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| Greetings! |
Our Baby Girl is having another birthday in a couple of weeks. She begins law school soon after that. A few days before both, she moves into her new apartment. These are hard words to write.
She moved off to college four years ago. She came home for holidays and parts of summers, but we knew she would soon make her home somewhere else. It looks like that time has come. In many ways, I wish I could start all over again with her. I say this not because of deep regrets, although in the words of a well-known song, I do have a few. I say this because I have enjoyed the last twenty-two years so much. I love being her dad.
She was the prettiest baby I've ever seen. Just like her puppy, I had to sleep with her in our guest bedroom the first night home from the hospital so that we could all rest. Her personality sparkled from her earliest days. I have been hopelessly wrapped around her finger from the beginning.
She has worked for us here at TBA since she returned from Europe and since Kristen moved off to the Show Me State. She told her mom recently that I sit in meetings all day and go out to eat. She fully understands what happens in all of those encounters, but she loves to tease me. She always finds a way to make me smile.
We are shopping for furniture and furnishings now. She has a moving party planned. Her big sister and brother-in-law will be here. Many hands will make quick work. That grieves me. Our future daughter-in-law bought us tickets to the Rangers game that night. I'm not sure I will enjoy it at all.
The good news is that she will always be my Baby Girl. She is living nearby for the next three years. She will still come home for holidays and parts of summers. And I will continue wandering around her room remembering laughter and tears, mornings and evenings, and luxuriating in an eternity's worth of pride and joy.
Happy birthday, Baby Girl!
Love you,
Dad
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Pastors' Conference and Executive Board
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Pastors' Conference and Executive Board Schedule
There will be no Pastors Conference during the summer. We will resume after Labor Day.
The Executive Board will meet Monday, July 20 at 12:00 noon at the Tarrant Baptist Association Office 4520 James Avenue, Fort Worth. Lunch is $5.
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Pastor's Mentoring Group - Led by Dr. Al Meredith
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 Dr. Al Meredith, pastor of Wedgwood Baptist Church, is retiring soon. However, he is not giving up the ministry. He is starting a new mentoring group in August consisting of four or five men in their twenties or thirties who serve as pastors.
 The group will begin their year together by attending an overnight retreat at Riverbend Retreat Center in August. The group will then meet monthly in Brother Al's home. Each month a book will be assigned along with a short report. Participants will meet with Brother Al individually each month.
Interested? Contact David Bowman at Tarrant Baptist Association via email at your earliest convenience. David's email is david@tarrantbaptist.org.
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Why doesn't God speak to us like he did to those in Bible times?
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I have heard the above question many times from students when I have been with them at youth camp. I have heard a similar question from my mother who has taught Sunday School and women's Bible studies for over 45 years. Also, one of my doctors told me he didn't think he had ever heard God speak to him since he accepted Christ as his Savior.
Perhaps you have also asked this same question. How do I hear from God? How do I know it is Him and not just my own thoughts?
I know God is speaking to His followers, it is just that many of us are not trained to know how to hear Him. The Bible tells us that God is Spirit. When we ask Jesus to be Lord of our lives, the Holy Spirit comes and makes his home within us. "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither see him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." John 14:15-17.
Jesus goes on to tell us in John 16:13-15, "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you."
Below are some of the key things that have helped me to hear God speak.
- Reading the Bible - I ask God to help me know what He wants to tell me. What He wants me to learn. After I have read a passage I ask myself questions and reflect on them. For instance, John 15:5 is a very familar verse. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." Just reflecting on this verse, these are my thoughts to God. "Father, thank you for allowing me to be connected to you. To be a branch off of you is so humbling. I am not worthy. Help me to remain in you. Teach me to know what that means throughout the day. How do I keep my thoughts coming back to you every minute or two? I want to please you and bear good fruit. What does this look like for me today? What opportunities will you bring me? I realize that I can do nothing without you. Those things I think I've got, are useless. They are of no value. I am yours God. Please mold me into what you desire."
- Praying - I talk to God all day long. I ask Him what His thoughts are about every situation. I ask Him to let me see others as He sees them. I ask Him to help me care about the things He cares about.
- Being Expectant - I am expectant that God will speak to me. I check in with Him in every situation. When the phone rings I ask God, "Is this someone you have sent? Help me hear their heart, Lord. What do you want me to say?" When I encounter the checker at Walmart I ask God about it. "Lord, what do you see? How do I share you with her?"
