Red Brush Christian Church

16707 Hwy 45

Louisville, IL 62858

U.S. Postage

PAID

Non-Profit Org.

Louisville, IL

Permit # 43

Preaching Minister

Dusty Elmore

Associate Minister

Bennie Johnson

Administrative Minister

Gary Barbee

Student Minister

Tyler Mulvany

Children’s Minister

Ashley Czyzewski

Worship Minister

Jonathan Goodman

665-3280

Greetings Senior Saints! Wow!!! In last month’s article I was talking about the little shoots of green coming through

the ground and then BAM! Here comes the snow. Who knew? Anyway, the thing about this time of year is it can’t last

for long. Last month’s meeting was on March 4th and we all enjoyed a great time of fellowship, a delicious meal and a time

of singing. Due to Easter falling on the last day of March, we’ve decided to move the regular meeting day for Senior Saints

to the second Monday, which will be April 8th at 11:30 a.m. The menu will be HAM & BEANS, CORN BREAD, FRIED

“TATERS”, SLAW, AND DESSERTS, OF COURSE, or, anything else that would go along with this menu. Please see the

sign-up sheet at Connection Corner to let us know what you’re bringing. Why not bring a friend?

In the mean time, how do you feel....?

When I feel afraid… “The LORD is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?” – Psalm 27:1

When I feel overwhelmed… “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9

When I feel like running away… “And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” – Romans 14:4 When I feel threatened… “O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me.” – Psalm 7:1 When I feel betrayed… “Be strong and courageous…For the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you

nor forsake you.” – Deuteronomy 31:6 When I feel confused… “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault,

and it will be given to him.” – James 1:5 When I feel angry… “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger

does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” – James 1:19-20 When I feel depressed… “He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.

He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.” – Psalm 40:2 When I feel unloved… “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt.” – Jeremiah 31:3-4

“Whatever is true…whatever is right…if anything is excellent or praiseworthy

—think about such things.” – Philippians 4:8 See Ya Monday the 8th!

Ben

Page 4

Ben’s Blurb

March 28, 2013 Volume VI, Issue IV

Every Wednesday Night: Celebrate Recovery meets at 6:30 p.m. - all are welcome

April Dates:

2 Building in use 6 – 7 pm

8 Senior Saints - 11:30 am Check out the food sign-up sheet at Connection Corner. Building in Use for the evening

6 Women’s Small Group meets

Adult Small Group meets

10 Elder’s Meeting - 6:30 pm Deadline to register for Ladies’ Day at Oil Belt

12—13 BIG Overnighter at Oil Belt for 3rd—5th grade

15–19 Meals–On–Wheels week 2 volunteers needed per day See Judy Connerly for more info.

16 Building in use 6 – 7 pm 20 Ladies’ Day at Oil Belt 8:45 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

23–24 F.L.C. being used for state testing by the high school 28 Out–of–the–Box Night for 1st – 5th grade 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. Jr. High $5 fun night 4–7 p.m. Hydration–on–the–Go (high school) 7–9:30 p.m. 30 Building in use 6 – 7 pm

SAVE THE DATES!

June 17-21 V.B.S. week

August 4 No Strings Attached Outreach Day

Brushstrokes!

APRIL is a BIG Month! It is Camp Sign-Up Month

AND VBS Volunteer Sign-Up Month.

Please be praying about where God can use you!

RBCC Pictorial Directory Thanks so much for your

participation!

We were so excited about the number of people who helped us create a new pictorial directory by getting their pictures

taken or submitting one for us to use. It will be a great resource for all of us to stay

connected and get to know each other! We expect to have the directories & pictures ready to hand out very soon!

Also, a very HUGE Thank You to Ashley Czyzewski & Melissa Smith for all the time & effort they put in to make this directory!

King of the Mountain

Camp Sign-Up begins April 1st!

Two summers in a row Red Brush has sent the largest number of students to camp.

