The Ohio Independent Baptist, December 2000

D adhne forFebruaryOIB January15 cn1a1I address dandlthomas@glasscrty.net Or wnte POBo 293058 KetteringOH 45429 Dave andPatWarren StateRepresentative On The Move In Ohio at and I thank ea h of you and all of you for )'Our prayer and kindne ho,vn to u th i year. We have been ,,·am,1 1, received aero the tate and thank ., ou for th pecial treatn1ent , though unde erved, ,vhich you hovver on u, . \Ve do rejoice in our connection ,, ith . ou and in the hea lth and growth of °'O n1any of our churche . It i alway grari fying \\'hen ,ve en e a healthy/ happy relation hip goi ng on between pa tor and people. In actuality, it i difficult to bel ieve that thi year i abou t hi tory, ince the ) ' _K non-event till eem o fre h in our memorie . We have been on the 1nove in t,vo en e . We have been out and about among the churche , havi ng now per~onal ly vi ited ervice in over 150 of our churche . We have logged 40,000+ mile thi year in coming to see yot1. \\/e have al o moved twice thi year, once in April and a econd time in . O\'ember. In order to have an in-home offi ce \\'e old our home in the 'Ville rented te1nporarily in the country and began building a new hou e. Thi being accompli hed, we moved back into the village ofCedarville and now occupy 360CollegeHil lDri ve. Weare till ettling in to thi new abode, amid t boxe , de k , computers, file , and the like. We are looking forward to having all four of our children home for the Chri tmas holiday . We are taying home: they \viii be on the move! We tru t the Lord \vi ll grant to you and your a holiday time that i worshipful, productive, refre hing, and relaxing. God ble YOU~ .. Get ready for Talents For Christ 2001 April 7 at CedaNi lle Universi ty. Deadline for registration : March 1 For more info, see your youth leader or emai l Dave Mull ins @teammbc@valkryie.net '--~~~~~~~~- To Your., MaxandPhyllisTucker ChurchPlanting Coordinator Missionary Outreach Is Not Optional e learn fron1 the Word of God that the bu iness of every New Te tament church hou ld be the expan ion of the pure me age and influence of the go pel. "Enlarge the place of thy tent and let them tretch forth the curtain of thy habitations" (I aia h 54:2). Variou figure , each one illustrat– ing growth and expansion depict the New Te tament church. The Flock must increa e. The figure of the Bride pre ents the church as a fa n1il y unit who e ta k is to multiply and rep len ish the ea rth . Sometimes the church is pictured a the Bod) 1 ofChrist and a body i des igned to grow. In Ephesian 4 two word , "grow' and " increase" tand out. Je u sa id, ' r am the v ine, ye are the branches' (John 15 :5). And we all know that the God Sent Forth... continued comes from progress, from moving out and moving up. Because God sent Hi Son into our world and because He has also sent Hi s Spirit into our hearts we do . . reJotce: • Not as minor children but as full– fledged adult • ot a laves but as free • Not a those without inheritance rights but a hei rs of all that belongs to our Father. We have moved out and we have 1noved up- not becau e we have pulled our elve up by our own boot trap but because our Father has di patched both His Son and 1-Iis Spirit into our lives! Thu , we celebrate!! purpo c of a branch i to bear fntil. The avior add , "Jlcrein is My Father glorified that you bear much fruit" Thi teache u the obvious: we must widen our n1ini try; it i not optional , it is irnperative. We are all interested in models. We have model ca rs, model homes, model airpl anes, and, hopeful ly, a few model husbands and wives. When we open any book or co1nmentary or read any message about the church in Thes alonica, they al I describe this church as a ew Testament model. I The alonians l :1-8 spells out the characteristics of thi model. Reading the e verses, the characteristics of a model church are obvious. They had a converted member hip and a di tinguish– ing feature we call mi ionary zeal. "From you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your fai th to God– ward i spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing (verse 8). Do you con ider the church in Thessalonica to be a model church? What entitles thi s church such worthy praise? I believe it was their DETERMI– NATION to evangelize; we can think either large or small. When we bring this kind of determi nation into church planting, we 1nu t be will ing to bear the co t in time and money. Someone has well said "If the Christian faith i worth anyth ing it is worth everything." How To Reach Us StateRepresentative Dav id & Pat Warren 360CollegeHill Dri ve CedarvilleOH 45314 937-766-5913 warrenoarbc@juno.com Church Plan ti11g Coordinator Max & PhyllisTucker 6616 Fountains Blvd.# l O We t Chester OH 45069 513-759-0791 pltucker5@juno.com