- Trusting God - This one is sometimes hard for me. When I sense God nudging me to do something for another person that is way outside my comfort zone, I question God but most of the time I obey. It amazes me how God knew that was just what the other person was needing. I just had no idea and thought they would think I was crazy. I have also learned to trust God when things don't go how I thought they should. Perhaps you struggle with this also.
How does God speak to you?
Becky Biser becky@tarrantbaptist.org
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Hearing God Retreat
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The next Hearing God Retreat is August 24-25 at Riverbend Retreat Center. The retreat will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Monday and end at noon on Tuesday. The cost is $50 and includes a private room, dinner and breakfast.
This is a retreat. You will have two large blocks of time to spend with the Lord, sleeping and/or taking a walk. You will be guided through some Bible readings and other readings to help you connect with the Lord.
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Coaching and Professional Coach Training
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Need to make a decision or figure out how best to handle a situation?
The Tarrant Baptist Association staff are all trained ICF coaches and are available to assist you. Through the coaching process, they will listen deeply, ask powerful questions to help you think and weigh all your options. They will help you think about barriers or obstacles and how to address them. The staff will help you as you formulate a plan with accountability if needed, designed for your needs. All coaching sessions are confidential and will be bathed in prayer. 
Let us know how we can help you.
David Bowman - david@tarrantbaptist.org
Becky Biser - becky@tarrantbaptist.org
Gary Crowell - gary@tarrantbaptist.org
Jay Harris - jay@tarrantbaptist.org
  Professional Coach Training Modules 1-2 and Modules 3-4 August 10-15 Tarrant Baptist Association Email frontdesk@tarrantbaptist.org for more information!
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Discipleship Journey for Pastors and Staff
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Discipleship Journey for Pastors and Staff
Want to experience a discipleship journey designed just for pastors, staff and leaders? This is not like any other discipleship conference you have experienced. This is a time you can refresh yourself in a hands-on experiential-type of journey. Here are some of the things you will experience:
- A safe environment
- Time for reflection
- Time to spend reading the Bible and reflecting on your relationship with Christ
- Authentic facilitators who let you discover your own way
- Prayers offered over you
- Laughter and fun
- A few stretching and challenging activities
- Time to hear God speaking just to you
- A renewed excitement and expectation about what God is doing in your life
The next re:FOCUS journey will start Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. on October 25 and end at noon on Tuesday, October 27 at the Riverbend Retreat Center. Each retreat time is unique and will focus on different aspects to help empower leaders.
Retreat #1 - Leaders will spend time re:Connecting with God and with peers in an experiential learning environment. This time will include alone time with God enhancing their dependence on the Father and time to make friends with peers that are both authentic and safe.
Retreat # 2 - Six months later leaders will come back together to re:Discover who God has made them to be. They will spend time exploring things about themselves and formulating their own personal mission statements.
Retreat #3 - In another six months leaders will re:Think what it means to be a disciple. They will explore passages of scripture and write their own definition of a disciple. They will gain a clear picture of what this disciple looks like and how they personally will help others grow to be a fully devoted follower of Christ.
Retreat #4 - The final retreat six months later will focus on re:Engaging with God in His Kingdom. How has God created me to be most effective personally on engaging others? What is He nudging me to do? How do I most effectively lead myself and others?
Between these retreat weeks leaders will meet together monthly to encourage and pray for each other. Interested? If so, contact Becky Biser at becky@tarrantbaptist.org. Sign up today! Date: October 25-27, 2015 (Begin Sunday evening at 6:00 and ending at Tuesday at noon) Cost: $125 each retreat (includes lodging, meals, snacks, books and other materials) Duration: 4 retreats over 2 years Register Here! |
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App of the Month - Blinkist
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I happened upon a new app I 'm really enjoying. The app is Blinkist. It is comprised of professional book summaries of the books you think you might like to read but find yourself hindered by necessities like sleep and work. With Blinkist, we get the main ideas of a book in fifteen minutes.
This past weekend we traveled to and from Southern California to meet our son's future in-laws. I worked through nine book summaries on the trip. I blitzed through Blink by Malcolm Gladwell; Legendary Service by Ken Blanchard, Kathy Cuff, and Vicki Halsey; Be Our Guest by the Disney Institute and Theodore Kinni; and The Reason for God by Timothy Keller, among others.
