Elders John Barton

Terry Brown

Neal Coates

Malcolm Coco

David Copeland

Ray Ferguson

Duwain Houston

Robert Marion

Charles Perkins

Don Pope

C. D. Pruett

Jack Stewart

Phil Vardiman

Cleddy Varner

Gary Varner

Odies Wright

Chairman of the Elders

Ray Ferguson Ray.Ferguson@condley.com

Ministers Alan Clute, Involvement/Seniors aclute@hillcrestonline.com 691-4217

Cynthia Coates, Children cynthia@hillcrestonline.com

Taylor Cockrell, Youth taylor@hillcrestonline.com

Brian Davis, Missionary briandavis@hillcrestonline.com

Jack Hardcastle, Family familyman@hillcrestonline.com

Justin Hatfield, University justinhat@gmail.com

The Bumbling Disciples

In spite of all our fumbling, bumbling, weaknesses, and troubles, the Lord gets his Word out to those hungering for spiritual nourishment. Consider these obstacles of The Bum-bling Disciples:

1. We lost the stamp for the Bibles indicating not for sale and women/men. 2. Ba Leonard told us that termites had gotten into some of the Bibles in the container. 3. I woefully underestimated how many cases to take with us to Nampango. How

many baby churches around there could there be? Surely twelve cases would be enough.

4. I had forgotten the appreciation letters for all the recipients to sign, so I would need to do that on the way.

5. Where were the keys to the Cruiser? 6. The vehicle was low on fuel. Would there be any diesel in Kalomo? 7. Because of scheduling problems, the men had conflicts, so only three women would

start out with a Land Cruiser full of Bibles. 8. Oh no, a loud clankling sound under the hood when we were only half way to Zim-

ba. Yes, a break down ten kilometers outside of Zimba. We three women didn't know even where the jack was if it had been a flat tire, but it was worse than a flat tire. We called for help and the white Cruiser.....but they had to locate the keys and almost no fuel was in the tank of the white Land Cruiser. About two hours later, here came help. With the vehicle exchange, we were on our merry way. We thought.

9. We didn't know where we were going. We were to pick up a stranger in Zimba to show us the way into the bush to Nampango.

10. When we arrived in Nampongo, over two hundred and fifty people awaited us and we had brought only two hundred thirty five Bibles.

11. As we started to put the labels in the Bibles, we noticed the labels wouldn't stick. So we would need to hand write all the information.

12. Sixteen congregations were represented and we wanted to give each church thirty-five Bibles. So fifteen churches got fifteen Bibles with a promise of twenty more per congregation the next week. One leader said his congregation would wait until next week for the Bibles.

God's word doesn't return to Him empty. All receivers of the Bibles said out loud that they would read their Bibles to their children and families. Men and women promised saying in Tonga, "We will read our Bibles to our families and tell them about Jesus."

I'm reminded of Isaiah where God says, "My word goes out of my mouth and will not return to me empty. It will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." But instead of the hills bursting into song and the trees clapping their hands, we were met at the small Nampango church by women bursting into song, clapping, dancing, and waving, greeting us because we were bringing them God's word.

Cindy Robinson

Welcome Guests We are glad you are here! Please fill out a Welcome Visitor card and place in the col-lection plate. Go by our Information Area on the right side of the Worship Center for materials that will better acquaint you with Hillcrest. For your convenience, the staffed nursery for children 2 months to 24 months is avail-able. Check-in is in the foyer. The parents’ nursery & training area is available to par-ents and children. Enter at the back of the Worship Center.

Bible Classes for All Ages Baby Bunch in Nursery

Young Adult Classes

Middle School .............................. Room 204 High School .................................. Room 200 University ....................................... Room 17

Adult Classes

Sonrise (all ages) (8:00) ................. Room 14 Y/O (all ages) ............................ Room 10/11 Welcome (all ages) ........................ Room 12 Families for Christ (all ages) .......... Room 14 Common Ground (30s & 40s) ....... Room 16 H.O.P.E. (all ages) ........................... Room 21 Travelers (all ages) ......................... Room 30 Christ in Action (all ages) ............... Room 52 Young Professionals (20s) ............. Room 16 F.U.N. (all ages) ............................ Room 219 Generations (all ages) ........................Chapel

Worship Times

Morning Worship ................................ 9 a.m. Bible Classes ............................... 10:30 a.m. Evening Worship ............................... 6 p.m. Wednesday Bible Classes ................. 7 p.m.

