THE

RESURRECTION

ALAMO STONE QUARTERLYSPRING 2011

3ALAMO STONE CHURCH SPRING 2011

A large portion of unreligious Americans lump all belief systems together—an all-powerful God creates the universe, demands adoration and rule-following by his subjects, and reigns from an impenetrable fortress somewhere above the clouds. Christianity improvises from this script—God be-comes man, is slaughtered at the hands of his creation, and then returns from death, to life everlasting. What, WHAT? The most amazing event ever was Christ’s Resur-rection; it rocked the foundations of the world and has not been repeated. The God who promises to refresh our souls and lead us beside quiet waters knew firsthand what it was to walk the darkest valley and emerge victorious. His Resurrec-tion validates his ability to lead us out of our present strug-gles in this world, and then to welcome us into his eternal kingdom. Really, who would trust a God who stayed dead? We here at Alamo Stone Church (ASC) celebrate this glorious Resurrection on Easter Saturday at 5:30 P.M. and I invite you to celebrate with us. If you want your Sun-day fix as well, feel free to attend Communion Chapel and hear Pastor Mike Pratt bring the Word at 10:30 A.M. This installment of the Alamo Stone Quarterly has several must-read items. First, the new Small Group Pastor Daniel Brown gives the scoop on what’s happening in our small groups, and then our Youth Pastor, David Fry shares his heart and an update on our ever-growing younger gen-eration. Last but certainly not least, we will hear from our Teaching Pastor, Roderick L. Barnes, Sr. in the pastor’s corner. I see great things happening at ASC like our latest outreaches, Saturday Night Live and Birth of a Cool, which were lead by two of our college students, Donnie Wilkinson and Yajaira De La Espada. Nothing validates our Church’s success like seeing our young leaders growing and serving the Lord. In addition, our small groups have seen tremen-dous growth in the past year. I encourage you to visit one soon!

God’s Blessings,Dave Borski ElderAlamo Stone Church

In 2007, Alamo Stone Church (ASC) was planted as a partnership between the Evangelical Free Churches of America (EFCA) and Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU). Since then, ASC has been committed to the Lord’s command to make disciples through partnership with local believers. The Resurrection, ASC’s Spring Quarterly, is a publication

meant to encourage and edify the local church.

The Vision

CONTENTSEditorial, 2

Church Information, 3

Small Groups, 4

Youth Corner, 5

Birth of a Cool VI Recap, 6

Saturday Night Live Recap, 7

Pastor’s Corner, 8

Church Resources, 11

Upcoming Events, 12

Presenting Christ to all people so that they can choose Him; equipping those who choose Him to live effectively for Him.

Alamo Stone Church

SERVICES

Saturdays, 5:30 P.M.5719 Mobud Street

San Antonio, TX 78238

CONTACT 210.317.2683info@alamostone.orgwww.alamostone.org

Editorial

SPRING 2011 ALAMO STONE CHURCH4 5ALAMO STONE CHURCH SPRING 2011

STUDY WITH THE BETHEAS -Every Thursday at 7:00 P.M. anyone is welcome to come for a meal and a study on the previous Saturday sermon from Alamo Stone Church. This group meets at Woodhill Apartments, 4951 Woodstone Dr. #107. Contact David at david.fry@alamostone.org for more information.

GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT -

AWAKENED BY THE WORD -

This women’s group meets at 8:30 P.M at La Cantera mall and they are going through the Faithful, Abun-dant, True Bible study. The regular day of the week is still being de-cided but at this time, the girls will meet on Monday night, outside the Pottery Barn at La Cantera. If you are a lady (sorry guys), join them for time in the Word and to build friendship with other Godly wom-en. Contact Emily at emilybutter-fly84@yahoo.com or 210.833.0027 to get plugged-in.

Each Friday from 6:30 P.M. - 9:00pm this group meets. They have just started Philippians and they read straight from the Bible and discuss whatever stands out to them. If you are trying to grow in the Lord through reading Hs word, this is a great study for you. They have dinner first and then read together. They meet at Tara Vista Apartments off Highway 151. Con-tact Jeff Patterson at 210.379.1704 or at Jeffrey.patterson@intertek.com for more information.

