Old Town Baptist Church 4386 Shattalon Drive Winston-Salem, NC 27106

Transcription

1 Old Town Baptist Church 4386 Shattalon Drive Winston-Salem, NC Return Service Requested Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Pfafftown, NC Permit # 61 Old Town Baptist Church Staff Senior Pastor Dr. Ricky D. Speas Missions Pastor Mark Harrison Senior Adult Pastor Dr. Jimmy Hinson Family & Discipleship Pastor Jason Ledford Student Pastor Joe Maye Children s Ministries Director Shannon Callahan Administrative Assistant Maxine Brown Church Pianist Pam Newsome Old Town Baptist Children s Center Director Linda Barham Weekend Minister on Call November 2nd & 3rd Pastor Jason November 9th & 10th Pastor Joe November 16th & 17th Pastor Rick November 23rd & 24th Pastor Mark CHURCH INFORMATION Church Office address office@otbclife.org Fax number Web Site

2 Old Town Baptist Church - A church leading people to become fully committed followers of Christ Join us for the next First Wednesday on Wednesday, November 6th. We are going to gather together in the CLC and share a meal, fellowship with one another and spend time worshipping Jesus through music, teaching from the Word and participating together in the Lord's Supper. We look forward to having all of the families here at Old Town come together for an awesome time of encouragement, equipping and worship! Guest Speaker: Brian Upshaw, BSCNC Church Ministry Team Leader Meal begins at 5:00 pm Worship begins 6:15 pm The Menu For First Wednesday, November 6th Meat Lasagna Salad Bread & Dessert NextGen Weekend November NextGen Weekend is for all parents, grandparents, and future parents. It is going to be an incredible time of food, fellowship, encouragement, Christ-centered teaching/training and practical help to equip each of us to walk obediently with Christ and specifically to leave Gospel-centered legacies of faith. Friday, Nov. 22 nd Legacy Night 1 st Annual Chili/Soup Cook-Off Dinner music performed by Plank Road Doors 6:00 pm 6:30 pm 7:00 pm Saturday, Nov. 23 rd - 8:30 am - 12:30 pm Breakfast and Breakouts Parents Only Breakout Sessions Offered: Gospel-Powered Parenting Heart Connection Between Students & Parents Rite of Passage Parenting Marriage Purity & Pornography *Childcare will be offered for both days as needed* Register at under Discipleship/NextGen Weekend

3 FROM OUR PASTOR AS WE COME TO THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER, we have many wonderful ministry opportunities before us over these next two months as we close out the year I encourage you to read elsewhere throughout the Crier about the things that are coming in the weeks ahead. NOVEMBER ALSO INCLUDES THE DAY SET ASIDE IN OUR COUNTRY AS THANKSGIVING DAY! I hope you are planning a special time with family and friends as we approach another Thanksgiving Day this year. For a few moments today, I want to share with you something for which I am most thankful. There are many things for which I am deeply grateful, including my relationship with God through Jesus, my wife, my children, my family, my friends and my church, OTBC. All of these and many other things are blessings of God in my life and for all of them I am deeply grateful to the Lord God. THE PSALMIST WROTE IN PSALM 126:3 The Lord has done great things for us. Indeed, the Lord has done great things in my life and He has given me many blessings for which I truly thank Him for today. AS I HAVE JUST PASSED MY 52 nd BIRTHAY and 24 th anniversary in pastoral ministry, the blessing I want to thank God for at this point in my life is the blessing of growth. I am grateful that at this point in my life, He still is growing me to be the man, husband, father, and pastor He wants me to be. I have made and continue to make a lot of mistakes along the way. Making mistakes is not unusual. Everyone makes mistakes; however, not everyone learns from them. I am trying to learn from my mistakes and in the process grow as a person. I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT GROWTH IS NOT AUTOMATIC. Growth is not something that just happens. Do you realize that you can come to church, go to Sunday school, listen to me preach, involve yourself in small group Bible study, and a number of other such things and still not be growing as a person, as a follower of Jesus? In order to grow, you and I must be intentional about it. We must become persons who want to grow and become better than we are today. SOMEONE HAS SAID THAT THE TWO GREATEST DAYS IN LIFE ARE THE DAY YOU WERE BORN AND THE DAY YOU FIND OUT WHY! That is so true, isn t it? We need to be seeking to understand why we are here. Let me assure you that God has a purpose for your life. However, you aren t likely to stumble into that purpose. You must seek Him, His Word, His ways and do all that you can do to intentionally grow as a person, as a follower of Jesus, as a spouse, as a parent, as a student, as an employee/employer, as a church member, etc. When we grow spiritually, our growth should be evident in every aspect and relationship of our lives. I AM GRATEFUL THAT GOD CHALLENGES ME to continue to grow. I appreciate living and working in a setting that encourages me to grow. I am grateful that you allow me to make some mistakes along the way. The truth is that I am going to make them regardless of whether you allow me to make them or not. So thank you for being forgiving and understanding when I do! I LOOK FORWARD TO THE DAYS AHEAD as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord together! May God bless you and from all the Speas clan Happy Thanksgiving! See you on Sunday! Old Town Baptist Church 2014 Budget Schedule Wednesday, November 6 7:30 P.M. & Sunday, November 10 5:00 P.M. - Q&A opportunity concerning the 2014 Church Budget with the Budget Committee in the Multi-purpose Room. Wednesday, November 13 6:30 P.M. - Business Meeting to present the 2014 Budget Proposal. Sunday, December 8 th **Church Vote on 2014 Budget** following the 8:30 and 11:00 Worship Services. Mission Team Serving in Southeast Asia Recently, three new T-People believers were baptized. Praise the Lord for this awesome news! As a result, persecution has begun. A team of two people Matthew Wooten and Pastor Mark are in S.E. Asia through mid-november to continue engaging our work among this unreached people group. Ask the Father to give new believers strength to persevere in the faith. Pray for James and Eli as well as USM and other friends with whom the team will work. Thank the Father for His working through our engagement of this people group.