Glorifying God September 4, 2016

Worship Leader .................................................. Odies Wright Hymn: #432 ............ How Shall the Young Secure their Hearts Welcome .................................................................. Art Green

Songs of Praise

Hymn: #167 ............................................................... Hosanna Hymn: #435 ....................................... Come Into His Presence Hymn .............................................. Lord, I Give You My Heart Hymn ............................................................. My Life Is In You

Harvesting In the Desert

Proverbs 2:3-5 ..................................................... Carter Snead Matthew 9:35-38 ................................................ Carter Snead Prayer ................................................................. Don Drennan

The Lord’s Supper

Hymn ............................................ Wonderful, Merciful Savior Communion Meditation ........................................ Fred Bailey Hymn: #376 ................................................... He Paid A Debt*

Offering

Prayer ..................................................................... Fred Bailey Hymn: #15 ........................................................... Step by Step Hymn: #655 .......................................... Poured Out Like Wine

(Parents may escort children ages 2-4 to TLC during this song)

“Harvesting in the Desert”

Message .......................................................... Robert Oglesby Hymn #791 ................................................... ON Bended Knee

Responses

Hillcrest News ...................................................... John Casada Hymn ............................................................ Lord Reign In Me Family Blessing ................................................. Malcolm Coco

(Children’s Song of the Month*)

Connecting Lives to Christ

Age 2 ...... Room 100 Age 3 ...... Room 106 Age 4 ...... Room 107 Pre-K ....... Room 110 K .............. Room 118

Gr 1 ......... Room 121 Gr 2 ......... Room 117 Gr 3 ......... Room 120 Gr 4 ......... Room 213 Gr 5 ......... Room 209

Today’s Speakers

A.M. - Robert Oglesby P.M. - David Perkins in the Chapel P.M. - Prayer Hour group in the Living Room

Sympathy Sympathy to Ken & Andra Watson on the loss of An-

dra’s mother. Sympathy to Becky Jones and Manuel & Julie Longoria

on the loss of Becky’s father. Sympathy to Mary Pope on the loss of her brother-in-

law, Van Hall.

Congratulations to Don & Sheila Hilton on the birth of a new granddaughter, Charlotte Huston. Parents are Heath and JuliAnne Huston. Great grandmothers are Charlotte Booker and Alvah Jean Hilton.

Baptism - Congratulations to Keatan Allen on his recent baptism. Parents are Kristian & Kelli Allen.

Memory Verse Recognition - The following children did not get to be recognized last Sunday, so today we would like to congratulate these children who also completed last school year's memory verses and acts of service: Corbin Barbarick, Cason Holt, Chandler Sanders, and Wyatt Riddle.

Hilltoppers Luncheon - Tues., September 6, 11:30 a.m. Join us in Room 12. Sandra Shirey will share about Big Country CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Chil-dren). The menu will be grilled chicken salad, baked ham and cheese sandwiches, chips and dessert. Sign up in Bible Class. If you would be willing to help prepare food Monday night at 7 p.m. or Tuesday morning beginning at 9 a.m., put a star by your name. The cost is $3 per person. Hilltoppers are made up mostly of retirees, but anyone is welcome.

Baby Shower - September 11, 2-3:30 p.m. Honoring Michael & Michelle Reno and their expected ba-by girl at the home of Linda Varner, 13 Hilliard Circle. Se-lections: Target, Little Giant Kidz, Babies R Us, and https://babyli.st/michelle-reno.

Wedding Shower - September 11, 2 p.m. Honoring Garet Starkey & Mandy Wright at the home of Laura Copeland, 1451 Tanglewood. Selections: Ama-zon.com.

Moms to Moms - September 15, 6 p.m. Mom’s to Mom’s will have a swim night at Donna Wilson’s home, 1949 Benz. Moms with children birth to 5th grade are invited. Babysitting will be provided in the nursery at the Hillcrest Building. There will be a sign-up sheet in Bible class. Come enjoy the fun, food and fellowship - we look forward to seeing your there.

Woman to Woman - Saturday, September 24 Unwrap your gift with the Woman to Woman Ministry‘s Fall Event. Our day will begin with brunch at 8:30 a.m. and an introduction and scripture reading by Jackie Vardiman. Ac-tivities will conclude at 11 a.m. You may have talents you don’t know about-come find out. Check out the activities listed on the Woman to Woman table at the side of the au-ditorium.

Men’s Softball The season will start Monday, Sept. 19, and go through the first week of November. Games will be at 7, 8 or 9 p.m. (mostly 9 p.m.) on Monday nights. Practice is Monday, Sep-tember 5, from 8 to 10 p.m. on field 1. The cost will be $50 per player. Contact Alan Clute if you are interested.

Tonight – 5 p.m. - All LIFE Groups meet G1 – White (2541 John C Stevens) G2 – Hancock (1841 Marathon Ct) G3 – Goodman (702 Serrot Ct) G4 – Hatfield (5333 CR 103N)

Wednesday Class – 7 p.m. - Join us for LIFT worship. We are continuing “Come Share YOUR Story.” We hope you'll join us for this uplifting experience.

