Oct 06

Be Ready for God to Use You

Missional Living, Northshore Baptist Church, Stories No Comments »

This is a guest blog post by Tim Burke, Northshore’s Pastor of Outreach & Local Mission

A few months ago I started praying differently. I felt like God was challenging me to open my eyes and heart to the unbelievers who I brush shoulders with every day. On my way home from work one night, I stopped by Subway and the TCBY to pick up a frozen yogurt.  As I was standing in line to pay for my dessert, I noticed a man next to me who was in a parallel line waiting to pay for his sandwich. As I watched him reach into his pocket for his wallet it was apparent he had not brought it with him. Just at that moment I looked at the cashier and said, “Put his sandwich on my card”. The man was speechless. The first words that came out of his mouth were, “Who are you?” That was a perfect open door for me to introduce myself and tell him about my new job as a Pastor at Northshore. The man thanked me and disappeared quickly. A moment later, he returned from his car with a business card. Written on the card was “one free home improvement” from his business. In turn, I gave him my card and invited him to join me sometime for church. He smiled and said he’d like that.

I share this story to encourage you. I also want to help you remember that when we open our hearts to reaching those who don’t know God in our community, He creates wonderful opportunities for us to love them. I don’t think there’s any big secret to loving those closest to us or inviting them to church. However, I have been praying in my devotional time this specific prayer from Colossians 4:3-4, “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”

I want to encourage you to pray this way with me. Here’s how you can structure your prayers from Colossians 4:3-4.

God please:

Open a door: provide a natural opportunity for me to share the gospel today.

Open their heart: prepare the hearts of those who don’t know you to be receptive to Jesus.

Open my mouth: give me the words to say and confidence to speak to the lost.

I’d love to hear some of your stories about how God is using you to love those in our community who are far from Him. Send me an email at timb@nsb.org

 

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Aug 21

The Math of CommunitySERVE Day

Missional Living, Northshore Baptist Church No Comments »

The Math of CommunitySERVE day:

10 Churches +

7 Groups from the local community (Boy & Girl scouts, etc.) +

12 Schools in need of volunteers (8 Northshore & 4 Lake Washington) +

2 Mobile Home Parks +

1 Vision House Project +

1 HopeLink Project +

1150 people x 4 hours/person (4600 hours total)

=

1 Word ~ AWESOME!

Thanks for serving our local community in the name of Jesus!

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Aug 17

Reflections on ONE

Missional Living, Northshore Baptist Church, Theological Musings No Comments »

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)

Summer Sunday at the Farm was one of the highlights of my three years at Northshore. Looking out from the stage and seeing us gathered in one place, worshiping the One Great God was a powerful, momentous experience. During my brief message Sunday, I talked about what ONE body of Christ looks like… a church that consistently and passionately pursues: (1) Unity, (2) Diversity, (3) Maturity, and (4) Mission. I see us moving in that direction. We will never “fully” arrive, but we will always press forward.  We press forward as ONE as we continue to grow in our shared understanding and experience of who Jesus is and what He has done for us, knowing that it brings a deep unity… a common Savior and a common Kingdom. But even in that unity, there is a diversity of gifts that contribute to form us into a mature church… a church living out a shared ministry one to another and a shared mission to the world around us, local and global. This is the New Testament vision of ONE body of Christ. This is our calling… our life together that shines the spotlight on Jesus’ great grace and glory. Northshore, thank you so much for being a part of the most amazing mission in the world. It is a humbling, extraordinary privilege to serve you as your pastor!

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Jun 17

Impacting our Community

Missional Living, Northshore Baptist Church 1 Comment »

 

By Kate Jones, Northshore’s Local Mission Coordinator 

Our third annual CommunitySERVE Day is August 21st and it’s bigger than ever. What started as a simple desire to share the love of Jesus with our neighbors has mushroomed into an event that is unifying churches and impacting our community with the Gospel of Christ. This year we are partnering with seven churches to bring a variety of service projects to our schools, local organizations, and cities.

Hundreds of volunteers will be working in twelve different schools—eight in the Northshore School District and four in the Lake Washington District—where budget cuts have left a major opportunity for us to step in and serve. Our teams will help teachers prepare their classrooms for the fall by making nametags, building bulletin boards, cutting out and prepping curriculum, and various other projects. We’ll also work throughout the schools to clean libraries and classrooms, weed, spread bark, paint, and attend to other projects affected by budget cuts.

Last year we were overwhelmed by the response from school faculty and staff who expressed their appreciation for our help and the positive impact it had on the start of their school year. Curtis Anderson, principal at Alexander Graham Bell Elementary said, “More than the actual work done, it was amazing to feel the support of our community.” A librarian stated, “I can’t begin to tell you what a joy it was to walk in last week and find a spotless library—I just kept looking around in amazement. Your help has given me the time to really make the beginning of the year go smoother and I’m planning some new and better things for my students.”

The letters, emails, and phone calls received were a confirmation that our schools need our support and help. CommunitySERVE Day for our local schools is an opportunity to show the love and example of Christ, “for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.”