Many of the selections allow you to place your headphones in your ears and listen instead of read. If you have an Apple device like an iPhone or iPad, you can have Siri read the others to you. Connect Blinkist with Evernote and your highlights are automatically saved in the Blinkist notebook in Evernote. How cool is that?
In the upcoming queue, I have Gladwell's David and Goliath; The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber; and Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono.
You can try this app for free for three days. Subscription plans begin at $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year.
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Open the EYES of your church
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Open the EYES of your church: See what God is doing here and around the world! 
It is so easy to just sit within the four walls of our church buildings and believe that our role in God's Kingdom is totally contained therein. It is NOT! God commands in His Word for us to "Go make disciples of all people groups." Matthew 28:18, and to "be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8. God is directing us to do His Kingdom work in and outside our church walls, in and outside our county, in and outside our state and in and outside our nation's borders!
I challenge you and your church to connect with and to relate to new church plants here locally and throughout our world. Get to know the plant pastor, their family and members of the new church congregation. Learn how best to pray for them, how to encourage them, how to support them.
Shaun Lynch came by the TBA office a week or so ago. He and his wife, Whitney, and their three kids, Jarret, Kynzie and Landon, are heading from Texas to Vancouver to plant a church! They will be working with a new church plant pastor who happens to be part of the ReFocus experience led by Troy Wolfe, Movement Church and Kevin Barke, Fellowship BC and me in Vancouver. The Lynch family needs churches, pastors, people to come alongside them as they begin this awesome work.
Brian Watson, Outdoor Life Church, is working with a number of new church start pastors who need churches, pastors, people to come alongside them in the journey.
Let's talk about church starts not only here in Tarrant, but in Texas, the expanse of the US and throughout the world. Let's talk about how you can get involved personally. A suggested approach is to begin with at least one in each circle going out from here!
Jay Harris, Jay@TarrantBaptist.org
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Book Review - The Me I Want To Be
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My bride and I are reading The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg. This book is about as far as it can be from a volume with a similar title from a television preacher who never talks about sin. (Enough said?)
Ortberg challenges me in the same manner Dallas Willard, Eugene Peterson, and Richard Foster do. Every chapter makes me laugh and groan. I am so glad we found this book. It is wonderfully encouraging for this season of life.
 There are seven parts to the book: Part One:Finding my Identity Part Two:Flowing with the Spirit Part Three:Renewing My Mind Part Four:Redeeming My Time Part Five:Deepening My Relationships Part Six:Transforming My Experience Part Seven:Flowing From Here on Out When the Apostle Paul talks about the freedom of living in the Spirit, I find myself wondering what all that indicates. Ortberg broadens my understanding and deepens my appreciation for Spirit-filled living. You will take great profit from these pages.
David Bowman
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Vacation Bible School
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Vacation Bible School Link Up
Contact the director if interested in sharing supplies, decorations, or curriculum!
Materiales de EBV (Spanish VBS Materials)
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Laser Coaching now available within the TBA
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Laser Coaching now available within the TBA
You have been hearing about the coaching experience. It has impacted all of your TBA staff. David, Becky, Gary and Jay are all certified coaches with the International Coach Federation and are faculty with Coaching4Clergy. Coach training is being offered August 10-14. Read about it here in this issue of the Challenge.
Another special offering in the coaching experience is the ability for you as part of the Tarrant Association to avail yourself to be coached. You can receive a Laser Coaching session, (a 20-minute session), once a month at no cost. Simply call the TBA and reserve a time and coach. Laser Coaching will help you manage time and focus, prioritize, brainstorm possibilities, get unstuck and much more. Check it out!
Give it a try! Call today---817.927.1911 ext 0.
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| Fish Fry Golf Classic |
9th Annual Fish Fry Golf Classic
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
4-Man Scramble Golf Tournament
(Register a team or individually)
Registration: 9:30 am
Shotgun Start: 11:00 am
Squaw Valley Golf Course, Glen Rose
Great Prizes, good food and fellowship and all going for a great cause - improvements at Riverbend! We will be limited to the first 144 golfers. Others will be placed on a waiting list, and if we get enough, Squaw Valley will open up the second course.
Click Here to download the Registration Brochure. 
