Church Newsletter October 2016

Transcription

1 Last Month s Averages: Morning Worship: 433 Sunday School: 226 Total Offerings: $ 57, Special Dates: (Specific times listed on pg. 3) 10/02 Homecoming 10/02 Building Fund Sunday 10/02 Macon Valley Service 10/05 Family Missions Night 10/08 Baptist Men s Workday 10/14 Gems Dollywood Trip 10/16 Children s Council meeting 10/16 Deacons Meeting 10/16 Quarterly Business Meeting 10/21 Gems Game Night 10/22 Parents Night Out Church Newsletter October 2016 As I reflect, pray, and look forward with great anticipation to the coming months, my heart overflows with joy. God has truly blessed me to be a part of this church, and I am so honored to be your Pastor. As we celebrate Homecoming this Sunday, the theme is Celebrating 188 years of God s Faithfulness. The great faithfulness of God is something we can celebrate and take comfort in! We can echo what the Psalmist said in Psalm 100:5, For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations. He has been faithful in the past, He is faithful in this moment, and we can trust in His faithfulness in the future! I give thanks to the Lord for you as I think about the many faithful believers He has assembled here. You have been so faithful as we have walked together through this time of pastoral change, so faithful through changes in our service times, and you continue to put God s Love in Action here and around the world. While we are celebrating Homecoming here, our Africa team will be sharing the Gospel with the Nuni people, inviting them to the table. May we see many from their efforts at that great homecoming in Heaven one day! In seasons like this, I also can t help but think of those dear saints that have gone on to be with the Lord before us. While we miss them greatly, I rejoice in knowing that their faith has become sight, and their faithfulness leaves a legacy that continues to impact us today. Let the words from Hebrews 12 encourage us as we keep running the race God has set before us, and may we continue to leave a legacy that will impact generations to come for His glory. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1 2) Pastor Jason Smith TRADITIONAL WORSHIP 8:45AM SUNDAY SCHOOL 10:00AM CROSSOVER WORSHIP 11:00AM Inside this Issue: Thank You s & More Pg. 2 Monthly Calendar Pg. 3 Children Pg. 4 Students & Families Pg. 5 Missions Pg. 6 LIA 365 & Gems Pg. 7 Announcements Pg. 8

2 Page 2 Dear Cowee Baptist Ladies, Every year you have blessed our school with your prayers, school supplies, delicious treats, and gifts for our students. We are so grateful to you all! Thank you for being so supportive of our students and staff. It truly is a blessing to be a part of such a wonderful community! Sincerely, Michelle Bell, Principal, Iotla Valley Elementary School Dear WMU and Cowee Baptist Church, We were excited to receive your two large well-packed boxes of jump ropes, crayons, coloring books and socks! This encourages us as we are making plans for our fall ministry. Please pray with us as we use these items to build relationships with inner city children, so that we can share the gospel of Jesus with them. Love, David & Kathy Parsons, NAMB missionaries, Winston-Salem, NC Dear Friends, What a tremendous blessing your are to KIDS Place. We are very grateful for everything that was donated to KIDS Place, as a result of your annual picnic. We also appreciate your prayers, as we continue to minister to the abused and neglected children in our community. Brenda Taylor, KIDS Place Victim Assistant Month of August 2016: Loan Balance is $354, Paid on loan principal: $ Colored in: 10 squares ( $5,690.14/ ) At this point: 482 squares are colored in Dear Friends, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for providing the delicious cakes for our 57th Western Area Conference. During our program, we were able to thank, feed, and express God s love to hundreds of people who came to hear the children s story. You were a part of sharing the story and we appreciate, so much, your willingness to provide cakes for the meal. May God bless you richly for your never-ending love and support to those in need. Thank you again, and continue to be in prayer for this ministry of sharing hope...changing lives. Sincerely, Linda G Morgan, Statewide Director, Child/Residential Services, Western Area Family Services Director of Residential Services, Broyhill Cowee Baptist Church, Rev. Jason Smith, & Rev. Ronnie Branson, Thank you to everyone for a wonderful celebration of life for Janice. We were so comforted by everyone s kindness. Please keep John in your prayers, as I know you will. Sincerely, Deanne (Marshall) Flanagan Macon Valley Nursing & Rehabilitation Center (3195 Old Murphy Rd.) On Sunday, October 2 (2:15pm in the Spark Unit and 2:30pm in the dining hall) and on the first Sunday of each month following, Cowee Baptist Church will be leading a worship service at Macon Valley Nursing Home. All are welcome & encouraged to attend. October First Methodist Church Special Discounted Tickets: $20 per person BUILDING FUND: Questions/Answers Have you ever wondered what the Building Fund was, how to give to it, or why it is so vitally important? Over the next several months, continue to look here for informative answers to these and other questions regarding our Building Fund at Cowee Baptist. Question 2: When do we give to the Building Fund? Our forefathers set aside the first Sunday of each month as a dedicated Building Fund Sunday. It is on this day that the Building Fund is emphasized. It has also been the day when the most funds are given to the Building Fund. That does not mean that you can t give to the Building Fund on other Sundays throughout the month. However, make sure anything you give specifically to the Building Fund is put in an envelope marked Building Fund. There are designated envelopes throughout the church specifically designed for the Building Fund. However, if you only have a regular white envelope, you can still give to the Building Fund. Just make sure you write on the envelope the words Building Fund. On the first Sunday of each month, only money that is put in a Building Fund envelope, or a white envelope designated as such, and loose change goes to the Building Fund. If you put money in a regular white envelope with no designation written on it, it will go to the General Fund.

