Covenant Baptist Church, a church plant
Hey All,
Many of you have been praying for us concerning what God has been stirring in our hearts about planting a church in the Spring Hill/Thompson Station area. We thank you for that and continue to covet your prayers.
Chelsea and I want to invite you to come to an interest gathering about Covenant Baptist Church, a church plant, at 6:00 pm on Sunday January 10, 2010 at the home of Andrew and Amy Brown. Their address is 3404 Haynes Cove, Spring Hill, Tn. Childcare will be provided. God has lead us to a place where we believe we are ready to begin meeting. We would like to share with you what God has been doing in our lives, what’s next for Covenant Baptist, and how you might personally be involved.
If you know anyone else that might be interested in coming or being a part of the work please let them know and invite them to come. We look forward to seeing you there and how God might allow you to join with us in this work.
Soli deo Gloria!
Jeff and Chelsea
Unemployment and Change
I have been meaning to do this for quite some time now but have not really had the time. There have been quite a few changes in our life recently so I will begin with last April.
At the time we were living in Memphis, I was serving on staff at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary as the director of Campus Life and Media and Sound as well as bi-vocationally as a youth minister in Newark, AR about a 2 hour drive from Memphis. Chelsea was finishing up her last classes for her master’s degree and was beginning to student teach. We had been praying about what to do when Chelsea finished school in December. After praying and speaking with our pastor at Newark we felt like God was leading us to come back to the Middle Tennessee area. We weren’t sure what type of ministry we would be doing but we knew that is what we were supposed to do. So at this time we began to pray about ministry opportunities in Middle Tennessee and Chelsea began to look for a job.
In August, we left the church we were serving at and Chelsea began student teaching with the idea that we would be moving at the end of December. Well God’s plan for us was not quite that simple. While we were waiting to move we became involved in a Reformed Baptist Church in Memphis called South Woods Baptist. Our time there was one of refreshing and growth. All the while we are still praying about ministry direction here in Middle TN. December was quickly approaching and neither Chelsea or I had any job or ministry prospects here.
So, Thanksgiving came and still there was not any news. We loaded up and drove up to Kansas to see Chelsea’s mom for Thanksgiving. The day before we were going to leave to come back to TN, Chelsea happened to see a job opening for a middle school Spanish teacher in Spring Hill, TN which would be about 30 min. from both our parents. It turned out to be a really good school so Chelsea sent here resume to the principal on that Saturday. Well on Monday she had already talked to the principal twice and she wanted Chelsea to come as quickly as possible to interview. SO on December 8th she left and came to Nashville to have an interview on the 9th.
During this time I first began to pray about the possibility of planting a church in this area. I wasn’t sure that is what we needed to do but I wanted to be open to it. I met with our pastor at South Woods for lunch on the 16th of December to get some advice and maybe direction about Church planting since I didn’t have any experience and he has a doctorate in it. He gave me some good things to think about and during this lunch he asked me if I would be interested in doing a pastoral internship with him. I told him about Chelsea’s job possibility and that I would need to talk to her and see what happened with that.
Well that night Chelsea got an email from the principal offering her the job in Spring Hill, TN starting 2 weeks later on the 5th of January. After talking and praying some more we decided that this is what we needed to do. We also decided that it would be stupid for me to pass up this opportunity to do the internship with Dr. Newton. I had some things that I was going to have to stay in Memphis for to finish up at the seminary so I told Dr. Newton that if we could do everything he had planned for me in 3 months that I would love to do it. So he said yes and we now had some direction.
In January, Chelsea moved up to Murfreesboro to stay with her day and begin teaching while I stayed in Memphis. Over the next three months we had some doors open ministry wise and were able to find a place to live in Spring Hill that was nice and we could afford. However, I could still not get the idea of planting a church out of my head. So as we get ready to move from Memphis on April 7 the door remains open on our ministry situation but I believe that it may well be to plant a church in Spring Hill.
Anyways, that is a little of what has been going on in our lives. Your prayers would be much appreciated and we look forward to reconnecting with friends in Nashville.
2009
I know I haven’t updated anything in like 3 months but our life hasn’t been all that exciting. My goal however is to update this blog more frequently in 2009.
Soli Deo Gloria
This just may be the year
It seems like each year I begin each baseball season and college football season by saying, “This is the year.” and I end each season saying, “Well maybe next year.” But however, this actually might be the year that both of my teams have great season.
3/4th’s of the way through the baseball season the Cubs have one of the best records if not the best record in baseball and look like they could actually make it to the world series. Thats great news for a Cubs fan.
More surprising is the way that Vanderbilt has been playing football. They opened the season by spanking Miami (OH), but givin that they aren’t that good it could have been a fluke. But last night Vanderbilt came out and beat the 24th ranked South Carolina Gamecocks and Steve Spurier. Some may say that they were over rated but I say it doesn’t matter we just be a top 25 team. The offense has looked really good along with a usually solid defense. Looking ahead at the rest of the schedule there is no reason the we should not end up 8-4 if not better and be on the way to a bowl. The rest of the SEC better look out this year.
Soli Deo Gloria
Life
It has been a while since i have posted anything but life has a way of being crazy. We have had several changes in our lives over the last month, the biggest being we left our church in Arkansas. This was possibly the hardest thing we have had to do in our marriage. But God is faithful and we know that it was in his timing and in his will for us to leave. We miss the people there dearly.
With that being said, this past weekend was our first weekend in Tennessee not on staff at a church. It was weird to say the least. We didn’t really know what to do all weekend or how church was going to be but I heard probably the best sermon I have ever heard on the Doctrine of Justification this weekend. We had the privilidge of hearing David Miller preach at South Woods and if you didn’t understand the gospel after hearing that sermon then as Dr. Newton put it, “There might not be any light in your soul.”
If you ever get a chance to hear David Miller preach, take it. He is one of the most amazing men of God I have ever seen. Anyway that is just a little of what has been going on in our life and until next time
Soli Deo Gloria
Big Word for the Day
As I was reading this morning in Romans 3 I came across a big theological word whose meaning is often passed over, so I thought I would take a few minutes an expound on it.
In Romans 3:25, speaking about Jesus, Paul says, “whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.” Also we see this word again in 1 John 2:1-2, where John writing said, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
So what exactly does it mean that Jesus is a propitiation? Wayne Grudem in his Systematic Theology defines propitiation as, “A sacrifice that bears the wrath of God against sin and thereby turns God’s wrath into favor.” Anthony Hoekema in Saved By Grace adds, “When Paul says that God presented Christ as a propitiation (hilasterion), he means that through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the cross God’s wrath against our sin has been averted and our guilt has been removed.”
For God to be just and righteous our sin must evoke His wrath and hatred. However, according to Hoekema, “We cannot say that Christ by his sacrifice had to change a hating God into a loving God. Paul tells us that God presented Christ as a propitiation for us. In other words, God himself provided the propitiatory sacrifice. Behind the work of Christ is the love of God.”
I would love to hear your comments.
Welcome
This is my first post in about two years. I tried to start one of these awhile ago and nothing really came of it. Hopefully I will be better in keeping this up to date and posting on it.