Tournament Fees
- $80 per person if registered before September 1st
- $90 per person on or after September 1st
Registration includes: Tournament Entry, lunch, cap or visor, player "goody bag", eligibility for other prizes and Fish Fry meal and program!
Promotions
- Early Bird registrants, before September 1st, will be in a drawing for a Sky Caddie Range Finder.
- Church with most participants will receive an overnight staff retreat in Lenamon Lodge.
- Retreat includes meals and up to 8 green fees to Squaw Valley Golf Course.
- All players becoming a "Friend of the Bend" and donating at least $100 will be placed in a drawing for a great prize!
Prizes
- Closest to pin
- Longest Drive
- Putting Contest for $100 - back by popular demand
- All players are eligible for great prize drawings.
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BGCT Upcoming Events
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Christianity and Same Sex Marriage
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Same-sex marriage has become legal throughout the United States for the first time in history. This change represents a culture shift that has been both rapid and momentous. American Christians who seek to build their faith from the Bible find that several ethical/theological positions are relevant to discussion of and response to the issue. Marriage, family, sexual behavior, church and state, religious liberty, and evangelism are all important to the discussion from a biblical Christian perspective.
A Guideline for Preparing your Church in the
Midst of Cultural Changes
Each Baptist church is an autonomous religious and legal entity. While Baptists share core principles, individual churches have the responsibility for determining how they will function based on their theology and current law. While the law sets certain standards for operation, each church has flexibility within those standards.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states cannot prohibit same-sex marriage. These questions and guidelines are designed to help your church think through ways to prepare for that ruling in addition to other potential religious liberty challenges.
The Christian Life Commission has resources to help churches in English and Spanish.
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Moving Sale - First Baptist Church, Grand Prairie
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Moving to a new location in August and looking to sell a host of different items.
August 7-8
8am to 4pm
Cash and Carry
First Baptist Church
122 N.E. 2nd St
Grand Prairie, TX 75050
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SBTC Upcoming Events
|  Pastor & Wife Retreat: July 17-18, Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center Hispanic Women's Conference: July 24-25, San Antonio Children's Music Leadership Conference: August 1, Fort Worth, TX Strategic Growth Forum: August 13-14, Houston, TX Literacy Connexus TEX Basic Training: August 7-8, Grapevine, TX Literacy Connexus Cross Cultural Witnessing: September 11th, Arlington, TX Literacy Connexus Basic Pronunciation: September 12th, Arlington, TX |
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Other Upcoming Events
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2015 NAMB Sponsored Vancouver Vision Tour: July 27-29
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MinistrySafe Child Safety Workshop
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Save the Date!
Child Safety Workshop
About the Workshop:
A comprehensive training that covers the WHY, the WHAT and the HOW of creating a safety system to protect children and those who serve them.
Welcome: churches, schools, camps, non-profits and youth sport organizations.
Workshop Sponsors:
MinistrySafe, Gateway Church, Philadelphia Insurance Companies
Time and Location:
September 29, 2015
9:00am -12:30pm
Gateway Church - North FW Campus
4209 Basswood Blvd.
Fort Worth, TX
For more information: Contact the MinistrySafe Team: admin@ministrysafe.com or 817-737-7233
REGISTER HERE!
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| Confident Christianity Conference |
| Confident Christianity Conference |
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I want to make you aware of an important event to strengthen your member's faith while equipping them to share the gospel with others:
The Confident Christianity Conference on September 18th and 19th at Fielder Church in Arlington. REGISTER HERE
I encourage you to show the video at this link to encourage your members to attend: https://vimeo.com/129702355
Frank Turek from the apologetics ministry Cross Examined will be our keynote speaker along with Barry Creamer of Criswell College.
Workshop speakers and topics include:
Lea Holder (Fallbrook Church) - Youth Track:- Christians Aren't Dummies: Understanding the logical facts that support our faith
- Do All Roads Lead to Heaven? Knowing the important differences between Christianity & other world religions
- Christ vs. Culture: Understanding why God's way for love & sex is better than this culture's way
Dr. Mike Keas (SWBTS)- Darwin's Doubt and Intelligent Design
Dr. Travis Dickinson (SWBTS)
- Doubt as Virtue: How to Doubt and Have Faith Without Exploding
Dr. Alicia Wong (SWBTS)- Cross-Cultural Evangelism for Women
James Walker (Watchman Fellowship)- The 4 Views: Key to Sharing Christ with Other Faiths
John Ferrer - Prolife Answers To The Abortion Epidemic
Ben McPhaul- Reaching out to Adventists
Justin Hiester (SBTC People Group Missionary)Brent Sorrels (SBTC People Group Missionary)- Reaching Out to Buddhists
Martin Gonzalez (SBTC People Group Missionary)For more information, and to register, please go to www.sbtexas.com/ccc.