Let’s keep that up by sending over a 100 campers this summer!

Red Brush believes camp transforms lives so much that we commit to paying for 1 week of camp for each student.

Also, if a student registers for camp during the month of April

we will include a FREE Camp T-Shirt!

Pick up a Camp Brochure at Connection Corner to register your student for camp!

Sunday, April 28th is Camp Promotion Sunday!

Show your support for Oil Belt by wearing your old camp T-shirts that morning! That night, during their respective youth group times, all the students

1st grade thru high school will be going down to the camp to see what’s in store this summer!

Oil Belt Christian Service Camp

Congratulations & Welcome to the Family!

Since our last newsletter we’ve had 3 baptisms & 5 people transfer their memberships to officially join the Red Brush family! On March 3rd, Landis Rinehart was baptized into Christ. Then, on March 27th Jesse & Christine James made that same step of faith & were also baptized. On March 17th, during our Hispanic Ministry’s evening service, we celebrated 5 transfers of memberships. They were Santiago & Lourdes Macias, Manuel & Mercedes Macias, and Mercedes’ sister Luz Maria Paneda. We are so excited about all these blessings! Congratulations to each of you and welcome to the family!

From Dusty’s Desk

Page 2

Stewardship:

Sunday, March 3rd

7:30 am 61

8:45 am 242

11:15 am 172

Total 475

Sunday School 201

p.m. service 114

Offering $21,647.07

Sunday, March 10th

7:30 am 49

8:45 am 205

11:00 am 160

Total 414

Sunday School 194

p.m. service 98

Offering $9,569.50

Sunday, March 17th

7:30 am 47

8:45 am 257

11:00 am 137

Total 441

Sunday School 190

p.m. service 168

Offering $11,134.62

Sunday, March 24th

7:30 am 52

8:45 am 227

11:00 am 118

Total 397

Sunday School 170

p.m. service dismissed

Offering $10,817.00

Red Brush Christian Church

What’s a Deacon?

There has been a great deal of confusion about what a deacon is and what a deacon should

do. In some congregations, deacons serve as the lay leaders of the church (in the way that

elders are described in Scripture) with the preacher being the pastor (a term that means elder/

shepherd). This is a business model (not biblical) where the preacher is the CEO and the

deacons serve as his board of directors.

In traditional Christian Churches, deacons serve as junior elders. They serve on a board,

sharing the same power and responsibilities with the elders. This model copies the

organizational structure of the U.S. government. The deacons make up the House of

Representatives and the elders make up the Senate. In some churches, the preacher acts like the

president and in other churches he is more of a gopher – again not biblical.

The Biblical model shows elders (always plural) leading the local church. In Titus 1:5, Paul

instructed Titus to “appoint elders in every town.” Each town was to have a group of elders

leading the local church. Preachers can be elders. 1 Timothy 5:17 shows that some elders

preach and teach. Preachers can also be evangelists. Timothy, a preacher, was called to be an

evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5). The way our church is organized, I am an evangelist, not an elder.

Biblically, elders are to oversee, shepherd and guard the flock from false teachers (Acts

20:28). They must teach (1 Timothy 3:2) and direct the affairs of the church (1 Timothy 5:17).

They will each give an account for how they watched over the flock (Hebrews 13:17). The

primary ministry of elders is the Word (studying, teaching, preaching, sharing) and prayer (Acts

6:4). The church is commanded to obey (Hebrews 13:17) respect and hold her elders in the

highest regard (1 Thessalonians 4:12-13).

Where does this leave the deacons? The word deacon is only found in two passages of

Scripture: Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3. In both Scriptures, their job description is never

given, only their qualifications. The only place where we see deacons in action is Acts 6 when a

group of men were chosen to distribute food to widows. The word ‘deacon’ is never used in

that passage, but the word ‘serve’ is. Diakoneo is a Greek verb meaning to serve, minister, look

after, care for, or take care of. The noun diakonoi is translated ‘deacon’ in 1 Timothy 3:8. It

means a servant or a minister. The reason there is so much confusion about what a deacon

does is because there is confusion about what the term deacon means. Deacons are servants or

ministers.

