November From the Pastor s Desk. Inside this Issue: By Craig Thompson

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1 November 2018 From the Pastor s Desk Thanksgiving and Christmas are times for renlecting on God s blessings towards us, Ninding ways to bless others, and spending time with family and friends. But, the holidays aren t always wonderful. For many, the holidays are Nilled with grief and loneliness. For others, holiday gatherings and schedules can mean stress and frustration. Here are a few suggestions to help you get the most out of the holidays and to truly experience thanksgiving and the presence of God in these holy days. 1. Choose joy. We can choose to be joyous, even when the circumstances around us are not wonderful. In James 1:2, we are encouraged to count it joy even when we experience trials and persecutions. 2.Bless others. In Matthew 23:11, Jesus said, The greatest among you will be your servants. Even if no one else is washing the thanksgiving dishes, honor Christ by serving others. 3. Love the lonely. Repeatedly the Bible urges God s children to care for widows, orphans, and aliens (immigrants). One of the ways to show your thanks to the one who has given so much to you, is by caring for those who have no one who cares for them. Feed the hungry, clothe the homeless, visit the widow you may be surprised to discover how much satisfaction you will Nind by caring well for others. 4. Love your family because God says so. When all else fails, love your family because God says so. Paul writes, If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. By Craig Thompson Hopefully you can derive more joy out of your family than this, but if all else fails, remember that loving and caring for your family is a Christian responsibility. 5. Rest in God s peace. If you are concerned about the anxiety of the holidays, I urge you to memorize Philippians 4:6-7, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. I trust and pray that Thanksgiving will be a time of blessing for you and your family as you renlect upon God s goodness to you in Christ. However, if you are struggling during this time of year, I hope that you will run to Christ and his church for comfort and peace. God bless each of you! Inside this Issue: Discipleship and Worship Ministry Missions Pro5ile: OCC Prime Timers Ministry Children s Ministry Upcoming Events Generation 180 Ministry Calendar, Birthdays, and Anniversaries... 7

2 Worship In the modern worship trends of the 21st century, the importance of congregational participation in corporate worship seems to have fallen out of priority. One of the trends we see is an emphasis on making sure the worship leaders have songs to sing in order to showcase their abilities. These leaders would say that it has nothing to do with pride and everything to do with being able to use their talents with excellence for the glory of God. That s all well and good, but where does that leave the congregation? Usually belting out lyrics that are too high and too complicated to sing connidently. Another trend is to write songs that are more worshipper centered than God centered. In other words, worshippers sing more about themselves than about the Lord. An easy way to recognize such songs is to ask two questions: Who is being sung to? And who is being sung about? If neither of the answers are God, no matter how many times it mentions God it is probably a worshipper centered song. (Exceptions exist in creed-like songs where we exhort one another in our faith.) The result of these two trends has created a very concertlike atmosphere in many modern-worship style churches. On the other end of the spectrum, we have traditional worship churches. The trend in these churches is to continue doing the same hymns they ve been doing for decades in the same ways they ve always done them. The danger here is that worship becomes a meaningless action, so habitual that people don t even recognize the words coming out of their mouths. They re minds have wandered to other things maybe planning lunch. Both of these trends in worship can create ingenuine atmospheres of worship. If we ve done that, we ve missed the point of worship completely. Worship should be a genuine expression of our thankfulness and awe of our God. It should be humble admission of our inadequacy and praise for the grace and mercy found on the cross. It should be joyful expectation of hope and rescue. It should be the outpouring of our faith journey to God. It is the Nirst part of a conversation. We cry out to God through our worship, we hear from God through the Word, and then we respond accordingly. Genuine worship is the goal. By Keven Newsome As your worship pastor, I work hard to make sure the songs we sing are singable to the congregation, that the worship team doesn t get in the way of the congregation s worship, that the songs are more about God than about us, and that the lyrics we sing never come across as stale or meaningless. I try to make it easy for you to engage in worship, but the rest is up to you. The way a person worships says a lot about their heart. I recognize that not all worshippers will feel compelled to sing loudly at all times, but there s a difference between worshipping silently and not participating at all. Consider the effect your worship has on visitors and nonbelievers. If you worship well, they will recognize that you believe what you claim to believe. If you refuse to participate, they may not take the message of our faith seriously. Consider the effect of your worship on Christians young in their faith. They are looking for role-models to demonstrate what a vibrant faith looks like. If you worship well, they ll learn that worship is important. If you refuse, they may begin to think worship is not that important. Consider the effect your worship has on your own faith. If you worship well, you allow an openness and genuineness to come forth that might otherwise be stuffed down inside. You are obedient to the command to worship and you join with the eternal church in something we will do in eternity. If you refuse, you begin to suppress an important part of your faith and may begin to develop a hardness of your heart. Bottom line, learn to worship and learn to worship well. It s not about showing off, or talent, or what your neighbor thinks, or anything else. It s about expressing our faith and communicating to our Lord in a corporate setting as we join together with one voice to cry out to our Father. Learn to worship and worship well.

