There’s A Feeling In The Air

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Kyle

Hello World!

I love September! The leaves are changing, the air is cooler, and Fall programming is kicking off at Broadway Christian Church!

As you may know, September 9th was a HUGE day at Broadway Christian Church. Ernie began the new “Not a Fan” series (which if you have not had a chance to listen to one of his sermons, you are missing out!), many new classes began (including our brand new college-aged ministry class!), and Sunday Night Live had its first official kickoff! How did the kickoff go? I’m glad you asked!

Sunday Night Live is a student worship experience for any student in middle school or high school. Every week is a bit different, but you can expect to experience some awesome music from our live student worship band, hear a relevant message, and have a fun time.

For our first week, we decided to mix it up. We had a citywide scavenger hunt throughout the city of Lexington! 60 students overtook our fair city armed with a massive task list and video cameras. The results of that endeavor can be found by watching our videos on our Facebook page (Broadway Student Ministry Group)! Once the hunt ended, we came back to Broadway to eat pizza, watch our videos, and laugh at each other.

Currently, I am teaching through a series called Write.Rewrite where we look at some of the biggest stories in the Bible, examine the story of our own lives, and ask the question “Where is God in the story?” It’s an extremely engaging series! I hope that you or your student is able to make it to SNL soon! Make sure to stay tuned to learn about any of our upcoming series!

Want to know what’s happening at Broadway Christian Church? Make sure to check us out at www.broadwaychristian.com to get the latest scoop on all things Broadway! We are constantly updating, so make sure to stay informed!

Hope you have an amazing rest of the week!

They Grow Up Fast

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Ernie

This week my youngest daughter, Kyleigh, turned 21. Can it really be so? Today I am reflective and nostalgic of that little curly headed, 3 foot tall girl who loved her animals, loved to play outdoors, and to wander off to go exploring. She loved to curl up on the sofa and watch movies with Dad and get in my lap and be rocked until she was “completely” asleep.

Well now, she’s a beautiful, “straightened” hair, six foot woman, who still loves animals; still likes to go exploring, but now in her Toyota Corolla. She still loves to curl up on the sofa and watch movies with her dad. (Her birthday wish this year). And though we don’t have the rocker anymore, she got in my lap in my recliner this weekend and just snuggled. Some dads don’t get that from their girls. I am so blessed.

Her mom and I are so proud of her. Her love for the Lord, ministry, family, home, college and missions brings sweet joy to our hearts. But, I know she is just on loan from God. We are to raise her up to set her free to go do God’s call. She belongs to Him.

We know there will come a time when she won’t be coming home on the weekends. So today, I’m committing to make good use of the precious remaining days we do have with her. So, as the nest draws nearer to being emptied, I pray, “Lord, teach us to number our days right that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Ps. 90:12)

Love you Kyleigh,
Dad

A Word From Kyle…

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Kyle

Hi. I’m Kyle. I’m the new student minister here at Broadway Christian Church. I started here the first of June, and basically have been going non-stop since that time. We’ve done a lot of events (both big and small) as a way for me to connect with our students, and for our students to bring their friends to something “not so churchy.” The biggest event that we have been gearing up for the entire Summer is our CIY: Move trip to Lee University in Cleveland, TN.

I didn’t really know what to expect on this trip. It was my first overnight experience with this group of students, and my first time going as a leader to CIY: Move. Can I just my goals for this trip were rather low and pathetic (don’t crash, only visit the hospital once, and bring everybody home the day you said you would.) However, this trip exceeded my expectations far beyond anything I would ever dream!

This year at CIY: Move, we talked through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5,6, and 7. We covered a wide range of issues from fatherlessness, to loving our neighbors, to forgiveness. It was an extremely heavy week (mentally, emotionally, and spiritually) and even pushed me to grow closer to God. Every individual in our group was impacted in some way. Some students forgave another who had wronged them in the past, some students opened up about past pain and history that they had never shared, and some students rekindled a lost passion for pursuing God. At the end of the week, two of our students made the decision to get baptized, one student reaffirmed his call into ministry, and one student responded to his call into vocational ministry.

There were a lot of tears and celebrations; a lot of questions and a few answers. At the end of the day though, God followed us all the way down to Cleveland, Tennessee! We didn’t crash, we never visited the hospital, and everybody came back when they were supposed to, more inspired and closer with their Heavenly Father than they had been five days before. Now, it’s our job to make sure that connection does not get severed, and we continue to push them to grow even closer to God, and to share that love and passion with others.

Observations

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Jeph

The staff have been too busy to really keep up with the staff blog lately. I’ve been promised THREE TIMES that they’d have a post ready in the last month only to be denied! That’s alright. They are forgiven. But something needs to go up, right?
In the last few weeks there’s been Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Kentucky Derby, Summer starting and school ending, the Community Picnic we do at Coolavin Park, and lots of preparations for Camp Can-I-Go and other summer activities. Oh…and we hired a new Student Minister. Life has been crazy at Broadway. There was also the recent situation with our worship leader, Mark Deakins, finding out that his position at KCU that he’s held for well over 20 years was dissolved and we’ve been working hard to help him transition into a bigger role at our church while also praying for God’s guidance as he continues to seek a similar music outlet that he had at KCU.

