LeaderLines – from Hillcrest Baptist Church, Austin, Texas  Contact Tom Goodman, Pastor
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"A Postcard from Hillcrest Church"
by Tom Goodman
April 13, 2006

Last Minute Notice!  We have four hours open in our Prayer Vigil this Easter weekend.  Contact Jami or me immediately to commit to 3:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday, or Sunday morning at 1:30-2:30 a.m., or 3:30-4:30 a.m., or 5:30-6:30 a.m.  These are tough hours to fill, but we want an unbroken chain of prayer from 9:30 a.m. Good Friday (the time Jesus went to the cross) until 9:30 a.m. Easter Sunday (the time the disciples began to hear reports, “He is Risen!”).  This Prayer Vigil ends our 21-Day “Worthy Worship” Campaign.  Even if you’ve already signed up for an hour in the Vigil, you can take another one.  Let us know right away!


Have you mailed a friend the postcard advertising the “Code Breakers” sermon series?  We included one in last Sunday’s bulletin for you (first-class stamp is required).  Also, see if you can place a small stack at your office or favorite lunch counter.  Ferrel Shaffer brought a stack to work this week, and this Sunday we’ll have plenty for you to pick up for your office.  My oldest son asked me if he could bring a stack to the theater and hand them out to people going in to see “The Da Vinci Code.”  He was disappointed to find that the sermon series will be over by the time the film opens May 21, but God bless him!  I’m sure he’s going to find other ways to spread the news.

The postcards have been mailed to every home in a three-mile radius to the church in connection with radio spots that are running for three weeks on The River, Austin’s new Christian music station at FM 102.3 (and on streaming audio).

Some are asking why the title “Hillcrest Church” shows up twice on the card while the title “Hillcrest Baptist Church” shows up only once.  I wouldn’t want us to change the name of our church or our denominational affiliation, but I don't think we have to always refer to our church exclusively by its full name.

Now, we can have a lively conversation about whether we have to always refer to our church exclusively as “Hillcrest Baptist Church.”  But let’s make sure we don’t get so wrapped up in what we call our church that we fail to invite people to it.  A business leader once reminded his staff that “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”  Good advice.  Don’t lose focus on the next five Sundays: they’re perfect weekends to invite a friend to encounter Christ in our services—and that’s the main thing at Hillcrest.

Blessings on your invitations!

—Tom



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