Pastor David Jones. Make His Place Your Home

Transcription

1 Make His Place Your Home Pastor David Jones Associate Pastor Richard Peck September 2018 We exist to love and know God more deeply, to grow more like Jesus each day, and to reach the world in the power of the Holy Spirit with the message of the Cross and the Resurrection beginning in the Mulberry community. Baptist Home Family, As I was reading my devotion this morning, I was led to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah is an interesting book. It has 66 chapters, there are 66 books of the Bible. It is the most quoted book in the New testament. The word Salvation appears in it 26 times, while only 7 times in the all the other prophets combined. Many refer to it as the gospel according to Isaiah. It reads like a miniature Bible. So, it is an interesting book. But it is also full of promises for the believer in Christ. My focus this morning was on Isaiah 55:6,7 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call upon Him while He is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. My how that verse invites us to a fuller, deeper, more intimate relationship with Christ. The first step he says is to Seek the Lord while he may be found. Seeking is intentional. It has an intended purpose. It has an isolated purpose and it has an investigated purpose. It takes effort, it takes resolve and yes, it takes time and devotion. But if you have ever found what you are searching for, you know the end result is worth the effort. The good new is the Lord can be found. The greater news is: He is not far away. Step 2. Call upon Him while he is near. Isn't that good news? The fact that you have a desire to seek Him says that He is near, and that He is to come and fellowship with you. Like the song writer penned, He's as close as the mention of His name. But before a Holy God can fellowship with us we have got to deal with the issue at hand and that is a sin issue. Our sin has separated us from God. Both in fellowship and in worship. Both in our walk and in our minds the remedy, let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy upon us, and He will abundantly pardon. That my friend is the key to experiencing God. That the key to Revival, That's the Key to the abundant life God wants us to have. Repentance leads to times of Refreshing and to the presence of the Lord. My prayer is that we as God s people are ready and willing to seek the Lord. And, if so, let is stand on the promises of the Lord. He can be found! He is near! And He will abundantly pardon! Looking forward to our worship together this coming Lords Day. God Bless, Pastor David Jones

2 After Jesus ascended to heaven following His resurrection, the book of Acts tells us that the apostles returned to Jerusalem and upon their arrival, the first thing they did was go to the upstairs room of the home in which they stayed. And Acts 1:14 gives us an indication of their focus for those initial days following the event. The ESV translation says, All these [the apostles] with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. What I particularly like about the ESV translation is the word devoted. The apostles, women, and Mary, Jesus mother, were gathering together regularly with the sincere devotion to join in one accord to pray for the days ahead. Consider why. They had just seen the Lord Jesus leave this earth, and now they are commissioned with the task of remaining faithful in the face of persecution and spreading the good news of Jesus resurrection to the known world at that time. He told them prior to remain in Jerusalem until God sent the Holy Spirit upon them to empower them for this task. As we read the book of Acts, we discover how God enabled them to fulfill their mission in those initial years of the church s existence. With all that needed to be accomplished and with the culture that surrounded them, the early church recognized the priority of prayer. It fueled their passion and their focus. As one writer put it, This snapshot of their commitment to pray constantly should demonstrate to us that we too need to pray fervently and consistently. God has been teaching me much about prayer recently. It is a foundational priority and necessity if the church, and specifically our student ministry, is going to accomplish its mission in this world. For any church to become effective, it must build upon core values that direct and serve as a framework for why we do what we do. Over the next several newsletters, it has been laid upon my heart to share with the church what will serve as core values for our ministry. Someone defines core values this way: Values are the passionate, shared, biblical beliefs that are most important to the church. As we approach this upcoming year, we desire to let these core values shape everything about our ministry. They are probably not revolutionary, but they are important things that we hope will provide a framework for the decisions we make and lead us toward a healthier place of ministry. So, the first core value for our ministry is intercessory prayer. Remember, Jesus said that apart from Him we can do nothing, so we must pray. Now, intercessory prayer must be intentional. We must ask ourselves what we are praying for specifically. While there is a time and place for praying for the sick and the afflicted, we desire to pray intentionally for our students, their lost friends, their schools, and their fervent devotion to the Lord. We desire to create an atmosphere of intentional prayer both corporately and individually. In the coming years, we hope that Kingdom-focused intercessory prayer will become a way of life in our ministry and in the individual lives of our students. If the Lord leads you to be more involved in our ministry through prayer, then get in contact with me about how you can pray Kingdom-focused prayers for our students and our ministry. Pastor Richard To Our Friends at Baptist Home Church, Thank You for your service to Christ this past week. It ws certainly appreciated by us and definitely noticed by our Savior. Your love for Him was strongly demonstrated this past week and I am confident that fruits from it will come to bear in the years to come. God Bless You All!!! Safe Harbor Ministries, Port Clinton, Ohio Walker & Debra Horne Richard & Mayanna Young Ivan & Jean Dowdle Tammy & Ron Husley Nancy Hill Kyle, Rachel & Rebekah Deselms