3 Cowee Baptist Church October 2016 Page 3 25 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday DEACON (09/25-10/01): Steve Green 2 BUILDING FUND SUNDAY HOMECOMING Macon Valley Nursing Home Service, 2:15pm DEACON (10/02-10/08): Bill Enloe 9 5-7pm-Love in Action 365 6:30pm Adult Bible Study RAs, GAs, Adult Choir FAMILY MISSIONS NIGHT 5-7pm-Love in Action 365 OCC Speaker, 6:30pm In Crossover 6:30pm-Adult Choir RAs, GAs, Adult Mission Groups Baptist Men s Workday, 8:30am DEACON (10/09-10/15): Harvey Fouts 16 Children s Council Meeting, 4:30pm pm-Love in Action 365 6:30pm-Adult Bible Study RAs, GAs, Adult Choir Gems Dollywood Trip 22 Deacons Meeting 4:30pm Quarterly Business Meeting, 6pm DEACON (10/16-10/22): Steve Waldroop pm-Love in Action 365 6:30pm-Adult Bible Study RAs, GAs, Adult Choir Gems Game Night 6:30pm, The Hub Parents Night Out 5:30-8:30pm DEACON (10/23-10/29): Charles Womack 5-7pm-Love in Action 365 6:30pm-Adult Bible Study RAs, GAs, Adult Choir OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS Sherry Bateman 7 Corey Carrigan 11 Karen Waldroop 16 Brock Bradley 21 Wanda McWilliams 27 Judy Pratt 1 Jan Cabe 8 Dixie Mason 12 Matt Bingham 16 Louise Holden 22 Cody Peavy 29 Ed Guy 1 Tucker McHan 8 Skip Walters Jr. 12 Linda Browning 16 Fred McCaskey 23 James Magee 29 William Meyers 2 Jeremiah Klages 9 Connor Baldwin 12 Ethan Estes 16 April Young 23 Mildred McSwain 2 Ben Ramsey 9 Jared Greer 12 Keith Kurley 17 Daylon Plemens 23 Karen Raby 31 Nicole Bradley 31 Kyle Jennings DEACON (10/3011/05): David Morgan 3 Casey Jennings 10 Kendell Burt 12 Valerie Meyers 18 Eli Adams 24 Tori Ensley 5 Grant Smith 10 Eleanor Cochran 13 Lillian Archer 19 Robert Davis 24 Tori Norton 5 Carolyn West 10 Cromer Heard 13 Suzanne Tobin 19 Delores Mason 24 Josh Owens 6 Christopher Jenkins 10 Ethan Teague 14 Kerry Plemmons 19 Linda McKay 25 Kiley Stanley 6 Eugene McHan 11 Avery McGaha 15 Frances Gentry 20 Jean Stamey 26 Trinity Cannon Please log into to see when you are scheduled to work with the children this month. If you have any questions, please contact Sierra Womack (sierra@coweebaptist.org). October 8:45 am Ushers: *Rick Tallent **Bobby Bolick Wayne Chandler Jack Dillard, Sr. Mark Foster Dereck Jones Roy Jones Chuck Norton Roger Plemens *Leader ** Assistant October 11:00 am Ushers: Dereck Jones Roger Plemens Mark Foster *Jon Fouts Gabe Bingham Brody Crawford *Leader October Deacon of The Week: 09/25-10/01 Steve Green 10/02-10/08 Bill Enloe 10/09-10/15 Harvey Fouts 10/16-10/22 Steve Waldroop 10/23-10/29 Charles Womack 10/ David Morgan

