The Testament. Congratulations Montesia! SAVE THESE DATES!! Sunday, November 15th Women s Day (Morning Worship Service)

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1 The Testament November 2015 On their path to citizenship, scores of immigrants have entered into our country through New York Harbor en route to Ellis Island. Fueled by dreams of happiness and passing the raised torchbearing arm of the Statue of Liberty, they are greeted by the stirring words from Emma Lazarus sonnet The New Colossus - Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! The image of Lady Liberty is a welcoming sight. Freedom is what she symbolizes and indeed her lamp serves a guide to the golden door of opportunity that our country represents to them. Thankful for the chance to start fresh and anew, many immigrants go on to live successful and productive lives in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Committing themselves to the laws and culture of our country, they learn to appreciate living the American way. Navigating through the worldly oceans of sin, we Christians take a similar path as we travel the route to salvation. And just as Lady Liberty stretches forth her arm to welcome immigrants to a new land, our Heavenly Father extends His arms out to embrace each of us with the warmth of His love as we enter into a new life in His Kingdom. His is a Kingdom that offers the promise of peace, prosperity and fulfillment. It offers a fresh start and its culture is one of kindness, forgiveness and patience. It thrives on faith and feeds off of God s joy. Its supreme rule is to love the Lord with all our heart and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. (Matthew 22:36-40). Living a life committed to God s law is the key to happiness in His Kingdom and the gateway to receiving His blessings. Lincoln Memorial Baptist Church Thanks For Giving - by Deacon Dean Jernigan God s blessings reach far and wide in our newfound home. He will bless us in times of distress and deliver us from our iniquities. He will test us to prove our faith but will also bless us in the presence of our enemies to show His might and glory. In exchange for His goodness, mercy and blessings, all He asks is that we offer thanks and appreciation in return. In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) For these blessings, we offer thanks to a God who gave us His only begotten son to die for us (John 3:16) and for a Christ who came that we may live life more abundantly (John 10:10). As we prepare to gather for Thanksgiving and reflect on the blessings of the past year, let us remember to offer thanks to our Heavenly Father for giving us a Christ whose arms are always open to welcome the tired, the poor and the huddled masses among us yearning to breathe free. Thanks for giving us a Christ who stands by us and with us as we navigate the various storms and adversities of life. Thanks for giving us a Word to serve as a lamp unto our feet and to illuminate the pathways of our Christian journey. Thank Him also for giving us families to love and the means to provide for them. Offer thanks for giving us wonderful friends to cherish, a supportive church family to share the joys and pains of our walk on faith s highway, and a caring Pastor to guide us through the corridors of life. Most of all, thanks for giving us a mindset and desire to take a closer walk with thee on the road that leads to salvation and eternal life. As immigrants entering into God s Kingdom, let us give thanks for the golden door of opportunity to live forever in accordance to His Will. Claim your citizenship in His Kingdom and enjoy the opportunity to give thanks everyday! Happy Thanksgiving! Durham, NC Congratulations Montesia! PVT (E2) Garrett graduated from Fort Jackson Basic Combat Training on Thursday October 8th. She is currently in training for her Military Occupation Specialty job at Fort Lee in Virginia. HOOAH! Best Wishes From Your LMBC Church Family! SAVE THESE DATES!! Sunday, November 15th Women s Day (Morning Worship Service) Thursday, November 19th Church Conference Friday, November 20th When Enough Is Enough (Hayti Heritage Center) (Please see Sis. Hazel Parker or Sis. Pamela Jernigan for tickets) Please make plans to attend and support your Lincoln family. Please check the weekly church bulletin for more details.