In all of this, the hard and the easy, God has been praised. There are stories of people having prayers answered; of people coming to Christ; baptisms; renewals of faith; marriages; new families at our church; great weather, and more. If we blink, though, we may miss these things as they happen during the summer. On that note, here are some interesting observations I’ve noticed (as the tech support) at Broadway since the release of our new website.

Did you know that the most visited pages on our website (by a mile) are these: The Staff page, the events page, the parking page, and the FAQ page? I thought it spoke a little bit as to what visitors look at when they are getting to know us. They are curious who works at Broadway; what goes on; how to find parking if they come; and the FAQ is basically a ‘get-to-know’ Broadway page that we’ve designed to be lighthearted, relevant, truthful, thoughtful, and fun. I’m not sure what all of this means, but I have some guesses. What do you think it means?

Enjoying some corn-hole with the neighbors.

Lastly, I noticed at the picnic we had this past weekend that Broadway has come quite far just in the 2.5 years I’ve been here. I see intentional efforts by my church family to connect with strangers and the surrounding neighborhoods. The first year I was here, Broadway was still beginning to talk about this type of stuff. Now we’re living it out. Many churches do a lot of talking, but Broadway has done a lot of walking lately. And I say this to encourage everyone to not get tired of doing the work God has set for us to do.

Yes…that means God isn’t done. He’s not done using our hands/feet. He’s not done renewing our minds. He’s not done opening our hearts. He’s not done shaping us. And he’s not stopped being worthy of our praise and efforts. There’s no greater thing to live for than His Glory.

So, Broadway, keep your eyes open. Pay attention to the things going on around you. Don’t get caught up in the negatives too much. Keep busy. And remember who it’s all for.

Shalom,

The Tech Guy

When Sports & Christianity Collide

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Doug

I’m a HUGE sports fan. I’m an even bigger sports fan when I get to observe professional sports and Christianity collide. I’m fascinated by New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow and his passionate play that helped to land his former team, the Denver Broncos, into the NFL Playoffs this past season. And then, you gotta love God’s sense of humor when someone named Bubba wins a “gentleman’s game” on golf’s biggest stage ; The Master’s PGA Championship. Bubba is a lefty who swings a pink driver.

Tebow was the focus of the biggest football saga of the 2011 NFL season, coming off the bench and using his leadership and charisma to rally the Broncos to the playoffs after a 1-4 start.

Whether it involves what he does on the football field or the work he does in the community, New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow always seems to be keeping himself busy each and every day of his life. Last weekend, the former Denver Broncos quarterback hosted the second annual “Tim Tebow Foundation Celebrity Golf Classic” and was lucky enough to receive a special gift from this year’s big winner from the Masters–Bubba Watson. According to Hays Carlyon of the Florida Times-Union, Watson gave Tebow his player’s badge from the Master’s tournament as a gift before participating in the event. Watson received the No. 15 badge when playing in Augusta and since that happens to be Tebow’s number–it seemed like the perfect gift to give him.

From Carlyon’s article:

Bubba Watson won the Masters in 2012. He's been a golfer of unique method and an outspoken Christian for many years.

“I knew I’d see Tim in a week,” Watson said. “I told my caddie, I’m going to keep it unopened, and I’m going to hand it to him. I just felt like I should give it to him. It’s his football number, and I thought he might want it more now that I won. “We believe in the Bible and doing good for people. That’s our connection. We both play sports, and there are other connections, too, but our first connection is being Christians.” Tebow and Watson shared an embrace and clearly have a strong friendship. “It was very special,” Tebow said. “He didn’t have to do anything like that. He’s just an amazing guy. He’s been so supportive of me and my foundation. He really cares about giving back and making a difference. He has a huge platform, and I think it will continue to increase, because he’s so real. He’s so genuine.” It’s always a feel-good story to hear about athletes from different sports coming together off the field to help the community and the fact that Tebow and Watson are close as friends as well is nothing short of awesome.

Of course, the main question everybody is dying to know–what was Tebow’s golf score compared to Watson’s?

No One Greater…Really?

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Craig

Ok. There is something that keeps bugging me ever since the UK Men’s Basketball team won the NCAA championship. I write this NOT to be picky (really). I write this NOT because I’m from the great state of OHIO. I write this NOT from “championship envy” because UK won and Ohio Sate lost.

Wildcats celebrate winning the 2012 Championship.

