Batesville Christian Church exists to glorify God by seeking the lost,

building up the saved, and serving the community.

If you’re trying to fill a five gallon bucket with a combination of water, sand, pebbles, and big rocks, which do you put in first? To make room for the big rocks, you have to start with the big rocks.

The same is true for our schedules. The most important priorities, the “big rocks”, have to go into the schedule first or there won’t be room. As we move from summer activities to fall schedules, what are the big rocks you need to make room for this fall?

One big rock is time with God. Remember the sisters, Mary and Martha? Martha was busy cleaning the house and preparing food. Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to His every word. Martha expects Mary to get up and help. What does Jesus say to Martha? “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42) What Martha was doing needed to be done, but making time for Jesus comes first. Unless you put this into your schedule first, you won’t have room after everything else has been penciled in.

Another big rock is weekly worship. If you’re only attending worship 1-2 times a month, I want to challenge you to make that a bigger priority this fall by increasing your attendance to 3-4 times a month. Write it into your schedule now and you’ll more than likely keep the commitment when invitations to other activities roll in. As the Bible says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one an-other – and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

A third big rock is family time. The family meal is one of the best ways to disciple your children (Deuteronomy 6:2-7). On your calendar, pencil in at least 3 nights a week that will be reserved for family meals and stick to it (give every member of the family a schedule and work together to pick the best nights).

Set aside at least 30 minutes and use that time to talk about the day (i.e. best thing that happened today and worst thing that happened today), read a verse and talk about it, or use a family dialogue game (take this article to Christian’s Kinderlaten in Batesville and you will receive a 20% discount on the game “Family Dinner Box of Questions”).

The last big rock is your giving to God. To grow in your trust in God and His provision, practice giving to Him first

out of your income rather than giving to Him based upon what’s left. Many mature Christians practice giving the

first 10% of their paycheck to Him and live on the 90% of what’s left over. But when they let lesser priorities eat

up their paycheck, they often have nothing left over to give to Him. “Honor the Lord with your wealth” (Proverbs

3:9). If your faith isn’t ready for 10%, try 5% and see how God continues to provide for you.

Serving Him with you,

Steve

AUGUST 2014

Belonging to God’s Family Membership Class August 17

If you’d like to know more about becoming a member at BCC, our beliefs, practices and history of our church, this class is ideal for you! Lunch will be served prior to class, and child care is available if needed. The class will be on Sunday, August 17th at 12:30pm. Please RSVP to Melissa in the church office, and let us know if you will need childcare.

New shoes, outfits, backpacks, notebooks, pens, glue, scissors, teacher lists, locker combinations, parent orientations, equipment checkouts, etc. Our family is preparing for school to resume and new adventure for our kids in Batesville schools. For this article, I am continuing on this month as we explore how all of us, the body of believers, can be pre-pared for worship. David, wrote in Psalm 122:1 “I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”” David had a willing spirit. He understood that the house of the Lord was the temple. Today, we understand that the house of the Lord is not the building, but the assembly of believers – the Church. I hope you find great encouragement in gathering with others here at Batesville Christian. From those experiencing amazing joys to those dealing with great suffering, we have the opportunity to gather for the purpose of worship. Our worship is not as a result of our emo-tional condition, our worship is a result of the goodness of God. Occasionally around our house when the “dinner bell” rings (which sounds a lot like someone yelling “time for supper”) one of our children will say, “but I don’t want to eat”. It is then that the sarcastic Dad side of me shows up and I love to remind my child that family meal time isn’t about what you want to do, it’s what you get to do. Does that sound famil-iar? “I don’t want to go today. I don’t feel like going. I’d rather be…” Part of our preparation for worship begins with understanding we have a role in this family gathering. We are all part of the body (see 1 Corinthians 12). This isn’t out of obligation, but out of our heart’s desire. In Matthew 15:8-9 Jesus reminds the Pharisees the words from Isaiah when he quotes, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain…” Developing this willing spirit takes discipline. It also takes a willingness to be transparent enough to establish relation-ships with those who make up the Church. I believe in that transparency, we learn there are others who have been broken, scarred, hurt, abandoned, created self-inflicted messes with their lives, but have been restored, healed, em-powered, loved and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ. For all He has done, let US go to the house of the Lord.