4 Page 4 What a month! October is here, which means we have already had a full month with our new service times. We had a great month in the children s wing with as many as kids, ages birth-2nd grade, in our care during worship on a given Sunday Morning. We give God all the glory for this! Our children s wing is hopping from 8:45am to 12 noon, every Sunday. This is a great opportunity for you to take one hour out of your month and say yes to passing on your faith to the next generation. We have children of all ages, so if you just want to hold babies or you want to play games with the children, we can use you! Come by the check-in desk or contact me to let me know you would like to serve. Children s Director, Sierra Womack (sierra@coweebaptist.org) Join us for our Brave Cave Fall Festival! At Brave Cave, kids will explore fun caves and different fears we experience, large and small. Through hands-on experiences, they will learn that even when we re afraid, we can trust God. January 2-4, 2017 Atlanta, Ga Dome Ages Children s Council will meet on October 16 at 4:30PM. Children's Choir meets each Wednesday evening in the Children's Worship Center from 6:15pm - 6:45pm. We will be singing for Homecoming on October 2nd! Saturday, October 22, 5:30-8:30PM We are now beginning to practice songs for our Christmas musical to be presented on Sunday, December 4th. Now is a good time for your child to join our choir if he/she is interested in having fun, while learning new songs! Mrs. Kim and Mrs. Bonnie

5 Page 5 FULL CIRCLE SPEAKER Shoebox Recipient Dania Yadago Will Be Telling Her Story Thursday, October 6th, 6:30pm Cowee Baptist Church Come & Hear her Amazing Story! Dania Yadago and her family lived in three Middle Eastern countries before they finally made their way to the United States through the United Nations Commission for Human Rights. Dania and her family lived in severe poverty and often did not have anything to eat. Because there wasn t much that Dania s parents could afford, if they wanted something, the only thing they could do was to pray for it. This particular year Dania s family had a very specific prayer. They prayed every day for a radio. When they received their shoebox, Dania and her brother were thrilled with excitement to go through the special gifts that this box held. They were ecstatic that someone, who they probably won t ever meet on this side of the world, thought of them, prayed for them and sent them a tangible act of love. What excited them the most was that everything in their shoebox was new! Dania treasured every item that they received colored pencils, crayons, coloring books, hard candy, puzzle books and soap. She especially loved the smell of soap. Every night Dania would open her shoebox, take each item out of the box, count them, and then put them back in the box. She was so afraid to lose them or have them stolen. Sometimes she was afraid of using her items because she didn t want to run out of them. But that wasn t all there was to the shoebox. As Dania and her family carefully went through each item in their gift, they shrieked in disbelief as they pulled out from inside of their Operation Christmas Child shoebox, a fully functional radio A very specific answer to a very specific prayer! That day Dania learned that with God, all things are possible. She learned that there is power in prayer. Because of it, today, Dania fights every battle, celebrates every victory and makes every plea, on her knees. Dania is studying at Salem College, majoring in education with a music minor. She loves Operation Christmas Child, packs shoeboxes and shares her love for the Lord and for this ministry whenever she has an opportunity. Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham. The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 135 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 150 countries and territories. For many of these children, the gift-filled shoebox is the first gift they have ever received. This year Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect enough shoebox gifts to reach another 12 million children. Check out the next page for what to pack and important shoebox dates at Cowee. OCC PACKING PARTY November 13 th at 5pm in Crossover OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD OUR YOUTH WILL BE SERVING, DEC. 10, AT CHARLOTTE, NC PROCESSING CENTER Volunteers must be 13 years old and up to serve.

