[1]Proceeds from Global Impact Fund presented to Psalm 139 Project
By Roy Hayhurst/GuideStone
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Proceeds from the GuideStone Funds Global Impact Fund [2] were presented Monday to the Psalm 139 Project [3], which seeks to provide ultrasound machines to crisis pregnancy centers nationwide.
GuideStone President Hance Dilbeck and Chief Investment Officer David Spika presented a check for $55,000 to Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Brent Leatherwood Monday morning at the ERLC’s Nashville offices.
The Global Impact Fund, available to members in most GuideStone retirement plans and for institutional and personal investors, provides the opportunity to own investments in organizations that seek to protect life, promote human dignity and enhance the efficiency and accessibility of life-sustaining resources. A portion of the fund’s management fee is donated to ministries aligned with the causes supported in the fund.
“At GuideStone Funds, our vision is ‘a world transformed by Christian investing,’” Spika said. “Few issues in our culture compare to the sanctity of life, and it’s our privilege to come alongside and financially support ministry partners like Psalm 139 that advocate for the unborn.”
[4]The donation shows how Southern Baptists work together to foster an environment of life, Leatherwood said.
“Baptist cooperation saves lives,” Leatherwood said. “Whether that is through partnerships that grow avenues to share the Gospel or alliances like this one that bring together resources to place an ultrasound machine that will help fearful mothers choose life for their preborn children. We are grateful for Hance Dilbeck and the entire team at GuideStone for the often-underappreciated work they do serving our churches. With this gift, our Baptist family has been given yet another reason to be thankful for them and for entities that work together to tell a dark world about the ‘light of life.’”
The Psalm 139 Project was chosen in part due to its reach across the nation, Dilbeck said.
“We are committed to the sanctity of life and see the Psalm 139 Project as a worthy cause to support,” Dilbeck said. “We are thankful to come alongside our ministry partners at the ERLC in their work to stand for the sanctity of life. Their support of pregnancy centers allows them to minister to abortion-vulnerable mothers, offering these women a better way of addressing an unwanted or unexpected pregnancy.”
The Gospel Project celebrates 10 years, millions of users
By Aaron Wilson/Lifeway
NASHVILLE (BP) – When The Gospel Project [5] curriculum launched 10 years ago, it had one driving goal: Help people see how all of Scripture revolves around Jesus Christ. Since that time, the chronologically driven curriculum has made three full orbits around the Son of God and is currently on its fourth pass, transitioning from the Old to New Testament in spring 2023.
“To see how God has grown The Gospel Project’s impact in the last decade is truly amazing,” said Chuck Peters, director of Lifeway Kids. “This curriculum line started with humble roots but has risen to become a trusted resource used by millions of people around the world. We continue to hear testimonies from Christians who say they’ve gone from knowing loosely connected Scripture stories to understanding, for the first time, what the Bible is truly about.”
One of several ongoing curriculum lines Lifeway Christian Resources publishes for kids, students and adults, The Gospel Project strives to help people connect the dots among individual Bible stories so they can see God’s Word in its entirety as one interconnected redemptive story.
“Lifeway recognizes that every church’s discipleship strategy has a starting point,” said Alyssa Jones, publishing team leader of The Gospel Project for Kids. “Churches may approach the Bible and emphasize the text (what does Scripture say?), life application (what does Scripture mean to me?), or theology (what does Scripture say about God?). Each of Lifeway’s curriculum lines answers these questions, but The Gospel Project emphasizes theology by using a chronological approach through the gospel narrative.”
Planting Gospel seeds at church and in the home
On the surface, words like “theology,” “chronological” and “redemptive narrative” sound as if they’re pulled from a seminary classroom. But when Meghan Dukes thinks of these terms in relation to The Gospel Project, she’s reminded of her elementary-aged daughter.
“We used The Gospel Project curriculum for our kid’s night classes,” said Dukes, kids ministry director at Redeemer Church in Hendersonville, Tenn. “Every week I’d focus on one point and break it down to make sure the kids really understood the Gospel message. The children also practiced telling the Gospel to others within the group.
“I especially saw the Holy Spirit work in my daughter’s life after a night of using The Gospel Project resources,” Dukes said. “I believe the Lord used the Gospel seeds to help her realize her need for Him, and she prayed to become a Christian.”
A state away, Jessie White, kids ministry director at Emmaus Church in Buford, Ga., uses The Gospel Project to help partner with kids’ parents, whom Lifeway elevates as the main disciplers of children.
“We’ve been using The Gospel Project for the past eight years and have loved how every lesson points back to Jesus,” said White. “We just used ‘The Gospel: God’s Plan for Me’ [6] in a series with our parents walking them through teaching their own kids the gospel. The resources The Gospel Project provides make it easy for our volunteers to teach the gospel to the kids in our ministry every Sunday. And for me as the director, it helps connect what we do on Sundays with what parents teach their kids at home.”
Gospel project management: The Gospel Project goes global
Today, The Gospel Project is available in print, digital and hybrid formats. However, The Gospel Project originally served as an experiment for Lifeway investing in the digital delivery of ongoing resources, something it had only dabbled in previously. In preparation for the original release of The Gospel Project, Lifeway’s IT department developed one of the organization’s first online curriculum-management programs.