Join Us Tonight for Evangelism Workshop!

After taking a week off due to inclement weather, we are resuming our Evangelism Workshop being taught in English by Daniel Allen and in Spanish by George Diaz. Please join us for dinner at 5:30 pm, and an hour-long meeting starting at 6:00 pm. All are welcome, with dinner and resources provided. Hope to see you there!

Evangelism Workshop

New Heights Baptist Church is hosting a free evangelism workshop on Wednesday nights in order to teach skills in witnessing to the glory of Jesus Christ. The first class of the series met last night. The class is being taught in English and Spanish.

The picture above is of the Spanish class, being led by George Diaz. Our Pastor, Cody McNutt, is introducing some of our Cuban members to the importance of evangelism.

We are currently going through the Way of the Master techniques and we will be hosting Mark Cahill for our culminating session. Please join us Wednesdays for a free dinner and hour-long evangelism meeting.

The picture below is of part of the English-speaking class. This class is being led by Daniel Allen. Pastor Cody is pictured speaking to this class as well.

New Heights Baptist Puts on Refugee Dinner

Last night, August 19, New Heights Baptist Church hosted Catholic Charities and their refugees for a dinner and instruction on canning food. New Heights has provided land for cultivation so that these people have been able to provide food for their families and a meager income through sale of produce to local produce wholesalers.

Three groups have been farming our lot - people from Nepal, resettled from Bhutan; people from Burundi; and people from Thailand/Burma. Several of them speak relatively good English, which they are learning in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes which are mandated by our government. Their children are also enrolled in public schools.

These people have been horribly oppressed in their homelands and many have experienced intense persecution which has involved extortion, rape, beatings, and torture. Their transition to our country has also not been easy.

The expense to travel to America (or Europe, or South America) costs as much as they may have made in several years and so they must receive loans to cover the cost (often from our government or other programs). The loans are deferred for six months, but most cannot get jobs as they speak very little English. Further, within eight months, all government subsidies cease, leaving them to their own devices. Bills and debts begin to pile up.

Catholic Charities and its farming project allow these people to grow enough food to eat, teach them to can and save their own food for the winter months, and allow them to continue to farm in their traditional methods. These methods, however, and the amount of land that has been allotted, will not be enough to gainfully employ these people. This is a short term, stop-gap measure.

This is a call for we who are Christians to think of creative ways to help these people as they try to become citizens in a new country and speakers of a new language. We have a unique opportunity to demonstrate Christ's love and compassion, while remembering the humble roots we, ourselves, came from.

There is another, even deeper need that these people have; one they do not even realize. Many of these people do not know the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They do not know who he is or the reason he lived, taught, died, and rose again. Do they understand that the reason we help them is because our God first loved us (1 John 4:19) by showing us grace we do not deserve? Others, such as our government and possibly even other charity organizations, may help out of a nebulous concern or a humanistic sense of duty, but we must see that the only deeper reason for this aid must be based in the Gospel of Jesus. We love our neighbor because God loved us, creating us for and redeeming us toward right relationships with him and with our neighbors.

It likely goes without saying that the harvest is great, but the workers are few. We need help! If you would like to join us in our ministry to these refugees and the spiritually hardened area of South Louisville (through prayer, physical labor, evangelistic efforts, teaching and fellowship, or financially), please contact our church by phone at 502-367-1987 or by mail: 7315 Southside Drive, Louisville, KY 40214. We would love partnerships with other local churches and individuals for these efforts.

In the above pictures: (1) Our Clayton Garrow (r.) shaking hands with Steve from Catholic Charities. (2) Our refugee friends enjoying David Wells' famous chicken dinner. (3) Our church eating with the refugees and learning their background stories. (4) Cont'd. (5) Steve from Catholic Charities teaching the refugees (and New Heights members) how to can veggies, salsa, and tomato sauce.

(Pictures by Steven Douglas.)

Nursing Home Ministry

This is another ministry spotlight article. Clayton Garrow, a student at Boyce College, has started this vibrant ministry to the elderly and disabled at Signature Health Care, South Louisville. He, and a few other young New Heights men have been regularly preaching there, sharing the essential Gospel of Jesus Christ. Clayton has written his own view of this ministry.

For the past two months, New Heights Baptist Church has been able to go to Signature Health Care of South Louisville to conduct church services on the first and third Sunday of each month. The services begin at 2:30 p.m. and consist of singing hymns, praying, and preaching.

It has been a continued joy to be at the Care Center, as there are brethren there that we are able to serve, and residents who are outside of Christ, without hope and without God in this world. Through personal room visits during the week I have been able to share gospel truth with many of the residents. The Lord has provided opportunity to speak of the necessity of Scripture, and that all of our thoughts about the very character of God must be rooted and grounded in the Scriptures that God has given. The Lord has provided opportunity to share from the Scriptures the natural state of all of creation apart from the saving grace of God. What a joy it is to have opportunity to share God's grace!

