January 2019 Report

Here are just a few of the activities for the month -

Highlights:

• We are continuing to see progress in our apartment ministries
• We’ve had more visitors this month
• Several more professions of faith
• Continuation of discipleship efforts
• Attendance at evangelism conference

This is from Chris’s report –

A passion of our church is to go to the food pantry, local shelter, park, and apartments, to minster to the weak, needy, homeless, and forgotten people of Oklahoma. Many of these people lack material things, but they are by no means poor – because “God has chosen them to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom!” It says in 1 Corinthians 1:28 that “God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.” Jesus is the example of what it means to be despised and rejected, but not because of His own sin, but the sin of wicked men who nailed Him to the cross. “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised and we esteemed him not…we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:3-4) All of this was to full the prophecy found in Psalm 118:22 – “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” What we are discovering here at NGBC is that like Christ who was rejected by the nation of Israel to become the foundation of the church, God is choosing the poor, the needy, despised, and rejected people of society to form the foundation of New Genera/on Baptist Church! The person that understands this better than anyone at our church is a lady named Sue. She is constantly caring for and praying for people that are in need, and has even allowed countless individuals to stay in her home for long periods of /me. Two Sundays ago, she went to the homeless shelter here in Norman and yelled – “Who wants to come to church!?” A ten-year-old boy told his mom he wanted to go, so he, his brother, and mom got a ride from Sue to the church. When they arrived at the church during Sunday school, I took one look at the mother and said – “I know you! We went to Kindergarten together!” We went to elementary school, middle school, and possibly even high school together. I still don’t know all of her life circumstances or how she became homeless, but it struck my heart that even though I had long forgotten and probably rejected Ashley as a kind of social outcast, the LORD had not forgotten her, loves her, brought her to church, and allowed me to share the gospel with her. The LORD LOVES people!! Especially those we forget, despise, or reject! Lord have mercy on us and forgive us! Let us have mercy on the forgotten men and women of Oklahoma, because YOU never have!!

We are planning on having another Evangelism training semester starting next Sunday. We plan to train on Sunday afternoons, so if you know of anyone who would like evangelism training please give me a call.

Please continue to pray for us! We appreciate your support both prayerfully and financially.