Bearden began as a great church. And today, it still is a great church. It is made up of great people of all ages. We come together often to allow God to accomplish His will in our lives and in this church. We believe and preach that God Makes the Difference!
We have just constructed a new Family Life Center. It will be used to advance the Kingdom of God and to help fulfill the purpose God has for this church and the wonderful town of Bearden. You can access pictures of our new facility by going to the photo gallery link.
TO GOD BE ALL GLORY!
The church has sat on the same 6 lots since the early days. There had been discussion to relocate to another location, however God had other plans.
Those 6 lots made up half the block. The other half of the block belonged to a family (the Bass Family) that had been apart of the church years ago. There was a 3 bedroom home and an old gas station that sat on those 6 lots. Mr. Bass had passed away a several years ago. Mrs. Bass had been a long time member of the church and her husband was saved just before he died. Mrs. Bass got to where she could no longer live on her own. Her 2 children were living about an hour away. They decided to move her near them in assisted living apartments.
Molly Weaver & Jackie Bass (children of Mr. & Mrs. Bass) were excited at the direction of the church and allowed the church to begin to use the home as a youth parsonage in June 2003. This was an answer to prayer. We went in and painted and refinished all the hardwood floors. In June of 2003 the Watkins family moved into the home as our fulltime youth pastors.
By the summer of 2004 the youth group had grown. The children's ministry had grown. And we were running near a hundred on Wednesday nights with youth and children alone. We were outgrowing our facilities fast. We really did not have a place for our youth to meet in the first place. They have youth service one night a week and youth class on Wednesday nights. The girls had to meet in our youth pastor's home and the boys in a classroom at the church because of space limitations.
In October of 2004 God answered another prayer about building a new building but lack of space. Jackie and Molly donated the entire 6 lots (the other half of the block) to the church. The church now owns the whole block -- Praise The Lord.
On Sunday April 17, 2005 Pastor McGuire preached a message about our vision to reach our community and provide a safe place for the children and youth of the community. After that service he challenged the people to become a part of what God wants to do through us. He asked for everyone to stand that would give $1000.00. We raised $40,000 in that service.
That evening we had a special called business meeting to vote on the new building. We showed our current facility, then our current facility with the FLC, and then we showed our new sanctuary in front of the new FLC. We had 86% of the voting membership present. The vote was 95% yes and 5% no -- To God Be All Glory.
The next Sunday we gave everyone in service a new church shirt that has our motto "Where God Makes The Difference!"
We started work on where the building would sit and it has been going on since. And on June 25, 2006 we had our dedication service for our new FLC. Bro. Larry Moore (Ark. District Supertindent) was present, Mollie & Jackie we present and most of our church family and many visitors. We made a presentation to the Bass Family for their sacrificial gift and named the new facility the Bass Family Life Center.
The Bass Family Life Center includes 6 classrooms downstairs, 2 nurseries, Kitchen, Offices, Bathrooms, full size gym floor and fellowship area. The upstairs will have our youth facilities and future classrooms.
We are planning on using it for after school program, league volleyball and basketball, fellowships, community outreaches (fall festival), upward basketball, and whatever else we can use it for. Our town has no civic center or anything like this. Our church wanted to bring this to the community.
We have learned that we exist for the community. The community does not exist for us. God has called us to make a difference in the lives of those we live near. We are not to let them make a difference in us.
Let me finish by saying that we are now averaging around 150 on Sundays and still growing. On December 11, 2005 we had 214 in our morning service. Our sanctuary seats 175 uncomfortably and 200 like sardines. We have reached our capacity in our sanctuary. We are having to think about the new sanctuary but yet we have not finished our FLC let alone paid it off. But we know that as we continue to reach our community for Jesus Christ that He will meet every need we have. We have seen it time and time again. Praise God for all He has done and To God Be ALL Glory!
AG.org News & Information
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Minister, missions visionary Dan Sheaffer dies
Dr. Dan Sheaffer, the former pastor of Crossroads Cathedral (AG) in Oklahoma City, known for effectively raising millions for AG missions and AG higher education, passed away Thursday.
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Fisherman back on feet, thanks to Convoy, MAPS
Jimmy Morgan, an oyster fisherman from Louisiana, had his house and boat destroyed by Katrina in 2005. Hundreds of church groups, MAPS teams, Convoy of Hope teams and volunteers headed to the region to help families like the Morgans get back on their feet.
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India -- becoming the church's greatest opportunity
Experts are predicting that India will become the most populous country in the world as soon as 2020 — the India Assemblies of God plans to have 25,000 new churches planted by the same date.
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Dick Gruber honored for work by "Children's Ministry Magazine"
Dick Gruber, Valley Forge professor and former Children's Ministries consultant for the Assemblies of God, was recognized as one of the top 20 influencers in children's ministry in the September/October issue of Children's Ministry Magazine.
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Three-time AG college president passes
Klaude Kendrick, who served as president of three different Assemblies of God institutions of higher education, passed away Saturday. He was 93.
