Dispatches From The Front

Last Sunday evening we were privileged to host the premier of the latest installment of the Dispatches From the Front DVD series from Frontline Missions. This third episode, entitled I Once Was Blind, shows the transforming power of the Gospel working its way through West Africa. Through ministries like Water of Life and numerous native church planting efforts, God is bringing a powerful and gracious change to the hearts of those who have been bound in darkness, blinded by sin, and bringing them into His marvelous light! It is an awesome and humbling thing to see Christ building His church!

If you were unable to purchase a copy of the DVD Sunday and are interested in doing so, you can order online here. All three episodes are available individually or as a set, and bulk purchase discounts are also available.

To stay up to date on further developments in the Dispatches series, as well as see more photos and videos, you can connect with them on Facebook.

Below are some excerpts from the first two episodes.

About the Series

Episode 1: Islands On the Edge

Episode 2: A Bold Advance

Staffing Update

Thank you for your prayers for the leadership as we prayerfully seek the Lord’s direction regarding our current staff openings. God continues to bless our path as we pursue Him by faith. Let us pray that He would direct our steps to the right people.

We are still in the process of seeking a long-term, part-time accountant to help manage our church’s finances. You can read over the job description here. If you or someone you know is interested or has any questions about this position, please send an e-mail to staffing<at>heritagebiblechurch<dot>org.

Join Us for the 4th!

You can download a PDF flyer with this information here.

When:	Sunday, July 4, 1-4 pm
Where:	East Riverside Park, 1225 S. Suber Road, Greer
Who:	Heritage Bible Church, Emmanuel Bible Church, & your guests from the community
Food:	Lunch cookout including hamburgers, hot dogs, and all the fixings. All food, beverages, tables service, etc. will be provided. No need to bring any food items.
Cost:	$2/per person or $10/max per family
Details:	Food service from 1-2 pm. Bring lawnchairs or blankets to sit on. Bring umbrellas and sunscreen to block the sun. Fun activities for all including big ball volleyball, egg toss, sack races, horseshoes, bocce, rock/paper/scissors tournament, etc. Brief service of singing and Scripture at 3:15 pm. The temperature may be quite hot, so we encourage cool, modest clothing.
RSVP:	Sign up by Wednesday, June 30, at the HBC Welcome Center, in Sunday School, or e-mail hbc@heritagebiblechurch.org.

Heritage’s New Logo

Our church’s new logo was presented during the morning worship service today. A few key points about what we are trying to communicate:

• We are people of the cross. More than anything, we want to remind one another and communicate to unbelievers that the cross is the sole reason for our existence. Jesus shed his blood as the spotless, sinless Lamb of God–the only One who could earn righteousness for fallen sinners. And his death satisfied God’s wrath on behalf of sinners who turn from their own way and trust the Savior. Nothing else brings us together. Not our politics, not our preferences, not our morality. Only Jesus. He is central.
• Out of Christ’s life and death, we live. Because Jesus died, we have life. We want to portray visually that life, health, and growth are the result–not the cause!–of God’s grace through Christ. In particular, God has imprinted church planting on Heritage’s very DNA. Our desire was to communicate this passion through a new logo.

Dave McQuaid, a longtime Heritage member, guided our thinking and produced a wide variety of concepts. After much deliberation, we agreed that one rose above the rest. Here it is:

You can see how the two points above merge in the blood-leaf image. The drop of blood, depicting the life and death of Christ, is front and center. The golden leaf, representing our new life in Christ, grows out of his work on our behalf. And in the overlapping area is the cross, a placement that affirms the centrality of the cross to our thinking.

Over the next nine to twelve months, we will systematically incorporate our new design into all our published material: the Order of Worship, church tracts, letterhead, interior signage, and the church website. Our hope is that this new logo will powerfully communicate our love for Christ to a community that does not know him, so that people might grow up into him, worship God, and enjoy him forever.

Team Heritage at the Reedy River Run

On a sunny morning in Greenville today, over seventy people from our congregation participated in the 33rd Annual Reedy Run.

Why would a church put together a team so big that we were noticed as one of the largest groups in today’s race?

1. For the fellowship. After we announced this opportunity, many of our people formed teams of two, three, and four to train. Those training runs provided great opportunities for our people to spend time together, building relationships and encouraging one another in the grace of Christ.

2. For our health. Some of today’s participants affirmed that Team Heritage encouraged them to get in shape by running a 5K. Physical health is a blessing from the Lord–a gift to be stewarded–and today’s event served to help us get in better shape.

3. For community identification. Living in a region with hundreds of churches is at once a blessing and a curse. How can we let our community know that Heritage is here to serve them with the gospel if the community doesn’t know we exist? So we all wore matching T-shirts, with Heritage’s new logo on the front, a map of the church on the back (with two local landmarks, Eastside High School and the Eastside YMCA), and a verse: “The message of the cross is foolishness, but to us it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). We want to be up-front with the community: we are people of the cross, and if you come to our church, the message you will hear is not about cultural conservatism or moralistic living; our message is the cross because our hope is Christ.

