The Inland Empire

Baptist Association

wishes you a merry

Christmas!!

Merry Christmas

From the Inland Empire Baptist Association

Inland Empire Baptist Association Volume 45, Issue 12

December 2012

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Claudio Medina

Director of Missions Deryl Lackey

Bruce Hitchcock Church Growth Strategist

Associate Director of Missions

Essentials of Spiritual Leadership #5 – Honor and Glory Psalms 117:1 “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!” (NKJV) As I was thinking about this essential to spiritual leadership, the old Imperials (Christian group from the 1970’s and 80’s) came to mind. Praise the Lord: He can work through those who praise Him, Praise the Lord: For our God inhabits praise Praise the Lord: For the chains that seem to bind you, Serve only to remind you, That they drop powerless behind you, When you praise Him “ For our God inhabits praise.” Psalms 22:3 “But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.” (NKJV) Wow! When we honor and glorify God he builds his throne in us. Living a life that gives honor and glory to God is an essential characteristic of spiritual leadership. When we live a life

dedicated to His honor and glory It is achieved through a moment by moment walk with Him: Through Prayer: Prayer establishes and maintains our communication with God. Nothing is too big or too small to bring to God. He directs our every step if we ask Him. He eliminates the stresses of life if we trust Him. He intercedes in the lives of others if we let Him. Through Preparation: spiritual leaders are always in a mode of preparation. There is little or no downtime in leadership. There is no downtime for God. We prepare to lead through study both formally educating ourselves and through execution of those things we have learned. Our relationship and our walk with God is no different. Study His word and execute His commands to us. Through Purpose: God has a purpose for everything He has created and for everything that He does. Nothing happens outside of His purpose and will. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that, “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.” (NKJV) Our purpose should be God’s purpose. We are to love and to spread that love of God through our words and actions, offering comfort, encouragement, support, and salvation to others. At this most precious time of the year, let Christ lead and direct us every moment of our lives.

This has been a wonderful year as and it has been my pleasure in serving the Lord as He continues to bless us. We have started and or brought in 18 new churches and need to diligently continue this work as we desire to bring the Gospel Message to a population of over 4 million just in our area. We have also distributed thousands of Bibles and Bible tracts. We held several training classes and conferences on Bible study, leadership, discipleship, Sunday School, emer-gency preparedness and church conflict.

It is a clear picture of the Cooperative Program when the local church, the Inland Empire Southern Baptist Association, California Southern Baptist Convention, and the North American Mission Board, work together in building the Kingdom of God.

I know it may seem very difficult at times and we may get discouraged, but let us return to the basics of God's word and His faithfulness.

He is our strength: Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

His provision: Phil. 4:19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

And let's have a good time doing it: Phil. 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

Merry Christmas to all of you! I, along with our staff, pray you have a blessed Holiday season! What a privilege it was

this last week to meet and hear from our new S.B.C. (or Great Commission Baptist) president, Dr. Fred Luter. What a

powerful testimony he shared. I was truly blessed and challenged by the two messages I heard from him when he

spoke at Liberty Baptist Church. I am grateful that he is our new, and as many of you have heard, historic president. I

appreciated the spirit and passion in which he shared. One of the questions asked involved how we could pray for him.

Pastor Luter asked that we pray for his church body where he serves as pastor, as his new role will take a great deal of

his time away from them. I admire any church that is willing to share their pastor for the sake of kingdom work; however

that can create a strain on that church, so please join me in praying for Franklin Avenue Baptist Church located in New

Orleans. He also asked that we pray for God to grant him wisdom. As president he will be the spokesman for our convention and he men-

tioned that as such it was critical that he speak the precise words needed. His request of us is that we would pray God would give him such

words when the times arise. He also asked that we pray for him as his desire is to come alongside our Great Commission Baptist agencies

and do whatever he can to help them be successful in their God given tasks. He asked that we pray that he will use his influence as our

convention president wisely. As he noted, being president is not a position of authority, yet it is one of influence. He asked us to pray that

he uses his influence courageously and wisely. Finally he asked that we pray with him when It comes to the foremost desire of his heart as

our new president: That a revival would begin in our nation and that God will birth that revival within the walls of our churches. As he said

may it go from the “pulpit to the pews, then out into the world.” As our new president and in my view our spiritual leader would you please

honor pastor Luter's request and make his name one that you bring before God on a regular basis!