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7 Page 7 Join the Cowee Gems at Dollywood Friday, October 14 You must sign up at the GEM Mine or Mildred McSwain at mamcswain1@gmail.com or call , to reserve your spot to attend. Bus -- will leave the church parking lot at 8:00am. McDonalds -- Quick stop in Cherokee. Dollywood -- Opens at 10am (closes at 6pm). We will leave the park at 5pm. Cracker Barrel Dinner in Pigeon Forge before leaving. Autism, which is sometimes called Asperger syndrome, is a brain wiring difference. It is present at birth and remains different for life. It is not a mental health condition. Autistic people will not look any different to anyone else. They are often excellent at specialized work, but have difficulty understanding social situations. They cannot see people very well, so will miss body language and eye contact meanings. They will have difficulty coping with sudden changes of plan or breaks in their routine. They are often over/ under sensitive to sound, light, texture, smell or touch. Individuals may have IQs ranging from very low to very high, the same as any other group of people. Some may have extraordinary and very useful abilities, for example being ten times more accurate than average. Research shows that autistic people are more likely to play fairly with others and be more honest. Autistic people are no more likely to be disruptive than anyone else. It is not a mental health condition, although many end up with anxiety or depression because of poor behavior towards them. 80% have been victims of bullying. So, despite autistic people being usually very logical and reliable, honest and careful, it is a disability that is often misunderstood. There can be unnecessary negative reactions and fears. Why are we talking about this at church? Autism is all around us, including here at church. As the children s ministry director, I want to educate and help us to understand this a little better. I have placed some special books in the library to be checked out on this topic. Thanks. Sierra Womack Autism and Your Church: Nurturing the Spiritual Growth of People with Autism Spectrum Disorder; Barbara Newman. Every Child Welcome: A Ministry Handbook for Including Kids with Special Needs; Katie Wetherbee Contact the church office to reserve your limited tickets! Cheryl Harwood WELCOME BACK! The Personnel Committee would like to commend Christie McGaha, our Financial Secretary, for the wonderful job she has done for our church in that position. Some time back, Christie expressed a desire to spend more time helping with her husband s business and asked the Personnel Committee to begin a search for a replacement as part-time Financial Secretary (approximately 10 hours per week). After much prayer and seeking God's will, we are very pleased to inform the congregation that Cheryl Harwood, our previous Financial Secretary, has graciously agreed to move back into this position. The Personnel Committee is delighted that Cheryl will be part of our staff again. Since she held this position once before, and since Christie has agreed to help Cheryl through the transition, we feel there will be a very short learning curve. The Personnel Committee and the Finance Committee sincerely appreciate Christie s service and look forward to working closely with Cheryl as we move forward in carrying out the important tasks that God has put before us. Jack Horton-Chairman Personnel Committee Christie McGaha The mixed-ages adult Sunday school classes - Willing Workers and Willing Workers, Too - want to share the fun and fellowship of a Christmas social on the evening of December 8 with adults who are not associated with a Sunday school class or Bible study/fellowship group. Set this date aside on your calendars to enjoy the evening's activities and to get acquainted with members of the classes. Watch for more details to come. Contact Stephanie McGaha with questions or stephaniemcgaha@gmail.com.

8 Contact Us Phone: (828) Fax: (828) ANNOUNCEMENTS We re on the Web! Visit us at: OCTOBER 9 If you would like to be baptized, please contact Pastor Jason Smith (jason@coweebaptist.org) or Pastor Ronnie Branson (ronnie@coweebaptist.org). Addresses Rev. Jason Smith: jason@coweebaptist.org Rev. Ronnie Branson: ronnie@coweebaptist.org October First Methodist Church Children s Ministry Director: sierra@coweebaptist.org Church Office: office@coweebaptist.org Financial Secretary: finance@coweebaptist.org CD/DVD Requests: request@coweebaptist.org For tickets, contact the office or Marion McCaskey at guest services in Crossover. Cowee Baptist Church 6301 Bryson City Road Franklin, NC (828)