Pastor Letter: March 20, 2019
Dear Buck Run Family:
“I will never become a Christian, but I love to hear you preach about Jesus.” Those words have been spoken to me several times by a dear Muslim friend who regularly attends Buck Run. I learn a lot from listening to him talk about his experience at our church. He feels embraced, welcomed by our community, genuinely loved. His wife has, at times, attended wearing her hijab, and they have been embraced and befriended. Tanya and I have been welcomed in their home and shared a meal with them.
He tells me that he hears God speaking through me, that he knows Buck Run is a place where God is. I assure him that we love him—no matter what. That even if he never becomes a follower of Jesus, he is welcome among us and we want to bless him and his family. But I do not cease praying that this man who says he will never be got will one day soon be begotten by the Holy Spirit.
Beloved, this is what we do. We love, we serve, we invite, we pray, we witness, we serve some more, we pray some more, we keep loving, we keep witnessing. We do not give up, we do not quit, we do not stop loving and serving. And we smile a little when someone says, “I will never become a Christian,” because we know of a man named Saul of Tarsus who was the least likely person ever to become a Christian yet who became the champion of the Christian faith.
My Muslim friend is no different than thousands of Central Kentuckians who were raised in a nebulous and powerless nominal Christianity. They might dress up on Easter and show up at church or put up a Christmas tree and sing Christmas carols, but they do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and they are lost.
We tend to categorize the people we know as though they were on a spectrum of lostness. We think of atheists, addicts, criminals or devotees of other religions as really lost and our well-behaved Christless neighbors as somewhat less so, as though they need just a little additional help toward heaven. In reality, all of them are spiritually dead, and there are not degrees of death. In each case, the Holy Spirit must do His transformative work with the Gospel to make them alive in Christ. That is what we live for, pray for, witness for, hope for with every encounter.
For this reason I am asking you to get AT LEAST one person in your mind that you personally want to see come to faith in Christ, be baptized, and become a member of our church or some other gospel-preaching church. I want you to conspire for their soul, to scheme for their salvation. How can you serve them, love them, pray for them? Invite them to our Easter service or any service. You never need worry that they won’t hear the Word of God that is the tool the Holy Spirit uses to raise the dead!
Who is your one?
I am convinced we are not witnessing, praying, serving, loving, and scheming for souls as we ought. I’ll say more about that on Sunday!
I have one other thing to ask of you. God is blessing us with an incredible growth in young families and their children. Last Sunday, for instance, we had 17 three-year-olds! Now that is a blessing, and a trend we want to see continue. But it takes a certain kind of sacrifice. As our kids ministry continues to grow so does our need of people—especially men—who will come alongside our leaders and serve as helpers in our classrooms.
Our teachers do a fantastic job each week caring for and discipling our kids, but they need some to partner with them as helpers or, on occasion, a substitute teacher. We are looking for men who are willing to lend a helping hand to a busy room of boys, ladies who will help rock and care for our babies, and couples who are willing to step in when a teacher has to miss. This is not something that will take you out of the service every week. Our rotation system enables you to be in the service regularly even as you serve in our kids ministry on a scheduled basis. Of course, we require background checks and training in our system of kids ministry, but we will take care of that if you will join us. Would you pray about becoming a part of this burgeoning ministry and preparing little hearts for the Gospel? Please contact Mel Brewer at [email protected] or by calling the church office at 502-695-4050. I thank you for listening to the Lord about this.
Remember these important dates: Easter is April 21 and we are having a special evangelistic service Sunday on May 5 with our own Cameron Mills who played on two National Championship teams at Kentucky and travels all over telling the good news of Jesus Christ. Bring someone on both of these important days!
I love serving the Lord with you. May the Lord use us to bring others to faith in Christ.
Your grateful pastor,
Bro. Hershael
P.S. If you haven’t done so yet, join Buck Run’s tournament bracket!