2 The Journey Begins We believe that people can discuss profound, life-impacting truths about life while maintaining a courteous and respectful attitude to all who may still be processing the truths of Christianity. We believe that Jesus Christ is God who came to earth to provide the only way of salvation. We believe there is only one unparalleled, infallible source of truth and one God the Father and one Savior, Jesus Christ. So we will adopt the position that the Apostle Paul set for all of us who have the responsibility to teach others - to do so with patience (2 Tim 4:2) Paul spearheaded the explosion of the early church beyond Judaism into Gentile society. Some years after his conversion Paul was invited by Barnabas to share leadership of predominantly Gentile congregation formed in Antioch. After that the two lead a team of missionaries which set out to share Christ with all in Mediterranean world. Paul's success in winning converts among Gentiles raised troubling questions about the relationship of Christianity to Judaism and the relationship of Gentiles to Jewish Christians. Paul's letters also develop the basis for a Christian lifestyle that looks to the Holy Spirit, whose living presence enables believers to live a life of love that more than the requirements the old Testament expresses in Mosaic Law. Transformation, not reformation, and new birth, not physical birth, mark Christianity. First century Jews actively sought Gentile converts. First century Gentiles were considered unclean. Thus pious Jews could not enter a Gentile s house or eat with Gentiles without defiling himself and becoming ceremonially unclean. The vision granted Peter taught him that God was about to declare clean a whole class of persons. Acts 11:27-30 tells of Antioch church's concern for their Jewish brothers in Jerusalem. Luke reminds us of the concern for Jews to remind us that Christian movement truly was one. If the Gentile converts did not conform to the traditions of the fathers, how could the believing Jews join with them. The Ingathering of the Gentiles This is not an optional issue with Paul. Nor is it merely obedience to a command to do mission work. Gathering the Gentiles into the new people of God is at the heart of the plan of God for the salvation of the world. If the Gentiles cannot be incorporated, then the plan has failed. But the plan cannot fail, so the Gentiles must be converted to Christ and included in the new community of the end time in preparation for the ultimate transformation of humanity into the likeness of the resurrected Christ. Moreover, Paul finds necessity laid upon him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (1 Cor. 9:16), until their full number is gathered. (Rom. 11:25) Israel is being reconstituted and the Gentiles must be included, because the new Israel is in effect a new humanity under the new Adam (cf. Eph. 2:15). And sure enough, Gentiles were being included on the single basis of faith in Jesus Christ crucified and raised. And Paul ensured that they were accepted as full members along with their Jewish counterparts in Jerusalem. He brought the "offering of the Gentiles" from the nations of the world to Jerusalem, sacred city of God's salvation, as a sign of their full membership with the new people of God (Rom. 15:16). -submitted by Sis. Angela Stroud source: The Journey: Diversity Ref. George Shillington Around Lincoln... Rev. George Crews, III, Pastor of Lattisville Grove Missionary Baptist Church, provides words of inspiration and encouragement during our Fall Revival. Surrounded by mom Sis. Pamela Jernigan and big sister Sis. Adrienne Jernigan, Sis. Apryl Jernigan is all smiles after completing her first concert with the Northern High School Chorus. Happy Birthday to our November Birthday Celebrities! Sharlene Dudley Peyton Thorpe Ebony Atkins Layla Whitlock Kenyon Lassiter Krystal Holman Archie Perry Angela Williamson Yolanda Wooten Antoinette Daye Neveah Hemmingway Sharon Williamson Cecil Sharrock Janetta Atwater Symone Frazier Best Wishes For Many More!!

3 Congratulations Marcus!! Congratulations to Bro. Marcus Lofton on winning the Mr. New Tech contest at Hillside New Tech High School. Following his win, Bro. Lofton stood before the Lincoln family and shared the following words: First and foremost, I just want to say thank you church. Thank you for all your support, your contributions, and your love. Thank you to all those who helped during my campaigning and thank you to those who wanted to help me but couldn't. Also, thank you to those who wanted to help me but had no idea I was running in the first place. Of course, I want to say a special thanks to my parents who did everything they could for me even through the tough times we had. Also, I want to thank my siblings and my nephews because they worked extremely hard for me. But biggest of all, I want to say thank you to God because if it wasn't for Him, I wouldn't have won. Long story short, I felt that everything was going against me during this campaign and I felt like I wasn't going to win. After a lot of praying and worrying, I stand before you as Mr. New Tech! So what I want to say to everyone, especially the youth is one word - perseverance. No matter what you are going through, no matter how bad things may seem, no matter what the devil may say, I want you to stay strong in your faith. Don't ever give up or give in to what the devil says. Don't let anyone trick you or manipulate you into thinking that you can't win or you can't succeed in life. You can be as great as you want to be, if you put your mind to it. The last thing I will say is this and I read this yesterday. The enemy, and this is for everyone, the only reason the enemy attacks us so much is because there is something valuable inside all of us. If we didn't have any value, the devil would not say anything to us. Think of the devil as a thief. A thief would never break into an empty house because there is nothing valuable inside. A thief would only break into a house that has a lot of value and importance. Church, thank you and let us all stay strong in our faith with God. Thank you. A Fair Day! Our State Fair outing continues to be an enjoyable event for our youth. Smiles, screams and laughter were the order of the day as our youth (and their families) enjoyed an assortment of rides and food. A wonderful time was had by all who attended the Fair. The Testament is produced monthly by our Newsletter Committee. Please send articles, photos or other items for publication to newsletter@mylmbc.org by the 3rd Sunday of each month. Newsletter Committee Reginald Davis Willee Murphy Joan Lofton Marva Atkins William Mayfield Earleen Sharrock Dean Jernigan, Chair

