Just as a reminder, next Monday, January 25th we will continue our Zoom study focusing on the The Missionary Task. This study will take place at 11 a.m. and will last for 6 weeks. If you would like to learn how to be a missionary to our community, please join us. To receive the Zoom link please email us at rsmith@crbanc.org.
We know many of you are planning for summer and fall ministries. To help you with these ministries, CRBA has a lot of resources you and your church might find very helpful. The following items are available for any of our churches to use:
Evangelism Trailer
· Enclosed Ministry Trailer
· Popcorn Machine
· Snow Cone Machine
· Parachute
· 9 Square in the Air
· 6 Knocker Balls (these will be stored in the CRBA office and must be asked for specifically)
· Corn Hole Set
· Spike Ball
· Inflator
· Gas Grill
· Jack
· 2 Folding Tables
· 8 Folding Chairs
· Trailer Tongue Lock
· Trailer Ball and Insert
· 2 Party Tents
· Generator
2 Video Projectors
Large Blow-up Outdoor Screen
Evangecubes
Peavey Portable Sound System
Books and Bible Studies (Children, Youth and Adults)
Popcorn Machine
Snow Cone Syrup Dispensors
We have the above and more (free for our CRBA Churches). Call our office at
828-437-0137 today to reserve the equipment you need for your next ministry event.
We still have a few seats open for GriefShare if you know of someone with this need. This important ministry is open to anyone who desires help through a personal loss. If you would like to be part of this life transformation group please reserve your spot by calling our CRBA office at 828-437-0137. The group meets Tuesday evenings beginning at 5:30 p.m. at our CRBA office.
Please check out our BurkeChangers video https://bit.ly/2VwuL2T and website www.burkechangers.org. This is going to be very impactful for our community and we hope you and your church will make plans to take part. No CRBA church is too small or too large to make a difference and to be involved in missions!
In Burke County we have 3 specific pockets of lostness where we will be focusing on a lot in 2021. We will have much more to share in the days ahead; but, go ahead now and put the date of April 17th on your calendar. This is a day when we are asking members from our 68 churches to join together in a prayer walk for our county.
To sign up and to receive more information please go to https://ncbaptist.org/event-pray-and-go-prayerwalking.
Simply click on the register link, fill out the info and:
under the “area” drop-down menu, click Unifour,
under the “location” menu, click Valdese & Morganton/Scattered/April 17th .
Instructions and training material will be sent to everyone who signs up.
Thank you to the following churches who gave financially in 2020 to the work of the Catawba River Baptist Association. Your support is appreciated and allows us to help churches reach our communities for Christ.
| Abee’s Grove | Enon | North Morganton |
| Amherst | Faith Missionary | Oak Grove |
| Antioch | Friendship | Oak Ridge |
| Asheville Street | Gilead | Pleasant Hill |
| Bended Knee Cowboy | Glen Alpine FBC | Pleasant Ridge |
| Bethel | Grace | Pleasant View |
| Bridge 42 | High Peak | Rutherford College FBC |
| Brookwood | HMong FBC | Silver Creek |
| Burkemont | Hopewell | Solid Rock |
| Catawba Valley | Icard’s Grove | Southside |
| Community of Drexel | Lakeview | Summit Community |
| Connelly Springs FBC | Missionary Ridge | Table Rock |
| Cornerstone | Morganton FBC | Trinity |
| Cross Memorial | Mount Calvary | United |
| Drexel FBC | Mount Home | Valdese FBC |
| Drexel Memorial | Mount Olive | Walker Road |
| East Valdese | Mountain View II | Wilkie’s Grove |
| El Bethel | Mull’s Grove | Zion |
Top 10 Goals for Groups in 2021 (Part 2)
by Ken Braddy @ Kenbraddy.com
We’ll have a short window of opportunity this year to restart and possibly reset Sunday School (insert whatever name your church calls it!) in our churches. This is the year that we will emerge from COVID-19. Will your group be ready? Going back to “business as usual” won’t be a great strategy, so now is the time to set goals and begin taking steps to improve the Bible study ministries in our churches. And we will do that one group at a time.
I believe there are 10 important goals for groups in 2021. You can read the first five by clicking here. Today’s post will present the last 5 goals that pair with the first five from the blog post on 1/5/21.
