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Vol 1, Issue 9 |
June 27, 2008 |
| The Republic - a two part series | |||||||||
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| Testimony in response to "Generosity in a Time of Scarcity" | |||||||||
Dan Deeble received an email this week from a woman at Heartland. We are sharing this story with her permission: This is an account of my personal experience relating to/resulting from your sermon yesterday: I have cried three times in the past three days – the first time with worry, the second time from being overwhelmed with God’s peace and comfort, and the third out of joy from God’s never-ending faithfulness. The past three days have been a sandwich of trial, testing and fulfillment. Last fall I had an unexpected stay in the hospital and was not sure I would be able to pay the bill. In trepidation I waited to see how much my insurance would cover. It was a blessing and a relief to find out that my insurance would cover all but $70 of the over $3000 bill. After the $70, the remaining balance for us to pay was $0. However, on Saturday I received in the mail notice that the hospital had refunded over $1500 to the insurance company, and that amount was due and owing from us. I was confused and shocked, not understanding why the hospital would refund the money and hold us responsible for another $1500. Because it was Saturday night, there was no one I could call for an explanation. This unexpected bill would not be easy to pay – my husband and I had been working so hard to become financial stable and make plans for the future – and I was unsure of the impact this would have. I wept. Click here to read more... |
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| Discover South Service, July 9th | |||||||||
Join us for an evening of South Service Worship and Prayer and discover the many opportunities for South Service involvement and ministry team participation. We will meet in Heartland’s auditorium on Wednesday, July 9th, from 6:30 -8:00 p.m. Childcare will be provided; no need to RSVP. Click here to email Missy Crawford if you have any questions or need more information about Heartland’s South Service. The South Service will launch public services on Sunday, September 14th at Pioneer Trail Junior High School at 127th and Blackbob in Olathe. |
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| Father's Day Message Response | |||||||||
After the services on Father's Day, June 15th, twelve people who responded to Christ came to the Grow space! The Connect Team members gave them Bibles and our YES book that walks them through their first week of new life in Christ. Eight of the twelve signed up for a 1:1 spiritual mentoring. Interested in serving as a 1:1 spiritual mentor or being mentored? Click here to email Shelley Winkler, our Connect Pastor, for more information. If you'd like to listen to Dan Deeble's sermon from that day click here to locate the podcast or browse others. |
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| Summer Bible Camp | |||||||||
Heartland's Summer Bible Camp was once again the best week of Children's Ministry of the year with 200 kids from age 4-years-old to 6th grade and over 100 volunteers ranging from last Summer Bible Camp graduates to grandmas. It was loud, messy, fun and a great week of learning for kids and adults. The younger kids spent the week at Son Harvest County Fair and learned about the Fruits of the Spirit. Our grade school age kids participated in SportsLife Camp, which featured a week full of sports, art and cheer. They had outrageous fun and learned to "Just Jump" for Jesus. |
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Our missions project this year was a food drive to stock Reaching Out ministry's food pantry. Children not only filled their own bags with donations but they asked neighbors to help too. The goal for the week was to have 1000 donated food items. The children brought in well over 2000 food items and now hold the record for the single largest food drive ever at Heartland. We are proud of all the kids who showed love to others in a tangible way. We can't wait for June 2009 so we can do it all again! - from Sara Stauffer | ||||||||
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| Family News | |||||||||
Newborn Waverley Isabel Nagel with Molly and Matt this past week. (right) |
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| Fusion Trip to the Smoky Mountains | |||||||||
Fusion, Heartland's ministry to single adults, is planning an adventure to the Smoky Mountains August 1st - 5th! |
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| Gulf Coast Mission Trip for High School Students | |||||||||
The High School group is going on a Mission Trip to Lakeshore Baptist Church in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi on July 19th-25th. The cost is $300. Parents are welcome to come with their high school student. Click here to email Caley Bowen, High School Director, for more details. Click here for more details on High School Ministry. |
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| "What You Do Best..." Small Groups | |||||||||
| Are you interested in learning about your spiritual gifts? Knowing your God-given gifts will help you find an ideal place to serve. What You Do Best in the Body of Christ is a 10 week study that allows the members to explore their gifts and talents. This replaces the weekend Networking Class that the church has used in the past. If you are interested in getting involved with a small group click here to email Shelley Winkler, Connect Pastor. | |||||||||
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| Save the Date - All Church Baptism, August 24th | |||||||||
| Make sure to save the date for our All Church Baptism on August 24th at Kill Creek Park. It's the highlight of the year. Look for updates and signups in the coming months. |  |
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| Men's Journey on hiatus this Summer | |||||||||
| Men's Journey will start up on Friday mornings again in the fall. Click here to email Jeff Shrout for more information. | |||||||||
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| Ozark Family Adventure - check out new webpage | |||||||||
