Welcome to the El Camino Baptist Church blog. We wanted a place where our ministry leaders could share things that God has laid on their hearts. Please feel free to comment and join in the discussion as we share how God is moving through His church.Other places to find us on the web are our website, Youtube, and Facebook. You can also check out Hoss' music blog at hosshughes.com.









Saturday, December 17, 2011

Partnering with Parents


Children love gifts. Based on the knowledge of this fact, every time we have an opportunity, we give the children in our ministries a gift bag full of things we believe will help them know who Jesus is and grow in their relationship with Him.

For Christmas this year the gift bag included a Christmas storybook, a candy cane with the Christian story of the candy cane attached, a Bible tract with stickers that tell the Christmas Bible story, Nativity silly bands (silly bands are quite the rage these days), and a gospel tract written at a child's level.

After receiving her gift bag at Moppets Wednesday, our Youth Pastor's daughter, Olivia, asked her mommy to read everything to her. In the gospel tract, it asks children if they would like to pray and ask Jesus to forgive them of their sin and be their Savior. Olivia looked up at her Mommy and responded that she did!

Colossians 4:5b says to make the most of every opportunity. God supplies finances for us to purchase resources for families to share with their children at home. We are thankful for parents who take the time to invest in their children's spiritual lives. It is the parents who have the greatest impact on their children. We are merely a support.

Welcome to God's family Olivia!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Sharing God's Love

Last night at the Leadership Christmas Party, our speaker, Dr. Bert Downs, asked us what we did this year to show God's love, so that others would know who He is and what He has done for them. Being tired, I couldn't call much to mind, although I know God has been busy and we have been busy trying to keep up with Him.

This morning I read Psalm 105. It reminded me that God wants us to focus on what He has done, share it, and rejoice over it.

Here are verses 1-5.

Give praise to the LORD, proclaim His name;
make known among the nations what He has done.
Sing to Him, sing praise to Him;
tell of all His wonderful acts.
Glory in His holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and His strength;
seek His face always.
Remember the wonders He has done,
His miracles, and the judgments He pronounced


God is doing so much in and through the people at El Camino so that those we come into contact with will have an opportunity to know who He is and how much He loves them.

Here are a few things that came to my mind this morning. I pray that through all these events and ministries, God's love has been made known to others.

*He brought more teachers and students to our English as a Second Language ministry, Friendship International
*He brought strong, godly, motivated, skilled leaders for our Missions Fellowship group and Missions Committee
*He is growing our leaders to lead with wisdom, enthusiasm, energy, excellence and efficiency
*He has brought strong, growing leaders for our Middle Schoolers. They are investing in them, and in turn the students are reaching out to their unchurched friends.
*He has brought a lot of volunteers to staff the ministries He has called us to, such as Sunday School,media,facility upkeep,music,youth,etc.
*God has brought godly, dedicated leaders for our Elective and Small Group ministries
*God continues to strengthen and unify our Ministry Leadership Team and staff
*God continues to give us His vision for ways to reach out to our friends and community...Good News Club Family Game Night, Youth Pie Nights, Father Daughter Dinner Date, Mother Daughter Tea Party, Mud Bowl, J Walk BBQ, Praise in the Park, Community Christmas Dinner...

What ways have you seen God working this year at El Camino so others will know the love of God?

Friday, December 2, 2011

Salt and Light

A very godly woman in our church mentioned to me that she is so excited to be going on a short term Mission trip to assist some missionaries. She said that when she submitted her time off request, she told her supervisor she was going to help some people who share positive messages.

I wondered why she didn't tell him exactly why she was going there. I know she isn't ashamed of the gospel or of her faith. She is a strong, growing, godly woman. I am sure she had a good reason, but it made me think about me and the times I hesitate to be candid and forthright about my relationship with Christ.

I wonder if we become so careful not to proselytize or offend people we come into contact with in our daily lives, and especially those with whom we work in the secular world, that we forget we can legally share who we are and what we believe. There is a difference between telling people that they need to believe, and telling them what we believe.

Lord, please help us be attentive to opportunities You bring into our lives to bear witness for You. Please give us wisdom to know what to say and when to say it. Please give us boldness to speak up as You bring us opportunities. Please help us be gentle so the listener will be drawn to You. Please help us be salt and light amidst those who have yet to meet You and give their lives to You.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Romans 8:18

Every night Katie and I have been doing our devotions while we've been up with our son Levi (sometimes we're up more times than we'd like). We have been reading through the book of Romans lately and out of one of it's passages came my verse for 2012.

Romans 8:18 (NASB) - "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

Nothing this world can throw at me, none of it's pain or disappointment or hate, can compare with what God has in store for His children. All of the things that we endure in this life will seem so minute when we are standing in the presence of Almighty God. As Christians, we are warned that we will be persecuted for our beliefs but it will all be worth it when we begin our eternity with with our Holy Lord in heaven.

Hoss

Stories

I'm currently reading Proverbs and a book on communications. What I have seen in God's Word and from writers concerning communications is that short, clear stories have impact. As I read through Proverbs it is full on very short stories that urge us to be wise not foolish. They were all stories that the people of that time could relate. Jesus, also taught with stories that people could relate to as well. Today were not really any different we all love a good story, whether it's in books, movies, TV, Face Book, etc. That's why we can look back over hundreds of years and still gain wisdom and insight from stories that we read in the Bible. Our challenge today is how do we tell the greatest story of all to our world and our culture. I would like to hear your stories and ideas on how you share.

Blessings
Dick Dillender
ddillender@elcaminochurch.org