Goal #6: Release group members to start a new group. Sunday schools are not growing in part because new groups are not being started. Send a guest to a group that has been together longer than 2 years and chances are they will have a hard time being assimilated into the group. New groups are the places you want to send your newest members and guests. And remember, your teaching ministry will grow by 10 people on average for every new group you start. If you want to grow by 30 people in 2021, start 3 new groups. You’ll also want to start enough groups to cover your “churn,” which is the number of people who die, leave, or relocate. To extend this illustration a bit, if you want to grow your teaching ministry by 30 people like I said before, you’ll also have to start new groups to make up for the people who leave the church during the year! If you have 20 people who leave, you’ll need to start a total of 5 groups to grow by 30 people – 3 groups to grow by 30 people, plus 2 more groups to cover your churn.
Goal #7: Send “missionaries” into preschool, kids, and student ministries. As a group leader, hold onto your group members with a very loose grip. Your goal is not to build the biggest kingdom in the church. Your goal is to build the Kingdom. The volunteer leaders that teach preschool, kid, and student groups come straight from adult groups. Gently encourage (poke, prod, or push!) your group members to step out of your group for a year and become Bible teachers to the younger members of your congregation.
Goal #8: Serve the people in your community regularly. If your group hasn’t had a regular time each month or each quarter to get together for a ministry day in the community, let 2021 be the year you do that. Schools, shelters, crisis pregnancy centers, clothes closets, and food banks are just a few places that always need volunteers. And serving together will build camaraderie between your group’s members as they serve together. You’ll make a difference while you make memories.
Goal #9: Teach your group members to share their testimonies. People will engage others in gospel conversations if they feel equipped. Start by helping your group members write out their testimonies, sharing them with one another for practice. A person’s testimony can be broken down into three parts: life before knowing Christ as Savior, how the person came to Christ, and life after coming to Christ and beginning a life of discipleship.
Goal #10: Teach your group members a simple gospel presentation. Once you’ve helped your group members articulate their testimonies, go one step further and teach them a simple gospel presentation. I’ve used the One Verse Evangelism model with success – it’s a simple, one-verse presentation that is a “back of a napkin” conversation you can have quickly (most people won’t sit with you for hours to hear a gospel presentation, so we have to be ready to quickly give people a reason for the hope in us). Using Romans 6:23 (“the gospel in one verse”), most people can memorize it and use it as their go-to plan for sharing Christ.
If your church’s groups would swing for the fence in 2021 and meet many, or most, of these 10 goals, your church’s Bible teaching ministry will benefit greatly, and you’ll see people grow as disciples.
As we start a new year and begin to emerge from the COVID crisis, may you and your group be ready to do things differently for the sake of the gospel!
Church News
Amherst Baptist is seeking a Pastor.
Antioch Baptist is seeking a bi-vocational Pastor.
Burkemont Baptist has 150 wooden childrens chairs they are willing to donate to a church in need. For more information please contact Giovonnia Hennessee at 828-437-2357.
Catawba Valley is seeking a Pastor.
Community Missionary is seeking a Pastor.
East Valdese Baptist Church celebrates the calling of their new pastor Chip Stallings.
El Bethel Baptist Church in Morganton is seeking a full-time Associate Pastor of Worship and Youth to join their ministerial staff. Please send resumes and questions to worshipleadersearchebbc@gmail.com.
Mull’s Grove Baptist is seeking a bi-vocational Minister of Music. Please send resumes and questions to brodruemgbc@att.net.
Pleasant Hill Baptist is seeking a full-time Children’s and Youth Ministry Pastor as well as a part-time Worship Pastor/Leader.
Rutherford College First Baptist is seeking a bi-vocational Pastor.
Partner News
Smyrna Baptist Church located in Alexander County is prayerfully searching for a full-time pastor. A man to partner with us in ministering and reaching our community for Christ. Smyrna is a conservative body of believers who prefer a traditional worship style. We cooperate and support the SBC, NC Baptist State Convention, and the Alexander Baptist Association. Applicants must believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God. Applicants need to have either an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. Due to COVID, our committee needs recorded sermons or links where we can go to hear the applicant preaching. After prayerful consideration, send your resume to:
Pastoral Search Committee
Smyrna Baptist Church
6174 Church Road
Taylorsville, NC 28681
Phone # 828-352-9844
e-mail: www.smyrnabaptist6174@gmail.com