End of the Spear

Fifty years ago this month, five men were martyred in the Amazon jungle of Ecuador and their story changed lives around the world. This month, the rest of the story will be told in a powerful motion picture coming to theaters called End of the Spear. Come and experience this unbelievable true story on opening weekend Jan. 20-22 and your view of missions will never be the same. This is a full Hollywood production that displays (in a postive way) the power of the Gospel message to change the culture of an entire people.

Upward Basketball Begins

Last Saturday, January 14th, we had our first day of Upward Basketball Games at Western Hills.

The Kindergarten teams started the day with excitement and energy! The 4th through 6th Grade Boys teams ended the day with heavy-duty action. In between, the day was filled with some great plays, awesome shots, loud cheering and a whole lot of fun.

Our coaches did a great job helping their kids do their best. Our referees did a great job teaching the kids the basics of the game with patience and love. Our concessions stand volunteers served up hotdogs, nachos and sodas with smiles. Our devotional speakers inspired and challenged the half-time audience. Our other volunteers did what was needed to make the day a success. (Thanks Kim Stern for hours of time keeping!)

All of these people made it possible to tell

a bunch of kids and their parents about Jesus!

It was a great day! There are 3 more game days at Western Hills.

• January 28th
• February 12th
• February 26

Come and join us for a game or two (or the whole day).

Or better yet...

If you are interested in helping serve in the Concession Stand, contact Matt & Heather Stephen.

If you are interested in helping with Refereeing a game or 2, contact Robert Moore.

If you are interested in giving a short half-time devotional, contact Marie Matthews.

If you want to help in any way needed (as Jesus would!), contact Scott Seela.

BUILD & BRING

These are two words you are going to hear me say often. Why? Because I believe in them. This is our strategy for reaching the lost of Central Texas. Sounds too simple, right? I know strategies for reaching the lost and bringing people to Jesus have been made complicated and intimidating.

So what is BUILD and BRING? It is simply this...prayerfully consider the people God has already placed in your circle of influence. This includes co workers, fellow students, friends, members of your bowling team, other soccer moms, your next door neighbor, guys at the gym...get the picture? You pray about God using you to be a missionary to those people. Don't get intimidated yet! Your job is to BUILD your relationship with them and then BRING them to Western Hills. Now that's not so scary is it? Another way to say this is with the words INVEST and INVITE. You invest in their lives and then invite them to join you for worship. I have a passionate belief that folks who come into our worship will encounter a living God. They might not understand everything or be able to put their experience into words, but they will NOT leave unaffected.

So there it is. The grand strategy in two words...BUILD and BRING. I wish I could take credit for this but Jesus beat me to it years ago.

God will do amazing things in 2006. I am praying for you and look forward to meeting the person/persons you bring to Jesus this year.

See you on Sunday,
Scott M.