Current Reading List

I haven't updated my current reading list since May. Here is what is currently on the shelf.

1. The Equipping Church by Mallory
   
2. The Equipping Church Guidebook (workbook)
3. Encouraging the Heart by Kouzes/Posner
   
4. Finally Alive by Piper
5. Servolution by Dino Rizzo
6. 1 John
   

The Bridge on Mission

Next week we have 35 adults and youth on mission.

The youth are on mission from July 11 - 18 in Tipton, MO. The adults are on mission in Nicaragua July 13 - 21. I am asking everyone to pray for their mission trip. Pray for those they will come into contact with. Pray for the individuals on the trip that God would work in them from the inside out.

The youth are leaving at 11:00 AM from The Bridge parking lot on Saturday. Come out and show your support.

The adults are leaving early Monday morning. There will be a special send-off for them during the 10:45 AM celebration this Sunday.

Check out the two videos below from last year's mission trip to Nicaragua (facebook viewers visit www.benjamindurbin.com)

Chacocente 2008 Part One from Roger Durbin on Vimeo.

Project Chacocente - 2 from The Bridge from Roger Durbin on Vimeo.

The Legacy of a Great Woman

Alta Virginia Elizabeth Huffman

February 24, 1917 – June 12, 2009

Alta Virginia Elizabeth Huffman was born February 24, 1917, in Buckhorn, Missouri to James Washington Huffman and Eva Caroline Henson Huffman. Alta was the oldest of nine children.

Alta married Ted Sylvester Matthews on September 12, 1935, and two daughters were born to this union: Sylvia Virginia and Carol Joyce.

Alta enjoyed quilting and gardening. She also enjoyed creative writing and penned a number of plays, skits, and poems commemorating special events in her church and community. In addition to helping her husband on the farm, Alta worked at The Trimfoot Company until her retirement. She was a member of Mine La Motte Free Will Baptist Church for eighty years, where she served as the church clerk and treasurer for a number of years, and as a Sunday School teacher for more than 60 years.

Alta Matthews passed away on June 12, 2009. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ted Matthews, her parents, (Jim and Eva Huffman) four brothers: Raymond, Homer, Truman and Richard Huffman, all of Missouri, and one sister, Blanche (Mrs. Woodrow Matthews) of Guin, Alabama, and one son-in-law, Bob Warner, of Mine La Motte. She is survived by one brother, Abe Huffman, of Fredericktown, and two sisters, Anna Lee Rebella of Nevis, Minnesota, and Joyce Lundsford of Fredericktown.

Alta is also survived by her two daughters, Sylvia (Mrs. Larry Finch) of Mine La Motte, and Carol (Mrs. Charles Belken) of Libertyville.

Nine grandchildren also survive:

Tamera (and Roger) Durbin of Farmington

Robert (and Donna) Warner of Mine La Motte

Wayne (and Christy) Warner of Mine La Motte

Michael (and Cyndi) Belken of Libertyville

Barbara (and Richard) Standley of Flagstaff, Arizona

Timothy (and Mary) Belken of Libertyville

Mark (and Mary) Belken of Libertyville

April Finch of Mine La Motte

and Chris Finch of Mine La Motte
Alta loved to boast of her 19 great grandchildren:

Andrea, Rachel, Benjamin, Seth

Tabitha, Owen

Caleb, Jennifer

Isaac

Daniel, Nathan, Robert, Garrett

Jonathon, Kristopher, Megann, Dalton

Marcus and Lucas
And of her 8 great, great grandchildren:

Trevor, Taylor, Nolan, Evan, Brylee, Hallee, Jackson and Walker.

Alta Matthews was a “Proverbs 31” woman. She took care of her husband and family. She served the Lord every day of her life. Her two children, nine grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren, and eight great great grandchildren can be found in church on any given Sunday. They and their spouses include pastors, missionaries, deacons, Sunday school teachers, worship leaders, children’s ministry workers, church staff and lay leaders. They are her legacy and the mark of a great woman.

Current books on my shelf

I haven't updated my reading list in a while. Here are the current books on my shelf for seminary, sermon prep, or other interest. Note: I hardly ever read one book at a time.

• The Connecting Church by Randy Frazee
  
• Christ-Centered Preaching by Bryan Chapell
  
• Organic Community: Creating a place where people naturally connect by Joseph Myers
  
• Fusion by Nelson Searcy
  
• The Sermon on the Mount: An expositional commentary by James Boice
  
• What is a Healthy Church? by Mark Dever
  

I also picked up a resource entitled, Commentary & Reference Survey: A comprehensive guide to Biblical and Theological Resources.

Have I finished reading all of these books? Nope. Do I endorse them all? Nope. Am I learning something from each? Yes.

This week at The Bridge

We're beginning a new discussion this week on the church. A discussion about what it is, what it's not, how it works, how it doesn't work, what it was supposed to be, and what God meant it to be. Here's the deal. This discussion is going to last throughout the summer and it won't come to a close until September. Why? We will only be discussing this in one part, stand alone weekends at The Bridge in between the teachings from our next series, The Summer on the Mount.

Yes, I know we are beginning our study of the Sermon on the Mount next week.....But before we do that, I want to tell you where we came from. And by "we" I mean the believers at The Bridge Community Church. Now to even have this discussion, we've got to go back to the beginning. And by "beginning," I mean thousands of years ago when the oral tradition of creation being passed down hit Moses, and Moses started writing.

So join us this week as we discuss our church heritage. We are going to journey through the Bible to see where we came from and catch a glimpse of something much larger than all of us that you and I get to be a small part of.

I look forward to celebrating with you Sunday morning, then going skiing Monday!

Resources from Disciple 101

Hey all, I decided to post resources from our study of the book of Colossians here today.

We will finish out Disciple 101 this weekend with two guest speakers. Both speakers will preach on "Prayer" from Colossians 4:2-6. Milford Gibbs will preach at our 9:00 AM celebration, and Lance Smith will speak at 10:45. Milford is a former full-time pastor now on disability. His years of experience with prayer and Bible will be a terrific example for all of us. Lance is a missionary to Thailand who we are supporting to help plant a new church in Bangkok. Do you think someone moving to Thailand has anything to say about prayer???? I think so!

Resources from our Series so far

Sermons
All of the sermons can be viewed at our Mogulus channel. Sermons include: "The Gospel", "Gospel Mission", "Baptism", "Bring to Life, Put to Death", and next week you can view "Prayer." Visit the channel and click "on demand" to select a sermon. You can fast forward to any point in the celebration.

Cell Family Studies
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Worksheets / Handouts
Put on, Put Off (page 2 of the file)
Gospel Journey Chart

Additional Study Articles
10 Characteristics of a Missional Church by Scott Thomas
Religion and the Gospel by Tim Keller (adapted by The Journey Church St. Louis)

Disciple 101 Promo Videos
Intro videos for this series can be found on our vimeo channel.


Enjoy - I'll update week 5 study guides next week.

Parallax View 2009 PROMO

Parallax View - 2009 Promo Video from Seth Durbin on Vimeo.

facebook viewers need to see benjamindurbin.com