I was so proud of how our students led us at church last Sunday.  ABC Student Weekend was a huge success, as we saw so many teenagers step up to lead us across all our ministry areas.  We had teenagers greeting, ushering, and serving an amazing lunch.  Students shared testimonies in adult BFG classes, and dozens of students helped lead us in worship at both of our services.  I especially want to thank Ashley Benedict and Ava Reddoch for boldly sharing their testimonies on stage.  I also want to thank Nathan Wood, Josh Wright, and our entire student ministry adult leadership team for serving behind the scenes to help make it all happen.  Lastly, I want to thank you church family.  Thank you for encouraging and loving our students, and thank you for generously supporting our church’s ministries for them.  Your continued faithfulness to our general fund helps resource these ministries, and your gifts at last Sunday’s luncheon will help make Beach Week accessible to any teenager that wants to experience a life changing week in Alabama.

The excitement will continue this Sunday as we celebrate Mother’s Day at ABC.  The book of Proverbs tells us, “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.’ Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” (Proverbs 31:28-30 ESV).  I thank God that ABC is filled with Proverbs 31 mothers who truly fear the Lord, and this weekend is an opportunity for our church family to rise up and give them praise.  We’re going to do this through a special time of recognition and prayer, a Mother’s Day photo spot to commemorate the morning, and through a special sweet treat that will be handed out to mothers following our services.  Additionally, both worship services will feature a photo slide show of our ABC moms, a video tribute from some of our ABC kids, and a special live testimony from a mother on stage.  You will not want to miss this weekend, so bring all the mothers in your life, and invite other moms around you to join us for a memorable day of worship.

This Sunday we are also going to rise up to serve mothers in need in the Austin area.  Austin Baptist Church has been a long-time supporter of the Trotter House.  This Christian ministry offers services and resources for mothers who are walking through a pregnancy crisis.  The Trotter House has saved countless lives of babies as they have guided mothers who are in desperate need through their pregnancies and through the raising up of their children.  But most importantly, Trotter House has also seen God save many souls of mothers in their ministry through the process.  As a proud supporter of their ministry, ABC is rolling out our annual “baby bottle campaign” this Sunday.  You will have an opportunity to give above and beyond your tithes to help this vital ministry continue in their mission in Austin, Texas.

Their mission is especially important considering this week’s news.  As you have likely heard, a leaked draft opinion made its way into the news headlines.  The opinion suggests that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.  While I was troubled to see a confidential document wrongfully publicized for political purposes, I was also thrilled to see the content of that document.  For nearly 50 years, countless believers have labored, prayed, and worked towards this defining and critical moment in our nation’s history.  I thank God that this evil decision may finally be overturned, and I encourage you to join me in prayer for our Supreme Court.  Pray for courage for our justices, pray for our lawmakers, and most of all pray that justice will roll down like waters.  Overturning Roe v. Wade will undoubtedly save millions of lives, and the church must continue its work in protecting the unborn because the unborn matters to God. 

David reminds us, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13 ESV).  We must continue to advocate for the sanctity of life, as the Scriptures are clear that every human, born or unborn, has intrinsic value in God’s eyes.  I encourage you to give towards the Trotter House and their mission in the coming weeks.  But I also encourage you to prayerfully consider how you can serve mothers and children in need.  By the grace of God, abortion numbers will indeed go down if this decision is official.  However, that also means needs will go up for desperate mothers and young children.  May the church rise up in these critical days to serve and to shine the light of Jesus Christ into dark places.   Come prayed up and expectant as we worship Christ together this weekend.  I look forward to seeing you at 9am or 11:11am.

Onward and upward,

Jonathan Spencer

I hope you enjoyed last Sunday as much as I did!  The Masters at ABC was a big hit, and I do want to thank everyone who helped make it happen.  Derek Tackett and our facilities team did an outstanding job building and setting up our golf attractions, Nathan Wood gave great vision for the event, and Jennifer Wilcoxson and her food service team helped put together our memorable donut wall.  It was fun watching people of all ages laugh and fellowship together all morning long in God’s house.  I’m also so proud of the 100+ volunteers who gave up their Saturday to serve as the hands and feet of Christ last weekend.  Our missions committee did an outstanding job organizing our ABC Serves event, and I loved seeing our yellow shirts scattered throughout Austin to serve our community.  Thank you to everyone who participated and to all who helped organize this impactful day of ministry.

