A Note from Your Pastor

Transcription

1 February 2018 A Note from Your Pastor What a great coincidence that this coming Lenten season which begins on Ash Wednesday is also St. Valentine s Day. While there is little reliably known about St. Valentine, we do know that he was a third century person arrested for practicing Christianity and trying to convert others to the Christian faith. His life came into jeopardy when he tried to convert Emperor Claudius the second. Legend has it he was imprisoned. While he was jailed for his faith he was known for his performance of Christian weddings and aiding Christians who were in prison. He is the saint of engaged couples, happy marriages, love and young people. Eventually he was beheaded. By now, you may be wondering why a good ol Baptist pastor is talking about a saint. We do not set aside people as saints. For us all are saints who are covered under the blood of Jesus Christ as followers! I like that a person who was known for celebrating love and who would not renounce his faith even in the midst of his own martyrdom for that faith is recognized on the day that we begin our journey towards the events of the greatest act of love ever; the death and resurrection of Jesus our Lord! Valentine of Rome not only risked his life for his faith in Christ, he was martyred for that faith. What is Lent? Well, it is a season of forty days (one tenth of the year) not counting Sundays, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending at midnight on Holy Saturday (the eve of Easter). The forty days represent the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, fasting and praying, preparing for His earthly ministry. We set aside this time to turn from In This Issue Prayer Requests p. 2 Music Notes p. 2 February Birthdays p. 2 FBC Board Notes p. 3 Unity Fellowship p. 3 Thank you p. 3 February Events p. 4 (Continued on page 5)

2 Page 2 In the Church Family Birthdays Birthstone Amethyst Flower Violet 1. Betsy Burt 4. Colleen Guynup Teddy Junko Deborah Oley George Struwing 7. Alexander Keesler 8. Stephanie Burt 9. Briany Doupe 16. Karin Davenport 26. Jake Everly 28. Andy Bailey 29. Aidan Granada Prayer Requests James Pattillo Tom Biviano Dean Farley Lisa R. Cecile White Kathy Clements Simon G. Grace Chege Debbie Foringer The Miller Family Yellermina Jessie Mapstone Angelo DeRosalia Becky Erm Ferris Don Bourbon Mark Bell Loretta Beuchert Aaron, Toni and family Kelly Griffin s sister, brother-in-law & children Call or at fbcman@twcny.rr.com by Wednesday morning with prayers or praises requests. February You are special to us and we want to remember your special dates. If you have any addions to our list, please contact the Church office ( ) or admin@ firstbapst-manlius.org. MUSIC NOTES Make a joyful noise unto the Lord PSALM 100 You re invited to join our seasonal choirs as we look forward to the Lenten/Easter season. Would you like to sing in a choir? Play hand bells? Rehearsal times will be on Sundays, 8:50 to 9:25 a.m. in the choir room (room 201), beginning February 18. If you want to participate by singing or playing, let Mary know ( , mschwarz@abcnys.org). Mary Schwarz, Director of Music Ministry

3 Page 3 Thank you! Meeting of the Church Board January 9, 2018 Reviewed plan for Annual Meeting. Agreed to order 8 listening-assistance devices. Year end finances: Income & Expenses over budget $9,000 transfer made. Investments have done well Pastor John will be away January 30 February 1 and February 26 March 8 (three Wednesdays & one Sunday). Received proposed bylaws amendment. UNITY FELLOWSHIP The next meeng of Unity Fellowship will be on Saturday, February 24, 2018, at 12:30 pm in the Chapel. We will first have our pass-a-dish meal. Please bring a casserole or salad to pass. Bring your own plate, silverware, and cup. We will furnish dessert and beverage. Aer the meal, we will have our program which is called What are some of your Chrisan music favorites? There certainly are so many wonderful hymns and anthems. One that we want to feature is Ethel Waters and the N.Y. Billy Graham Crusade Choir singing His Eye Is on the Sparrow. Another favorite is a choir singing Wonderful Grace of Jesus. A third is the Happy Goodmans singing I Wouldn t Take Nothing for My Journey Now. I have a tape recorder ready to play those 3 selecons. If you want to request a parcular hymn or song, please call me, and I will try to tape it for our program. Come and enjoy some great Chrisan music! Dick Barber MITTENS AND HATS! Thank you to all who donated the new warm fuzzy outerwear to this year's mien tree. We collected 84 items including: 47 hats 25 pairs of gloves 6 pairs of miens 5 scarves 1 small blanket These items were distributed through several agencies to help keep infants, children and adults warm during our harsh New York winters Jean Lynn Buskey FM Community Outreach Thank you all for your amazing generosity throughout the years! Thank you also for coordinang your holiday pajama drive. Our client families were so thankful to receive pajamas for their children. With your help we are able to help so many in our town. Sincerely, Linda Napier

