Church Family, Last Wednesday afternoon, conservative, Christian spokesperson Charlie Kirk was assassinated. The political divisiveness in our country continues to escalate. Churches all across the country saw an increased attendance (ours also) in response to the events of last week. Just a quick glance at the news or social media has kept the events of last week in the forefront of our minds. It would be good to remember a few things. First, Christians are going to always be (have always been) marginalized, persecuted, attacked, and martyred. The USA, with its claim to religious freedom, has been an exception. But with the growing political and ideological divisions in our country, we should not be surprised by events like we’ve witnessed (school shootings, murders, escalating violence, with some focused on Christians). Second, followers of Jesus should respond through lament, confession, and gospel witness. We should lament and pray for awakening and revival. We should look within at the condition of our own hearts and confess our sins. The basic condition of the Christian heart should recognize his or her own spiritual bankruptcy (Mt. 5:3) and confession that we need God’s mercy (Luke 18:13). We should respond to our neighbors, in our own country, and the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The brokenness and sin that divides our country can only be healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ. For more on last week’s event follow this link . Grace and Peace this week, Dr. Hefner

Church family, following Jesus begins with worship. The culmination of our journey as followers of Jesus will be worship in God’s presence in heaven. This means that it is biblically untenable for a Christian to live life without worshiping Jesus. You might be a Christian and not worship Jesus; that is possible. But you cannot be following Jesus and not worship Jesus. Thank you for gathering with us this past week in corporate worship. If you weren’t able to make it, I would encourage you to watch the sermon online this week. The first step in our mission of leading our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus is worship. The two journey outcomes for worship are: 1) Say or sing praise to God daily from Scripture and in prayer. 2). Engage intentionally in gathered worship. (Gather weekly, sing joyfully, listen attentively, take notes, give generously). Let me encourage you to put a few things on your personal or family calendar. First, I would suggest that you put Sunday AM worship on your calendar. If it’s important enough to be on your calendar, it will be a good regular reminder to gather with fellow believers. Second, please put September 21 at 5:30 on your calendar for our 5th Member Meeting of the year. We have several items for the members to address. Grace and Peace, Dr. Hefner

Engaged worship lasts.

Church Family, This Sunday, we begin a four week sermon series entitled, Follow Jesus: Living a Life that Lasts. While we will look at complementary passages, this four week study will focus intently on Jesus’ Great Commission from Matthew 28:16-20. This series is intended to be a reminder of our mission: leading our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus, and our four mission steps: worship (Sept. 7), learn (Sept. 14), serve (Sept. 21), and replicate (Sept. 28). We follow Jesus at WBC by worshiping, learning, serving, and replicating. Our aim is not just to be attenders or even members, but to be followers of Jesus. In this series, we’re going to invite you to consider where you are on your journey as a follower of Jesus and to take the next step. Pay attention to our church communication over the next weeks. We’re going to provide you with practical outcomes for following Jesus in these four steps and assessment questions for your own spiritual journey. Let’s follow Jesus together and invite others to begin their journey as Christ-followers. Grace and Peace this week, Dr. Hefner

Follow Jesus: Living a Life that Lasts

Church Family, Our summer sermon series, Sovereignty and Struggle: Hope from the Bible’s Songbook , has been especially meaningful to me. I’m deeply grateful for God’s mercy expressed in the book of Psalms and trust that you have been encouraged as well. In the Psalms, we discover God’s invitation to emotional vulnerability and analytical thinking. More importantly, we find reasons to praise and glorify God as Creator, Redeemer, and King. In Psalm 34:18, David testifies, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” There are many in our church family who find themselves brokenhearted and troubled in spirit. Would you pray for them today? If you are not already reading the Bible every day and listening as God speaks to you through his Word, would you begin reading and praying through the Psalms daily? Consider reading one to three Psalms each day. Pause when a verse stands out. Pray it. Memorize it. Meditate on it. Let God’s word speak to you regularly. Grace and Peace this week, Dr. Hefner

Church family, at church on August 17, our deacons hosted their deacon ministry members (widows, widowers, shut-ins, etc.). It is a blessing to be a part of a church that serves! In Acts 6, you can read about the first deacons waiting tables and ministering in the first church. Our deacons yesterday modeled that approach. Watching them bring meals, coffee, desserts, host tables, and have conversations exemplifies the serve step of our church mission. Thank you deacons for serving here at WBC! I also want to thank the women’s ministry care team for all the meals they provide church members in need. Landon and Ashley House, as well as deacon leaders and their wives, thank you for planning, coordinating, decorating, and organizing yesterday’s meal! It is an honor to serve alongside you as we care for our church family and lead our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus. Grace and Peace this week, Pastor Chris

Church Family, Pray this week for our mission team serving in El Salvador. Pray also for students, teachers, and parents as school begins this month. Here is a word from the Elders. At the July Member Meeting, we noted the Sixth Revised and Amended Bylaws for your review. After that presentation, we received a friendly amendment to the presented bylaws. The amendment sentence is found in Article III Church Membership, Section 6 Church Discipline, in the final paragraph of the section. The added sentence is the next to last sentence in the paragraph and reads: “Any member who is currently involved in the church discipline process as determined by the Elders may not voluntarily terminate their membership until the church discipline process has been completed.” We believe this recommended edit clarifies the expectation for church discipline and have updated the revision to include this sentence in the version to be voted on at our September 21 meeting. We will resend the updated versions of the bylaws (one with visible edits and clean copy) by email to the church congregation the week of August 11. Our bylaws require a thirty (30) day notice before voting on changes. Consider this announcement notice of the amendment. Please note that on Wednesday evening September 3 during our regular adult Bible Study time at 6:15PM in the Fellowship Hall, we will have a town hall question and answer concerning the proposed bylaw revisions. Please bring questions to this town hall meeting on September 3. If you would like to have a conversation with any of our Elders privately regarding these proposed bylaw revisions or generally about the church, please know that we will make ourselves available. The simplest way to request a meeting would be to contact an Elder directly or to contact Barbara Adams at the church office. Grace and Peace to you this week, WBC Elders

Church Family, Thank you for your ongoing support of missions at WBC! Your regular giving allows us to allocate 20% of our annual budget to mission partners, local and global. We heard yesterday what great things God did through our student ministry mission trip to Avery County. On August 6, several of the team members who went to Moscow, VT, will be sharing about the work done on that mission trip. To all our teachers, Bible study leaders, discipleship group leaders, etc., we want to invite you to register for the fall semester of our Leadership Courses . Our topic is “Teaching to Change Lives.” At WBC, our mission is to lead our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus by worshiping, learning, serving, and replicating. Our Leadership School is designed to replicate leaders in the life of our church. Those of us responsible for church communication and teaching want to improve and grow our capacity for teaching. Consider this post an invitation to register for the Leadership School Fall 2025. You can find more details and the course syllabus here on our website. Grace and Peace, Pastor Chris