As you are aware by now we are celebrating 20 years of God’s faithfulness towards us as a church next weekend, March 21 and 22. Here are a few details to aid in your preparations for the weekend:
1. Pictures - please bring a picture of your family (recent, or for the brave, what you looked like the year you first came to KingsWay) to put up on our timeline. The timeline will be in the foyer this Sunday, but you can also still add a picture as late as next Saturday evening.
2. We’ll begin at 5:30 on Saturday the 21st in the auditorium with a church-wide dinner. Please bring a side dish and dessert to share. Following our meal together we’ll enjoy a video journey that will take us from KingsWay’s earliest days up until the present. We’ll be reminded of God’s kindness and faithfulness, and if the pictures circulating on facebook are any indication, we’ll have plenty of opportunities to laugh at ourselves along the way!
3. Sunday morning, the 22nd, we continue our celebration during the morning meeting capped off with a message by CJ Mahaney. It’s a time you won’t want to miss and also a wonderful opportunity to invite friends.
See you there!
This post was written by: Sandy Wilda
It was a joy having Carolyn McCulley join all the women of KingsWay for the Radical Womanhood Conference last weekend! Carolyn is the author of Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World.
Throughout the weekend, Carolyn presented a historical overview of feminism as it relates to the Church and to biblical truth. She wove in her own personal journey from feminism to faith and offered practical encouragement to women making the same journey.
This workshop equipped the ladies in understanding how to graciously and effectively apply the gospel to the prevailing worldview in our culture. Knowing the history of feminism and its absorption into our culture is helpful for realizing how radical it is to living today according to God’s Word!
But the weekend was not “all work and no play”! The ladies enjoyed a “Construct Your Own Dessert” following the meeting on Friday night, and they kicked off Saturday morning with a pancake breakfast! Delilah - AKA Prize Girl - joined the ladies at different points throughout the weekend, spreading joy through her gift of giving! All in all, it was a memorable weekend.
Carolyn’s messages are now available online
Friday Evening: Men Are Not the Problem
Saturday Morning Part 1: Home Sweet Home
Saturday Morning Part 2: The Mommy Wars
NEXT is a conference this May 23-26 in Baltimore with a passion for transferring the gospel to the next generation. Like New Attitude before it, NEXT’s primary goal is to connect attendees with Jesus Christ Himself, as well as His work on their behalf.
Where NEXT diverges a bit from New Attitude’s game plan is in who is being encouraged to attend. NEXT is not limited to a particular age group or marital status but open to all who desire to know Jesus better and share Him with others, whether you are 18, 35, or 60.
Get lots more info about NEXT, including conference rates and registration, at thisisnext.org.
KingsWay has a limited block of rooms near the convention center that will be available only till the end of this month. The cost is $440 per room for the 3 nights of the conference (for up to 4 people depending on the room chosen). The Baltimore Marriott also has a $24/day parking fee that the NEXT staff is trying to get waived/reduced but no guarantees on that! If you are interested in purchasing a room (by yourself or with a couple friends), contact Riette at the church office before March 29th for more information.
This week’s message in our adopted! series was entitled “The Prodigal”. It was the second of three messages on the parable of the prodigal son found in Luke 15. As we considered the father’s heart for his prodigal son, we learned that we ourselves can always go home to our heavenly Father because of the Father’s love. In order to better understand this love, let us ponder these questions:
1. Sometimes God brings trials to show that there is no happiness apart from Him. How have you personally experienced this?
2. When you have sinned and then recognize your sin and look to God, how do you typically see God? Do you typically see him as being like the father in this story or in some other way?
3. On Sunday, what aspect of the God’s love was highlighted in a new way for you?
4. How did hearing about the heart and actions of the father in this story affect you?
5. We heard about how the father gave the gift of sonship (shoes), the gift of honor (the robe), and the gift of authority (the ring). How did these gifts speak to what you have received from your heavenly Father?
6. In coming to the our Father in Heaven, we need to look upward, not just inward. In what specific ways does this encouragement apply to you?
