State of the Church 2018

Our Reminder 

Friends this morning I am going to share with you some exciting news. Today I am going to relay to you the state of the church. Maybe you are wondering what exactly is a state of the church address. The other day I went to the doctor. It was a routine checkup. She looked in my ears, throat, and she listed to my heartbeat. While I was there they weighed me and took my blood pressure. Overall it was a good visit. She told me that for the most part things were pretty good. However, there were a few places that I needed to work on. Opportunities to improve if you will. That was a “State of Stuart Address” if you will. Well, the state of the church is just that. It is a spiritual checkup. I asked some of the same questions that a doctor might ask. How are you feeling? What hurts? Can I listen to your heart beat? Do you need some new medicine? 

So, before we begin our spiritual check up of the church, lets discover who or what the church is.  When most people think of the church their minds are automatically drawn to the buildings. That is not a bad thing because the buildings are a physical manifestation of the presence of the church. However, the building is not the church. Some might thing that the programs within the church are the church. No. A program can be an indication of an active church. But a program is not the church. So, what is the church?

Here is best definition of who the church really is:

the people of God who

• have been saved through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and
• have been incorporated into his body through baptism with the Holy Spirit.

The church has an origin and an orientation. The Church is:

doxological	oriented to the glory of God
logocentric	centered on the incarnate Word of God, Jesus Christ, and the inspired Word of God, Scripture
pneumadynamic	created, gathered, gifted, and empowered by the Holy Spirit

The church is comprised of two things, the universal church which is everyone everywhere who has ever been saved and the local church. 

Local churches

• are led by pastors (also called elders) and served by deacons,
• possess and pursue purity and unity,
• exercise church discipline,
• develop strong connections with other churches, and
• celebrate the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
  

Equipped by the Holy Spirit with spiritual gifts for ministry, these communities regularly gather to

• worship the triune God,
• proclaim his Word,
• engage non-Christians with the gospel,
• disciple their members,
• care for people through prayer and giving, and
• stand both for and against the world.
  

The church is the body of Christ, of which He is the head. Ephesians 1:22-23 says, “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” The body of Christ is made up of all believers in Jesus Christ from the day of Pentecost (Acts chapter 2) until Christ’s return. 

As a member of the local church, the body of Christ, what is our mission?

Our Mission

Showing, Growing and Going!

Where do we get showing, growing and going? From Scripture. 

Acts 2:42-47 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Showing

Evangelism

I John 2:6 ESV

Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Growing

Discipleship and Fellowship

II Timothy 2:2

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Going

Missions and Ministry

Isaiah 6:8 ESV

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

State of the Church

Music Ministry

Baltimore Mission Trip 95 Person Trip

Adult Choir Musical which brought 620 people to one service. 

Christmas in August 

5 New Choir Members 

Mission Ministry

Vermont Mission Trip 9 Salvations

Haiti Mission Trip 11 Salvations 

Sewing Servants Completed 2 Major Projects and Meet Monthly

Eastern Shore Builders Completed 10 Wheel Chair Ramps

We Have Had More Than 400 People Involved In Missions Since May

Building and Grounds

We Have Been Updating Our IT

The Children’s Building Has Been Renovated 

We’ve installed a new double convection oven in the gym. 

The Canopy Has Been Completed 

Most of this work has been done by dozens of ESBC Volunteers saving the church thousands

The Church Has Given Nearly $40000 to renovate the children’s building another $7000 for the ovens and another 14000 for the canopy. Nearly $61000 has been raised in total. Amazing.

Power Bills Have Been $37000 Under Over A Two Year Period 

Primetimers Senior Adult Ministry

Southern Grilled Gospel and Patriotic Service Had The Largest Attendance This Summer of Any Event Offered. 

Senior Sounds Have Reorganized and Starting To Visit Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities 

There is a trip to Pigeon Forge for our senior adults.

Luncheons have returned monthly. 

Senior Adult Sunday Life Group classes continue to grow numerically. 

Voyagers Children’s Ministry

VBS had a tremendous number of children and volunteers. 200 total kids. 7 salvations from VBS.

The first ever Back to School Bash was held. 

There were several events for children this summer including Wednesday night missions. 

We’ve started back with our children’s choir program and Music n Missions on Wednesday nights. 

Replicate Youth Ministry

Replicate kicked off with the largest amount of students in 5 years. 

Centrifuge had 40 kids with 4 salvations. 

Travis Higginbotham is working with 10 students training them to be lead worshippers. 

Several events and one day trips took place this summer. 

Education Ministry

There has been one new class started with a potential second class starting in January. 

New Personnel 

We Hired a New Financial Secretary Karrin Ingram

Other Info

Attendance has been steady throughout the summer. 

New Members and Baptisms 

Since May, we have had 20 new members. 

Since May we have had 9 baptisms 

Since May your ESBC staff has made 270 hospital visits, 162 homebound, nursing home and assisted living facility visits, and 102 rehab visits. 

Opportunities For Improvement

Currently our church is behind in giving to the tune of $80,000. This is about $10,000 more than where we were this time last year. However, when you factor in what our church has taken in for Capital projects, our church is doing rather well. So, with all this positive, give. Keep giving. Your gifts provide the necessary funds to continue to perform ministry in the name of Christ. 

We need you to give to the General Offering of Eastern Shore Baptist Church. You can give online, use the card in the pew, you can put cash or check in the offering plate, you can come up to the church during the week and give. The church accepts more than just cash. We taken all sorts of financial gifts (stocks, bonds, CD’s, inheritances) in the past and used them to fund the Kingdom work here at ESBC. We just need our people to generously give. 

Have you ever heard that 20% of the people are doing 80% of the work? I have. While that is not necessarily true of Eastern Shore Baptist Church, we are always in need of volunteers. We need volunteers to aid in Children’s ministry. We need help in our nursery. We need workers in Youth Ministry. We need more participants to help with building renovations and wheel chair ramps. We need the whole of the church to mobilize to meet the needs of Eastern Shore Baptist and the Eastern Shore as a whole. We are always wanting to start new units in Life Groups. This is a two fold need. First we need our larger classes to agree to expand to 2 classes. Next, we need qualified teachers to step forward in faith to teach these new units. Life Groups are are main source of assimilation here at church. It is how people are grafted in. This year, we have started only 1 new unit. There is definitely room for growth. Starting new units and adding connection closes the back door of the church and prevents members from leaving frustrated. Life Groups gives a sense of belonging, connection and family. This is the life blood of our church and we need new teachers, new leaders, new witnesses to see that vision. 

While our Women’s Ministry continues to flourish, our Men’s Ministry is in desperate need of leadership. We need men to step forward with a desire to disciple younger men. 

Lastly, we need a greater emphasis on outreach and evangelism. Each week, we provide an opportunity through Eastern Shore Baptist Church University to visit prospects, pray for visitors and share the Gospel. These opportunities are rarely staffed to reach the needs of ESBC. 

Conclusion:

So, all in all we are doing very well. God is clearly moving among the people of Eastern Shore Baptist Church and it is so much fun to watch. Our church is gaining new members seemingly every week. People are making decisions to follow Christ. People are accepting Christ in all of our missional efforts and lives are being touched in real ways through our local missions. Yet, there is always room for improvement. We need to give more. We need to give more of our financial resources and we need to give more of our talents. 

So, what can you give today? Where can you contribute? How can you glorify God with your gifts?