4 Rachel Lowe 3320 Wolfe Store Lane Pfafftown, NC Profession of Faith & Baptism David & Gretchen Edge 1710 Ransom Trace Court Winston Salem, NC Transfer of Church Letter Kamryn Smith 194 Grade Street Rural Hall, NC Profession of Faith & Baptism Billy & Suzy Vaile Caleb, Lauren & Caroline 3810 Sandalwood Lane Winston Salem, NC All by Transfer of Church Letter You are invited to a Baby Shower in honor of Amy Grantham Sullivan Saturday, December 7, 2013 Time: 10am-12pm Location: Multi-purpose Room at OTBC Registered at: BabiesRUs and Target It s a BOY! Harper Kate Small Born: October 1, 2013 Weight: 7 lbs. 6 oz. Clara Sue Greer Born: October 14, 2013 Weight: 9 lbs. 1 oz. Proud Parents: Max & Cynthia Greer Proud Big Sister: Avery Proud Big Brother: Benton WORSHIP CARE: Thank you to ALL that volunteer to serve in Worship Care! You are so greatly appreciated! We are striving to make our Worship Care (Nursery) the best ever! PAR- ENTS and VOLUNTEERS must read the handbooks being distributed from the Worship Care Leaders. It has basic instructions for parents and volunteers to assure the children are receiving the appropriate care. It also includes emergency procedures, sanitizing procedures, allergy information, accident reports, etc. After reading the handbook, sign the back page and return it to the Worship Care Desk. THANK YOU! Proud Parents: Benji & Kak Small Proud Big Brothers: Noah & Carter Old Town Baptist Church Blood Drive Live a story. Give a story Donate Blood. Sunday, November 17, :00 P.M. - 4:30 P.M. Save lives at Old Town Baptist Church! Donate Blood! Call Billy Turner at to schedule an appointment. All presenting donors will be eligible to win a $1000 Gift Card! Positive ID required. Please Give Blood Please bring photo I.D RED CROSS American Red Cross

