Veggie Event Video-- Outreach Night 10/24/08
Friday, October 31, 2008
We hope you enjoy the video (you can read Cindy's previous blog with details on the event)! What an incredible God we serve who does far beyond all we can hope for and imagine!
In Pursuit,
Brian & Cindy
posted by Brian @ 1:32 PM,
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VeggieTales FREE MOVIE Night at the mall!
Monday, October 27, 2008
We (Splash Children's Ministry) hosted our first VeggieTales Movie Night at the Orchards Mall and it was amazing!
A word of appreciation...
Close to 200 kids and their families attended the event. Go God! The kids had so much fun and many of the adults wore huge grins throughout the night. The snack crew did a stupendous job with homemade snacks (candy molds & pretzels, popcorn balls, leaf cookies…..). It was great seeing everyone's passion in different areas come alive!
The creative arts team did a tremendous job with creating the harvest VeggieTales environment (including a huge painting of Larry & Bob on the community center wall mirror) and setting up 6 stations for the kids: face painting, glow-in-the-dark tattoos, photo area, paint & pumpkin/gourd area, pumpkin patch for kids and families to sit while watching the movie, “Where’s God When I’m Scared?” , ending with a stop at the Overflow Office where we handed out VeggieTales activity sheets, a ton of candy, cute leaf bags put together by a crafty cousin of Martha Stewart (no, not really but really could be... ). 
Roughly, 70% of the people at the event were not a part of Overflow and that was exciting for us! We were truly reaching families beyond our church family. The night was about bringing God’s light into a dark and scary world and that GOD IS BIGGER THAN THE BOOGIE MAN! He is bigger than any fear ; He is bigger than anything!
Roughly, 70% of the people at the event were not a part of Overflow and that was exciting for us! We were truly reaching families beyond our church family. The night was about bringing God’s light into a dark and scary world and that GOD IS BIGGER THAN THE BOOGIE MAN! He is bigger than any fear ; He is bigger than anything!
We closed the event with several door prizes and a word of prayer.
A word of appreciation...
Thank you to several local orchards for their donations for this event! Thank you to Berrien Homes for lending us your popcorn machine; we went through 10 pounds of kernels!!! 
Thank you to a grandma and grandpa who donated over 400 donut holes! Thank you McDonalds for donating punch… we served over 400 cups! Thank you to Amanda Sutton’s mom who traveled via train from the east side of the state to donate her time, talent, and fall decorations for our event! Thank you SW Michigan Tourist Council for your donation of bags. And thank you... Overflow family & friends for digging in on Friday night to serve our community in love.
Thank you to a grandma and grandpa who donated over 400 donut holes! Thank you McDonalds for donating punch… we served over 400 cups! Thank you to Amanda Sutton’s mom who traveled via train from the east side of the state to donate her time, talent, and fall decorations for our event! Thank you SW Michigan Tourist Council for your donation of bags. And thank you... Overflow family & friends for digging in on Friday night to serve our community in love. You planted seeds this weekend, and I’m not talking about pumpkin seeds. 
posted by Brian @ 7:30 PM,
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Bennett Housing Update: Follow Me
Friday, October 17, 2008
Friends,OK, so this will not be our typical blog regarding Overflow and the updates, but rather a glimpse into what it has and continues to mean for myself and our family to follow God's calling to plant Overflow. As many of you know we have had our house for sale in Battle Creek since April, 2007 and have asked God every way we know how to sell our house (and many of you have as well). While the prayer for our house to sell has not yet been answered we have seen Him answer prayers in other ways as He has provided along the way, deepened our trust in Him, helped us to understand what many others are experiencing, and challenged us in what it means to follow Jesus. 
http://www.pprmi.com/SWMRICRETS_2820182
http://www.pprmi.com/SWMRICRETS_2820182
Currently, we still have many questions and continue to pray about the situation. Here is where things are at with our house:
- We moved to the Benton Harbor region in October 2007 and began making two payments (mortgage and rent) and by summer 2007 had incurred significant debt in trying to manage both.
- During the 18months our house has been for sale the market in Battle Creek has dropped so dramatically that the only 2 offers on our home have been for $30,000 less than we paid or owe on our mortgage.
- We began working with our bank in July 2007 and currently have a short sale offer submitted that is pending approval by the bank. This offer on our home is for much less than we owe and we are praying that they will release us from the house and mortgage through a short sale.
- We have had to also face the possibility of losing the home should this short sale not go through. As people with excellent credit history this has been very difficult and we have had many ups and downs through this time. Through it all we continue to sense God asking us to "follow Him" and trust Him through this and that is what we are doing.
Matthew 8:18-22
18And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. 19Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
20And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
- Jesus helped this man to see that He did not have a home and that to follow Him "wherever you go" would mean that He may not have a home either. While this is not easy to swallow, we realize that we are serving something and someone greater than this world and He will see us through this tough time. The bottom line is that we know where He has led us and we trust the results, the process, and the house to Him!
22But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
- Jesus addressed this man's own need for security (in that culture burying his father would have meant also receiving an inheritance that he could have trusted in) and his sense of timing. The man most likely was saying that he would like to return to bury his father, because his father had a number of years left to live. Jesus responded by clearly helping Him to see that he needed to follow Jesus right then and there. While we know we could have waited till the house sold we also realize that God has opened many unique doors for Overflow, and touched many lives in the past 18 months and this was His time for the church to be planted. As we answer His call, in His timing, we are learning to trust our security to Him.
So, there is a little of what we have been learning, a lot of what we have been going through personally, and hopefully even more encouragement for you to trust Jesus as He asks you to "follow Him" in a difficult economy and time in our country.
Please keep us in your prayers and especially pray for favor with our case agent on the short sale (his name is Tony). Pray that if this is God's will the short sale will go through quickly and free us from the stress and financial burden of the house.
Thank you for everything and continuing to walk with us!
In Pursuit,
Brian
Romans 15:13
posted by Brian @ 10:41 PM,
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Fall Teaching Series: Got Hope?
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Overflow Friends,
I thought I would take a minute this evening to share with you a verse that is our theme for Overflow this year as we pray and look at how we can be a community of "Grace".
Ephesians 1:7-8 says, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence" (NKJV).
This challenges us to recognize that grace is the only reason that we can count ourselves Christ followers and grace is the only way to move forward in showing others who Jesus is. Please join us in exploring what grace means for us personally and praying that Overflow will be a community that is "abounding" with the richness of God's grace!
We start a new teaching series this Sunday (Oct 5, 2008) called "Got Hope" and we will be taking 9 weeks to study the book of Ephesians. I could not be more excited about how God has led us into this study and truly believe that many Americans are desperately looking for hope right now and we pray that we are able to help as many as possible to see that Christ is our only source of real hope!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for prayerfully supporting Overflow and asking God to help make us a place of Grace and Hope! Look for the October Bently Newsletter to arrive soon!
In Pursuit,
Brian
We start a new teaching series this Sunday (Oct 5, 2008) called "Got Hope" and we will be taking 9 weeks to study the book of Ephesians. I could not be more excited about how God has led us into this study and truly believe that many Americans are desperately looking for hope right now and we pray that we are able to help as many as possible to see that Christ is our only source of real hope!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for prayerfully supporting Overflow and asking God to help make us a place of Grace and Hope! Look for the October Bently Newsletter to arrive soon!
In Pursuit,
Brian
posted by Brian @ 12:20 AM,
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