Thursday - 11 a.m. - Prayer chapel at Jacob’s Dream on ACU’s campus.

Thursday - 7:30 p.m. - Freshman Bible study in the Amphi-theater on ACU’s campus.

Mark your calendars! September 8, 4-5:30 p.m. - REACH - We hope you will

join us in this amazing outreach ministry to the children of Canterbury Crossing Apartments!

October 28-30 - Fall Break Retreat - Make plans now to attend our Fall retreat focused on Spiritual Disciplines! The cost is only $30!

Nursery: 2-24 Months (TEAM #1)

Training and Learning for Children (Children’s Church): (Ages 2-4) Parents may escort their child to the Children’s Wing during the song before the sermon.

Bible Hour – Something new! Infants up to age 3 will now meet in the playroom of the children’s wing. To find the playroom, walk down the main hall of the children’s wing and take a left after you pass the two water foun-tains. Children ages 4-5th grade will begin in the MPR.

Eastern European Missions: Today begins our annual fund raiser for Bibles for the children of Eastern Europe. A collec-tion container will be on the children's desk on Sundays for this purpose. The last Sunday of the collection will be Octo-ber 30.

Today - Parents are asked to attend class in the youth room. We will be discussing some new and important infor-mation regarding the direction of the Youth Ministry at Hill-crest.

Tonight - Huddles at 6 p.m. This is a great way for our stu-dents to get plugged in and connect with one another. Check the youth bulletin board in the main hallway for a list of huddle leaders and locations. Middle School Huddle will meet at the home of Kristian and Kelli Allen (3441 East Lake Rd.)

Wednesday – 7 p.m. Sons & Daughters: HYG is beginning a new Wednesday series that you won’t want to miss!

Thursday - Prayer Breakfast Chick-fil-A at 7 a.m. Rides will be provided to Craig, Abilene High, ACS, and ATEMS.

TNT - Check the HYG newsletter for the time of this event.

Sunday Morning Adult Classes – Have you ever wondered how God changes people? The first series of the fall focuses on the spiritual disciplines. Today, we will explore how pur-suing a life of simplicity can bring us closer to God.

Ladies Tuesday Morning Bible Class - Sept. 6, 9:30 a.m. for refreshments, 10 a.m. Class. Beginning this week we will be meeting in Rm 14/15. “Living the Blessed Life” continued. Teacher: Megan Forsburg.

Wednesday Night Classes

Rm 10/11 - Reports from Summer Mission Trips: Sophia Campaign (Allison Robinett); New Zealand (Terry Brown); Let’s Start Talking, Germany (Charles Nix).

Rm 30 - ESL Class Rm 16 - Congregational Singing: Join Odies Wright for a

time of Worship in song! Rm 52 - Divorce Care Chapel - Hillcrest Singers Rm 219 - Women’s Bible Class: Living Stones by Casan-

dra Martin. Women of all ages are invited.

Wednesday Class - Rm 14/15 - 7 p.m. Raising Kids Who Turn Out Right This eight week series is for anyone who wants to have a practical strategy for positive parenting! Topics include par-enting with a purpose, meeting needs, having a plan, the im-portance of a kind heart, having passion, parenting by exam-ple, parenting with courage, and parenting by grace.

Coming on October 30 - Faith at Home Weekend “Taking the Mask Off of Depression” More info coming soon.

Send the Light Short-Term Campaigns Continue Send the Light campaigns continue from this spring and sum-mer and into the fall season. In September, Mariana Long will be conducting a Ladies Retreat in Northern Ireland. During October, Susan Green will be serving in Brazil for Continent Care Connection, and Anne Reno will work as a nurse in Haiti during a Live Beyond Medical Mission.

On Sep. 25 during the Hillcrest Sunday worship assembly, we will share together in a time of thankfulness and praise to God for the successful Send the Light campaigns this year.

Calendar of Events

September 5 .......................... Labor Day/Office Closed

September 6 .............................. Hilltoppers Luncheon

September 7 ........................... Prayer Time with Elders

September 11 ............................................ Care Group

September 15 ..................................... Moms to Moms

September 18 ................................... Life Groups Begin

September 24 ...................... Woman to Woman Event

October 5 .................................... New Member Dinner

October 30 ............................. Faith at Home Weekend

Children’s Corner Adult Education Corner

HYG – Youth

Hillcrest - U

Family Ministry

For the Record

Sunday Morning A.M. Assembly ........... 762 Classes ........................ 716 Membership ............... 853 August Offering ... $95,901

Sunday Evening Chapel ...........................87 Huddles .........................60 Wednesday ................ 413

Missions and Faith Sharing