I write this because there has been something that has bugged me ever since the Wildcats won. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MIGHT BE? It is the slogan: “NO-1 GREATER”. For some reason, that slogan just bugs me. Realize, I love this team. I picked them to go all the way this year in my bracket. Last year, I have to admit, I was rooting for the Buckeyes to beat them. I went through considerable abuse from my family and was labeled a traitor. I ACCEPT THAT. But this year, even if the Buckeyes had made it to the final game, I was going to be rooting for the Wildcats. It was an incredible year!

But then I go to get my new UK Men’s 2012 Championship shirt, and I see that slogan: “NO-1 GREATER”. It just bugs me. Am I alone here? Why did they have to pick that slogan? I understand what they are saying and even though I like the gray hat with the black letters, I just cannot buy that hat…with that slogan on it. I would feel strangely like I’m being unfaithful because I know there is SOMEONE GREATER. Again, I hate to be picky but just wondering if anyone else might feel this way…

Beneath Our Privilege

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Ernie

Today, April 2^nd, is a Monday. Mondays are usually slower for me. I am still recuperating from Sunday. Studies show that preaching a 30-minute sermon is comparable to an eight hour work day. So, Sundays I work 16 hours, not counting the hours at the church and preparations before service begins.

So, while Sunday afternoon naps are great, come Monday, I am still in recovery. Caffeine anyone? When I got to the office today I had an email requesting some resources to help a friend prepare a funeral message. I found that poem about “The Dash”. On tombstones are a birthdate and a deathdate, but what really matters is that “dash” that represents all one did between their birth and death. Does that dash represent a full, meaningful, and fruitful life, or does it represent one who lived “beneath their privilege?” Could there have been more lasting significance in their years in this life?

Tonight the UK Wildcats will play for the NCAA Championship and the Big Blue Nation is excited. We are favored. Will this talented team live up to its “world watching” privilege, or live beneath it?

This morning I am thinking about and preparing my sermon for this Easter Sunday. My biggest concern for all those who will attend churches this Sunday (including those who regularly attend, and those who do not), are we gonna take Jesus and the power and meaning of His resurrection seriously? Are we going to embrace the freedom that comes from a bloody cross? Are we gonna take up our cross so that we can really have that abundant life Jesus talked about? Or is it gonna be just another Easter Sunday, and a ho- hum society that goes back to their routine on Monday, living beneath their God-given privilege?

Easter Egg Hunt And Blessings

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Kayla

The Easter Egg Hunt was this last Saturday. The grass was wet, but it didn’t rain so I was ECSTATIC! We had a wonderful turnout at Coolavin Park with over 150 people coming out to enjoy the festivities. Chefs for Christ did a great job filling our bellies with pancakes, the youth were irreplaceable as my helpers, and we even registered 15 kids for Camp Can-I-Go! It was a truly TERRIFIC day… and a wonderful way to usher in Spring Break and the Easter season.

Saturday morning, I was watching as kids were scrambling for the final eggs, when my 8-year-old stomped up to me with distress spread across her face. “Mommy! I have seen lots of kids that got more than 20 eggs, and I don’t have hardly any!” (Truth be told, she probably had about 12… plenty in my book!)

Easter Egg Hunt-2012 ; Kayla is teaching the kids about things better than fairy-tales.

She looked so unbearably distraught that in an effort to coax her little heart back to joy, I leaned down and brought her close to whisper: “Kenzie, Sweetie, you don’t have to worry, all the extra candy is in my office at church!” She skipped away, relieved that her sugar-rush was no longer in jeopardy. I also walked away satisfied that I had averted the dreaded, “Well, sometimes life just isn’t fair” response.

As I walked away, though, I began to think about the times in my own life when I was disenchanted, when I got the short end of the stick in some way, slighted by life and fate and whatever other drama I felt in my disappointed state. In those times, I wonder if God didn’t want to bend down and whisper to me, “Kayla, Sweetie, you don’t have to worry, I am in control of all the blessings!”

When Paul was writing to the Corinthians in his second letter, he talked to them about giving cheerfully. Then in chapter 9, verse 8 he said, “And God is able to shower all kinds of blessings on you. In all things and at all times you will have everything you need…”

We have a faithful God, friends. The Bible is one continual story of God providing faithfully for His children. It would serve us well to remember His faithfulness when we are feeling slighted. The scales will always be tipped in our favor for eternity… and I will certainly take that over what could be stuffed inside an Easter egg! 

Welcome To The Now

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Jeph

What’s a “BLOG”, you ask? Good question! Here’s the answer: it’s the abbreviated word for “WEB LOG”. Essentially, blogs started out as a way for people to journal their thoughts and comings/goings. So, it was kinda like a diary…just a digital one. And you can make them private so only you can see it or you can make it public so others can see it. You can make it where people can comment on your entries or not, too.

In the Spirit of keeping up with the times and to give members and visitors a look inside at our team, we are going to begin posting thoughts and other things on a (mostly) weekly basis. We hope this helps connect you to our team, especially the ones you might not know very well.

Feel free to comment on the entries and share something yourselves!