This week's newsletter from Karen

Next week we’ll unveil the details around our upcoming AWESOME Club—the attendance campaign during the month of April. This will be a month long effort for the kids and they will need diligence to keep strong during the entire month. Below are activities you can use to help create a conversation around diligence.

What is Diligence?
What does diligence mean? Diligence means to be hard-working, staying with a job till it's finished, not quitting. The opposite is to be lazy, negligent, or not caring.

Pick a big task and work together (rake the leaves, organize a closet, clean out the garage, etc.) When the task is finished, go out for a special treat and ask:

How does it feel to finish a big job like that?

There is joy in staying with a job until it is done and seeing the end result!

Keep On Keeping On!
For young children, use familiar stories (The Tortoise and the Hare) or songs to teach diligence.
For example: The Itsy Bitsy Spider song

The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Went up the waterspout,
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out.

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain,
And the Itsy Bitsy Spider went up the spout
AGAIN!

The spider didn't give up when the web was washed away. It went up the spout and built another web. Being diligent means you keep at it. Don't give up or quit even if gets hard.

Chores = Fun?
One good way to teach kids about diligence is a chore chart. Decide on a few chores that are age appropriate and make a weekly chart. When the child completes the chore, a star or sticker can be added. Acknowledge their diligence with praise or a special reward (playing a game, staying up later at bedtime, etc.).


Activities taken from Splink, November 2009.

This week's newsletter from Michael

Happy Spring Break to all of you! It is one of my favorite weeks of the year in Austin. Can you guess why? One word: TRAFFIC; well maybe two: NO TRAFFIC! It sure is nice being able to get to work in less than 15 minutes.

I just want to say it is a real joy to be able to work for the King of Kings each day. It isn't always easy, but I sure love it. Thank you, Hillcrest, once again for allowing me the opportunity to serve you. If there is anything I can do for you, please do not hesitate to call the church (512-345-3771) and ask for me, or just send me an email. I have all the time in the world (ha)!

I hope you have begun to invite people to our Easter Weekend Celebration! Our music team has put together some great music we know you will enjoy, and I know it will bring honor and joy to the Lord.

I also would like for you to begin praying for this service. Pray for those who are involved on the platform and those behind the scenes. Satan will do his best to disrupt anything he can get his hands on that weekend, so let’s pray him out and the Holy Spirit in!

I will leave you with this verse for the week: Colossians 3:16 (KJV) - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

To those who are traveling, have a safe spring break.

This week's newsletter from Gene

38+ years of my writing an article every Monday morning is coming to a close. We are changing the format of the Beacon starting next week, so this format will no longer be available. The new communication system will be electronic using email. In addition, a full color publication will be mailed out six times a year and will include a two month calendar so you can easily see upcoming events. The team working on this has done an excellent job and you will be impressed with the new look. What about those without email? We are working on how to make sure they are included in our weekly correspondence. These folks are very important to us and we are not going to leave them out simply because of technology.

We have a good group already committed to go to the Spring Fest in Branson April 19-23rd. This conference will feature some of the top gospel singers and preachers in the country. Cost is $300.00. It covers the conference fee and all lodging while on the road and in Branson. I have to finalize reservations next week, so if you wish to go, get at least a $150.00 deposit in this coming Sunday. Simply place it in an offering envelope with your name and mark it Branson.

This week's newsletter from Karen

You’ll hear more about the AWESOME Club in the weeks to come, but as an introduction, the children in Kinder-6th grades will be participating in a special attendance campaign during the month of April. To gear up for that time, take some time this week to talk to your kids about evangelism—telling others about Jesus. Below are activities you can use to help create a conversation…

A Treat You Should Share
Item needed: candy bars or treat that your family would enjoy
(Keep all but one of the candy bars hidden.)

Open one of the candy bars and eat it in front of your kids. Make a big deal out of how good it is. When they ask you to share, GLADLY share with them. In fact, bring out the hidden candy bars and pass them around.

How did you feel when I shared my treat with you? How would you have felt if I kept it all to myself? How would this be like keeping or sharing the good news about Jesus?

Knowing Jesus is far better than anything in the world. We must share this good news with others.

Good News!
Whisper some good news into your child’s ear (You can stay up an extra 30 minutes tonight; I’ll do your chore so you can go play; I’ll play a game with you now; you can choose the TV show, etc.) and see the smile it brings.

Did you like the good news I whispered in your ear? Why? Why is the truth about Jesus good news? (He loves us and died so we can go to heaven someday.) Who do you know that needs to hear this good news?

Say a prayer for family, friends, or even enemies who need to hear this good news. Ask God for a chance to show them Jesus’ love and a chance to tell them why His love is such good news.

This week's newsletter from Michael

Church family, I just want to say you are doing great learning the new songs we are preparing for Easter Sunday! I am sure the Lord was pleased with our worship. I hope you are inviting your friends and family for this special day. Looking forward to a packed house.

To all members of our music ministry, here is the schedule for the next couple of weeks. Please mark your calendars, phones, and tablets with these dates and times so you don’t miss out on important rehearsals.

Wednesday, March 9th: 6:00-7:45pm (Orchestra/Band)

Sunday, March 13th: 4:00-5:15pm (Choirs/Orchestra/Band)

Wednesday, March 16th: 6:00-7:45pm(Orchestra/Band)

Sunday, March 20th: 4:00-5:15pm (Choirs/Orchestra/Band)

Wednesday, March 23rd: 6:00-7:30pm (Choirs/Orchestra/Band)

Easter Sunday, March 27: 9:00am (Choirs/Orchestra/Band/Media)

It is important YOU show up to all rehearsals. For those that have missed Sunday rehearsals you should do your best to make these rehearsal times, especially those on Wednesdays.

