2008 Missions Emphasis Video Introduction

SMO Podcast - Intro: See Colorado Through the Eyes of Jesus

See Colorado Through The Eyes of JesusState Missions Emphasis for 2008By Sean Cole, Pastor – Emmanual Baptist Church, Sterling COJesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. (John 4:34-35)Growing up in Colorado Springs, I never got tired of seeing the majestic Pike’s Peak tower in grandeur over the sprawling city. In 1893, Katherine Lee Bates penned the famous words to “America the Beautiful” as she sat on the side of Pikes Peak looking over the vast expanse of the Colorado plains. As I have often sat at the spot where she wrote those words, I empathize with her overwhelming sense of awe as she saw for miles upon miles. She literally saw amber waves of grain atop a purple mountain majesty. In Colorado, we find it very refreshing to travel to the mountain tops to get a perspective on what we can see below. Yet if we look closely we don’t see just a generic expanse of geography. We see individuals—people created in God’s image—who desperately need Jesus as their Savior, Treasure, and Lord.In the gospel of John, our Lord Jesus told His disciples to lift up their eyes and see the fields white for harvest. What would it look like to see the Colorado mission field through the eyes of Jesus? What is His divine perspective on the state of Colorado?First of all, Jesus clearly understood that His chief end was to glorify the Father by accomplishing the mission of the cross. Jesus sees a Colorado who desperately needs the power of the cross. In our culture today, the truth of the substitutionary atonement and the bloody cross is under attack from all fronts. The idea that the Son of God had to bear the wrath of a holy Father and suffer in our place is offensive to many. Yet, without the cross, the only other alternative is for sinners to suffer God’s wrath in an eternal hell. When we look across the landscape of Colorado, we see desperate sinners in need of a Savior through the power of the cross.Jesus also told us that the fields are white for harvest RIGHT NOW!!! Jesus sees a Colorado who needs believers to share the gospel with urgency. As our state population grows, the intensity of the need for clearly communicating the gospel is at an all time high. We cannot say that we have four more months to penetrate this lostness. We are called to respond with urgency and with an elevated sense of soberness that the lostness in our state is so high.Jesus sees a Colorado who needs Colorado Baptists to “LOOK!” We need to engage our culture, look for opportunities to be missional, to see the hurts and needs of our communities and to be proactive. There is great power in that command from our Lord to simply “look”. Where are our eyes focused? Are they focused on ourselves and our agendas, or are they fixed upon the lostness of our state and the urgency of the hour? Let us take seriously the command to look at lost people around us and with tender compassion engage them and plead with them to repent of their sins and trust in the Savior.In addition, Jesus also sees a Colorado where Colorado Baptists can partner together and experience the overwhelming joy of reaping the harvest (John 4:36). We often pray earnestly for revival and spiritual awakening. We desire the Lord to transform communities and we plead for a harvest of souls for the kingdom. Yet, in all of this, we can fail to do one of the most important things: actually sow the gospel seed. The reason we are not seeing a harvest is not because there is a lack of lost people in our state. The reason is that we are not sowing the seed and responding with urgency in the way our Savior commanded us to respond. By giving to the Nicy Murphy State Missions Offering, you can be an encouragement to resource Colorado Baptists to plant the seed and then see the sovereign God bring about a deep transformation through the gospel across our state. By praying, you take part in asking the Lord of the Harvest to give us His perspective and power.As Colorado Baptists, let us lift up our eyes and see the mission field through the eyes of Jesus. Whether we are in suburbs of Colorado Springs or the wheat fields of Northeastern Colorado. Whether we are in the inner city of Denver or in the mountains of Durango. Whether we are in the Front Range, the Western Slope, or the Eastern Plains, the need is still the same. People need the life changing gospel of Jesus Christ and He has commanded us to join Him on this mission of redeeming a lost Colorado back to Himself. In verse 35, three times Jesus gives the same urgent command—OPEN YOUR EYES!! My prayer for Colorado Baptists echoes from Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:18: “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” May the Holy Spirit pour out His power upon us as we desperately seek the face of the Lord and diligently and obediently engage a lost Colorado with the gospel. May Christ alone receive the glory as we magnify His beauty and majesty to a lost and dying Colorado.

VOTE NOW - Video Contest for State Missions

WATCH the submitted videos on YouTube

Then Place your vote on SaturateColorado.com

Voting Deadline is Monday, September 1.  Winner will be announced the first week of September.   