In addition to schools, we’ll have various projects within the cities of Bothell and Kirkland, helping to fill some gaps that budget cuts have created. Last year we were able to clean up and restore three different properties to pristine condition. One property was owned by a hoarder who had passed away and his daughter was working on cleaning things up in order to sell the property, a task which seemed overwhelming. But when a team of 60+ people from the local church showed up to help clear out the junk, pull out blackberry bushes, mow the yard, among other jobs completed that day, the burden was lifted.

Along with all the projects this year, we have a special opportunity to help with the framing of a building for a local organization called Vision House. Vision House Jacob’s Well provides transitional housing and a phenomenal program for homeless families. They have a 93% success rate in southern King County for helping families transition into permanent housing and achieving sustained income and hope to bring this same success to families in North King and Snohomish County. Much of Vision House’s original funding to build apartments and a childcare facility in the Kenmore/Shoreline area was lost when the economy turned two years ago. They are currently relying on local churches to partner with them so they can expand their program. You can go to http://www.youtube.com/user/visionhouse1 to watch a video showing the impact they are making for homeless families.

God has opened many doors for CommunitySERVE Day 2010, but no matter how many doors God opens we need you to walk through them in order for the impact to happen. We hope you will join us to make a difference. Visit CommunitySERVEDay.org to register. Invite your small group, neighbors, coworkers, family and friends to come and serve along side of you on August 21st.

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Mar 25

3 God Stories of Northshore’s Local Mission

Northshore Baptist Church No Comments »

God is doing some cool things in and through the people of Northshore as we love our local community.  Many of these are quietly going on “behind the scenes” as people simply love their world with Jesus’ great love.  I asked Pastor Dean Osuch, Northshore’s Pastor of Outreach & Local Mission to be a guest blogger and share some stories of Northshore’s impact in our local community.  So here are three God stories of Northshore’s local mission that Pastor Dean shared:

Story #1: God is moving in the Northshore School District

Last August, Northshore along with five other churches ministered to several local schools during CommunitySERVE Day 2009.  The one thousand volunteers that day not only made a huge impact on the local schools that they served, but they also made a huge impact on the principals of the Northshore School District.  In November, Kate Jones and I met with the Assistant Superintendent to Elementary Schools and the Partnership Coordinator at Northshore School District.  In that meeting we looked at CommunitySERVE Day 2010 and the idea of working more in the classroom.  The District was excited about the ideas that we had and we were blessed to find out that the Assistant Superintendent to Elementary Schools had participated as a Principal in Bellevue’s Jubilee Day, which was the structure we are modeling.

Two weeks ago we met with nine principals to give them an overview of CommunitySERVE Day 2010.  At that meeting God gave us much favor in the eyes of the principals.  The principals were fully supportive of our efforts and are truly excited about our church’s willingness to minister to them this summer.  It was so encouraging to see Matthew 5:16 come to life, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”   Please continue to pray for us as we continue to build meaningful relationships with our community and as we continue to make plans for CommunitySERVE Day 2010.  Mark your calendar for August 21st and come out to serve your community and let your light shine before men.

Story #2: Ministering to our Neighbors

It may be hard to believe that our next door neighbor may be in the middle of a serious crisis.  But the truth is many in our neighborhoods are struggling.  I believe in days like this there is no better time for the church to be the church for our community.  We have partnered with the City of Bothell and the City of Kirkland to find ways to love our neighbors.

Several weeks ago the City of Kirkland approached us with an elderly woman in need.  She needed to clean up her yard that is in total disrepair or be forced to leave her home.  The Outreach Pastors of Northshore, Eastside Foursquare, and Overlake Christian Church approached this woman with an offer to help.  Not sure whether she would accept our offer of help we prayed that God will allow us to help her.  The Compliance Officer and Police Officer assigned to the case shared with us that our offer to help and pray was nice, but that it would take a miracle for this lady to accept our offer to help.  Well, we serve a God of miracles.  A few days later this elderly homeowner met with us and allowed us to minister to her.  She was amazed that a church would do something like this for her, even though she doesn’t attend church…yet.  It will take months to complete this home project, but the city has allowed her to stay in her home because of the church.  And even though this lady isn’t a church attender, it is nice to know that the church will come to her.   1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”

Story #3: Small Groups do Big Things

Several months ago Dorene Minton’s small group wanted to bless those in need in the Northshore body.  They held a clothing drive/exchange for the families of Northshore.  People had been so generous in their donations that after the event Dorene was left with bags and bags and bags of children’s clothing.  Dorene decided that they wanted to be more intentional about reaching out to their community with Christ’s love.   So they decided to donate the left over donations to the Northshore Family Center.  They blessed many families in our community who had no other way to get clothes for their children. This act of kindness energized this small group so much that they decided to help with the Family Center’s tutor program.  It is amazing to see what happens in the life of a small group when they decide to become missional.  Not only do they become a blessing to others, but they get blessed in return.

The story continues.  There is a monthly meeting of community organizations that get together to try to find ways to partner with each other to better serve our community.  The big talk at the last monthly meeting was what this small group From Northshore Baptist Church did at the Family Center.  The community leaders in our area are starting to realize that Northshore is serious about making a difference in our community.  My prayer is that more small groups, like Dorene’s small group, will look at our community as their mission field.

For more information on ways that you, your family, or your small group can serve our local community, please contact Pastor Dean at deano@nsb.org or www.nsb.org/serve/local

Remember to mark your calendars for August 21, 2010 for our Community Serve Day!

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