speaker, Pastor Tommy Nguyen, shared his church’s story of wrestling with expectations from first and second Vietnamese generations, but the key for them has been to respond and practice love as demonstrated by the life of Jesus.
What an encouraging week for our BUV family and a great start to the Christmas season as we finish the year Together on Mission!
Source: BUV News
Sowing Seeds for the Kingdom
In the history of the church and revivals, united prayer has been a focal point. That's what we want to happen in our church and in our generation.
When we first arrived at Bacchus Marsh Baptist Church in 2010, a long-time church member commented, “We are like a horse without a rider – we need some direction!”
People were zealous for God and the gospel but the challenge was in finding ways to reach the community outside the four walls of our church.
We prayed for God to provide resources and direction to reach the people in our community. A lot of change and growth has happened since. Mostly the changes are small and quiet, like the Kingdom. A seed is sown, you don’t see it growing, then something sprouts.
God brought the right people to help expand our church’s Silver Lining Op Shop to four days a week. We started gaining a reputation in town for fair prices and friendliness. Even our non-church volunteers shared our vision: to care for people, meet their needs and provide good customer service. These volunteers became comfortable with faith and even asked us to pray for them occasionally!
In 2015, God gave some of our people the idea to establish a community garden. With great efforts from a core group and the support of a council grant, the garden grew and is now complete with a home-built pizza oven. The BUV and BaptCare also helped with grants to develop our courtyard and build a playground.
This beautiful community area helps us connect with people from all walks of life, especially with those whose lifestyle and culture are different from most of us. Like the church in Acts when the Gentiles arrived, there were challenges and things to learn and understand from one another. We embarked on a journey of learning and our church started to change.
Our average 40-person Sunday congregation didn’t get bigger, but it was different. We celebrated newcomers who made commitments to Christ, and from September 2018 to March 2019 we baptised five people, four from non-church backgrounds!
A year ago, with the help of the BUV, we reviewed our church’s health and capacity and realised that we needed to “grow young”. Our committed members were mostly in the 50+ age group. Just when the review concluded, a pastor named Scott James left his previous role, convinced God had something for him in Bacchus Marsh.
“As a family we felt we were slowly being led here,” Scott said. He is now our associate pastor. With a young family and a heart for community, he fills a welfare role with some junior football teams. In addition, our fragmented teens group is rallying under his leadership.
“I am really enjoying serving within the local community God has placed us in,” Scott says.
In October, we held an event at our community garden. We offered free pizzas, hired a jumping castle, served scones and more than 50 people from our local community turned up.
Last month, we cancelled a Sunday service to participate at the annual Bacchus Marsh Strawberries and Cherries Weekend Festival. We ran a church stall and gave away free plants and cookies. Over 50% of our church members participated to be together amongst the community!
We sense the Spirit moving and we are convinced in the role of prayer in sowing seeds for the Kingdom. We wait for what else God will do in our community and our next generation.
Jeremy Van Langenberg
Pastor, Bacchus Marsh Baptist Church
Source: BUV News
Kew's EP Launch!
On Thursday 7 November, Kew Baptist Church celebrated the release of our debut worship EP ‘Daughters and Sons’ with a special Launch Event. It was a wonderful night of celebration, featuring musical performances from the EP worship team, creative artworks on display from some of our resident artists, and times of worship in song together as a community. One of the highlights of the evening was a reflective dance item performed by one of our young adults, choreographed especially for one of the EP tracks. The whole evening was a beautiful outpouring of God-honouring creativity and Christ-centred community. We are so encouraged by all that God has been and is doing among us. It’s been humbling to see how God has already been using these songs to bless and minister to His people, and we’re so excited to finally make them more widely accessible through this EP, to further bless people and to share the heart of Jesus.
‘Daughters and Sons’ was recorded live at the church earlier this year, featuring four congregational worship songs (including three originals). The overarching theme of the EP is identity in Christ – knowing who we are in God. This theme is woven throughout the four songs in different ways, through a narrative of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Declaration. The final words sung in the last song, “Lord, help us know who we’re made to be”, are really the heart of the whole EP; that through these songs, God would draw us into a deeper understanding of who we are in Him, empowering us to go out into the world in the assurance of His grace and love, and to step into all that He has purposed for us – His chosen and beloved children; His daughters and sons.