3 Mission Emphasis: LoCe Moon Our annual Lottie Moon Christmas offering will ofnicially kick off on Sunday, November 25. This offering goes to support our international missionaries, like Luke and Patty Tolbert, who are serving in the name of Christ in Latvia. funding and sending of missionaries to the ends of the earth. Help us support international missions by making our Lottie Moon Christmas Offering the largest gift you give this Christmas. Through your donation, we can make an impact on lostness around the world! Who was Lottie Moon? She was born in 1850 and became a Christian in college at the age of 18. Lottie went on to become one of the Nirst women in the South to receive a master s degree. Then at the age of 32 years old, she left a marriage proposal, her job, her family, and her home for missions work in China. For the next 39 years, Lottie labored tirelessly to share the love of Christ with the people of China by learning their culture, language, and customs. Through her relentless love for the people, many came to know the good news of the gospel. You can Nind out more at imb.org/lmco. Lottie once wrote to the International Mission Board (then known as the Foreign Mission Board), Please say to the [new] missionaries they are coming to a life of hardship, responsibility and constant self-denial. She knew Nirst-hand the cost of fulnilling the Great Commission, but until her death at the age of 72, she was unyielding and uncompromising in her advocacy for the By Buster Morris Prime Timers Ministry We are still trying to catch our breath from October. It was a busy month for our Prime Timers but what a blessing. The Washington trip was our highlight; God s hand was on us in so many ways. No bus problems, the trafnic was tough, but I found the people were very considerate in allowing us to move about in our bus. I appreciated our people and their attitude when things didn t go on schedule. The tours were good and our tour guide did a good job of leading us Tuesday. The Museum of The Bible was pretty overwhelming and most of us didn t get to see all we wanted to see, but as I said it was a blessed trip of which we are thankful for our Lord and our church for allowing us to have this experience. November Prime Timer Events Thursday Nov. 8 Karesh Wing Ministry 2:30 PM Thanksgiving Supper Nov. 11 6:00 PM No supper This Month Thursday Nov. 29 Springdale Ministry 2:30 PM Friday December 7 and Saturday December 8 - Christmas Trip 3

4 Children s Ministry Parents sometimes give me a horrinied look when I tell them that their children have talked to me about salvation or even when they come to tell me that their children have asked them about salvation, and I suggest that they be the ones to talk with their children. It is not that they do not want to. It is because they are afraid they will say the wrong thing or that they will not be able to tell if their children are ready to accept Christ; however, there are some things parents can do to help them be ready when the time comes. The Nirst thing is to lead by example. I think that many times parents do not understand that they are the ones that their children look to show them how to live. The saying goes, Be the parent that you needed when you were growing up. Sometimes a child will tell me that he wants me to talk with him about salvation rather than his parents. It is very sad to me because when this happens, I can usually tell that the parents have not led this child by example. Certainly there are no perfect parents, but children can usually tell where our hearts are. While family devotions can be a good thing, parents should not make it a program but a way of life. Sometimes when parents do devotions with their children, the attitude afterwards is one of done for the day. I believe parents should get into the habit of looking for things that happen during the day and using those things as an open door to teaching. An example would be if your child comes home and says he has had a Night with a friend. Then you could discuss how God wants him to react to his friend. When discipling children, parents have to be careful about expectations. We can t expect our children to always appreciate our efforts on their behalf. I know my own children did not. Family discipleship may fall on seemingly deaf ears especially as children get older. We have to realize that they are still children with the emotions of children, and they see the world through the minds of children. By Rhonda Adams ask the question to themselves before they act and not afterwards. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 These words that I am giving out today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. This verse makes it clear that God expects parents to lead their children spiritually and how to do it. Since we can t give what we don t have, parents have to take the time to study the Bible themselves. While parents certainly don t have to be Bible scholars, study will give the connidence needed to disciple their children. Rice Bowls Our Rice Bowls missions project ends on Wednesday, November 14. Please return all the rice bowls by that date. Winter Blast Winter Blast, the weekend children s camp at Camp Longridge, will begin on Friday evening, December 7, through Sunday morning, December 9. The camp is for children who are at least in 3rd grade. All children attending must be pre-registered. The deadline to signup is Sunday, November 4. The children who are eligible have taken home interest forms. Please see me if you require more information. Dates To Remember November 11 Operation Christmas Child Sunday November 14 Last Day For Rice Bowls To Be Collected December 5 Christmas Around the World December 7-9 Winter Blast December 12 Baby Shower For Jesus December 16 Morning In Bethlehem December 19 Church Wide Caroling December 23 Jesus Birthday Party December 26 No Wednesday Night Activities Focus on your children developing a relationship with Christ instead of simply doing the right thing. So often we become more interested in seeing children act a certain way. The goal should always be pointing them toward Jesus, and then, through an overnlow of love and a desire to obey Him, comes the correct actions. One of the things I like to ask children about something they ve done that I hope will get them to think is to ask if they believe what they ve done is pleasing to God. I believe it helps them to get into the habit so they will eventually 4