“Being in the Girls Night Out small group has been great for me. I love getting together with other godly women and studying the bible and other books about Christianity. It also helps keep me accountable to have my own personal time with God throughout the week. It is also fun to just get to hang out together.” – Tracy Hall

“My w h o l e l i f e h a s changed since this Bible Study. I have learned more about the Lord and His life. Also, the people I study with have become a major part of my life. I look forward to Bible study every week and learning from the teach-ings of Mr. David Fry.” -Unknown

As I and other leaders have been preparing for the Spring Youth Breath Easy (Spring Youth Program) it has been our hope that the program would not be just a social event but that discipleship in the lives of the youth would be the focus. We see the mandate that Christ gave to His followers before He ascended into heaven, “‘Go therefore and make disciples … Teaching them to observe all things that I have com-manded you…” (Matthew 28:19-20, NKJV). While a weekend church service is great, without account-ability in one’s life the preaching of the word is teach-ing people what Christ commanded but not truly teaching them to observe what Christ. It is my hope that through Youth Breath Easy, not only would there be great teaching from the word but that it would be a community where we come along side one another and encouraging each other to observe what Christ commanded. Once we gather the youth, we play a fun game and then have time in prayer. During this time, there is brief teaching on prayer followed a time of prayer where the youth put to practice what they have been taught. We also spend time together in worship and share communion together. The community and fellowship continues around a meal accompanied by a Bible lesson. Recently, I have been incorporating a weekly assignment (and follow-up to keep them ac-countable) with the lessons. Again, the focus is not just teaching them what Christ commanded but to observe what Christ commanded. I am humbled when I hear testimonies from youth about what God is doing through their lives. Consider what one of the youth, Fred said about Breath Easy, “It has helped me in my life and changed my ways a lot”. Praise God for the great work he is doing in the lives of the youth and what a joy it is to be a tool used by God to en-courage the youth to observe what Christ has com-manded.

During this semester, a significant time in the lives of the youth and volunteers took place. We took 8 of our youth to the Fast Break Conference put on by Student Venture—the Middle and High School ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. I heard multiple testimonies from the youth about how they got a lot from the speakers and testimonies of how the conference has changed their lives. As well, this conference held ses-sions on training and equipping the youth to share their faith. After the retreat, the youth put what they learned to action the following week at an outreach we had at a park. Lastly, during Spring Break the youth are organizing (with supervision) an out-reach event where the focus will be sharing their faith with their peers.

PRAY FOR THE TEACHERS AND VOL-UNTEERS - Yajaira De La Espada, Don-nie Wilkinson, Jason Edwards, David Fry, and Roderick Barnes as they seek to dis-ciple the youth.

LOCATION AND TRANSPORTATION - The size of the group is limited due to the meeting location (Roderick’s Garage) and the logistics of picking up youth (all youth are given a ride to Breathe Easy).

PRAY THAT THE YOUTH WOULD FOLLOW CHRIST AND LIVE FOR HIM AND THAT THE LORD WOULD WORK THROUGH THE YOUTH TO BRING THE GOSPEL TO THEIR PEERS.

Ministry Needs

JOIN ONE

YOUTH BREATHE EASY

FAST BREAK CONFERENCE AND YOUTH EVANGELISM

BY DAVID FRY

YOUTHCORNER

SMALL GROUPSCRONENBERGER HOME GROUP -

“SATURDAY SCHOOL” -

YOUTH BREATH EASY -

BROWNS’ HOME GROUP -

BARNES HOME GROUP -

Every 2nd and 4th Saturday from 10:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M. this group meets and studies the mes-sage notes from the Alamo Stone Church services.  Contact Jody at 210.392.5763 or at jodycronen-berger@hotmail.com  for more information.

Every 2nd and 4th Saturday at 4:20 P.M. at Communion Chapel, Dave and Page Borski are hosting a time of fellowship, encouragement, and study.  New members/believers are especially encouraged to at-tend at least once. Contact Dave at 210.487.9403 with questions and transportation requests.

