Our life
group, LUKE 10 is based on the chapter in the Bible. Jesus says in verse 2,
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest,
therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.” In verse 27 we find God’s
greatest commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, `Love your
neighbor as yourself.”
We believe
if we live out these two verses in the Bible we will have a relationship with
Christ that will forever be growing, changing, getting harder and be the most
meaningful relationship in our lives.
Dr. Shea Bowling is our teacher, “a recovering Pharisee” and Deni Fholer
is our Director. Shea is a pediatrician and Deni is a licensed social
worker. The life experiences that God
takes them into reflect in Shea’s teaching and Deni’s direction for missions.
We begin gathering at 9:30am on Sunday mornings in room 316 south in First Baptist Church Tulsa, 403 S. Cincinnati - enter through the east door (Detroit Ave) and ask the greeter to get you to Luke 10.
Luke 10 is
an incredible mix of people! Our prayer is that anyone in any station in life
can come into Luke 10 and be welcomed with open arms. If they don’t know Jesus,
we will introduce them. If they know Jesus and want to know Him better,
great! If they realize that there is too
much “me” in their lives and they crave more of Him…we try to provide
opportunities for everyone to get into the gutter (be it a mansion or an office
or the streets) and truly “love our neighbor as yourself.”
Shea doesn’t
use a quarterly. Her teaching is scripturally based and prayerfully considered.
Her examples are from daily life which makes the Bible come alive and be
relevant to the challenges we face each day. We have Faith Story Sundays. After
we practice Priority Prayer we turn the teaching time over to individuals in
our community who are willing to come and tell their stories of being lost and
then being found by Christ. They could be a Mom who had an abortion and was
addicted to drugs or a Dad who has been stabbed and spent time in prison or
they could be missionaries who have returned from around the world telling what
God has done. On Faith Story Sundays we bring food and share a meal and listen
to the activity of our Father in the lives of those we invite.
Deni is the
Executive Director of Isaiah 58, In His Service, a nonprofit ministry that
provides the tangible in order to build relationships and introduce people to
Jesus. I58IHS does a Holiday Helping Hands Project in which we adopt families
in the community and provide gifts for Christmas, meals for Thanksgiving and
support during the two week hiatus when most ministries and agencies are closed
for the holidays. Luke 10 responded with an incredible outpouring of love and
support. We bought, wrapped, sorted and delivered gifts all in the name of
Jesus. Last year we took a Mission Trip
to Tulsa and we gathered in a member’s home for a meal and fellowship.
In 2013 so
far, we had an Extreme Clean on January 19th. We emptied and cleaned
a lady’s home who is in mourning over the loss of a close friend. Luke 10,
FBCT, First Baptist Jenks and I58IHS did this as a collaborative effort. Now
that the house has been emptied, the woman can make the house her home. We are
continuing to support this woman in however God leads us. Our heart’s desire is
to be flexible and willing to say, “Here I am Lord, send me.”
We will be
taking a group of kidlets to Winter Jam 2013 at the BOK Center on March 9th
and a “Blessing Bag” day is in the works.
Our service projects are not something we plan, they are opportunities
that God reveals to us in His timing. We don’t want to be restrictive and routine
in our service to Christ. When serving Christ means that He calls us to follow
Him in traffic, on the way to the karate class, in the office, as we walk past
a homeless person, as we sit at a ballgame; those times when we least expect
Him to call…but He does…we want to be like Matthew. When Jesus said to Matthew, “Follow me,”
Matthew immediately got up and followed.
Join us! When you leave you'll say, "Awesome...that's NOT what I expected in a Baptist church!!"
We can do more. We can do better.