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6 GeneraHon180 Ministry This month s copy of Parenting Teens magazine focuses on the issues of anxiety and decision-making. What used to be an adult problem is now a teenage problem. So what is anxiety? The dictionary says anxiety is an overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physiological signs and doubt. But for the Christian, anxiety is looking at the future without God in it. What do you do about the anxiety in the life of your teenager? You address it in your own life Nirst. Be the person you re calling your teenager to be. How do you do it? Become Before You Instruct You have to become the model because they re not buying the product you re selling if you re not using that product. Teens learn much by observation. They don t have 30-years of experience dealing with life s ups and downs. So, when their ups and downs come, they watch you. And take it from me, Do as I say not as I do will fail because it lacks the connidence from experience. Jesus said: Follow me and I will make you Nishers of men (Matthew 4:19). He didn t call them to be something he wasn t, he called them to be something he was. As a parent of a teenager, you must do the same. Become the person who has cured anxiety and worry then instruct your teen to do the same. You become this model by looking at the world with God in everything. Paul told the Philippian church: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6). Paul said the cure for anxiety is putting God in everything. Put God in your schedule, in your problems, in your decision-making, and in your marriage and relationships. Be faithful Nirst because you must model before you can sell. Cure your own anxiety, and when you go to sell that cure your teen will buy it, because they ve seen it work. God In Anxiety Out Consider how competent and connident Joshua must have been to be the leader chosen to conquer the Promised Land? But, read chapter 1 of Joshua and it seems he was anything but connident. It seems he was anxious. Four times in the Nirst chapter God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous because he is with him. Four times before beginning the conquest Joshua had to be reminded that God was in it. By Adam Whiteside Keep reading and you see that the conquest begins at Jericho. We all know the Walls of Jericho story. God commands Joshua to lead the people in a specinic way around the city. Joshua listened and, though it sounded unconventional, he obeyed and took the city. But what happened next is how Joshua learned that without God you will fail. After Jericho, Joshua plans to take on the tiny town of Ai. He comes up with a plan without consulting God. The result: Israel is defeated. The hearts of the people melted and became like water (Josh. 7:5). Joshua took on the world without God and the world whupped him. But, if you read on you ll learn that after the defeat, Joshua puts God Nirst in everything and goes 32-0 in battle. When Joshua learned to seek God Nirst, he lived undefeated. You can too, and then you can teach your teenager. Take Away the Weights Lastly, life is a race. Hebrews 12:1 says: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, Everything in your life innluences how you run, and there are things you can do without. Hebrews 12:1 says to lay aside every weight, and sin. Meaning there are things that slow you down that aren t sin. You must learn for yourself Nirst, then teach your teenager to discern what is best. Learn and teach them to be able to choose what is best between two things that are potentially good. Learn and teach them that not doing is often best; that just because there s the option to do doesn t mean you should. Time is precious. Fill it with weights, and anxiety will have its way. Learn and teach them that when they put God in everything, what they assume may be a failure or setback may only be the uncomfortable part of the plan. Romans 8:28 says: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. The cure for anxiety is putting God in everything. Become the model, enabling you to teach. Realize you re not alone, and you can live undefeated when God is Nirst in you life. Rid yourself of the weights that slow you down. Learn. Then teach your teenager.

7 NOVEMBER 2018 sunday monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday saturday Business Meeting at 5:00 Karesh Wing Operation Christmas Child Collection Church-wide Thanksgiving Dinner Finance Committee Mtg. Deacons' Mtg. Mission Bible Study Mission Prayer Group Gen 180 Thanksgiving Baskets Lottie Moon Kickoff Life Group Fellowship Revival Thanksgiving Springdale Ministry Men s Bible Study Happy Birthday 11/1 Jason Jordan 11/4 Dave Spradley 11/6 Dora Jane Barwick 11/7 Michell Holden 11/9 Brian Morris Judy Kambeitz 11/11 Jack Jordan Ann Martin 11/12 Dustin Anderson 11/14 Beverly Taylor Pat Lantz 11/16 Landon Garbade Zoie Hayes Adam Whiteside 11/17 Carl Kambeitz Amy Morris Alex Stephens Granger Morgan 11/19 Rachel Blackburn 11/21 Zach Knopp 11/23 Brenda Young 11/25 Charlotte Morris Ashley Brewington Becca Sparks 11/26 Janice Arledge Michelle Johnson Johnny Morris Abby Tarte 11/27 Turner Roberts 11/28 Autumn Oddie 11/29 Ashley Dowey 11/30 Nathan Brewington Happy Anniversary 11/2 Billy and Grace Holden John and Becky Watkins 11/19 Jamie and Chelsey Boykin 11/23 James and Patsy Brogdon 11/25 Buster and Charlotte Morris 11/24 Quay and Brenda Young 11/26 Michael Buster and and Charlotte Dora Jane Morris Barwick 7

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