5 KIDZTOWN A Note from Mrs. Shannon Wow it s November! Hard to believe that we only have one more month left in 2013! Now starts the busy time of year for most of us it is my prayer that our focus will remain on Jesus and what He has done for us and sharing His love with others in our lives! Just a reminder hopefully you ve already heard we DO have a new name for the children s ministries here at OTBC. It is KidzTown! In KidzTown we have several different age groups: Tiny Town (birth-2), Small Town (ages 3-4), Mid Town (K-1 st ), and Big Town (2 nd - 5 th ). Tiny Town is in the worship care/nursery area. Small Town is located in the preschool wing. Mid Town is located in the official Kidztown room. Big Town is located upstairs. Sunday School & Children s Worship (Sunday mornings) for ages 3-5 th grade, as well as AWANA (Sunday evenings from 6:15-7:45) for ages 2-5 th grade are still going great. Speaking of AWANA...we just wrapped up our collection of items for Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes. The Sparks collected 72 items and T&T collected 73! Wow! We are going to be stuffing more than 20 shoeboxes during PowerUp time on Wednesday evening with the help of some very special visitors! We are going to start a collection for the Bread of Life Food Pantry starting on November 17 th during AWANA. Our goal is to collect 200 canned/non-perishable food items to donate to the Bread of Life Food Pantry. If you would like to help then please bring your items on that night and continuing through the first Sunday in December! Also, if you have a child, grandchild, or know a child that isn t coming to AWANA then please have them come and join us. We still have plenty of room for new clubbers to join in the fun! We have the following groups in place: Puggles (age 2 by 8/31), Cubbies (3 & 4 yr. olds), Sparks (K-2 nd ), T & T (3 rd -5 th ). Wednesday evenings (except the first Wednesday of each month when we will all be together in the CLC for First Wednesday ) we are continuing to have our Music & Missions time for our children from ages 3 through 5 th grade from 6:15-7:20: Praise Pals (3 & 4 yr. olds) and Power UP! (K-5 th ). The children are continuing to learn Christmas songs that they will share on two of the three nights of the Dinner Theater (Friday, December 13 th & Saturday, December 14 th ). The children will also be sharing some of what they are learning as they sing during both services on Sunday, November 17 th, which is also the dedication Sunday for Operation Christmas Child! Wow! While I am writing I wanted to remind you to mark your calendars now for CentriKid Camp, which is for students that have completed 3 rd through 5 th grade. We will be at Eagle Eyrie Conference Center from July 7 th -11 th. The total cost for camp will be $180. A deposit of $90 will be due by February 1 st and the remaining balance of $90 will be due by June 1 st. Hope all our 3 rd through 5 th graders will be able to join us. CentriKid is always a blast! I m very excited that we will be having a Junior Basketball team in the Hoops for Him league this year with our kids. It is going to be a fun season. They will practice (most weeks) on Tuesdays from 5:45-7:00 in the CLC. Their games will be played, mostly on Saturday mornings, at College Park Baptist in their new gym. Look for more information to follow in the bulletin and on our church and kids Facebook pages. I also want to thank all of you that helped out with our Trunk or Treat Community Outreach event on Wednesday evening, October 30 th! We definitely could not have done it without you all! So, THANK YOU for helping to reach out to our community and share the love and hope that is only found in Jesus. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Happy November! Please contact Mrs. Shannon with any questions that you may have either by calling the church office or by at scallahan@otbclife.org. Angel Tree: Give the Gift of Christmas Give the Gift of Christmas to a child whose parent is incarcerated in a local prison. The children and parents will celebrate with a Christmas Party during which the gifts will be given. You can provide the gift of a toy or clothing as well as the Good News about Jesus to one of these families through Angel Tree. Simply take your angel from the tree then enjoy shopping for your special child. This is a wonderful way for families or Sunday school classes to give the Gift of Christmas. Gifts should be placed under the Christmas Tree near the Media Center by December 8. This ministry is provided through the Forsyth Jail and Prison Ministry. Collection Dates: November 24 December 8

6 Bring your gift-filled shoebox to share the Good News about God s love with children around the world. Shoe Box Dedication Sunday: November 17 Bring boxes to OTBC through November 17. Day Trip to OCC Center in Boone on December 2 Join the fun of packing shoeboxes for shipment around the world. A trip to the Boone Processing Center is planned for Monday, December 2 nd. Everyone is welcome, though sign up is required see the sign up sheet next to the Deacon Bulletin Board. Participants will leave the church at 7:30 a.m. and return by 4:30 p.m. North Carolina Missions Offering Offering Goal: $ 13, Gifts Given (as of 10/31): $ 12, Thank you, Church, for your generous gifts to the North Carolina Missions Offering! Our gifts will be used to share Jesus love through the ministries of NC Baptist Men, Church Planting and mission camps and association ministries this year. Through our praying and giving, the message of release, relief and redemption is shared. Share the Blessings with Neighbors in Need Annual Thanksgiving Basket Ingathering Collection through November 24 Share your material blessings with our neighbors in need this Holiday season. We are collecting non-perishable food items as well as turkeys for use in preparing 25 Thanksgiving Baskets. Perishable items like butter and milk will be purchased through your gifts to the Acts One 8 Challenge offering. This year, we plan to deliver the baskets to the families we serve. If you are interested in helping make deliveries, please contact Pastor Joe or Pastor Mark. A brief delivery instruction meeting will occur on Sunday, November 24 immediately after Awakening worship (12:15) in the Multi-Purpose Room. A display with cards to show items needed and to remind us of our commitments as well as a drop-off point is located near the Media Center. All items are due by November 24.

