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The Truth About Biltmore Church

by | Jul 9, 2023

Scripture: Jeremiah 7:20-28; John 17:6-26

Introduction

  • Last week we talked about what I believe is the important and correct role of church.
  • These are my opinions and beliefs in these matters, but let me assure you that when the Pastor Search Committee recommended me, they made sure we were on the same page.
  • When I came on the scene as your pastor almost 5 years ago, I had a vision of 4 things:
  1. Reconnect with the community
  2. Positively impact the community
  3. Minister to the community
  4. Partner with the community
  • I believe this vision was given to me by the Holy Spirit and it was my interview presentation to the Search Committee.
  • To achieve this vision, we created five pillars of focus:
  1. Communications – focusing on enhancing our social media presence which Barbara Jean Francis has really run with. We also built a new enhanced, updated, and more interactive website.  I have made myself the point of contact for text, phone, and email.  I also send out 84 email reminders for each of our online services every week.
  2. Core – was our in-reach mission to preexisting members and their families that Pam Beckstoffer led with a contact campaign to reconnect using a pictorial directory as the focus. The 90th Anniversary celebration was also a big part of in-reach.  A critical part of reviving our core has been the gift of Marsha Ann Worsham leading music.
  3. Evangelism – was our outreach campaign led by Andy Johnson that included planning, preparation, training, development of brochures, and survey instruments to go door-to-door in the Biltmore community. A team of us went door-to-door.
  4. Missions – has, by far, blown the doors off this church program. It really is split into two channels: the Clothes Closet led by Norma Evenson and; other Missions led by Barbara Jean Francis.  As a result of our Evangelism campaign we discovered a need for the Blessings Box and have grown the Backpack school supplies program by 500%.  Post-Covid19, we are hosting monthly community dinners with entertainment.
  5. Partnering – Finally, we have had some ups and downs with partnering. Life Builders didn’t work out, Covid19 killed the Laurel Ministers association, but it’s coming back.  Sadly, Laurel Methodist is gone for good.  The big success story is our growing alliance with Hunton that has hugely impacted their missions program.  They see us, and help us, and they have increased THEIR Missions budget by over 500%.
  • We have seen this focus pay big dividends.
  • We have made great progress against our vision of reconnecting with the community.
  • Our Good Neighbor door-to-door outreach got off to a great start until Covid slowed it.
  • We truly have reestablished Biltmore as a neighborhood church, but our neighborhood is growing; the reach for the clothes closet is now easily a fifty-mile radius.
  • Next week, we are sending out a ValPak coupon about our church to 30,000 homes.
  • This will definitely build awareness and hopefully, expand our programs even further.
  • Under Barbara Jean our Communications program using social media has grown to over 1200 followers.
  • Because of Covid, we fast-tracked putting in a digital worship system that makes this room an interactive conference room.
  • I have three things that I want to point out as the TRUTH about Biltmore church:
  1. Obedience to God’s Will.
  2. Mission Focus.
  3. Customer Service.

1. Obedience to God’s Will.

  • God used Jeremiah to tell the Hebrew people what it means to be obedient.
  • He was quite fed up with their empty sacrifices. He says:

“Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves.”

  • The people thought they could just do anything they wanted and cover it with sacrifices.
  • They were just using the system God put in place to save them from their sinful nature.
  • It is like saying you’re a Christian and then acting like you don’t even really know Him.
  • Ya’ll know any FAKE people? They put on a front but it’s not who they really are.
  • Do you like FAKE people?   Well, Jesus doesn’t like them either
  • Jesus knows your heart and His saving grace is not coming your way if you are fake.
  • Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

  • How would you like to show up at the pearly gates and hear that?? Not me.
  • I love Jeremiah 29:11-13 because it is written to the exiled people that God is punishing:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

  • God has always planned to prosper Biltmore Baptist church with hope and a future.
  • We have sought Him out, we have called out to Him and prayed “USE US LORD”.
  • The Lord has heard us; and He knows our heart; and He feels our sincere
  • What did the Lord say He would do with OBEDIENCE?

Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.

  • We are walking in obedience and wow, is it ever going well with us!!

2. Mission Focus.

  • Of all the things that have come about over the past 5 years, our mission focus at Biltmore is becoming legendary.
  • You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see what the plans are that God has for us.
  • What is even more amazing is the work that God has gotten out of a tiny amount of people.
  • Five years ago, our people were tired and worn out and just burned out.
  • Some of those people are gone, unfortunately, and some of our people are new, but God has touched this team of people in a powerful way.
  • We probably have around 75 active people in this church, but maybe 15 are coming from other churches and different denominations.
  • We even have two Mormon missionaries who help us in the clothes closet.
  • It’s that mission focus that attracts people to our cause; to our fellowship; to our church.
  • We have learned that God wants us to do church outside of these four walls.
  • We do church in the clothes closet, blessings box, meals, concerts, yard sales and more.
  • Why do we do these things? Because Jesus wants us to.  He said to the Father in John:

I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word.

  • Again, with the obedience Jesus modeled obedience to the Father in all He did.
  • Jesus said: “For I gave them the words you gave me, and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.”
  • We have faith that we are doing what God wants us to do because it is what Jesus did.
  • We have faith that what we are doing is what God wants us to do because God is rewarding us with the increase in materials and labor resources to grow.
  • And we can go forward in faith that if our ValPak marketing campaign really takes off, and I hope and pray it will, GOD will provide!!

3. Customer Service.

  • Did you ever go to a retail store and have something go wrong with a purchase?
  • Maybe they overcharged you; or they gave you the wrong item; or left it out of your bag.
  • If you have a problem or an issue in a store, do you stand there arguing with the clerk?
  • What do you do? GET THE MANAGER!!
  • Generally, clerks have little to no power to resolve issues, but managers have great power
  • I know, I was a retail grocery store manager for many years in a previous life and I had lots of discretionary power.
  • We have a lot of people willing to take leadership and act like managers here, but it is creating conflict and we need to implement better policies and procedures.
  • This applies to every time we have a customer-facing event: clothes closet, meals, yard sales, missions, worship services, wherever we touch the public.
  • Jesus is the model for customer service. He taught us servant-leadership even though all the business schools and marketing pundits think they invented it.
  • Jesus said to the Father in His prayer for US:

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

  • Folks, we have a heavy burden laid on us to represent Jesus in all that we do.
  • For this reason, we are going to start focusing on CUSTOMER SERVICE.
  • Three things are going to take place very soon:
  1. We are going to identify policies and procedures for things we do and not leave it up to 17 different interpretations. Things like:
  • Pricing of items in the yard sale
  • Quantity of food allowed per guest at events
  • Where people can park
  • How many clothes can a customer get from the clothes closet
  • When can workers shop for clothes in the clothes closet
  • Who is in charge at any given time and who are the clerks?
  1. We are going to identify ESCALATION procedures to get decisions away from our clerks and into the hands of our managers.
  2. We are going to provide mandatory training for all of our front-line people
  • We will see this new focus pay big dividends again for us.
  • Biltmore Baptist church belongs to God and He has great plans for us.