Sunday evening was a great time as we heard from Steve Harden and his plans/dreams for The Connection, a new church to be planted in South Tulsa. This is the first time Trinity has been hands-on, directly involved in beginning a new work. Steve, along with his wife Shelley, and two daughters Amy and Molly are in the process of getting moved to Tulsa from Ponca City. We along with Bethel Baptist Church in Owasso are joining with Steve in this new work. In time applications will be made with the BGCO and the Tulsa Metro Baptist Network for funding but that will come as things begin to materialize. For now we are praying, studying and laying the groundwork. As Steve shared last night we need to pray for their house in Ponca to sell. We need to pray as they look for a home here and scout out places for the new church to meet. A few families have already been identified to help form this new congregation. However the goal of The Connection from the outset is to reach “unreached” or unchurched people. As Steve told us last night on any given Sunday only 20% of Tulsans are attending a church service. That means 4 out of 5 are not attending a church of any kind. As we pray for this new work why not pray for a “rebirth” for ourselves?

Why not pray that we would begin to look at our neighborhoods, schools and workplaces from a new perspective? Why not pray that God would renew our passion, our longing to see our family, friends, coworkers and neighbors come to know Christ? Why not pray that we might begin to think differently about what we are doing? It is worth thinking about. I’ll see you Sunday.

Rod

I had a great time last week. It was nice to get away for a few days, spend time with Zac and watch some pretty good basketball. No, I didn’t go to the NCAA I went to the National Christian Homeschool Basketball Tournament in Springfield, MO. 344 teams from across the country met for a week of basketball played in 30 different gyms throughout Springfield. You can go to all the games you want, no admission is charged and you can watch everything from elementary through high school both boys and girls. I got my fix for the year in one dose!

Now it is back to work. We have our Mission Banquet this week (March 27). On Sunday morning March 29 we will be observing the Lord’s Table in our morning worship. Then Easter is just around the corner. Let me emphasize a couple of things about Easter. First our outreach team is working on an egg hunt for the community. We need you to supply as many plastic eggs filled with candy as possible. This is a huge undertaking for us and time is short. Maybe your class or department could take it on as a project. We need “hundreds” of eggs. The candy needs to be the kind that will not melt! There will be games, food, prizes and lots of fun. For more information contact Keith Cannon.

Second, we are having a very special service on Good Friday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m. In this service we will celebrate the Lord’s Table and the choir will present a Tenebrae service. This service will recreate the betrayal, abandonment, and the agony of the events leading up to and including the cross. I hope that you will come as we gather in remembrance of our Lord’s dying for His people. Come and join us as we enter into His suffering in anticipation of His resurrection. I can promise you if you will join with us on Friday, Sunday will have new meaning. Join us in the Shadow of Sacrifice on Good Friday followed by the joy of Resurrection Sunday. I’ll see you this coming Lord’s Day as we gather in joyful celebration of our new life in Christ.

Rod

This message by guest preacher Bowden McElroy was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, March 22, 2009.

Outline:
Am I contributing to the factors of what makes for a healthy church? In this message let’s look at three words that define a healthy church:

1. Community: Church is suppose to provide a sense of community. 1Cor 12:12-20.
2. Consensus: You cannot be a Christian in isolation. Debate on issues is not always fun, but it is always necessarty. Acts 15:6ff. Community doesn’t work without consensus.
3. Accountability: Matthew 18:15-20.

This message by guest preacher Bowden McElroy was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, March 22, 2009.

What snow? Can you believe this weather? Only in Oklahoma can you have that heavy snow on Saturday and it is all but gone by Sunday evening. Well, I know that the snow had a “chilling” effect on attendance Sunday morning (sorry I couldn’t resist) but we had a hearty group for worship Sunday morning including some visitors from other churches! As I said Sunday morning, “Look around. It isn’t often you get a chance to see just who’s going to heaven!” We decided to postpone our observance of the Lord’s Supper until sometime in April or May. And if you are interested you can find Sunday’s message online with all the other messages at www.tbctulsa.org. I want to remind you of a couple of things.

First is the community Easter Egg hunt on Saturday, April 11. This is a big undertaking and will require all of us working together. We will have activities for kids preschool - 5th grade. We have volunteers taking care of food and organizing activities we need you to supply plastic eggs. How many? As many as you can carry. We need hundreds of plastic eggs filled with candy (the kind that doesn’t melt). And we’ll need to have them here by Wednesday April 8. Please, please help us make sure we have plenty on hand. This is a big outreach to the community and we don’t want to come up short.

Second I want to encourage you join us for all the activities Easter weekend. We’ll begin with a special service on Good Friday. We’ll meet at 7:00 p.m. for a special service. We’ll observe the Lord’s Table and then the choir will lead us through the Passion of our Lord in a special candlelight service. This will take the place of our Sunday evening worship for that weekend. Come gather with us on Friday evening and then finish with us on Sunday morning! I’m looking forward to it. I’ll see you Sunday.

Rod