This weekend marks the kickoff to Holy Week at ABC.  This Sunday we will have special Palm Sunday worship services featuring beautiful music, a performance from our children’s choir, and a message centered around Jesus’ triumphant entry to Jerusalem.  It’s important for us to prepare our hearts for this coming week as we celebrate the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  I’d recommend we follow the example of David in the coming days, as he tells us, “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast!  I will sing and make melody!” (Psalm 57:7).  David said his heart was steadfast, or fixed, on the Lord.  His heart’s focus was not wavering or moving in various directions.  He chose to give God his full attention and his full devotion, regardless of what was happening around him.

This is worth noting because David is hiding from Saul in a cave. As you may remember in this passage, Samuel privately anointed David as a King, yet he was still far removed from the comfort and luxury of a throne.  The present king, Saul, was hunting David as he recognized the threat to his own kingship.  This led David to run and spend many nights hiding in the darkness of caves.  Nonetheless, he chose to keep his heart fixed on the Lord amidst his trials.  He would not allow the present darkness and distractions to rob him of worshiping the Lord.  While none of us are physically hiding in a cave, I think it’s fair to say that we are all facing our own battles and threats this week.  Some are facing threats of sickness and disease, while others are grieving the loss of loved ones.  Some of us are in the battlefield of fractured relationships, while others are experiencing financial loss.  All of us have concern over the affairs of our country, and of course our hearts are burdened over what is transpiring in Ukraine.  Nonetheless, it’s important that our hearts stay focused and remain steadfast on the Lord this coming Holy Week.

Holy Week provides an opportunity for you to worship and remember Jesus Christ for who He is and what He’s done.  Don’t step into this next week lightly, but instead, be intentional in fixing your heart on Christ.  First, take time to prepare your heart.  Spend extra time in His Word next week.  I encourage you to read through the passion week accounts in all the Gospels.  Also, turn to 1 Corinthians 15, and spend time reading and meditating on perhaps the greatest resurrection chapter in the Bible.  Let your mind by renewed by the truth of the passion account and prepare yourself for Easter.  Secondly, pray from your heart.  Commit to pray more often this coming week.  Set reminders on your phone if you need to.  Pray prayers of confession and thank Jesus for His constant grace.  Pray prayers of petition for the things that are heavy on your heart.   But most of all, pray prayers of thanksgiving for Christ giving you a new heart to pray from.

Third and finally, I encourage you to invite people on your heart.  Each of us are ambassadors for Christ, and I have no doubt that God wants to use you to reach those who are around you.  Invite people to join you at Palm Sunday, Good Friday, or Easter.  God puts people on our hearts for a reason, and you never know what God may do through one simple invitation.  Easter is the perfect opportunity to engage those who are not regulars in the church.  Let others know that you love them, and that you’d like to bring them with you as your guest for this special celebration.

God is going to do a great work this coming Holy Week.  Set your heart on Him and may we all come into His house ready to “sing and make melody” just like David.  Have a great week and I’ll see you in worship this Sunday.

Onward and upward,

Jonathan Spencer

We had another wonderful Sunday at ABC.  It was encouraging to watch several of our young families step up on stage so they could step out in their faith through our parent child dedication.  There is no greater commitment that a parent can make other than to raise their child in a Christ-centered home.  I’m so proud of these families for inviting Jesus to come and light up their home, and I’m proud of you, church family, for your steadfast commitment to invest in them.  It is pivotal that we continue to do anything and everything we can to shine God’s light into the next generation of Austin, Texas.  Thank you for your consistent prayers, your volunteer efforts with our kids, your encouragement to our parents, and your continued faithfulness in giving so we can continue to provide ministries that make an eternal impact on the home.

This weekend will feature an exciting golf-themed Sunday called “The Masters at ABC.”  As you might have gathered, we’re playing off the upcoming Masters tournament in Augusta by having our very own golf fun right here at ABC.  This Sunday will feature a nine-hole putt putt course in the Great Hall, a driving range and closest to the pin challenge on the field, and an amazing donut wall in “the clubhouse” at the café.  We encourage you to wear your golf clothes as we are having a best-dressed competition, and I hope you’re planning to invite your golf buddies and neighbors who you know love the game.

This Sunday will certainly be a fun and memorable morning in the life of our church, and I think it’s important for us to have fun together.  After all, if anyone in the world should be smiling and filled with hope, it should be the body of Christ.  As Peter reminds us, we have been “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).  Jesus Christ has united us with a hope that is unwavering, and He has filled us with the joy of His eternal presence in our lives (Psalm 16:11).  That joy should be evident to those who are around us, and that joy should lead us to enter His house each week with high expectations.  I’ve always loved David’s sentiments when he said,  “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” (Psalm 122:1).  To put it in modern day terms, David was ecstatic when someone invited him to church!  Why would be he be so thrilled?  I believe it’s because he knew there was joy in the house of the Lord.