Minister of Worship & Discipleship

Church Picnic

September 21st

1:00—5:00 pm

Liberty Park

Diaper Shower for the Ortiz’ triplets

Let’s celebrate the birth of Axel & Erin Ortiz’ babies, and shower them with diapers! You can bring in diapers to the bassinet in the lobby any time through the end of August.

While God works through people in every line of work, the church has the unique responsibility of en-couraging young people to consider ministry for their life’s work. One young man who senses God leading him to pursue ministry is Zach Brower. Zach is the son of Gary and Susan Brower and has been a member of Batesville Christian for most of his life. He graduated in May from Batesville High School and will soon start studies at CCU joining another member of our church, Samantha Weisenbach, who will be a senior this year.

I recently asked Zach to discuss his decision to go to CCU: Why CCU? My interest in CCU initially came from the fact that many of my mentors (Steve Yeaton,

Ben Halliburton, Dan Giesen) graduated from or taught at CCU. This sparked my interest in visiting the campus, and after doing so I quickly fell in love with CCU.

What do you plan on studying there? I plan on studying General Ministry. In the future though, I may decide to narrow my focus on Youth Ministry or Preaching.

What do your friends think of you going to a Christian college and studying for the ministry? My friends have been very supportive of my desire to go to a Christian college and specialize in ministry, and have encouraged me in that pur-suit.

What are you looking forward to the most about college? I think what I'm looking forward to the most about college is the wonderful campus community I will become a part of. CCU's campus life is one of the big draw factors the school had on me.

Any words of advice to encourage on how high schoolers can continue to grow in their faith? My advice to high school students would be to simply keep their eyes open; both to how they can serve others and how God is speaking to them. I speak from experience when I say that high school students can develop an internal focus and get caught up in their own world. I think it's important to take off the blinders and to open our eyes to how desperately our friends, peers, and the world around us needs to hear the Gospel and see the love of Christ overflowing in our lives every day.

To find out more about Cincinnati Christian University, go to: www.ccuniversity.edu .

Zach Brower to Study Ministry at Cincinnati Christian University

BCC will have a booth at the annual Applefest (Liberty Park), handing out FREE popcorn as has been our tradi-tion for the past several years. We will also offer an opportunity for people to bring us prayer concerns, and if they want, someone will pray for them right then and there! There will be sign-up sheets posted in the lobby for anyone who would like to help in the booth, so consider how you can help and look for those sign-up sheets soon! Contact the church office for more information.

APPLEFEST

Sept. 27—28

On July 13th, God blessed Axel & Erin, and big sister Evelyn, with the arrival of Everett Jon (19 In. 5lbs.14oz.), Vivian Nicole (18.5in. 5lbs. 9 oz.) and Oliver Zane (18.75in. 5lbs. 13oz) . The babies are now home and doing great. Congratulations to the Ortiz family!

New Season, Same Vision Back in Ohio, I remember having summers that lasted an eternity. There were count-less days as a young teenager spent sleeping in, shooting hoops, and playing capture

the flag with my neighbors. Last year, when I moved to Indiana, I quickly discovered that summer was nearly non-existent in this state. Eight weeks is all you guys get..? I couldn’t imagine what it must be like as a student, but I also couldn’t wrap my mind around how parents must feel, not having much time to spend with their kids over the summer. I knew that coming in things were going to be challenging over this season. Parents rightfully would want to spend as much time with their children as they could. How would the church adapt? Immedi-ately, my mind went to camp and I wondered if these new summers would weed out an event that traditionally was part of our church’s culture. To be quite honest with you, I wasn’t entirely sure that camp would be appeal-ing to the families here with such a short summer. Now, I’m glad that my hunches were wrong. If you weren’t here for second service Sunday July 27th, I want to tell you about a really cool thing that hap-

pened. Kelly Bulmer handed me a letter from her son about camp, and she wanted me to read it to the congre-

gation. I opened the letter and I knew right away that I needed to read this after the service. It was a letter from

our very own, Jake Bulmer, simply saying thanks to the church for paying his way (and the rest of the kids’ way)

to camp. He had a great experience and he desired BCC to know that it is still an important thing that we do

every year. It’s when we hear things like this that we are reminded of the importance and relevance of events

like camp. This really serves as another picture that our labor, prayer, and offerings given for the Kingdom of

God are not in vain. I know Jake’s story reminded me that God is doing something incredible through the minis-

try here at BCC, and I hope that reminder is vivid for you as well. The seasons may change, but our vision for

growing as followers of Jesus remains the same.