Don Green, professor at Lincoln Christian University and church consultant, met with our

leadership two times over the last five years helping us understand the true biblical structure of

church leadership. He reminded us that if our leaders have not correctly divided up the work,

that many important things will go undone. So in order to clarify the confusion, our leadership

team has decided to change the name “Deacon” to “Ministry Team Leader.” Since the words

‘deacon’ and ‘minister’ are synonymous, this is completely biblical. Even now, every ministry

team leader we have is already doing the work of a deacon. They are serving and leading others

in service. We currently have ministry team leaders who are female. Again this is biblical since

the early church had deaconesses (Romans 16:1-2 RSV).

Unless the ministry base expands, churches will never be able to maintain growth. Each

ministry team has a budget that they are allowed to use at the discretion of the team. Before,

every decision had to go through the board. The board would spend hours discussing light

fixtures and shingles while lost souls and wounded Christians went largely ignored. Our elders

focus their attention on prayer, church development and evangelism. And just like the early

church grew when the leadership focused on the most important things (Acts 6:7), God is

blessing the direction our church is taking.

A few years ago, the leadership team agreed to the motto “Whatever it takes.” As long as

we remain biblical, we want to do whatever it takes to lead the lost to Jesus and grow mature,

spiritually healthy and purposeful Christians. The church’s cooperation in these efforts has been

overwhelmingly positive. Thank you Red Brush, for being the church!

Children’s Ministry

Common Ground Worship Service—Sundays 6:00-7:00 pm

Jr. High Ministry High School Ministry

Page 3 Volume VI, Issue IV

Message Topics for April

April 7 Disciplines of a Disciple

April 14 Front–Line Prayer – Prayer for the Church

(personal, missionary, RBCC) April 21 Disciplines of a Disciple

April 28 Front–Line Prayer – Praying for the Lost

For all have sinned and fall

short of the glory of God,

and are justified freely by his

grace though the redemption

that came by Christ Jesus.

Rom. 3:23-24

April 28th 4 pm - 7 pm for 1st - 5th Graders

Come take a trip to camp and learn more

about FUN things to do this summer

at Oil Belt Camp

Questions??? Call Ashley Czyzewski at 665-3280

VBS Volunteer Round-up Believe it or not VBS is around the corner. Please

start thinking about where you can help! Sign up at Connection Corner in April.

Join us in KZ for an energetic

worship service designed for

1st-5th graders. We meet during

the 8:45 & 11:00 am services.

2’s & 3’s—Room 202 4’s & 5’s—Room 209

1st - 5th—Room 301

Lil Praizers meets during the 8:45

& 11:00 am services. It designed

for 2 yr olds - Kindergarten.

AllSTARS (1st - 5th grades) meet

during Common Ground from 6-7pm.

smallSTARS (2 yr. olds - K) meet during our Common Ground

service from 6-7pm.

April 28

th

4 - 7 pm

Bring $5 and we are going to go have some fun!

HydrationHydration--OnOn--thethe--go!go! April 28April 28thth

7:00 7:00 -- 9:30 pm9:30 pm

March was move month! We are wrapping up the

odd-job requests to help fund our move trip to

Tulsa, Oklahoma. If you have an odd job request

contact Tyler at the church office.

Oil Belt Camp SignOil Belt Camp SignOil Belt Camp Sign---UpUpUp Jr. High 1: June 23-28 Jr. High 2: July 21-26 Sr. High: June 2-7 Niners: July 14-20

Jr. High Wilderness: June 9-14 Sr. High Wilderness: June 8-15

Jr. High Athletes: July 7-12 Deeper Life: July 28-Aug. 2

Bike Camp: June 16-21 Music Camp: July 14-20