Youth State Missions Emphasis

 
"...I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! 

They are ripe for harvest."  Jesus

What does your mission field look like?  Who is impacted by your ministry?  What do your students see as their mission field?  What would Jesus see if he looked at Colorado?  Through this year's Nicy Murphy State Missions Emphasis we wnat to do just that - See Colorado Through the Eyes of Jesus.  This year we would like to highlight our state's youth in missions by providing you three ways to encourage your students to be involved. 

Video Contest

We are offering you and your students an opportunity to be at the forefront of our first ever video contest! We would like you to highlight who/what/where your mission field is and/or how your group is reaching your mission field.  GRAND PRIZE WINNER will receive up to 25 tickets to Christian Youth Day concerts at Elitch Gardens*, a FLIP digital video recorder and an invitation to a private party at Elitch’s during Christian Youth Day for their ENTIRE GROUP!  A prize package worth almost $1000!!!  CLICK HERE for submission instructions, rules and timelines.

 

Change for Change

In an effort to engage our students in supporting state missions, we are providing you an opportunity as a group to give.  Set up a ‘change for change’ jar in your youth area.  Can you imagine watching a bucketful of loose change grow exponentially into a wave of CHANGE able to help feed the hungry, clothe the needy and bring spiritual light into desolate darkness?

 

Prayer for Change

Free tickets are great.  Giving that change you find in the youth couch to make a difference is awesome.  But nothing is as powerful as prayer.  This year we will be offering prayer guides for youth for the prayer emphasis week to engage your students in the holistic vision of state missions.  Print these off and make them available to your students.  Encourage them to pray through them daily in small groups.  Use the topics in your weekly bible study or Sunday school sessions.  The idea is to challenge your students to seek Christ’s heart in reaching their mission field and being open to reaching the ever greater mission field around them.  CLICK HERE to download the prayer guide.

*Admission to Elitch Gardens not included.

 

            For questions or more information, please contact

Kris Franklin at kfrankiln@cbgc.org or Mike Gaines at mgaines@cbgc.org.

                       

 

 

                               

 

Resources and Clipart

Churches are free to use the downloads of resources and clipart to promote the offering and week of prayer.  To view these documents, click on the files below.  Right click on the link to download it to your computer.

 

Thank You Stories

On Saturday March 22, First Southern Baptist Church held an Easter Eggtravaganza from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon. The event was attended by over three hundred people at Boulder Park located adjacent to Memorial Hospital. The preparation involved handing out 1,000 invitations in surrounding neighborhoods, an advertisement in the military newspapers, and free radio announcements. The church served hot dogs, popcorn, sodas, chips, and cookies to families throughout the community. The Easter Egg hunt was divided among two age groups of children and over fifteen hundred eggs were hidden which included prizes, candy, and certificates within the eggs. Families registered their children for drawings of several large baskets in order to obtain information for follow-up. The church had the puppet team, Ken Musselwhite and Buster, and about 40 volunteers working to make the event successful. Over one hundred mothers were given  care-baskets provided by the church’s women’s ministry which included gifts, candy, and an encouragement for moms. One hundred families were given a dozen of resurrection eggs that included the presentation of the gospel. We thank you for the opportunity of partnering with the CBGC and reaching our community with the gospel of Christ. The next Sunday, we had three families visit our church as a result of the Easter eggstravaganza!

David Tomme, Pastor - First Southern Baptist Church, Colorado Springs

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The month of March and April we used $500 of our SMO monies to fund a variety of projects. First, it helped make up the difference for two projects funded primarily by a Mission Team (Missouri Partnership) and  private donor. This money was used to do a construction project at the local Task Force; an organization that provides food, rent assistance and clothing to about 13,000 people in Douglas and Elbert County. This was a plowing activity that has opened door for other areas of service in out community.

Second, with this same Mission Team, it helped pay fro 2,500 packets of wild flower seeds that were passed out in neighborhood and to some others in our community.  This has created  more awareness for us in our community,

Thirdly, this money was used to pay for a booth at the Frontrange Showcase, a B to B event sponsored by our local Chamber of commerce. We had over 1000 people visit our booth over the 2 days. This resulted in some business partnerships that we will use in doing our community ministry. It also resulted a number of opportunities to share about Genesis Church and who we are / what we believe. It had a significant impact in that it provided an opportunity for me to connect significantly with 3 people who are struggling in life and seeking God. Finally, it looks like 2 families I met that weekend will worship with us regularly.