4 Page 4 February 2018 Sundays 8:50 a.m. Starng February 18 Seasonal Music Rehearsal/ Room 201 9:30 a.m. Sunday School 10:45 a.m. Worship Wednesdays: Lent: 7:00 p.m. Mid-week Worship LENT begins Wednesday, February 14 Lent Soup Supper begins Wednesday, February 14, 6:30 p.m. Unique Events: Monday, February 5, 10:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. Onondaga Garden Club/ Library & Kitchenee Tuesday and Wednesday, February 13 & 14, 10:30 a.m. Playschool Valenne s Day pares Thursdays: 6:30 9:00 p.m. Basketball/Gym Music Lessons: Commiee Meengs: Mondays and Fridays aernoon evening/sanctuary Thursdays and Saturdays aernoon/music rooms Tuesday, February 13 5:30 p.m. CSC Commiee/Library 5:30 p.m. Worship Team/ Office 6:45 p.m. FBC Board/Library Wednesday, February 21, 8:00 a.m. Staff meeng/office Thursday, February 15 Newsleer items due Saturday, February 24, 12:30 p.m. Unity Fellowship/Chapel

5 Page 5 (Continued from page 1) our sin (repent), fast, pray and be in self-examination and reflection. Often the fasting is a choice of something that helps us to deny ourselves and place our focus on God. (Fun fact, Fat Tuesday the day before Ash Wednesday was often a day when Christians would empty their cupboards of sweets and other foods they were going to refrain from eating for the next forty days, removing temptation. It became the last day to indulge. It has degenerated quite a bit over time ) Sundays are not counted since each Sunday is a little Easter, a time each week when we celebrate the power of Jesus resurrection in our lives. We temper our solemn reflection and repentance with the celebration of Joy and Life that comes from living in Christ. The Scriptures point us to this great Love of Christ: John 3:14-18 tells us: 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God s one and only Son. In John 15:11-13 Jesus says: 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one s life for one s friends. And John later in his life reminds us (1John 4:7-12): 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. The Word of God is clear throughout the Bible; we are to love others and bring them into relationship with their loving creator. This does not mean accepting every behavior, but it does mean replacing coercion, hatred, and intimidation with Love when we encounter those who desperately need to know about God s love for them and their reserved position in the Family of God. So during this time of Lent, would you spend time in reflection of the Great Love of God in your life? And on the ways you can demonstrate that Love for others in action and words, that we may be magnets who attract others into the Kingdom of God. Let us remember that our journey to the cross begins and ends with Love. So it is wonderful to be reminded of both the demonstration of love in Valentine s Day and the beginning of Lent in Ash Wednesday as one and the same this year.

6 First Bapst Church of Manlius 408 Pleasant Street Manlius, NY Office Phone: Website: Rev. Dr. John R. Buskey, Pastor In case of emergency: Wendy Stearns, Director, Playschool Preschool Office Phone: Mary Schwarz, Director of Music Ministry John Spradling, Organist Marjorie Torelli, Administrative Assistant Sharon Argus, Bookkeeper Phone: Inving People to New Life Mission Statement In celebraon of the good news shown to us in Jesus Christ, we will invite others to unite with us as part of the family of God, sharing the Gospel through Worship, Educaon, Encouragement of one another, and the Support of Mission As we serve Manlius and our surrounding communies. First Baptist Church Manlius 408 Pleasant Street Manlius, NY 13104