As we consider the heart of our heavenly Father this week, let us all pray that we may grow in our understanding of His great love for us.
Daylight savings is tonight.
Don’t forget to turn your clocks 1 hour ahead.
I first came to Kingsway with my family in 1990 when I was 6 years old. Little did I know that 19 years later, I would have the privilege of serving as a pastor in the same church writing a blog post about the last 20 years of church life! As I review the last two decades, I’m primarily grateful for the many ways God has used relationships in the church to prepare and equip me for the work of ministry.
But I’m not alone. Our history is full of testimonies of how God has used relationships to accomplish His work in our lives. In preparation for our 20th Anniversary celebration on Saturday, March 21, we’re creating a timeline of individual and family pictures, providing a visual demonstration of God’s work through relationships over the years.
During one of the next two Sundays, please bring a photo of you or your family and add it to one of the three timeline sections in the foyer. Then we’ll combine them into one large timeline on the evening of the 21st.
In this series of posts we interviewed members of KingsWay that have been attending since the church was planted in 1989.
Kathryn Dixon is one of the youngest “original members” of KingsWay. She was attending KingsWay with her parents as an infant. “When I was 16 years old, God began to show me how blessed I had been to have had the privilege of being a part of KingsWay for so long. I realized that one of the main reasons why my faith was strong was because of the godly teaching I had for so many years… Kingsway made every effort to make sure my heart was always being spiritually nourished with scripture and biblical teaching.”
When Kathryn was 17 she officially became a member of KingsWay. According to Kathryn this was one of the most exciting days of her life. She was no longer committed because her parents were; she knew that God had called her to become a member as she continued to use her gifts to serve at KingsWay. “God has used KingsWay to affect my life and shape my values in so many ways.”
A fun memory Kathryn shared was from her teen years at KingsWay. “I always enjoyed going to frontline. When I first started attending frontline, we met at Walkins Elementary School… Frontline started at 7PM, but everyone who was serving had to get there around 4:30 PM. I can remember everyone helping unload all the sound and music equipment from the “big yellow truck” (usually Adam Hiler would drive it). Then we would set everything up, do sound check, practice our worship songs, and then eat pizza before frontline began. Afterward, we would have to clean up everything and load the “big yellow truck” back up again. Essentially, during those years, frontline nights for me lasted from about 4:30 to 11:00 PM. at night! I can remember finding it kind of strange once the new building opened not having to set up anything before frontline or take down any music stuff afterward. However, I think everyone quickly warmed up to this new concept!”
Last weekend, Liz and I joined CrossWay Community Church in Charlotte in honoring Mickey Connolly for 25 years of ministry. This was a particular joy to us, since Mickey & Jane have been close friends for the past two decades.
I had the privilege of sharing a biblical perspective of faithfulness & fruitfulness in ministry and commending Mickey by pointing out many evidences of God’s grace in his life, in his pastoral team, and in the church he has led as senior pastor for the past seven years.
Many of you know Mickey from his ministry in our church, where he’s contributed at least annually over the past twenty years. If you’d like to add your thanks, please mail or e-mail our office and we’ll forward it to Mickey.
Thanks!
Gene
This week’s message in our adopted! series was entitled “The Ultimate Big Brother”. We explored the parables found in Luke 15 and discovered a brother not in any of these stories – the brother telling them, Jesus Christ. We saw that Jesus is our older brother who came looking for us to bring us home to the Father. In order to better connect with this reality, let us consider these truths and questions:
Romans 8:29 says, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” What are the personal implications of this?- When you consider that Christ is an older brother who pursues us, how are you affected?
- Hebrews 4:15-16 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” What does this say about the kind of brother that Jesus is not? What does it say about the kind of brother that we have in Jesus?
- In the parable of the prodigal son the father reminds the older brother, “all that is mine is yours.” What has been your understanding of being a “fellow heir” with Christ? Why is this understanding so important?
As we read in the Scriptures this week, let us look for and behold Christ our brother, who seeks and brings men and women to the Father.