Finally, this money went to pay for supplies when we used the State Multi-Housing Party Trailer and served sno-cones, popcorn and drinks to the 750+ peopl who participated in a Kit Festival in our neighborhood. We were able to raise $100 for our local family violence shelter and connect with a few families about Genesis Church.

Rand Clark, Church Planting Pastor - Gensis Church, Castle Rock

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We utilized the allocated funding for a promotional mailer that was designed and mailed through Outreach.com.  The mailer was specifically designed to invite our surrounding community to Matthew's House for a Christmas Eve service.  We performed a pinpoint mailer strategy, only mailing to neighborhoods close to our church.  The mailer heightened awareness in the community and we think it wil help us in our long-term strategy of building bridges.  We are grateful for the CBGC's willingness to invest in this project.  We are also grateful for the many ways the CBGC has stood by our church as we have developed and grown through the past five years.

Joe Beckler, Church Planting Pastor - Matthew's House, Durango

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Church Resource Guide

This Guide is to assist the pastor and missions leaders with strategies for working together in setting an offering goal, scheduling activities for the Week of Prayer and promoting missions education

Purpose:

• To help Colorado Baptists focus on the spiritual condition of our state
• To show how God is using a variety of ministries to reach Colorado with the gospel of Jesus Christ
• To encourage churches to give sacrificially to the Nicy Murphy State Missions Offering.

Plan:

• Review the materials for the Week of Prayer.
• Prayerfully consider the key mission leaders in the church and ask them to assume the responsibility for promotional activities.
• Set an offering goal for your church.
• Develop a promotional strategy with the assistance of the State Missions Offering Video, prayer guides, posters and resource information.
• Invite a missionary speaker to your church for Sunday worship services or other gathering. For assistance in scheduling a missionary speaker, contact Colorado Baptist Convention or your association.

Promotional Materials:

Resource Guide

Prayer Guides

Posters

Envelopes

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Distribution Plan

Colorado Churches Planting Church Health Prayer and Evangelism	42%
Associational Missions	33%
Resort and Leisure Ministries	8%
Student Scholarships	4%
Rocky Mountain Campus, GGBTS	4%
Pastoral Care Ministries	3%
Disaster Relief Ministries	3%
Ponderosa Conference Center	3%

Who is Nicy Murphy

—Nicy Murphy—

 

Nicy Murphy is a pioneer servant among Southern Baptists in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. She came to Colorado during the early years of Southern Baptist history in this region.

Nicy served as the first director of Woman’s Missionary Union when the Colorado Baptist General Convention, comprised of the five and a half states, was organized in 1956. She raised the banner of missions education and missionary support throughout the growing convention. She led in teaching new believers and young churches the value of being on mission where they lived and extending their influence to all parts of the world. Her influence continues through all we do today.

The Colorado Baptist General Convention chose Nicy as the person of example to represent the spirit of our state missions offering and prayer emphasis. Her name means ‘missions’ when translated by her life experience in Colorado.

Nicy retired from vocational missionary service in 1976 in Rapid City, South Dakota, and moved to Littleton where she served churches and missions in Colorado. As a volunteer missionary, she undertook the task of teaching survival English to Cambodian and Laotian refugees at the Brentwood Center and to Chinese adults at her home church, Arapahoe Road Baptist, in Centennial, Colorado. She opened her home to internationals for lodging, meals, and Christian love. She worked faithfully in her local church teaching and ministering. She retired from volunteer missionary service in 1997 and moved to Guymon, Oklahoma, to be closer to her family.

Because of her service and her legacy Colorado Baptists are richer and stronger. What a joy and a privilege to have our state missions emphasis associated with Nicy Murphy.

SMO Offering Policy & Application

Members of the Southern Baptist congregations in Colorado contribute annually to this special offering specifically designated for missions and ministries in Colorado. The Nicy Murphy Offering is designed to assist churches, church missions, associations and state convention with resources to fulfill their mission.

To request assistance from the Nicy Murphy Offering, the congregation must be a cooperating Southern Baptist congregation, contribute regularly to the Cooperative Program and must have contributed to the Nicy Murphy Offering the previous year (2007).

 

 

For more information about the policy and requirements regarding State Missions Offering, please open the appropriate attachment, or call 303-771-2480 extension 230.