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Martin Leach Church Growth Consultant

EQUIPPED FOR EXCELLENCE

Plans are nearly complete for the twenty-third annual EQUIPPED FOR EXCELLENCE conference. This year it will be on Saturday April 13, 2013. (Easy to remember, it’s the 13

th in 2013.) Our

keynote speaker will be Jeff Young, Minister of Spiritual Development at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. The publicity packet will be mailed out and the website brought current in the next few weeks. Some of the new conferences this year include: Personal Evangelism led by Rob Zinn, Caring for People in Crisis led by Julius West, Community Ministries led by Charlie Corum, Defending the Gospel led by Adam

Groza and Discipling Kingdom-minded Men led by John Wells. The complete list will be available soon. It looks like there will probably be 43 conferences this year. The price has not gone up in since 2008, where else will you find that? As long as the attendance is high, we can hold the price at $40.00. Keep an eye open for the bright yellow packet.

SUNDAY SCHOOL DIRECTOR’S MEETING

Once again, we had a good group at our last session. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, January 22, 2013. We will meet from 7:00 until 9:00 p.m. at the associational office. At each meeting I ask the group to select the topic for the next meeting. The topic they selected for the next meeting was, How to Find and Enlist Workers. It has been said that we often enlist our problems. The material discussed will help you avoid this all too common situation. The training will be offered in both Span-ish and English. Refreshments will be served.

CHURCH MUSIC WORKSHOP

Mark your calendar and plan to attend the annual Church Music Workshop, sponsored by the California Southern Baptist Convention. It will be on Saturday, February 23, 2013. We will meet at the Magnolia Avenue Baptist Church, Riverside. You can read all about it at www.CaliforniaWorship.com.

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SBC Disaster Relief Donations - HURRICANE SANDY

Donations to this fund are used exclusively to support Southern Baptist Disaster Relief efforts.

The North American Mission Board, along with state Baptist convention leaders, has taken the lead in organizing

Southern Baptists to respond to disasters. They contribute manpower, ministry, and financial help during floods,

hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, earthquakes, and urban disasters.

Donation Options:

Online- www.namb.net/disaster-relief-donations/ to make an online donation

Phone—Call-1-866-407-NAMB (6262)

Mail—Checks may be mailed to NAMB, P.O. Box 116543, Atlanta, GA 30368-6543.

Designate checks for "Disaster Relief."

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Visit our website @ www.iesba.org

Clarion (UPS 044-370) Inland Empire Southern Baptist Association of

California

6857 Indiana Avenue, Riverside, CA 92506

Telephone: (951) 784-2655

Periodicals Paid at Riverside, California

Published Monthly

POSTMASTER; Send address changes to:

Inland Empire Southern Baptist Association of Califor-

nia

6857 Indiana Avenue, Riverside, CA 92506

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Periodicals Postage

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Dec 21-Jan2 IESBA Office Closed

Jan 22 S.S. Directors Meeting

Feb 23 Church Music Workshop

March 11-13 Pastor’s Retreat

March 19 S.S. Directors Meeting

April 13 E4E

Sept. 20-22 Pastor’s Wives Retreat

Clarion

Inland Empire Association Staff

Deryl Lackey

Director of Missions

deryl@iesba.org

Bobbie Brooks

Ministry Assistant

bobbie@iesba.org

(951) 784-2655 • Fax (951) 784-2656

Martin Leach

Church Growth Consultant

marty@iesba.org

Bruce Hitchcock

Church Growth Strategist

bruce@iesba.org

Claudio Medina

Associate Director of Missions

claudio@iesba.org

Angela Mantzey

Graphics Specialist

angie@iesba.org

Brenda Lackey

Office Manager

brenda@iesba.org

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