This Discipleship group meets on Sundays from 11:00 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Youth share a meal in fel-lowship, have prayer and worship, and strengthen their devotion to the Lord and walk with the Savior. Contact David Fry at david.fry@alamostone.org  for more informa-tion.

Sunday’s from 2:00 P.M. - 3:00pm the Browns’ Home Group studies “Christianity Explained” - Discov-ering the Christian message from Mark’s Gospel.”  This group is for those who have heard the word, “Gospel,” but don’t really know what it’s all about or how it ap-plies to them personally.  Contact Daniel Brown at cbd03@sbcglobal.net 210.589.5538 for more infor-mation.

Every Wednesday at 7:00 P.M. this group shares a meal together and then discusses the previous Satur-day sermon given at Alamo Stone Church. To get plugged-in contact Roderick at Roderick@alamo-stone.org.

SPRING 2011 ALAMO STONE CHURCH6 7ALAMO STONE CHURCH SPRING 2011

Saturday Night Live

After two months of praying and planning, we had our first Saturday Night Live (SNL) at Communion Chapel on Saturday March 5, 2011. The Lord was so good to let ASC be a yielded vessel to serve and glorify Him once more. As some of you may know, SNL is an action-packed evening where we reach out to our community by offering free food, live music, raffle prizes and of course sharing the good news that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that in Him we are made righteous (II Cor. 5:21). This particular SNL was like many we’ve done in the past; however, this time we decided instead of going out into our community we would try to bring them to Alamo Stone. By doing so, it allowed the church to be more intentional about sharing the gospel and carrying out the Great Commission that Jesus gave to us—making disciples (Matthew 28:19). This event could not have taken place with-out the help of all of our volunteers including the SNL team: Yajaira De La Espada, Jennifer Diggs, and Pastor Roderick Barnes. The Master and Mistress of Ceremony, Anton Sorkin and Doni-sha Dixon did a superb job of making sure the evening ran successfully. We also had live music provided by none other than Alamo Stone’s very

own worship band lead by our worship pastor, Jody Cronenberger. As if that weren’t enough, we had some very special guests come all the way from Uvalde, Texas to prepare and serve food for the evening. On behalf of Alamo Stone, I am so grateful and thankful for Greg Fry and his cook-ing team from Bread of Life Church. Thank you for not only preparing such a wonderful meal but also for donating all the food as well. This brings me to why we hosted the event in the first place, to show our community how great our God really is. As we started planning for this SNL, we were not sure exactly how we were going to feed all of these people (about 102) but the Lord provided like He always does (Matthew 6:33). As a result we were blessed with such an amazing group of people who just wanted to serve our Father’s Kingdom without anything in return. Just as Christ died and was resurrected, I feel as though I could not have lead this event without having been buried, raised, and made alive in Christ myself (Col. 2: 12, 13). Leading this event was such an honor and privilege and I am so excited to begin planning and praying for the up-coming SNL scheduled for summer 2011.

Back on one confused weather day, Roderick L. Barnes, Sr., Donnie Wilkinson, and I met up at Chick-Fil-A (the Mecca of Christian fast food) to plan Birth of a Cool (BOAC). I didn’t realize that day just how much Birth of a Cool would consume every aspect of my life. Luckily, this time I had a team to help me with the process of plan-ning. We began planning for BOAC in January and I am very grateful that we started early. This BOAC was different than last year’s because we all wanted it to be more organized and efficient this time. With all of the planning, we wanted to make sure that BOAC stayed true to its mission, which is to share the gospel through song, art, and dance. Although we did not have as many contestants, they certainly did a great job at sharing the gospel through their talent and their spirit. ASC is cur-rently trying to incorporate new things to make

BOAC more efficient in fulfilling its mission, and we hope that the next BOAC will be even more organized and more effective at sharing the gospel. For this BOAC, our contestants were: Rachel Seiler, Alex Fisher, Matthew Seiler, Daniel Seong, Joshua Brantley, Adam Lawrence, My’Esha, and Nicholas Hernandez. First and second prize winners received a $50 iTunes gift card or a $25 iTunes gift card. The winners for the song cat-egory were: Alex Fisher (1st place) and My’Esha (2nd place). The winners for the poetry/visual arts category were: Joshua Brantley (1st place) and Nicholas Hernandez (2nd place). ASC wants to thank everyone that expressed their talent that day and everyone who helped out with Birth of a Cool. BOAC is under construction right now, so look out for the nueva vida of Birth of a Cool soon!