| Begin planning for family fun in the Ozarks at Tan-Tar-A Resort this summer! The Ozark Family Adventure (OFA) July 28-31 is family vacation experience to help families move closer together and closer to God. Click here to view the recently updated web page with registration forms! OFA is offering a pre-payment plan for those who would like to spread their payment out over several months. Click here to contact Missy or call 913.341.5820 x102 or for more information. |
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| Leadership Training Project and Yes! Day | |||||||||
Our Leadership Training Project has begun! On Sunday May 18th, 13 interns and 4 directors landed at Heartland. Here are two ways you can continue to help: 1. YES Day sponsorship: Each of our interns have to raise $1000 for YES Day. (YES Day is an 8 hour work day dedicated to service out in our community held on July 12th and it helps raise money for the 2009 interns). You will see the interns around with their orange YES day packets and they may even ask YOU to sponsor them! 2. Corporate sponsorship of LTP/YES Day: If you are a business owner or your business has the capability of making financial donations, and would like to contribute to LTP in this way, click here to contact Scott McDonald or click here to contact Glenn Kahler for further information. |
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| Financial Update | |||||||||
Where does the Budget expense item come from? Based on historically accurate trends, the church traditionally receives 45.2% of its budget by week 25 (June 23rd this year). We've currently received 39%. We're currently $145,475 below meeting our budget at this point in the year. If you'd like to learn more about automated giving that Dan suggested last week, click here to download an Electronic Fund Transfer card. Just attach a voided check and drop in the offering box at the back of the sanctuary or mail to our offices. We received six this past week, so thanks for your response. Your support allows lives to be changed like the ones you've read about in this newsletter. If you would like more information about giving click here to contact Patty Johnson. Heartland's Ministry Fund (Operating) Budget is 2.5 Million for the 2008 Fiscal Year (Jan. - Dec. 2008). Heartland is accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Click here to view their website and the standards under which we operate. Thank you all very much for contributing to the Ministry Fund and the go. Campaign! Your support helps make lives change so that more will come to know Christ. Thanks to you it's possible. |
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| Volunteer Opportunities - We Need You! | |||||||||
There are many, many opportunities for serving at Heartland Community Church. We are currently looking for volunteers for (italicized means 'urgent'): Bookstore - cafe hosts Click here for the entire list. |
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***If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball - and if you can drive a car, you can drive Heartland's Shuttle Bus - aka the "happy fun bus". We're still in desperate need of help of shuttle drivers and more volunteers with the parking lot team. Click here to email Bruce Yost if interested. |
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| Heartland Christian Academy | |||||||||
| Heartland's homeschool program, Heartland Christian Academy, is currently enrolling for the 2008-09 school year. If you are homeschooling or thinking about homeschooling, we would love to talk to you and let you know what Heartland Christian Academy has to offer. HCA is a one-day-per-week supplement program for homeschool students in K-6th grades. Classes meet on either a Tues. or a Thurs. at Heartland. Click here to see the HCA website with FAQs, Registration Information and Forms. Click here to email HCA or (913) 341-5820 ext. 812. | |||||||||
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This e-mail has been sent to you from Heartland Community Church. Click here to read past newsletters. Heartland Community Church Heartland is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. The ECFA is an accreditation agency dedicated to helping Christian ministries earn the public’s trust through adherence to seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship. Founded in 1979, ECFA provides accreditation to leading Christian nonprofit organizations that faithfully demonstrate compliance with established standards for financial accountability, fund-raising and board governance. Click here to learn more about the ECFA. |
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| But the words from your sermon last week echoed in my mind – I kept thinking about God’s street cred in my own life – how God has been faithful time and time again in my life and how the evidence of that pushed me to trust that He would be faithful again with this bill – even though at the time I could not decipher his purpose or means. I was compelled to trust him, even in this, especially in this.
The next morning in the 9:00 am service, I wept again as you spoke of God’s love for us, and the fact that he cares about the little things. To have my concerns from the day before answered so directly by the sermon – Generosity in a time of scarcity – took my breath away. I knew that this is what God wanted me to know – that it is His intention to mold my heart into one like His own, a generous, giving heart. God was telling me that even with this unexpected bill, which would result in scarcity in our house for a long time, His desire was for me to be more generous. Generosity is not connected to our circumstances – and that could not have been clearer to me yesterday morning. God is faithful; His street cred had been validated once again. But I was not expecting what happened this morning. It was Monday morning... business hours... and I called the billing office. I gave them my account number and she replied that my bill had been PAID IN FULL. I wept again. Not only for the fact that I had a zero balance when I was expecting to have to negotiate a payment plan, but for the fact that my debt really has been paid in full, by a Savior who loves me and a God who faithful in all things and whose speed in answering prayer amazes me. Yesterday I was called to be generous. Today I was shown HOW MUCH MORE God is generous to me. |
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