4. For creating community contacts. Our presence in the run was unmistakable. Some of our people were approached by folks from the community who wanted to know what we were about. We have no idea how the Lord will use conversations like these, but perhaps God will use our little efforts to expand his kingdom in the hearts of people in the Upstate.

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Our Heritage winners:

• 10K: Matt Imes (46th overall) with a chip time of 38:21. The overall winning time was 30:27.
• 5K: Ben Imes (26th overall) with a chip time of 20:13. The overall winning time was 15:36.

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The Greenville News posted over five hundred pictures on its website from today’s race. Below are some of the best from Team Heritage:

Waiting for the race to start. You can see the front and back of the shirts, artistic talent courtesy of Dave McQuaid.

Making the run a family event!

Joe Middleton, sporting the shades.

Heather McNeely, in the Heritage brownshirt.

Brandon Godwin, looking to pass some walkers.

Drew Van Reijn, on the move.

Pressing to finish the 10K!

Sarah Methvin, on the home stretch of the 5K.

Phil Adams, finishing the 10K strong.

Matt Imes, Riverside senior cross-country runner and part of Team Heritage. Matt posted the fastest Team Heritage time in the 10K. Congratulations!

Tim Keesee Featured in Greenville News

Tim Keesee, director of Frontline Missions and one of our members, was featured in the City People section of the Greenville News this week. As you might imagine, Tim used the opportunity to speak of Christ:

“When you get tired of the travel and the strange food, the thing that sustains you is your relationship with Christ,” says Keesee.“My role is finding the open door, looking for the opportunity that will allow people to advance the Gospel where it has not reached before.”

Read the entire article here.

Recap of Day 1

The first day of our Church Planting Conference offered many highlights:

• We’re learning Chris Anderson’s song, “For the Sake of His Name” (sheet music | mp3). It is full of memorable thoughts and motivations to pray for the gospel to advance.
• Brad Baugham and Matt LaCava sang, “By Faith,” in the morning worship service.
• Brad preached on the power and authority of the risen Christ from Psalm 2.
• Tim Lovegrove and Eric True took us on a fifteen minute tour of the Inland Empire and the Greater Los Angeles area. On our “drive,” we drove past millions and millions of people who need to hear of Christ.
• In the evening service Tim exhorted us that the only way for Christ to be magnified in our lives is for our lives not to be about us (John 3:30).

Today has many more opportunities for you:

• Brad will give a devotional this morning at 10:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall.
• Sarah Elkin and Becky Baugham follow with perspectives on church planting from the perspective of a pastor’s wife.
• We will gather to pray for church planting.
• Lunch is available in the Fellowship Hall for just $3.
• Eric Sipe will lead a discussion on church planting at 1:00 p.m.
• A churchwide dinner begins at 5:45 p.m.
• At 7:00 p.m. Todd Davis will update us on what God is doing at Redeemer Bible Church in Brighton, CO. Jonathan Matias, pastor of Grace Church of Alexandria, will preach this evening’s message.

Hope to see you there!

Heritage Church Planting Conference

Our quadrennial Church Planting Conference is coming February 21-24. We invite you to take part in some or all of the events of this week.

The Church Planting Conference Brochure gives you all the details.

Hope to see you there!

Premiere of Dispatches from the Front: Episode 2

This Sunday we have an unusual opportunity. Not only will the Heritage family be joined by the Grace Bible Church congregation, but together we will witness the premiere of the second episode of Dispatches from the Front from Frontline Missions. (Learn more here.) This one is called “A Bold Advance.” Focusing on Christ’s work through David H., our missionary to Albania, this hour-long presentation opens “windows for the kingdom,” through which you’ll see how God is calling people of every nation to Himself.

The staff had the privilege of previewing the video two weeks ago. We watched God’s hand at work with great joy. By the end of the DVD we sat in reverent silence. No one moved for a couple of minutes as we considered what God had just revealed to us about Himself and His work. It was that powerful.

You can watch the trailer online to get a taste of what you’ll see Sunday.

Here are a couple of thoughts as you prepare for worship this Lord’s Day:

• David H. will be with us to preach during the morning worship service which begins at 9:30 a.m. Please pray for God’s Spirit to fill David and to use Him to magnify His glory in Christ.
• Dispatches will be shown at 11:00 a.m. during a combined Adult Sunday School hour in the Auditorium and in the Fellowship Hall.
• Because of the combined services, please consider sitting in the Fellowship Hall to leave as many seats as possible for our friends from Grace and other community guests.
• A second showing of Dispatches will begin at 5:00 p.m. in the Auditorium.
• After the second showing you are invited to join a Q&A session with David H. and the Frontline team about what God is doing in the world.

One last recommendation: bring your checkbook. We will be showing the hour-long presentation, but there are many extras on the DVD that we won’t be able to show. You won’t want to miss the half-hour interview with David H. that is one of the extras on the DVD. So bring your checkbook and plan to take a copy (or two!) home with you to watch and to share.

May God glorify Himself in our congregation as we watch Him at work.

Bennett Audio Available Online

Pastor Brooks’ interview with Tom and Sarah Bennett is now available online. Sarah describes the earthquake in vivid detail, how she was able to leave the country, and how the Lord is demonstrating his mercy in the midst of tragedy. Listen to it here or download the mp3 here.