Houston Herald

October 2019
A publication of
Houston Baptist Association
Reaching Our World For Christ
From Your Associational Mission Strategist
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  Luke 4:18-19

We have the best news to proclaim to those who are poor, hurting, and held captive to sin. This good news is that Jesus came for those who are described in the passage from Luke! We understand that good news because as Christians we have been set free from the bondage of sin and we recognize that God is gracious to meet the needs in our own lives as a result of being His child. Friends, I don’t have to tell you how many people we have living around us who are poor, hurting, and are in need of a Savior. One of the things God has been teaching me lately is to see people as God sees them and extend love to people who are needing mercy and grace. Some people don’t have the spiritual gift of mercy, but each of are to show mercy because Christ extended His mercy towards us. He did so as He forgave us of our sins and He continually shows His mercy towards us each day as we strive to live for Him. It should be easy for us to show Christ love to those we know in our communities who are oppressed and who are living a life as if there was no hope. It is my prayer that we make an effort each day to live our lives in such a way that people know that there is hope and that hope can be found in Christ. We need to claim as Luke did that Christ has anointed us to preach the good news to the poor. He has given us a mandate to tell others that Christ can set them free from their sin and they can experience the peace and joy of the Lord. May God help us, and may God find us faithful in carrying out the work He has called us to do!

Bro. Gary

Church
News


Pleasant Grove Church will have Revival services beginning Sunday September 29 at 11:00 am and 6:00 pm and will continue Monday September 30 - Wednesday October 2 at 7:00 pm with guest speaker Billy Simmons.

Lake Blackshear Church will have their annual Fall Festival Saturday, October 19, 4-7 PM * Food, Fun and Games.

Northern Heights Church will have their annual Fall Festival on Saturday October 19, 3-6 PM. They will also have a Trunk or Treat on October 31st at 6:00 PM.



Highlights from The 189th Annual Meeting of The Houston Baptist Association
Please pray for

■Asssociational Missionary Gary Leutzinger
■ Tom Teate
■Church planters Drew and Shannon Cunningham, Santa Cruz Area, California
■Pregnancy Care Center–Crisp, Dooly, Wilcox
■Lost and unchurched people
■Revival in HBA churches
■Unity in our churches and unity among our churches
■Churches without pastors
■TV ministries of Cordele First, and Pinecrest churches 
■Our schools, teachers and students
■Annual Meeting
■All the events and activities mentioned in this newsletter


Church positions available

Please contact the HBC at 229-273-4127 if you would like to feature an available church position in the monthly newsletter.

The First Sunday School on record in the Houston Baptist Association was held at Drayton (then called Shiloh) in August of 1854 at 8:00 am. It was recorded that there was much indifference in regard to Sunday Schools and it wasn’t until 1968 that every church in the Association reported having a Sunday School.
Opportunities
coming up

Houston Baptist Association events are printed in bold. HBC is an abbreviation for Houston Baptist Center.

 Tuesdays Men’s Prayer
Breakfast, 8:00 am, HBC

October 1 to 31 Cooperative Program Emphasis

October 3 Bring your Bible to School Day

October 9 Ministers Meeting, 10:30 am, HBC with Guest Speaker David Smith from Missions & Counseling at Sherwood Baptist Church.

October 10 Youth Ministry Team Meeting, 6:30 pm, HBC

October 13 Global Hunger Sunday

October 14 Columbus Day

October 21 Ministry Teams Meeting and Dinner, 6:00 pm,Location TBA

ATTENTION CHURCHES:
It will soon be time to file your ACR (Annual Church Reports) with the Georgia Baptist Convention. You can file online at http://igo.gabaptist.org
Or download forms at https://gabaptist.org/researchservices/ Please call or email the HBC if you need your username & password, would like a copy of forms or need any assistance.
Blood Drives
Fullington Academy
264 Pine Avenue, Pinehurst. 
 October 1, 2019
 3:30 PM -7:30 PM

Cordele Community Clubhouse
 Tuesday, October 8, 2019
 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM

What to do with all those old Sunday School books?  

Don’t throw them away–bring them to HBC

Bring your old SS literature to Houston Baptist Center. Chad Harris will take it to a Edwin L. Hodges Ministries collection site to send overseas. ELHM is a Christian literature ministry that collects donated Bibles, books, magazines, tapes, and tracts from American Christians and ships them to Bible schools, churches, missionaries, and ministries overseas. ELHM is a non-denominational, nonprofit, evangelical ministry.
Partner with Lifetouch to create a no cost, updateable directory for your leadership, staff and families and start 2018 with new tools to help your church stay connected.
Be a Church Host or Volunteer in times of disaster!
If you would like your church news or events featured in the Houston Herald please send it to secretary@houstonbaptist.org