I do believe there is joy in this house every Sunday.  I hope you sense the same thing, and I hope that joy leads you to come to church every weekend with high expectations.  Yes, this particular weekend will offer some special attractions that we will enjoy together.  But every weekend provides the same opportunity for us to be renewed through the joy of worship and through the joy of spending time with His people.   I believe many who are outside of our church walls are looking for that kind of joy, so I encourage you to think outwardly this week.  There will be a lot of joy in this house this Sunday so don’t miss the opportunity to share it with others. 

I hope you enjoy this beautiful weather outside, and I look forward to worshipping (and golfing) with you this Sunday. 

Onward and upward,

Jonathan Spencer

If you were blessed to have a spring break, I hope you enjoyed it and are now settling back into your regular routine.  Bethany and I loved spending some time away with family and friends, and I was grateful for the outstanding message that our Student Minister, Nathan Wood, delivered in my absence.  As you all know, I was out last weekend along with our Executive Pastor, Matt Gillum, who was celebrating the newest addition to his family, baby Tag.  And while we were both out, I was so encouraged to see that the ship kept on sailing just fine.  I believe it should be the goal for every leader to have things go off without a hitch when he or she is not there, however, that’s only possible if you have an outstanding team standing beside you.  I’m grateful for our A+ staff and lay leaders who lead so well week in and week out.  Thank you for your diligence and your pursuit of excellence in all things.  You truly do make a difference.

This Sunday is the beginning of our spring sprint here at ABC.  This weekend is our parent child dedication, and we’re so proud of the six young families that are publicly committing to raise their children in Christ-centered homes.  The following weekend will feature ABC Serves, our church-wide local service day.  Over 100 volunteers will be deployed to serve as the hands and feet of Christ all across Austin.  The next day is the “Masters at ABC,” which will be a fun golf-themed morning that will offer special attractions for our church family and their guests to enjoy.  We’ll have a nine-hole putt-putt course, a closest to the pin challenge, and a “birdie ball” driving range with prizes.  In between worship and BFG, you’ll even be able to drop by “the clubhouse” to get a donut off our donut wall.  The following weekend is Palm Sunday, which will present our children’s choir in both services.  Later that week, we’ll have our first ever Good Friday service with beautiful music from our orchestra and choir, and the climactic moment of the weekend will be our celebration Easter worship services, which will also include a family egg hunt after the second service.

As you can see there are many things on the horizon, and that’s not even including the month of May which will showcase our ABC Student Ministry Weekend, our Mother’s Day celebration, and our Savior’s Oratorio concert featuring our own choir/orchestra and special musical guests, Veritas.  Our church is not short on ministries and it’s safe to say that ABC is well and alive.  But the question might be asked, “why do we do all these things?”  After all, each of these endeavors demands staff, volunteers, and costly resources.  There are certainly easier paths to travel in church ministry, but I believe the apostle Paul explains why we should work hard within the church.  He writes, ^“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me (Colossians 1:28-29). 

Paul says everything he did in ministry was “toil.”  In other words, he’s saying ministry was hard work!  Paul labored to reach the lost and disciple the saved, but he shared that the Lord provided the necessary energy for him to do so. And today in 2022, I would argue things haven’t changed much in modern church ministry. Ministry is still hard, and the good news is God still provides the grace we need to do it. If ministry feels easy all the time, I would contend that you might not actually be ministering. Because it is not easy to reach the lost, nor is it easy to disciple the saved.  Ministry by its very nature demands personal sacrifice, but the good news is our sacrifice isn’t in vain.  When ministry is done effectively, we see progress in our goal of presenting “everyone mature in Christ.”  We work hard so that others may grow up in the likeness of Jesus Christ.  We fill up a calendar to provide opportunities for people to worship Jesus, to learn how to serve Him, to build Christian community, to be discipled through His Word, and for the lost to be saved through the proclamation the Gospel.  So we don’t work hard just to stay busy, we work hard for the purpose of seeing God change lives. That’s why it’s so important that we do not “grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

Many people give up in ministry because it is hard. The harvest often doesn’t come quickly enough and frustration sets in. This usually leads to us working outside of His strength, and burnout then awaits for us right around the corner. But this spring, I encourage you to abide in Christ and not grow weary of doing good, but instead commit to do two simple things.  First, be a part of this amazing work.  We all give our time and money to something, but I would argue that nothing provides a greater return on our investment than serving the Lord.  Each of our ministries need more volunteers right now that will sacrificially serve as co-laborers.  It’s one thing to attend a ministry, but you receive an entirely different level of joy when you partner with others in that ministry.  Each of us has an opportunity to serve as partners in ministry through sharing our time and talent, but also through sharing our treasure.  Every ministry in the church is only possible through the faithful tithes and offerings of God’s people.  So thank you for being a generous church, and I encourage to continue to partner with us through both your spiritual and financial gifts. Your faithfulness shines the light of Jesus Christ all across the city of Austin.