In Christ,

Dan Geisen Minister of Youth & Family Life

At their last meeting of the summer, the high school guys learned how to make chili—with Jeff Gratz.

High school small groups- Last meetings are the week of August 4th. We’ll also bring the groups together for an end of summer cele-bration! The date for that event will be an-nounced that week.

Jr. High Journey (October 3-5)- While the

event seems far off, we will be having sign ups

in a couple weeks to take advantage of the

early bird price!

Come Join Our Expanded “Welcome” Ministry Training: Sunday, August 17 th

10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Beginning Sunday, August 24th, we are introducing a newly revised welcome ministry with volunteers serving in various locations inside and outside the church building.

Outside the building, volunteers will welcome guests and members as they drive up to the campus. Two friendly faces in blue vests will serve as parking attendants during the Sunday morning service times helping people find parking spots. This is especially important be-cause of limited parking due to construction.

Insider, greeters will be at the doors to welcome you and your fam-ily. They will be wearing name badges so you can put a name with that friendly face and get to know them better.

As you enter the sanctuary, you will still find a friendly greeter to hand you a bulletin (they too will have name badges). In addition, one of them will be available after the service begins to help you find a seat if there is a large attendance that day.

If you are a guest to the church (or a member with a question), you will find people at the Welcome Center to assist you with your needs.

Finally, we are assisting the staff as they welcome guests by making a call or sending a card to let the guests know we welcome them to Batesville Christian Church.

All of the above takes volunteers. We invite you to become a part of this welcome ministry. Serving in this ministry doesn’t require carv-ing out additional space in an already busy schedule, you can do it as part of your regular Sunday morning involvement! All we ask is that you come a little earlier on the Sunday you’ll be volunteering, which may only be once a month.

Sign up forms are in the Sunday bulletin or on the table in the foyer. A short training class will take place in the sanctuary on Sunday, Au-gust 17th from 10:00 to 10:30. We hope to see you there!

Please call Leacarol Bennett 933-0335 if you have any questions.

Thursday, August 14th—Meet at BCC 2:15 to depart for Newport, KY to “Ride the Duck,” a land and water ride with views of Newport and Cincinnati. Cost is $16 per person plus dinner. More details are posted on the Prime Time bulletin board in the lobby. Reservations and $16 due to Karen Trebley by 8/10. For more information, call Karen at 934-5140.

More details about classes will

be made available in the church

bulletin as the date draws

closer!

Thanks again, volunteers! Susan Bell was the winner of the volunteer door prize this year.

Church Officers Elders:

Tom Williams 934-9020

Vern Hackworth 934-6091

Joe Ralston 933-1304

Joe Ayette 933-1393

Ministers:

Steve Yeaton 933-0745

Dan Geisen (513) 680-5359

Mark Bond 932-0252

Deacons:

Darren Cole 934-3005

Paul Ehrman 934-2031

Mark Kennedy 934-6429

Gary Najmon 934-2081

Russell Nuhring 934-5138

Bill Trebley 934-5140

Chad Pindell 852-5225

Kip Main 934-5797

Richard Zeigler 623-2033

George Bley 623-3851

ATTENDANCE & GIVING

July, 2014

ATTENDANCE 6 13 20 27

Worship 264 293 316 293

OFFERING Month YTD Budget

General (90%) 27,989 231,834 91%

Missions (10%) 3,110 25,760 91%

GROW

1294 Columbus Avenue

Batesville, IN 47006

(812) 934-5147

www.batesvillechristianchurch.org

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

7,980 66,179 Cumulative: $359,135

We wish all our students & teachers a wonderful, safe, and rewarding school year!