3 1 Jeff Bullion 2 Chloe Brown 3 Charlotte Brooks 5 Levi Cook 5 David Jones 5 Linda Wiles 6 Lilyan Schmitz 6 Kermit Waddell 7 Kathryn Cothren 7 Joseph Edmiston 7 June Greene 7 Valerie Sebastian 8 Michelle Parsons 8 Nora Peck 9 Mindy Barnette 10 Jack Burgess 10 Eden Call September Birthdays 10 Steve Douglas 10 Susan Waters 11 Chris Anderson 11 Scott Brown 13 Tommy Gambill 13 Misty Hoover 13 Cynthia Taylor 16 Joyce Douglas 16 Robert Gambill 16 Susanne Hincher 17 Elaine Galloway 17 Pam Holey 17 Nathan Laws 18 F.A. Absher 19 Don Allen 19 Steven Greene 19 Kodie Jennings 19 Ellie Smith 20 Carmen Church 20 Willa Gambill 20 Jared Schmitz 21 Caroline Peck 21 Ashley Royall 22 Shelton Parsons 23 Adam Furr 24 Jay Eller 24 Amber Redding 27 Cathy Lockhart Church Prayer Focus for September Churches in the Stone Mountain Association are partnering in prayer for one another. Our church to pray for during September is Springfield Baptist Church. The pastor and his wife are Rev. Gary and Mrs. Annette Stanley. Please pray for this church, people, leadership, fellowship and ministry. Pray especially as they seek the pastor the Lord will bring to their church. If you would like to send a note of encouragement: PO Box 145, Hays, NC To Baptist Home Church, Dear Baptist Home Family, Thank You for the beautiful cross spray you sent for Doris Blevins Hollar s passing and funeral. Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated! The Family of Doris Blevins Hollar Dear Baptist Home Church, I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of Colonial Heights Fire & EMS to acknowledge receipt of your donation in memory of Betty Smith. This act of kindness is very thoughtful and will help us continue to provide quality emergency services to the citizens in our community. We will notify the family of your bequest. Thank You again for your support! Sincerely Yours, A.G.Moore, Jr., Chief of Fire & EMS Baptist Home Church, Thank You for your giving hearts The money you gave Safe Haven has been used to help with the construction for our home. I know God will bless each and every one of you!!! Again, Thank You for your generous gift! Please continue to pray for us! Safe Haven of Wilkes, Mary Kilby Our hearts are full of love and gratitude for each one of you. We are humbled by your expressions of love as you have walked this journey with us. We have experienced the value of friends as described in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall one will lift up his companion and woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm/ but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken." May the Lord bless and keep each one of you, Frank and Dottie Shealy To Our Baptist Home Church Family, Thanks to everyone for all the visits, phone calls, flowers, food, prayers and love shown to our family during the passing of our loved one, June Choate. There simply aren t enough words to tell you how thankful we are to have our church family. Thank You for your continued prayers. Don & Gayle Brown Josh, Chelsea, Corbin & Mason Brown Ann Parsons The entire June Choate Family

4 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat AM: Called Church Conf. Church Office Closed Love Offering for Jacob Brown s Family Guest Speaker: Psalms Julius Muchangi Deacons Meeting Stone Mtn. Assoc Mtn. View Church 4:30pm September is North Carolina Missions Offering Month Active Spirits to Billy Graham Library 1 Keep your face always toward the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind you. Walt Whitman I have given Christ countless reasons not to love me None of them changed His mind! Paul Washer Contact Information for.. Pastor David Jones: cell phone (336) ; home address 611 Briar Creek Drive, North Wilkesboro, NC Pastor Richard Peck: cell phone (336) , address 2362 Sparta Road, North Wilkesboro, NC (Please contact our church office, Pastor Jones, Pastor Peck or one of our deacons whenever there is a need).