"so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God"
1 Kings 8:60
Bruno Molina
Language Evangelism Associate
Southern Baptists of Texas Convention |
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| Fiesta Ring |
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FIESTA RING
Friday-Saturday, November 6-7, 2015
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With TAMMY WALDROP
Clinician
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| Included are massed playing and reading sessions for handbells as well as ways to use handbells in worship and missions. For complete event details, click here. |
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Includes snack breaks Friday evening & Saturday morning
$30 per person
Cancellation Policy: No refunds after OCT 28
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| Explore God for Kids & How to Introduce Your Church to Explore God |
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Cast the Vision
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Explore God creates credible content for people with spiritual questions and curiosities about God, faith, religion, and purpose. Who has those? Seems like just about everybody-including us. Now is the time to tell your congregation about Explore God and let them know what's ahead.
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Leadership Checklist
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Here are five tips to help your church or ministry get excited about the Explore God DFW Community Outreach Initiative!
- Play a Video.
Show this video during your church gathering or distribute it via e-mail. Check out these other promotional videos that you can use as well.
- Cast the Vision.
Tell your members why your church has chosen to participate in the movement. Share with them about the goals of the initiative:
To unite the Church in inviting the surrounding community to explore God
To promote the initiative with cutting-edge marketing and advertising
To train Christians in how to have spiritual conversations and how to facilitate discussion groups
To encourage the unchurched to attend an Explore God sermon series or discussion group
- Use the Intentional Relationships Pre-Outreach Series.
The Intentional Relationships series sets the stage for The 7 Big Questions series by encouraging Christians to cultivate genuine friendships that can pave the way for meaningful spiritual conversations. Many churches choose to use this series a few months before launching the initiative. You can download the guides here:
Intentional Relationships Sermon Outlines
Intentional Relationships Discussion Group Guide
- Visit ExploreGod.com.
Encourage your congregation to visit www.ExploreGod.com to watch some videos, read some articles, and familiarize themselves with the site. Help them see it as a resource for life that can be used to share their faith well beyond the Community Outreach Initiative.
- Plug In via Social Media.
The Explore God Facebook page and the Explora Dios Facebook page each reach more than 1 million people a day and are a great way to practice having conversations about God. We're also on Twitter, Instagram, Google+, tumblr, and Pinterest.
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Announcing Explore God for Kids
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The 7 Big Questions is now available in a format tailored to children ages 4-14. Explore God for Kids meets kids where they are and allows them to explore God on their terms. Like all Explore God content, it is completely ecumenical and free to use.
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Tip for Today: Pray for Friendships
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Building intentional relationships with people in our communities is a key step to a successful Community Outreach Initiative. Pray this week that God would instill in your members a love for their neighbors, friends, and coworkers, and that these friendships would be the foundations that lead to deep, meaningful conversations about God.
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
-Matthew 22:37-40
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| Women's Conference | 
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News from the Churches
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Darlene Walker at darwalkr22@msn.com has a set of tone chimes for sale. She has used them exclusively for ministry to senior adults. However, she will no longer be doing that due to physical issues. It is an HB 25-note Chromatic set and is in excellent condition. They are stored in a rolling carrying case. The purchase price from Suzuki is $839. She is offering her set for $500. She would like for them to go to a church and be used for quality purpose. If your church is looking for chimes, she can be contacted at 512-736-3554 (cell).
Barry Braman at BBraman@shadyoaks.org is looking for a two octave set of used hand bells for a mission trip to Slovenia in 2016. He would either purchase them or would love for someone to donate unused bells for the trip. They will leave the bells in Slovenia for missionaries Randy and Joan Bell so they can use them in their work. Right now, there are no bells in the country and Joan thinks this would be a great tool for outreach. His contact number is 817-282-0237.
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Becky Biser
Tarrant Baptist Association
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