7 Gifts Received (thru 10/27: $ 90, Investments Made (thru 10/25): $ 75, Our Jerusalem Winston-Salem: $ 25, Our Judea North Carolina: $ 9, Our Samaria North America: $ 8, The Ends of the Earth Global: $ 32, Making Jesus Known Locally to Globally Our Acts One 8 Challenge partner of the month is the Old Town Medical Mission. This in-house, homegrown mission touches the lives of hundreds of neighbors showing and sharing the love of Jesus by providing quality medical care the 1 st and 3 rd Monday each month. This mission outreach involves more of our church members and friends than any other single mission outreach we do together. The faithful volunteers (medical and non-medical personnel) along with our prayers for the Medical Mission and gifts to the Acts One 8 Challenge offering enable us to make Jesus known locally through our bi-monthly medical clinic. Praise the Lord for His work through this important mission action! OTBC Medical Mission Medical Clinic: November 4 and 18 Clinic opens at 6:30 p.m. Volunteers welcome at 6:00 p.m. Pray for the Medical Mission: Express thanks to God for our volunteers; pray for faithful witnesses to share the Gospel, as well as for new medical providers. Ask the Father to open the hearts of our guests to the the Good News of His Love. Week of Prayer for International Missions: December 1 8 Season of Giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering through December Totally His: Heart, Hands, Voice Are we up to the challenge to do what is required to be His heart, hands, and voice to a world in desperate need of the Gospel? The need of the nations is too great for us not to take the most sacrificial steps possible to get the gospel to the world. an SBC pastor. Learn more about what God is doing in the world and how you can participate by praying, giving and going to make His Name known among the nations. Visit Celebrations coming to Old Town include: First Wednesday (Family Worship) focus on missions, Wednesday, December 4 Guest Missionary Speakers, Rob and Val Hale, Sunday, December 8 at 6:30 p.m.

8 On the Mark for Missions Wow! It s amazing how quickly 2013 has flown by! As we enter the final two months of this year, I want to share with you some of what God has been doing this year as we embrace the Acts One 8 Challenge. Remember Jesus challenge for us is to live as Spirit-filled witnesses of Him locally to globally. The goal of embracing Jesus challenge is to mobilize every one of God s people to live on mission making Jesus known as part of our everyday lives. And, God is working through His family called Old Town Baptist. More than 700 people were mobilized on mission last year according to the official count submitted to our denomination through the Annual Church Profile (which counts nickels and noses). It is encouraging to me that we had these numbers of people serving on the various mission fields God has given us: 666 in our local community, 28 within the state of North Carolina, 4 serving in other parts of the U.S. and 21 serving internationally. What is even more encouraging to me is the number of people who are serving on their own without any kind of organized event taking place. I am hearing stories of people sharing their faith with neighbors and friends, or serving through a mission ministry like the Bread of Life Food Pantry, the Gideons or Open Arms Refugee Ministry to name a few. One friend tells about hosting Matthew Parties in conjunction with My Hope America with Billy Graham. These gatherings have resulted in ongoing Bible study/discussions with some of the friends invited to the party. We also have a friend from another country worshipping with us frequently as a result of the friendship she has struck through the influence of our church member s who are influencing her life. It s grassroots activity like that which excites me even more than the organized mission action (though that is important, too). But, what I see are people embracing a missional lifestyle seeing and seizing opportunities to make Jesus known in the everyday commitments of life. Praise the Lord for this kind of movement among our people. As you read this, Matthew Wooten and I will be serving in Southeast Asia among our beloved T-People. God is moving there. In early September, national believers baptized the first three converts that are a direct result of the work we ve engaged in over the past 3 years. And, as we can expect, these baptisms have caused a spiritual backlash from both political and religious leaders in their village. Persecution has broken out. This is a good thing; it indicates that God is up to something good and the enemy is on the defensive. Please continue praying for the work among the T-People. Pray particularly for the 3 ladies who have been baptized; ask the Father to protect them, to grant them grace to persevere and to grow in their relationship with Him. Also, pray for our two friends, Eli and James, who are serving among the T-People. Ask the Father to give them vision and courage to seize the opportunities He is creating for them. One final word. Your gifts to the Acts One 8 Challenge Offering make possible most of what God is using us to accomplish locally to globally on mission with Him. Your giving helps provide support for the local partners mentioned above like the Gideons, Open Arms Refugee Ministry and the Bread of Life Food Pantry to name a few. Your gifts provide funding to share Good News with the T-People among other initiatives in the U.S. and around the world. Thank you for your faithful and consistent giving to further fund what the Father invites us to embrace. I am so grateful to serve with a church family growing in the grace of living on mission with Jesus! Rejoicing in Jesus with you! Pastor Mark Coats for Children - Coat Drive November 3 24 A Coat Drive for children living in the mountains of western North Carolina begins this month in partnership with a sister church in that area. You may bring coats to the collection location outside the Media Center. We are accepting gently used, clean (recently laundered) coats in a variety of sizes from size 4 (Toddler size) through Adult XL. The coats will be presented to needy children age 4 through grade 8 living in western North Carolina. The children will have opportunity to connect with Jesus and with the local partner church. The coat drive is led by the Quilt Ministry ladies. For more information, please contact Brenda Gillespie or Pam Spittler.