Birth of a Cool VI

BY DONNIE WILKINSON BY YAJAIRA DE LA ESAPADA

SPRING 2011 ALAMO STONE CHURCH8 9ALAMO STONE CHURCH SPRING 2011

using a term to indicate that the surgical removal of foreskin from the male sexual member had not been done?• The Term Refers to Spiritual Disposition

Toward God (Leviticus 26:40-41)• The Circumcised Heart is Obedient; The

Uncircumcised Heart is Rebellious (Deu-teronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4)

• Being Circumcised in the Heart Was Not Natures Even for Jews (Acts 7:51-53)

So then, what seems like vulgar and crass name calling is actually a cultural idiom used to describe a person’s attitude God and His will. The term circumcision should mean that someone is sensi-tive and clean with regard to the relationship to God. Conversely, uncircumcision is a way of say-ing that a person is not sensitive to the desires of God but is rebellious and contrary. It is a cutting description of a heart that is not clean and that will not obey. The distinction of being referred to as uncircumcised based on the material of Ephesians 2:1-3, although inflammatory was true.Prior to the work of Christ on our behalf and in our hearts we were void of spiritual life (Ephesians 2:1) and contrary to the will of God by nature (Ephesians 2:3). The Jews (the Circumcision) re-ferred to this overall condition and the nations as being uncircumcised in heart (the Uncircum-cision).

“That at the time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12, NKJV) What is it that Paul would have the Ephesians to recall? There are four things that he says they do well to call to mind: (1) they with-out Him, (2) without heritage, (3) without hope, and (4) and without God. Although it should go without saying, Paul makes it clear that you were without Christ. Contrary to the heresy that we

are basically good and that everyone has some relationship with Christ, the Bible says that by de-fault we are dead (separated) by sins and trespasses from God. We were without Him – The reasons that we were without Christ is simple – we are not Jews. The messiah was given first to the Jews from the Jews (Deuteronomy 18:15,18; John 4:22). If you are like the writer of this chapter you are a Gentile; we were without Christ because the Mes-siah was given first to the Jews. Indeed, Jesus was unapologetic about limiting His ministry to the descendants of Abraham and Jacob/Israel because this was what the Father had told Him (Matthew 15:21-28; John 12:20-24). God had always in-tended that the Jews would help Him in reaching the world for reconciliation (Genesis 12:1-3; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19). It was His plan to train up a people for Christ and then through the power of Christ to reach the rest of the world. We are the rest of the world. As Jesus prepared to leave earth and reign from His throne in heaven, he put the second part of the plan into effect (Acts 1:4-8). Until the news reached us we were without Christ.We were without heritage – The reason that were without heritage follows from the fact that we were without Christ. The Father has given all things into the hands of the Son (Ephesians 1:20-22; Matthew 28:18; Psalm 2:7-8). Being rightly related to the Christ is to be rich beyond measure. Such is the case with the Jews that Jesus chose to be apostles (John 14:1-4). Although none of this was accessible to the Gentile before receiving Christ, having re-ceived Jesus, all of the things that are His are also theirs (Ephesians 1:3, 18). Prior to Christ there was nothing to inherit because the spiritual father of the Gentiles (Ephesians 2:2), that serpent of old, has nothing but limited time to try the saints. While Satan can give the unbeliever some things in this world, he cannot give them any lasting legacy. But God can and does through Christ (1 Peter 1:4).We were without hope – Hope is the expectation that things will get better. Prior to Christ our