4 Domestic Violence Awareness Program Our annual Domestic Violence Awareness Program serves as a reminder of the plight of countless women and children who fall victim to verbal and physical abuse most often from someone who lives in their home. Survivors share their stories as encouragement to help others. In addition to the various messages of hope, this year s program featured music from a community choir, a fashion show, performances from the LMBC Dance Ministry and a musical medley performed by members of our family who are now students at NCCU. Congratulations to our Missionary Ministry and Sis. Lasheka Wilks for an outstanding program.

5 Bullying Prevention Month October is National Bullying Month. Bullying has become an epidemic among high school aged students. Bullying is a use of intimidation and aggression to terrorize others who are perceived as weak and impressionable. In order to be called bullying, the behavior must be repetitive and an imbalance of power must be present. Many call situations bullying, when it is not. Students can experience three types of bullying (among others). Relational Aggression is a type of social manipulation between school aged students. Girls tend to use this type of bullying more than boys. These girls would be a part of the mean girls phenomenon that occurs in all high schools across the land. The ultimate goals for these students are to ostracize, spread rumors, manipulate, and break the confidence of those they target. Their mission is to increase their own social status. Verbal bullying exists when the bully uses name calling, insults, intimidation, racist or homophobic remarks to gain power of someone else s life. Others are persuaded to exclude the victim, and damage their reputation and social acceptance. Verbal bullying is usually covert and occurs when adults are not present. In this situation, the bully s intention is to be feared and have power over the victim and for the victim to feel helpless and defeated. Cyber bullying has increased with the rise of digital technology. There are so many social media sites and, unfortunately, these sites are used to torment others. Bullies use social media to send abusive/hurtful texts and s, post negative video images, and spread nasty gossip and rumors to intimidate others online. Bullies can be anonymous by creating fake profiles and because of this, it is difficult to get caught. This type of bullying can be extremely harmful because once images go online, it is practically impossible for them to be deleted. What can you do? Here are a few ideas to use to empower your child if this is occurring in their lives. 1. Tell your child what bullying is and teach them ways they can stand up to it without being hurt. 2. Keep the lines of communication open. Allow your child to feel comfortable talking to you. Do not encourage them to fight and do not chastise them if they do not fight. 3. If bullying occurs, encourage your child to talk to an adult they can trust. 4. Find out what the bullying policy is at your school. All students should feel safe at school and there are policies in place to protect your child that all school personnel should adhere to. 5. Put your child in activities that will encourage their individuality and increase self-esteem. Health and Wellness Fair - by Sis. Cherelle Lee Professional School Counselor Hillside High School Healthy Living was the theme of the Health and Wellness Ministry s most recent effort to keep health at the forefront of our consciousness. The Ministry sponsored a Health Fair that provided information and screenings on a variety of topics including nutrition, high blood pressure, diabetes and HIV. A wealth of valuable information was shared at this outstanding event.

6 -submitted by Sis. Earleen Sharrock

7 -submitted by Sis. Earleen Sharrock

8 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat :30am Deacons 3:00pm Youth Missionaries Music Ministry 3 6:00pm Pastor s Aide Sounds of Joy 9 10 Health & Wellness :00am Worship Service 6:00pm Pastor s Aide Voices of Praise Newsletter Male Chorus Newsletter Male Chorus November 2015 Building the Church in the Community and the Community in the Church Computing & Technology Voices of Praise Intercessory Prayer Bible Study Intercessory Prayer Bible Study Intercessory Prayer Bible Study Intercessory Prayer Bible Study Newsletter Photos by Deacon William Mayfield, Bro. Reginald Davis, Bro. Karl Brodie and Deacon Dean Jernigan 5 12 Sounds of Joy 6:00pm Christian Board Voices of Praise :00 Church Conference Thanksgiving When Enough Is Enough 27 7 (All Day) 10:00am Trustees Women of Faith 1:00pm Missionary Ministry 14 (All Day) 10:00am Deaconess 6:00pm Couples Ministry 21 (All Day) 9:00am Laymen s League 28 (All Day) To add an event to the church calendar, please contact Sis. Janice Campbell by calling the church at You may also reach her via at churchcalendar@mylmbc.org. Please send articles, photos or information for The Testament to newsletter@mylmbc.org by the 3rd Sunday of each month.