Meet Our Seedline Team!
In Loving Memory of the "Captain" of our Seedline Team, Ralph "Sonny" Swain who went home to be with the Lord, June 17th 2008. He was a faithful church member and Seedline Ministry volunteer for many years.
___________________________________________________________
Temple Baptist Church is pleased to be participating in a Seed Line ministry with Bearing Precious Seed. The Lord has used our Seed Line team of volunteers to produce an average of 1,500 John and Romans booklets per week.
Please consider being a part of our Seedline Outreach Ministry by supporting it with your prayers as well as supporting it financially. Please send your contribution to TBC, 3501 S. Madison, Muncie, IN 47302. Please notate on your gift "Seedline." Thank you in advance for your support.
Please also remember to pray for our Bearing Precious Seed missionaries, David and Bonnie Nelson, as they serve the Lord in this rewarding ministry.
The following is an explanation of this exciting outreach that focuses on furthering the cause of Christ through the propagation of the Gospel.
What is BPS/Seedline and what is its Biblical basis?
BPS/Seedline is a means for the local church to have hands on involvement with Bible publishing for the world. This is accomplished by taking the printed page and collating it, folding the covers, putting the Scripture in the cover, stapling it, cutting the book and boxing them for the Field. This ministry is simple, rewarding and Biblical.
The Seed is the Word of God. Down through the ages there has been a line of Churches who stayed true to His Word and to His command to make Christ known. The apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 4:16, “And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church …” He also wrote in Thessalonians 5:27, “I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren”. Under the law, kings and priests were commanded to make copies of the Word of God. In the New Testament, the local Churches were the publishers of the Word of God. We are in the “Church Age”. God still wants the Church to publish His Word. It is God’s commandment that we make Christ known to the world by the Scriptures, for the obedience of the faith (Romans 16:26).
We believe that the BPS/Seedline Ministry gives an opportunity for everyone to have a personal, hands-on involvement in worldwide Missions.
Why should my Church participate in BPS/Seedline?
It is simply to become Biblical. Nowhere do we find God turning over His Book to the world. So we, with your help, have set out to put Bible Publication back into the local New Testament Church.
We believe the Lord commissioned the Local Church to evangelize the world, to baptize and disciple new converts. This commission must certainly include the publication and distribution of Scriptures. The Word of God is essential to the furtherance of the Gospel.
How can BPS/Seedline help our Church in the fulfilling of the Great Commission?
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” - Mark 16:15
In the parable of the sower, the Lord Jesus taught us a very important lesson. It was in the form of a commandment. He taught us that the seed is the Word of God; the field is the heart; and the sower is the Christian. The Lord was not just speaking of the spoken word, but also the written. We have found that we do not speak much of the Bible, unless we have it written down.
Many times the written Word can go where we cannot go, and stay longer than we can stay, and can speak the language of the people making Christ known to the world.
See how your church can get involved in hands on Scripture production!
Level 1 - "A Project Church"
This is a plan or design for a Church to be involved in Scripture Publishing without investing in equipment. A good time to do a project is during a Mission Conference, Bible Conference, or a meeting just for this purpose. Your Church would decide on the language, quantity, and which Missionary to send the Scriptures to. Your investment would be to cover the cost of the signatures, covers, boxes, etc. plus the expense of the BPS Missionary to come and assist with the project. BPS/Seedline would furnish all equipment needed including staplers, cutter, etc. to complete the project. A special service would be held to dedicate the finished Scriptures. Since we are to start in our Jerusalem, we suggest you do a certain amount for your Church to sow in your area.
The end result is that everybody wins -- your Church, the Missionary, the Lost World -- and it will introduce your Church to “Hands on Bible Publishing”. We encourage every Church member to go on a missions trip, but the reality is that many will not for one reason or another. A project like this will allow every one, young or old, to handle God’s Word. The average Church member may or may not go to the Mission Field, but through this ministry, who knows where their fingerprints may be found?
Level 2 - "A Planted Church"
When a Project Church has a desire to expand their involvement in BPS/Seedline they form a partnership with the Printing Church to work weekly on Scripture Publishing thus becoming a Planted Church. Church members volunteer their time to take what has been printed in Milford and finish all the assembling, trimming, boxing, and shipping. These Churches invest in their own equipment and are willing to cover the cost of paper as well as the production of the Scriptures they finish.
By working together, BPS/Seedline and the Planted Churches are helping to create new beginnings for millions of people worldwide.
Level 3 - "A Partnering Church"
A Planted Church takes the next step and becomes a Partnering Church. This happens when the Church, under the leadership of God, begins to develop a network of Churches in their area to help them. They pool their human and financial resources to purchase paper and publish the Scriptures.
BPS/Seedline believes in the theory of multiplication. Our press can print millions of Bibles and Scripture portions each year. We can produce many more than we have volunteer help to finish. Willing Churches, with willing hearts, and willing hands are needed. The missionaries desperately need the pure Word of God for their ministries; for they will not stand without it. The Partnering Church has a much greater potential of meeting that need.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------