It’s hard to believe today is already the second Sunday in January. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking back to the great year we had in 2004. Brownsburg church of Christ was blessed with spiritual and numerical growth. I’ve been amazed at the commitment to brotherly love and peace as we work together. And, I’m impressed by many of you who speak of your desire to move by faith as we do our work during the years to come. I’m excited to see and hear of your hunger to work for God! Let’s consider what we accomplished in 2004 to see if it might give us a direction for the future.
Baptisms, Restorations, and New Members. As we move into 2005, we commend Melissa Hosfield, Tony Sardinas, Randy Green, and Matt Beetem who began their spiritual lives this year. We look forward to opportunities to help you move forward with your Christianity. And, it is refreshing to see your enthusiasm for God and commitment to serve Him. It was great to see Brad Rosene and Sharon Gannon restored after being out of service. It’s been a pleasure to have the Glenn Eldridge family begin working with us, who moved to Brownsburg from eastern Indiana.
Teaching Efforts. In the spring, Ralph Walker from Tampa, FL joined us for our gospel meeting on Taking a Look at the Lives of Little People. In October, we brought back the fall seminar featuring Gary Henry who preaches at Westside in Indianapolis. The weekend seminar on Diligently Seeking God also featured John Smith, Gary Fiscus, Lee Wildman, Matthew Allen, and Josh Persall. It was a wonderful spiritual feast over the course of three days!
Last January we began the year with a two-session course on how to use Microsoft PowerPoint in the classroom. Several of our teachers attended the class, and have put their knowledge to work. During the spring, the ladies conducted an informative teacher workshop to help with our excellent teaching program. Many of you attended and I know you are looking forward to what is planned for this year. During the summer we held a four lesson study for men, taught by Tim Smelser at the home of Ken Kaufman. In June our VBS focused on helping our youth Discover Bible Treasures. In the fall, our Tuesday Morning classes started up for the first time in several years, focusing on a study of Church History.
Our long running radio program Focus on the Bible was cancelled by the new station owners at WKLU on October 18. The program had been on the air since 1992 and had a large listening audience. It has been an adjustment to wake up on Sunday mornings and not have the program. As we move into 2005, the congregation is exploring efforts to move into new teaching efforts (Bible Forum, etc.) to replace our work in radio.
It’s been great to see Brownsburg assist men in their gospel preaching around the world, and here in the United States. I know Tim Henderson (Severn, MD), Gary Henry (Indianapolis), and David Eldridge (Westfield) appreciate your prayers and letters of encouragement. We’ve also been helping with David Dann’s support. David preaches in Toronto, Canada. We’ve assisted with support to the work in the Philippines and sent one-time support to preachers in Tennessee and Arizona.
I want to thank you for the opportunity and support you gave me to work in Ukraine during 2004. I enjoyed traveling there with Kipp Campbell (Clarksville) and Mitch Davis (Fayetteville, GA). Your benevolence to the brethren in Mariupol has been substantial—from helping with heating and utility bills for the brethren to supplying them needed medical and diet supplements. I am hoping the opportunity will present itself for me to return to Mariupol during 2006. I also had the privilege of traveling to hold meetings in Gilbert, AZ; Lebanon, IN; and Alexandria, IN. This gave several men of the congregation an opportunity to speak and teach in my place. Thanks to all of you who worked hard in this endeavor.
2005 is shaping up to be a very busy year in our work. The February Bible Forum, and special series on Extreme Makeover for the Home should keep us busy over the next 6-8 weeks. Then in March we look forward to our spring gospel meeting with Lowell Sallee. Later in the year we will conduct our VBS, an evangelism workshop, teacher workshop, and hold other special events. We have a first class teaching program where many of you work tirelessly in preparing top-notch class lessons each week. What a blessing. Don’t think your efforts go unnoticed! God has blessed our congregation materially, numerically, and with great knowledge. Now is the time to remember that God expects us to respond by using our talents and abilities for His glory.
As we get moving in 2005, let’s be more diligent with our work, become even more effective with our outreach to the lost, and look for ways to be as faithful to God as possible. Let’s renew our efforts to be an encouragement to each other and continue our steadfast unity. Remember: (He) is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. (Eph. 3:20).
Matthew Allen
webmail@mhallen.com