The EP is now available on all digital platforms. You can find streaming links and chord charts at http://kewbaptist.org.au/daughters-and-sons. CDs are also available to purchase from the church office. We hope these songs will be a blessing to your church! For more information, please contact Lauren Pickering (admin@kewbaptist.net.au).
Source: BUV News
Sowing Seeds for the Kingdom
In the history of the church and revivals, united prayer has been a focal point. That's what we want to happen in our church and in our generation.
When we first arrived at Bacchus Marsh Baptist Church in 2010, a long-time church member commented, “We are like a horse without a rider – we need some direction!”
People were zealous for God and the gospel but the challenge was in finding ways to reach the community outside the four walls of our church.
We prayed for God to provide resources and direction to reach the people in our community. A lot of change and growth has happened since. Mostly the changes are small and quiet, like the Kingdom. A seed is sown, you don’t see it growing, then something sprouts.
God brought the right people to help expand our church’s Silver Lining Op Shop to four days a week. We started gaining a reputation in town for fair prices and friendliness. Even our non-church volunteers shared our vision: to care for people, meet their needs and provide good customer service. These volunteers became comfortable with faith and even asked us to pray for them occasionally!
In 2015, God gave some of our people the idea to establish a community garden. With great efforts from a core group and the support of a council grant, the garden grew and is now complete with a home-built pizza oven. The BUV and BaptCare also helped with grants to develop our courtyard and build a playground.
This beautiful community area helps us connect with people from all walks of life, especially with those whose lifestyle and culture are different from most of us. Like the church in Acts when the Gentiles arrived, there were challenges and things to learn and understand from one another. We embarked on a journey of learning and our church started to change.
Our average 40-person Sunday congregation didn’t get bigger, but it was different. We celebrated newcomers who made commitments to Christ, and from September 2018 to March 2019 we baptised five people, four from non-church backgrounds!
A year ago, with the help of the BUV, we reviewed our church’s health and capacity and realised that we needed to “grow young”. Our committed members were mostly in the 50+ age group. Just when the review concluded, a pastor named Scott James left his previous role, convinced God had something for him in Bacchus Marsh.
“As a family we felt we were slowly being led here,” Scott said. He is now our associate pastor. With a young family and a heart for community, he fills a welfare role with some junior football teams. In addition, our fragmented teens group is rallying under his leadership.
“I am really enjoying serving within the local community God has placed us in,” Scott says.
In October, we held an event at our community garden. We offered free pizzas, hired a jumping castle, served scones and more than 50 people from our local community turned up.
Last month, we cancelled a Sunday service to participate at the annual Bacchus Marsh Strawberries and Cherries Weekend Festival. We ran a church stall and gave away free plants and cookies. Over 50% of our church members participated to be together amongst the community!
We sense the Spirit moving and we are convinced in the role of prayer in sowing seeds for the Kingdom. We wait for what else God will do in our community and our next generation.
Jeremy Van Langenberg
Pastor, Bacchus Marsh Baptist Church
Kew’s EP Launch!
On Thursday 7 November, Kew Baptist Church celebrated the release of our debut worship EP ‘Daughters and Sons’ with a special Launch Event. It was a wonderful night of celebration, featuring musical performances from the EP worship team, creative artworks on display from some of our resident artists, and times of worship in song together as a community. One of the highlights of the evening was a reflective dance item performed by one of our young adults, choreographed especially for one of the EP tracks. The whole evening was a beautiful outpouring of God-honouring creativity and Christ-centred community. We are so encouraged by all that God has been and is doing among us. It’s been humbling to see how God has already been using these songs to bless and minister to His people, and we’re so excited to finally make them more widely accessible through this EP, to further bless people and to share the heart of Jesus.
‘Daughters and Sons’ was recorded live at the church earlier this year, featuring four congregational worship songs (including three originals). The overarching theme of the EP is identity in Christ – knowing who we are in God. This theme is woven throughout the four songs in different ways, through a narrative of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Declaration. The final words sung in the last song, “Lord, help us know who we’re made to be”, are really the heart of the whole EP; that through these songs, God would draw us into a deeper understanding of who we are in Him, empowering us to go out into the world in the assurance of His grace and love, and to step into all that He has purposed for us – His chosen and beloved children; His daughters and sons.
The EP is now available on all digital platforms. You can find streaming links and chord charts at http://kewbaptist.org.au/daughters-and-sons. CDs are also available to purchase from the church office. We hope these songs will be a blessing to your church! For more information, please contact Lauren Pickering (admin@kewbaptist.net.au).