For those of you who are in handbells, you will miss the next 3 Wednesdays of rehearsal. I still encourage those of you who are not in the orchestra to continue to make your rehearsal and work on techniques.

Thank you to all of our media volunteers who showed up this past Sunday at 7:30am for breakfast and our meeting. We continue to strive to improve what we do in our media ministry. Thank you to Marilyn, Phillip, and Rachel for cooking!

Hope you all have a great week!

This week's newsletter from Gene

It’s exciting to find out how many people we have that are new to our church and are unfamiliar with “how things work” that those of us who have been around for so long take for granted. Let me give you some basics.

Last week I wrote about budget offerings going to missions. At the end of year, we adopt a budget for our church. These are all the anticipated funds needed for all of our normal operation, staffing, maintenance, ministries, etc. When we are reaching our budget, all of these areas can be fully funded, so we encourage people to give their offerings to our budget. In addition to our own “in-house” expenses to fulfill the ministries of Hillcrest, just over 10% of these funds go to missions. We fund those a couple of different ways which I won’t go into here, but a portion of your funds go to state, national and international missions. These funds go to support church starts, some of our Baptist schools, children’s homes, and missionaries here in the U.S. A significant portion of that 10% goes to support the SBC’s 4,500 or so foreign missionaries scattered all around the world. So when you give your offerings, they have impact from inside our own doors to all around the world.

About 3 times a year, we have special offerings. Right now it is the Annie Armstrong offering. This offering is for mission work in North America. I don’t know any organization that has enough money to do everything they want to do, and our mission organizations are no different. Although the NAMB receives funds from our normal giving, this special offering allows an emphasis to give additional funds directly to this cause.

Question: If God were to answer all your prayers regarding HBC and its ministries, would it be any more effective than it is now?

This week's newsletter from Karen

On Sunday in our Bible studies we talked about the purpose each one of our lives has in God’s plan. Try these activities this week to follow-up on the discussion with your child to help him/her to continue to think about what their purpose might be.

What’s This For?
While you’re in the kitchen cooking dinner, pull some utensils (potato masher, pizza cutter, grater, etc.) out of the drawer. Hold up each one and ask, “What is this used for?”

Each of these utensils has a special purpose—it was made to do something special  (mash potatoes, cut pizza, grate cheese, etc.).

Follow-up with something like this, “God made each of us for a special purpose—to do something special. Before we were even born, He knew all about us and what we could do to serve Him.”

Finding Purpose
The Bible is the best place to find God’s purpose or plan for us. We must KNOW God’s purpose before we can DO it.

Write the following Bible references on slips of paper and let each child read one to find out some of God’s purposes.

Psalm 100:2 (serve the Lord with gladness)
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (give thanks)
Galatians 6:10 (do good)
1 John 4:11 (love others)
Proverbs 3:5 (trust in the Lord)

Activities taken from Splink, April 2010.

This week's newsletter from Michael

One of my favorite scriptures comes from Psalm 91:1: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.“

I hope that most of you are still in the word each day now that March is upon us. I know that in today’s world distractions are an everyday occurrence, no matter how hard we try to keep from being distracted as we read God’s word and spend time with Him each day. Even church work can get in the way of spending our alone time with God. We have to discipline ourselves to give God that time he deserves with us each day. He desires that, and I so desire hearing from Him too. I encourage you to have some praise and worship time with God. It will help change the focus of your mind. I know on my way to work each morning I love having my own praise and worship time. I get to sing as loud as I want, get to cry, get to talk to the Lord all by myself. I am sure many Austin drivers are wondering what that crazy guy is doing. Worshiping God on a regular basis will shift our mental and spiritual focus because when we worship, God “IS” the focus.

I also want to say thanks to those who have signed up to be a part of our Media Team! We can now begin rotating so that each of our team members can have a week of participating in the worship services. Don’t forget, all audio and media team members will have our first breakfast meeting this Sunday, March 6, at 7:30am in the fellowship center.

I look forward to worshiping with you Sunday! Have a great week!

This week's newsletter from Gene

When you give undesignated offerings to Hillcrest, just over 10% of those funds go to missions. These funds are administered by the Missions Team and they give a report each business meeting regarding these funds. There are a variety of missions that we support. The largest recipients are the Southern Baptist Convention, which supports our missionaries all around the world; the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and the Southern Baptist Convention of Texas.

In addition to these organizations, we fund some smaller ministries directly and want to keep you informed about these ministries. Here is a ministry that we are supporting directly. Luke and Mary Connally are working with the North American Mission Board, (which is part of the SBC) in Alaska. Because of reduced funding to the NAMB in recent years, they are having to raise part of their support, so we are helping with that. Mary is the daughter of David and Lori Kemerling. David is a former staff member.

This is a note from Luke Connally:
So you can know how to pray for us moving forward: We have been given open doors to a few different things but all of them deal with primarily outreach to military families and young active duty singles. Some of that will be working with Samaritan’s Purse this summer as we participate with Operation Heal Our Patriots. Most of it will be partnering with a Cadence International Hospitality House here in Anchorage. We are engaged in discipling and mentoring with them right now and helping to form disciple makers. We see this as a strategic opportunity because they will only be stationed here for about 3 - 4 years and then move on to other duty stations all over the world. Please pray for all of these things. We are so thankful for how God has continued to provide for all our needs and He has made everything very clear as we have transitioned into this ministry.