Dear Morningside Church Family,

Seed, by itself, is not much. When you’re hungry, I’m guessing you’d rather eat fruit than seed. Whatever grows from the seed tends to be more satisfying and more nourishing than the seed from which it grows. The whole point of seed is that it’s supposed to become something else, something new. Seed, by itself, is not much; but given the right conditions, seed becomes much more.

Since last fall, we’ve been planting new seed. As I shared in my Time to Plant message series in November, God has called us to plant seeds of faith. He wants to grow a fresh crop here at Morningside and he’s invited us to join him in the work he is doing. Like Paul who planted and Apollos who watered, we’re trusting God to bring new growth. As Jesus reminds us in his teaching on the vine and branches, apart from him we can do nothing.

In light of all of this, I’m curious to know whether you’ve begun to notice the early fruit that’s already ripening. Have you seen the new folks, individuals and families, who are coming on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings? Have you heard how our Morningside Market events are already drawing our neighbors in? Have you experienced a shift in your heart during worship, in your discipleship group, or through one of our Sunday night courses? Have you begun to sense God preparing you for a new place of ministry to his body?

If you haven’t noticed yet, don’t fret! This Sunday, I plan to shine a spotlight on the fruit God is growing here at Morningside. It’s early still, so we should expect a relatively modest crop. But I pray you’ll join me in celebrating what’s already happening, what God is already doing.

I hope you’ll also join me in praying fervently to the Lord of the harvest. If you don’t have the words, allow me to offer a suggestion:

Gracious Father, thank you for your promise to grow your good fruit in each of us. Many of us have planted ourselves in hope that you will bring a harvest out of our hearts and in our relationships. We have also planted ourselves as one body into the soil of this neighborhood. And we are already forming plans to use Morningside’s campus in new ways to reach people in new and meaningful ways for Jesus. We heard your call to plant and we answered in faith. Now that we are seeing early fruit, we glorify your great name and offer you our thanks. Give us strength and hope to work and wait as we cultivate this crop and trust you for all that we will need. Through Christ our Lord, amen!

Rooted and growing in Christ,

Thanks to Zack Hamsley’s efforts, the deacons were able to visit our members in assisted living to serve Communion, a ministry we have not been able to perform since the COVID shutdown. If you would like to participate in the next Communion visit on June 4th, contact Rob Sappington or Zack Hamsley for details.

Several deacons helped prepare the Fellowship Hall for our Spring Craft Fair by moving chairs and tables and removing the walls to open the space. They returned the space to its normal Sunday morning setup for Bible Fellowship. Deacons also cooked and served hamburgers and hotdogs during the craft fair.

The finance committee has met monthly and reviewed the finances for the quarter. The church is in a good financial position although contributions have fallen below our budgeted needs and our actual expenses. For the first quarter, our contributions were $294,664.44 while our budget was $308,274.00 (-$6,883.00) and our actual expenses were $296,448.36 (-$1,783.92). We are blessed to have adequate cash on hand to cover the shortfall and encourage everyone to give as the Lord directs you.
You can see the full report in the report section of this church conference report.

Back to the Cross Spring Musical
Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 6pm
Main Worship Center

Summer Bash
June 17, 2023

VBS June 26-30, 2023
9:00am-Noon
www.morningsidebaptist.com/vbs2023

The Personnel Committee held its first meeting of the year on March 6th, 2023. We added two new members to the personnel committee. We welcomed Jenny Hale and Mike Babb to the committee, both serving a three-year term. Your Personnel committee serving this year will be Jenny Hale, Mike Babb, Sherri Callaway and Seth Johnson. Please thank them for giving of their time to serve Morningside!

The committee affirmed the request by Pastor Jonathan and the Elders to ordain and change Phil Martin’s part time position from Group Life Director to Pastor for Young Adult Ministries. Phil was ordained on April 16th, 2023.

Pastor Jonathan reported that all annual reviews had been completed on all staff members for 2022 and were on file. We reviewed all staff members who would be eligible for a service award this year and will schedule those throughout the year.

We would like to take this opportunity at the first of the year to thank all of our great staff who Serve Morningside and ask all members to please keep them in your prayers each day as they continue to serve out their calling!

The Global Missions Committee has worked this past month to highlight the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. The Truth Spring Construction Crew and volunteers have spent several days working on renovating homes on 6th Avenue in the North Highland neighborhood. Additional volunteers have served with lunch preparations, tutoring, and other services to this local mission opportunity. Morningside members have given over $96,000.00 to the Truth Spring 6th Avenue Project! The Committee had a display board of our ongoing missions and ministry opportunities at the Spring Craft Fair on March 25th. 

After serving faithfully for many years as the team leader, Bob Jordan has stepped down to give more time to the Truth Spring 6th Avenue Project. We thank Bob for his many hours of service to Morningside.

During the first quarter of 2023, the team cleaned tree limbs from the Weems Road parking lot and transported them to the land fill. They assembled and took down the set for the Vine & Branches videotaping and also relocated the banner holder at the corner of Weems Road and Morningside Drive.

The Bereavement Ministry was honored to provide a meal for the Badgett family following the funeral of Pastor Jonathan's mother, Patti Badgett. Rhonda and Larry Kees coordinated the meal that was served by her team along with many other church members. Also, a meal was provided for the family of Sheila Finney at their home.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 
who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 
~2 Corinthians 1:3-4