There has not only been great joy and humility in sharing the very words of God with those outside of Christ, but there has been great joy in serving the brethren who are residents of the Care Center. One example is a man named Mr. Davis. We have had great fellowship with his wife and him as Mr. Davis was at the Care Center seeking to regain physical strength. One evening I stopped by his room and for nearly forty-five minutes we read through the Scriptures together, talked of salvation being all of grace, spoke of John Newton's hymn “Amazing Grace”, and prayed together. There are many such examples that could be given like this from those of us who have been serving at the Care Center.

Our motivation for continued service is that Jesus Christ has died in our place. We desire that He receive glory and honor as we seek to walk in obedience to His commands, sharing the gospel with men and women that they might hear the word of Christ and be saved.

Amen, Clayton. Thank you for your devoted service to these oft-forgotten people and to our church. Let us all remember to pray for God's continued blessing over and provision for his Word.

Looking for A Few Good Men (and Women)

New Heights Baptist Church is a small church in the Auburndale community of South Louisville. The community demographics call for reaching out to many different cultures and worldviews. Our church offers unique opportunities to serve the body of Christ by running projects, teaching, discipling, cleaning, serving tables, and evangelizing our community. We are also currently building bridges with several other South End Baptist churches.

We have a need for more believing men, women, couples, and families committed to building and caring for the body of Christ. Please join us in serving our community which is in deperate need of the Gospel. Join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 10:30 or for Wednesday night fellowship and teaching at 5:30.

Food Pantry and Clothes Closet

This is a spotlight article. Every now and then we will take a look at a ministry within New Heights Church. Our food pantry and clothes closet ministries are both being run by David Wells. This ministry has already demonstrated a big impact on the local community.

David and his family have been taking in donations of non-perishable food items and clean, new and gently used clothing. The pantry and clothes closet are currently open every other Friday. These ministries present the opportunity to bring lost people into the church (a scary place for some) and meet their needs. David and our pastor, Cody, share the Gospel with these people, most of whom are in need both physically and spiritually.

This is a great opportunity for our church members and believers from other local congregations to join in and serve South Louisville. It is essential that these people understand why we are feeding and clothing them. It is not because we are merely nice, not just because they are in need, and not because they deserve it. We do this because we believe Scripture, both Old and New Testaments command it. We give food and clothing to those who need it because Jesus has shown us grace. We, in turn, show grace to humanity in the name of Jesus. Thus his Gospel is the reason for all of our ministries.

We invite other Baptist believers to become involved in this significant ministry. We also invite those in need, here in South Louisville, to come to New Heights Baptist Church and be fed in the name of Jesus.

Polls

You will notice a couple of new polls at the top of the left navigation bar. These polls will help us understand who we are ministering to. We ask that you answer these poll questions as honestly and thoughtfully as possible. We hope that this will lead us to better serve through writing and tailoring articles to you, our audience.

Daniel Reissig and Courtney Tarter's Wedding

Our youth pastor, Daniel Reissig, wed his love, Courtney Tarter, this past Monday at Clifton Baptist Church, Louisville. It was a beautiful ceremony officiated by our pastor, Cody McNutt. Cody spoke to the couple and their guests about the importance of focusing their marriage on the glorification of Christ and marriage's symbolism of Christ and the Church. This symbolism is an essential concept for proper service to one's spouse.

Congratulations Daniel and Courtney! New Heights is praying for long lives of service to each other and together for the Church of Christ. We look forward to supporting you in fulfilling your vows.

Ask Pastor Cody

Pastor Cody is taking questions you have about the Bible, theology, church history, how our church is run, etc., which he will be addressing during the next two Wednesday night services. All are welcome to use the comments link at the bottom of this post to ask questions as well.

Reminder: Dr. Don Whitney Is Coming Friday!

Don Whitney, a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary will be the speaker at a conference on Spiritual Disciplines this Friday, April 17, and Saturday, April 18 at New Heights Baptist Church. The topic on Friday will be "praying through Scripture" and the topic on Saturday will be "meditating on Scripture."

"Spiritual disciplines" can be a scary phrase, but it only refers to the upkeep of regular spiritual pursuits like prayer, Bible study, etc. Praying through Scripture basically means reading through Scripture passages and then praying according to them. Meditating on Scripture is not about emptying one's mind and chanting, but about reading, memorizing, and continually thinking about Scripture passages, figuring out how to order your life around Scripture. Dr. Whitney will define these exercises more completely and give helpful and practical ways to pursue them regularly.

Please join us Friday night at 7:00pm and Saturday morning at 8:30 am for this intriguing and helpful conference. All are invited!