Without looking back at life-before-Jesus, we are apt to take for granted the blessings that we cur-rently enjoy in His fellowship. Also, without rou-tinely recalling our lives before Jesus, our former rebellion and debauchery becomes distant and disconnected from our history; evil happened (note the passive voice) but it hardly seems that we were the perpetrators. Careful consideration of what I am saying and a serious study of the lives of Christians around you will bear-out the following: forgetting who we were prior to Christ is at the root of a heart that is conceited, condemning, and handicapped in sharing the gospel. An epic change has taken place in our lives. Paul commands his Gentile readership to think about it by remembering. To the end that they might become more grateful, more gentle, and preach more gospel, he calls the non-Jewish portion of the churches in Ephesus to intention-ally compare and contrast who they were prior to Christ and who they are now. Remembering their former distinction and their former deficiencies will help them move forward into their duties and their destiny.

“Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumci-

sion by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands” The therefore (Διὸ) is a marker indicat-ing that the material that follows is logical in light of what has already been covered. In Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul explains how the grace of God has rescued humanity from its own depravity. Hav-ing spoken generally on the reconciliation of man to God the apostle now digresses to discuss the redemption of a subset of humanity: non-Jews – a.k.a. the Gentiles. But who are the Gentiles?This is literally “nations” (ἔθνη). It refers to all peoples who are not of the line of Jacob. In the OT the term “nations” (goim) was a derogatory way of referring to all non-Jews1. Where we take great pains to discover our family trees and understand our racial and ethnic heritage; for the Jews, the classification system was really very simple: To be a Jew you were either descended from Abraham through Jacob (thus eliminating the descendants of Ishmael and Esau and the rest of the world) or you were not. If not then you were considered a Gentile. In referring to the Gentiles, the Jews, practicing circumcision since God commanded the practice as a sign of the covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:10), would call the Gentiles Uncircumcision. Why such vulgar name calling? That is, why is it that the Jews chose to refer to the rest of the world

Pastor’s Corner

REMEMBER YOUR FORMER DISTINCTION (EPHESIANS 2:11, NKJV)

REMEMBER YOUR FORMER DEFICIENCY

by Roderick L. Barnes, Sr.Epic Change:From Hopeless to Hope Filled

SPRING 2011 ALAMO STONE CHURCH10 11ALAMO STONE CHURCH SPRING 2011

For a good while now, ASC has been using a Content Management System (CMS) called Community Church Builder, or CCB. What is a CMS? It’s backend software that enables a large group of people (e.g. a church or large organization) to share and contribute data, easily retrieve data, and so much more. Overall, CCB helps ASC effectively organize and track people and resources. CCB offers a platform for everything from group management to online giving. Features that are most utilized include user profiles, group management, messages, and online giving. ASC is able to send email blasts like The Alamo Stone Times, create groups for small groups, track attendance, and collect tithes and offerings in an easy manner. This CMS has definitely enabled ASC to have all information in one place and in an organized fashion. ASC administration are able to create user accounts where each member can have a profile containing their basic information. As well, other items like pictures, spiritual gifts, and the like can be implemented for each user profile. CCB also allows users to create and manage multiple groups within its organization. This allows a user who has privileges to create groups, add people, add events to the member calendar, send messages, add needs, manage positions and files, and much more.CCB is a powerful tool used by many churches and organizations around the nation and Alamo Stone Church is but another one benefiting from this great tool. Want to jump on board the CCB train? Go to alamostone.org and simply click the Login button. From there, click sign-up and input your information. Your request will then go to an admin-istrator. It’s that easy!

Software Review: Community Church Builder

LIKES• Easy to use• Event Management• Mobile Access• Online Giving

SPECIFICATIONS• Contact CCB for pricing

at 866-242-1199• Real Time Attendence

Management• Outreach and Follow Up• Member Involvement• Group Management• Custom People Searches• Custom Reporting

Effective Software for Your Entire Church

COMMUNITY CHURCH BUILDER (CCB)

Roderick L. Barnes, Sr's first book is now available for purchase online at Amazon and

Barnes and Noble

CHURCHRESOURCES

BY ERICA CANANT

hopes were in the power of a good education, the landing of a good job, the joy of a great marriage, the transforming power of philosophy or various government programs, and the fun-filled lives we could have with family and friends. Our hopes were all in things that perish with the using. Our hopes were in things that could not make promises and that ultimately we could not keep. We thought we would find happiness in them but found only the stark realization that we did not get what we had been promised and that we could not keep what we got. We got false hopes and no hope for the life after this. Our lives and hopes were like our gods—dead. The Gentiles were without God – If you do not have the Son you cannot have the Father (John 14:6).

