After Easter. Now what?

For most churches Easter is the BIG DAY. We celebrate the risen Lord. Not only do we prepare for a standout worship service, we send postcard invitations to every potential first time visitor we can. Most of our regulars will be there, as well as our intermittent attenders and some first time visitors as well. Everyone in their Easter best.

After it’s all over the church staff takes a much needed and well-earned rest. Things slow down. The excitement and stirrings of faith begin to fade in the hearts of first-time visitors and occasional attenders.

Weariness tends to follow surges of adrenaline but this is the time to increase our efforts. The church year begins now.

Jesus’ first followers had experienced the emotional devastation of his crucifixion followed by the elation of the resurrection. At one point they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6 NIV)

This is a good question. In their understanding, this was the whole point. Jesus’ next words must have been a shock. He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:7-8 NIV)

Before they could respond, he was gone but they knew what to do. He had previously given them their marching orders. Words we commonly know as the Great Commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV)

Furthermore, he promised them Holy Spirit power. This is the after-Easter message for all who are followers of Jesus.

The Monday after Easter is the time to follow up with folks who filled out visitor cards. It is the time to encourage attenders to join Bible study groups. It is the time to carry out the discipleship command we have been given. We must strike while the iron is hot.

New Direction Church joins the BT Campus family of churches

When Oliver Moffett was 10, he and some cousins spent a week of spiritual reflection at his grandparent’s house. His grandfather was pastor of Free Mission Baptist Church in New Orleans. For a week, without television or distractions, they were to pray for spiritual breakthrough. Oliver committed his heart to Christ that week.

While serving under Pastor L.C. Griffen at St. Stevens Baptist Church in San Antonio, Oliver became more involved in the church’s ministry and dug deeply into God’s Word. He had a hunger to serve and to learn. One night, he felt a clear calling to ministry. Several people, including his pastor, confirmed Oliver’s call. He preached his first sermon at St. Stephen’s in April 1980 and was ordained at Golden Gate Missionary Baptist Church, San Antonio, in 1984. He was mentored by Pastor Griffin and, also, Pastor Smith of Golden Gate, as he studied the Bible and spent much time in prayer and meditation.

In 1994, Oliver started New Direction Church in his home with seven people. As the congregation grew, the young church worshiped outdoors in a park and then, at the Davis-Scott YMCA. Continuing growth led them to rent a warehouse in the Eastside in 2000. There they grew to 200 in worship with room to expand. New Direction was not able to hang on to the warehouse and moved first to the Eastside Boys and Girls Club and then, back to the YMCA.

In 2020, New Direction moved onto the Baptist Temple Campus. COVID-19 had taken a toll on their attendance, but they soon outgrew their small space and plan to begin using the Baptist Temple Chapel.

New Direction’s mission is building and rebuilding families back to God. They are a welcome part of the multidimensional ministry of the Baptist Temple Campus.

God showed Anna how to use her pain to minister to others who suffer.

Anna Cortinas was raised in a Christian home in Beaumont, TX. She committed her heart to Jesus and was baptized at sixteen in Templo Bautiusta of Beaumont. In 1987, she enlisted in the US Army and served as a records clerk for four years in Germany. Following her military service, she worked for the Social Security Administration as a claims representative for ten years.

She enrolled at the Baptist University of the Americas (BUA), pursing a call that seemed unclear at the time. There, she began to grow spiritually as she gained a deeper knowledge of the Bible. God was changing her and giving clarity to her call. It was her participation in BUA’s first Latina Leadership Institute group that helped her find her ministry voice. She credits Dr. Nora Lozano with giving her the encouragement to break the shackles that limit so many women in ministry. 

She was a gifted teacher but had been restricted to teaching only women by her fundamentalist church. Anna accepted this constraint because she had never seen an alternative. When she preached her first sermon, she found a greater confidence in her calling. Following her graduation from BUA, in 2008, she continued to teach and preach and served as hospital chaplain. She even preached at her home church, where she had once been told that women aren’t allowed to preach. Still, she felt a strong call to something more in her ministry.

Being at her brother’s side and caring for him in the final stages of his life reinforced Anna’s gift of mercy, expressed by caring for suffering people. She grew in her understanding of how God can use the hardship and trauma in her life to help others in their time of need. 

In 2018, Anna enrolled in the Master of Theology program at Dallas Baptist University, preparing for the next phase of her ministry. She currently serves as an intern at Baptist Temple, where she will apply her organizational and interpersonal skills, along with her spirit of encouragement to help serve the spiritual needs of our community. She will take the lead in developing support groups and helping hurting people to discover God’s unconditional love and healing.

Anna has three children and five grandchildren.