9 November October has been an amazing month for Converge Student Ministry. We ve been able to host a 5 th Quarter fully equipped with a bounce house, nachos, games, and a good time gathering together in prayer and celebrating the Gospel. We were also able to spread out throughout our community and spread Gospel seeds on Halloween night. We split up by our BattleGroups, set up shop in various front yards, and distributed coffee and hot chocolate to parents worn down by chasing their kids from house to house in search of candy. Accompanying the beverages, we prayed with, shared the Gospel with, and distributed Gospel tracts to as many adults as possible. Please join us in prayer that God will continue to nurture those seeds and that hearts will be transformed by the Gospel. In addition, we have gotten another month into our new Collide Sunday School format. This time together has proven invaluable. It s such an awesome experience to see Parents and Students come together over the Word of God, discuss truths from it, worship side by side, and spend time in focused prayer together praising God and encouraging one another. This has been such an awesome display of Deuteronomy 6 in action and I m so thankful for God using families to gather around the cross to equip, encourage, and support one another as they do life together. We are meeting for this time on Sunday mornings at 9:45 in the Youth Room. During our Student Converge worship time, we also have parents gathering together to study the same content as the students. This is a time designed for them to learn and grow personally, encourage and develop strong gospel-centered community with other parents, and to provide a seamless segue into at-home Biblical conversation. It has also proved to be an incredibly fruitful time of making much of Jesus. Please continue to be in prayer for these ministries as we seek to be obedient to God s call for families to point one another to Christ. Coming up in November we have a few exciting things scheduled to go down. First, we will be kicking off the month with a Fall Retreat. This will be a time full of adventure, high ropes courses, canoeing, climbing walls, games, and most importantly relevant biblical teaching and strong worship. Please be in prayer for those involved with this camp as well as our students going that hearts will be filled with Gospel truth and Jesus will be glorified. Also coming up on November 10 th we have our S.N.A.C. (Sunday Nights After Church) time where parents and students will roll out together after Sunday Night worship and grab some food and fellowship together. Finally be on the lookout for our NextGen weekend on November This will be an awesome time of encouragement and equipping! Don t miss out on this one! As always, we covet your prayers for this ministry and the middle and high school campuses in this community! In Christ, Joe Maye Music Notes Before you know it, Christmas will be here. And before that, our Christmas At Old Town Dinner Theatre will be here. This year s drama is titled Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Our choir and actors have been working hard to prepare for this outreach ministry to our community. What a great opportunity to share the birth of Jesus with unsaved folks! I hope that you have been praying for this event. Without the prayers of our congregation, this event will mean nothing. So, keep praying. Tickets will be available at the Ladies Holiday Banquet and beginning on Sunday, November 10 outside the Media Center. The dates this year are December Doors open at 6:00 p.m. with the dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the drama at 7:30 p.m. Make it a point to decide whom you will invite. And remember, Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Your brother in Christ, Willie.