5 Hometown Kids September 2018 September brings thoughts of back to school.football (yay!) and for the children s ministry new classes. This coming Sunday, several of our kids will be entering new classes for the first time. Our teachers are ready and excited as we continue to teach faithfully about God. I want to give a shout out to all the volunteers who have stepped up to lead the kids, teaching them about God and how to grow in their faith and knowledge of Him. We have 23 volunteers who work with our kids on a regular basis on Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. Week-in and week-out, these are faithful to prepare, teach, love and nourish our kiddos and I am SUPER thankful for each one. This year, two of our great volunteers are retiring. Janice Church and Ila Mae Shumate will be retiring from The Little Focus, our Wednesday night program for our preschool children. Mrs. Janice and Mrs. Ila Mae have been faithful servants of God for a very long time. I honor them and thank them for their diligence, their love and care of the children and for their beautiful spirit. Mrs. Jennifer Furr, Mrs. Juanita Miller and Mrs. Mary Wolfe will continue to lead the preschool kids on Wednesday night. I thank them for their faithfulness as well. I also want to tell you of two NEEDS that we have for volunteers: 1. Julie Smith and Denise Absher have served our kids on Sunday nights in God s Kids Choir/Class. They have taught this class for quite some time, yet, both ladies feel it is time for them to move on to different responsibilities. They also taught this age in Sunday School for many years and now currently serve in our Hometown Kids Sunday School with grades 5 and 6. They are faithful servants of the Lord and I am so appreciative of their time, effort, energy and faithfulness. I don t usually advertise for teachers, so this is a little out of the norm for me. My preference is to ask people personally to seek people out whom I know love children and have a heart for teaching. But this time, I felt led to let you know this information. Perhaps, the Lord will stir your heart to step up. If not, you can join me in praying about who will lead. This is a small class. Usually, only 3 (sometimes 5) children in this age group (age 3 to age 5) attend on Sunday night. (That is sad within itself). One of the children in this class is Nora, the daughter of Richard and Holly our youth minister and wife. They are involved teaching the youth on Sunday night. This class is a ministry to them because they know that Nora is learning and involved while they are serving the Lord teaching our students. Even without that information, the fact is, each child in this class is precious and deserving of someone to love them and care for them and to teach them about God. Are YOU that person? If you think you might be, please contact me and let s pray about it together. Two people are actually needed as we try to follow the two-person rule in all our classes. 2. Another opportunity for service that you may want to get in on is our CHILDREN S CHURCH which provides loving care for kids age birth to Kindergarten during our morning worship time. I have several openings and I would love to put your name in an empty slot. You would serve 4 Sundays per year. Just FOUR. That gives you 48 other Sundays to enjoy worship with adults. When you serve, you not only minister to the children, you minister to their parents as well, giving them an opportunity to learn and grow in their faith without the worry of tending to a child. Please prayerfully consider this volunteer opportunity. Until next time, Tammie Jones Children s Ministry Leader

6 Deacon Security Schedule 9/2 10:00am Jeff Battle 6:00pm No PM Services 9/5 William Reynolds 9/9 10:00am Rodney Pennington 6:00pm Mike Church, Phillip Smith 9/12 Steve Douglas 9/16 10:00 am Mark Holey 6:00pm David Foster, George Wells 9/19 Dave Wolfe 9/23 10:00am Steve Call 6:00pm Adam Furr, Mike Taylor 9/26 Tommy Burchette 9/30 10:00am Dave Wolfe 6:00pm Mike Cothren, Eddie Caudill Baptist Home Church Staff Pastor Associate/Students/Education Worship Leader Church Secretary Chairman of Deacons Sunday School Dir. Preschool/Afterschool Dir. Children s Ministry Leader Pastor David Jones Pastor Richard Peck William Ellis Wanda Call Ron McGrady Tommy Burchette Lisa Bumgarner Tammie Jones Baptist Home Baptist Church 2367 Sparta Road North Wilkesboro, NC Phone: (336) BHB1church@aol.com Web Address: Nursery/Children s Church Workers Schedule 9/2 Dawn Michael, Tammie Jones, Kara Jolly 9/9 Leslie Harbour, Breanna Battle, Elaine Galloway 9/16 Niki Haynes, Janice Elledge, Brenda Foster 9/23 Mary Wolfe, Crystal Dillard, Wylene White 9/30 Melinda Collins, Kennedy Collins, Tammy Miles Attendance for August Sunday School Enrollment 290 Average Sunday School Attendance 164 Average Morning Worship 191 Visitors 14 NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID North Wilkesboro, NC PERMIT NO. 81