CBA Weekly: A Classroom Full of Learners and a County Getting Ready

School rhythms are back in full swing with ballgames and buses! Last week, the CBA conference room was filled up with people who wanted to grow in their skill and knowledge regarding handling God’s Word in a Gospel-Centered way. God is at work in and through the CBA!

United in Prayer

Pray 4 Chilton is our county-wide effort to cover Chilton County in prayer around the clock. Every fifteen-minute slot that gets claimed is another window of time someone is praying for our churches, our schools, our leaders, and our neighbors.

Sign Up to Pray and take a daily fifteen minutes.

Prayer Focus

• The Yellow Shirt Army. A Disaster Relief team left Monday morning from West End Baptist Church, headed to Anderson, Indiana for mud-out work, the hard cleanup inside homes after floodwaters recede. Pray for safety, strength, and gospel conversations along the way. You can read about Alabama’s response in The Alabama Baptist, and support relief efforts at sbdr.org/give.
• Churches seeking pastors and ministry staff. Union Grove Baptist Church is seeking a pastor, and two of our churches have staff openings posted. Pray for clarity for the search teams and for the right person to answer the call.
• The Ministry Training Institute class now in session. Twenty students are working through Gospel-Centered Communication on Tuesday nights. Pray that what they learn shows up in pulpits, classrooms, and living rooms across the county.
• Celebration 250 preparations. October 1 is coming quickly. Pray now for the churches, the volunteers, and the hearts that will be in that auditorium.

This Week and Upcoming

• MTI: Gospel-Centered Communication, Tuesday, August 25, 6:00 to 9:00 PM, CBA office. (Event details)
• MTI: Gospel-Centered Communication, Tuesday, September 1, 6:00 to 9:00 PM, CBA office. (Event details)
• CBA Office Closed, Monday, September 7, for Labor Day. (Event details)

The full calendar lives at chiltonbaptist.online/events, and you can subscribe to it so CBA dates land on your own calendar. If your church has something the association should know about, send it to the office and we will get it posted.

Church of the Week

This week we lift up Corinth Missionary Baptist Church, pastored by Bert Tippett. Please pray for Brother Bert and the Corinth family as they carry the gospel to their neighbors.

Grow With CBA (Open to Everyone)

Ministry Training Institute courses are open to every believer who wants to grow, not just pastors and church staff.

• Fall Term A, Gospel-Centered Communication, is underway on Tuesday nights, 6:00 to 9:00 PM at the CBA office. Twenty students are enrolled, the largest group at this extension in six years.
• Fall Term B, The Gospels, begins Tuesday, October 20, Tuesdays 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Registration is open now at the Samford Ministry Training Institute Chilton page.
• The Church Health Check-Up is a free, self-paced course you can start any time at chiltonbaptist.online/courses. More courses are on the way.

Resource of the Week

10 Things That AI Cannot Replace in Preaching by H.B. Charles Jr. (On Preaching Podcast). A twenty-minute episode for anyone who preaches or teaches the Bible.

H.B. Charles is currently one of the strongest preachers in the Southern Baptist Convention. Every time I have ever heard him preach, my heart has been deeply impacted. So when H.B. Charles speaks about anything related to preaching, I listen!

Read more

From Our Partners at the State Board (ALSBOM)

These are hosted by the Alabama State Board of Missions, not by CBA, and they are open to our churches.

• Get Acquainted Day, Tuesday, September 1, 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM, State Board of Missions, Prattville. A day to meet the state board staff and learn what is available to your church. (Event details)
• Week of Prayer for State Missions and the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering, September 13 to 20. Alabama Baptists pray together each September and give to the Myers-Mallory offering, which funds Alabama WMU, Disaster Relief, church planting, partnership missions, and church revitalization. Church promotional materials are at myers-mallory.org.

For Pastors and Ministry Leaders

Save the date: Lunch & Learn, Monday, September 14, 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Liberty Hill Baptist Church. A different kind of gathering this time: pickleball, cornhole, lunch, and unhurried fellowship, no speaker. Come ready to play, or just come to eat and catch up. Please RSVP by noon on Friday, September 11 so we can plan for lunch: call the CBA office at (205) 755-3188 or email [email protected]. (Event details)

Ministry Openings

Two of our churches are currently seeking staff. If you know someone who might be a fit, pass it along.

• Bi-Vocational Worship Minister, Mt. Carmel #1 Baptist Church, part-time (8 to 12 hours per week)
• Minister of Youth, Jemison First Baptist Church, full-time

Full details and how to apply are at chiltonbaptist.online/ministry-openings. If your church has an opening you would like listed, contact the CBA office.

Announcements and Looking Ahead

• CBA office closed Monday, September 7 for Labor Day.
• Celebration 250, Thursday, October 1, 6:30 PM, Chilton County High School Auditorium, with Rob Jackson preaching. A church-wide prayer night is set for Wednesday, September 30. Start telling your people now. (Event details)
• Christmas Backpacks. Our association has committed to provide 492 backpacks this Christmas, headed to children in Chilton and Lowndes Counties through two church plant partners. There is no sign-up and no quota: churches, families, and individuals simply collect what they can, and every backpack counts toward the 492. Collection is underway now, with turn-in in October and details coming soon.
• Myrtle Littleton Memorial Offering. This offering honors Mrs. Myrtle Littleton’s legacy in associational missions and supplements what our churches give. You can give through your church, mail a designated check to the CBA office, or give online at chiltonbaptist.online/give.

A reply to this email will not reach the CBA office. To get in touch, write us at [email protected] or visit chiltonbaptist.online/contact.