But secondly, I would encourage you to not only be a part of the ministry, but also invite someone else to come experience it with you.  Perhaps for the first time in two years, almost everyone is re-engaging with culture like they did before the pandemic.  With such amazing things happening in our church, it would be a shame for you to enjoy them all alone.  All of our ministries have open doors to those who are not here yet, as we truly do want to present “everyone as mature in Christ.” God has given you a sphere of influence, and I encourage you to prayerfully consider who you can bring alongside you starting this Sunday.  I’ve witnessed the power of a personal invitation more times than I can count.  Your personal intentionality with friends and neighbors can truly change their lives. It’s easier to just be the beneficiary of ministries, but it’s much more rewarding to watch God bless others through those same ministries.

God is doing a great work at ABC, and I hope that you plan to be a part of it this spring.  Don’t grow weary in doing good, and I look forward to worshipping with you Sunday.

Onward and upward,

Jonathan Spencer

Growing up I loved playing basketball.  Whether it was playing in the driveway, starting a pick-up game at the recreation center, or competing on an organized team, I always loved being in the game.  I loved basketball because it was a competitive and physical sport, but I also loved it because of its fast pace.  The game of basketball always has action going on, and I loved being in the middle of it.  So naturally, I hated being taken out of the game.  In every game, the coach would eventually sub me out and make me take a breather, but I never really wanted to step back.  However, the truth is while I didn’t want to take the break, I’m fairly confident now that I needed it each time.

For many of us, life is a fast-paced game.  There is always something going on.  Many of us have demanding jobs and countless obligations at home.  Our calendars fill up quickly with kids’ activities, various hobbies, and social commitments.  Things unexpectedly rob us of the little extra time that we do have, such as home projects, pressing chores, and unwanted repairs.  All of these things make our days fly by and most of us spend our lives constantly running out of breath.  That is why God wants to pull us out of the game from time to time to give us the rest that we need.

David explains, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:1-3).  David beautifully depicts our God as a loving shepherd who cares for His sheep.  David of course knew plenty about shepherding as he spent countless hours watching over his own flock in green pastures.  David contends that just as any good shepherd tends to the needs of his sheep, our great chief shepherd, Jesus Christ, personally cares for every one of His sheep (cf. John 10, 1 Peter 5:4).  Part of that care is guiding us to places of rest.

Shepherds would lead their flocks to green pastures and still waters to find nourishment and peace, and our shepherd likewise desires to lead us to places of rest for our souls.  For some of us, those green pastures are places of solitude.  Many of us recharge by getting away from people and quietly sitting in the presence of God with His Word.  Others are revived through the fellowship of other believers, as we leave those times together with our cups overflowing.  Some of us find rest in our prayer walks, our journaling, or our time spent in nature.  Others are revived through private worship and joyful singing to our Lord.  Our shepherd leads each of us down various pathways, but all of them lead us to that same place of rest.

My question for you this week is, “are you finding rest?”  Sleep is a necessary part of that rest, but it is not sufficient.  I know this because there are countless people who sleep 7-8 hours a night yet still feel restless.  The rest I’m speaking of is soul-care.  Sometimes we don’t take good care of our souls because we don’t want to be pulled out of the game.  But our shepherd says we all need a break sometimes.  Even Jesus himself would often break apart from the busyness of His own life and ministry to seek out rest from His Father.  And I can assure you if Jesus needed rest, you and I would be fools to think we are exempt.

Some of you are fortunate enough to have a spring break this week.  If you are on break, I encourage you to maximize it.  Don’t just take a break from your normal life to get busy all over again with something else.  Instead, be intentional in finding those green pastures and still waters.  If you don’t have a vacation this week, the good news is rest is still on the table for you.  You may not have as much free time at your disposal, but you can still carve out time to be renewed by Him daily.  Identify that pathway that the Holy Spirit is leading you to walk on, and then take some time this week to find those still waters. 

Does your soul need a break?  If so, I encourage you to pull yourself out of the game for a breather this week.  I look forward to experiencing rest with you this Sunday as we sabbath together at ABC.  Have a wonderful week, and we will see you in worship this weekend.

Onward and upward,

Jonathan Spencer