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13, NKJV) All of the lack has been turned into abundance and joy in Christ. The Gentiles were dead (Ephesians 2:1) but now are alive in Christ. They were without Christ, without heritage, with-out hope, and without God. In Christ, the Ephesian Gentiles have all those things. We who have trusted Christ for our salvation have those things. Where the Gentiles had been aliens to the riches of the Jews in the Messiah they have become rich through the grace of God. If we would remember from whence we have come

three things are sure to abound. First, we are going to be more grateful. Any serious contemplation of His work in our lives leads us back to give thanks (Luke 17:11-18). Second, we would be gentler to-ward those who do not know Christ and those who have fallen. While we can never be okay with the practice of sin, we can certainly look to show grace to the sinning brother with an uncompromising eye toward encouraging that person to come back to the Lord Jesus with a whole heart. It will help to remember who we were before Christ. Lastly, we would not be so dismayed when hearing about the depravity of the world. Instead of running away with the antidote of God’s grace through the power of the gospel we would run toward the gates of hell to try, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to snatch another one from the fire. Indeed, in remember-ing that we were not born saints, there would be more gospel. Paul admits that he was formerly part of the group that conducted themselves in the lust of the flesh (Ephesians 2:3). He willingly shared the gospel now because, looking back on his life, he knows that it works (1 Timothy 1:13).Questions:• When you did not know Christ what things

did you find hope in?• What happens when we do not look at where

God has brought us from?• How can your change of trust and new hope

become an encouragement to the people around you?

REJOICE IN YOUR DESTINY

ALAMO STONE QUARTERLYSPRING 2011

ResourcesUPCOMINGEVENTS

No service on Saturday, April 23.

Roderick L. Barnes, Sr., Ikki Soma, and Erica N. Canant will be releasing a 30 Day Devotion-al. More info soon to come!

April 24 at 9:55 A.M. at Communion Chapel

COMBINED EASTER SERVICE

NEW AND IMPROVED SITE!

APRIL

Pray for a lot of our leaders and members as they travel to this conference.

April 26 - April 29 in Orlando, FloridaEXPONENTIAL CONFERENCE

NEW BOOKCOMING SOON

ALAMOSTONE.ORG

NURSERY - Several of our moms who currently run the nursery are expecting little ones in the coming months, so we are in urgent need of help with the Nursery. Contact Erica Saliceti at 210-275-5422

TRANSPORTATION - Several ASC attendees are without transportation to and from service. Your help would make it possible for many individuals without transportation to attend. To help, contact David Fry at david.fry@alamostone.org or Jason Ed-wards at jason.edwards@alamostone.org.

HELP AFTER SERVICE - If anyone would like to organize a clean-up crew for church, or volun-teer to help clean up, please contact Dave Borski at dmb7324@gmail.com or 210-487-9403. The effort is minimal, but we need a few people looking for a way to serve God by lifting the burden off the wor-ship team, who typically get stuck being first to arrive and last to leave. You would be a great blessing to our worship leaders who already spend many hours preparing and tearing down the stage each weekend.

ELDER SUGGESTION FORM - If you have any issues, comments, questions or suggestions for the Elder Board, fill out this form and the El-ders can review it at their next meeting.Elder Suggestion Form.

GIVING TO ALAMO STONE - Alamo Stone does not pass around an offering plate at our servic-es, however, if you are wanting to give a tithe or offering to Alamo Stone, please visit our website at alamostone.org or leave your gift in the “Offering Box” in the foyer during Saturday Services.

SICK AND SHUT IN LIST - To encourage the ASC body to serve its members in need, we’re gathering names and contact information for the sick and shut in. Contact information TBD soon. Matthew 25:36 says, “I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.”