Vol. 14 No. 10 First Southern Baptist Church Mattoon, Illinois September 30, From Our Pastor

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1 Good News Messenger Vol. 14 No. 10 First Southern Baptist Church Mattoon, Illinois September 30, 2015 From Our Pastor The fall season has begun. Weather is beginning to change. We will be turning our clocks back one hour at the beginning of next month. We will start making references to winter. And, the Lord God Almighty is still on His throne. Life is always made up of ups and downs. Sometimes we experience hardships, sometimes life seems easy. We never really know what s right around the corner. Matthew 5:45b says (NIV): He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. We keep going forward doing what we believe the Lord wants us to do. I recognize that life at times can be quite challenging. Here s what I know, with all of life s ups and downs, we continue moving forward. With all of life s ups and downs, the Lord God Almighty is still on His throne. Whether the season has changed, the weather has changed, the clocks have changed, the Lord does not change. He is God! We are on mission fellow Christian. Let s keep going forward. There is work for us to do and blessings in store for the faithful. May God, in Christ, richly bless you! Pastor

2 Deacons Corner empower you and help you know what to say? Blessed greetings from your deacons! I like to think of October as a harvest month. Jesus said The fields are white unto harvest. Romans 10:13 says Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Many don t realize it, but before we call on the Lord to save us He has called us! The Holy Spirit is always working on hearts to turn to Jesus. We need to give to the lost a nudge to believe. Everybody who wants to be saved must answer His call with our call to Him to forgive and save us. After we have called on God to save us, we are to continually call on Him to help us live the Christian life. What a privilege to have the Creator of the universe waiting on our call! He is always there to help us when we call. He has called us to go and make disciples of the lost. The Holy Spirit is striving to work in the hearts of the lost. Have you talked to God about giving you the tools to reach the harvest of the lost? Have you asked God to lead you to someone who is lost? Have you asked God to No one likes to be silent it seems, in the company of others. When they begin to talk about the weather, world events or sports; ask them how they think God is involved in it. When they are called on to think on God, you and the Holy Spirit will be part of the harvest. God bless you in His work. Larry Maguire, Deacon Women s Ministry Ladies Spa Day is Saturday, October 10 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. in the church gym. We will have various stations that the ladies may participate in including: paraffin wax for hands, a foot massage station, massage chairs, a facial station, a nail polishing station, hopefully a hair station, and then the chocolate station! Ladies may come and go as they please, and the event is free. Feel free to bring a friend and enjoy an afternoon of relaxation. Due to the spa day, we will not be going out to eat in October, but our next dinner

3 outing will be Monday night, November 2, 2015 at the Alamo at 6:00 p.m., and then for December we will go to breakfast at Cracker Barrel at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 5 th, and then those who are interested will go to the church and decorate the church for Christmas. For those who just want to come to decorate we will meet at the church at 10:00 a.m. Also, we are planning on setting up tables to display nativity scenes and winter villages for the live nativity. We would love to have some new ones to display this year. For those who did not participate, I ve never felt God s peace in an event before as we did those two nights. I was very nervous about the choir singing three days in a row, and if everyone would come and sing in their 15 minute time slots. I had had a few cancelations, and I was afraid that I would have to sing an hour every night. But as the first evening began, and the choir started singing Friday night, wither it was the dimmed lights, the smell of hot chocolate, the laughter in the foyer, the twinkling of the Christmas lights, or what I really believe it was, God s presence, I had peace. I remember thinking, Julie, why are you so calm? I firmly believe that as our church was willing to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ to Mattoon, and the world as it passed by, God the Father was deeply pleased with us, and we were truly blessed. We hope you will join in the blessing this year. Julie Calio Women s Ministry Director AWANA - I want to live my life Gods way. AWANA clubs have gotten off to a flying start. We have an average of 10 children attending either Sparks or TNT. New this year is our Missions Moment. A guest speaker comes in and shares about the country they have visited for about 15 min. If you would like to sign up to be a speaker see the bulletin board in the hallway. We would love to have you. Our first guest speaker for our Missions Moment was Julie Calio. She talked to the children about Pakistan. She brought in some things from Pakistan for the children to see. For our Pakistani snack we had orange cardamom thins (cookies), Pakistani Coffee with cinnamon & Cardamom. Our second guest was Marge Alumbaugh. Marge shared her experiences in South Africa and had several items for the children to look at. I think they really enjoyed the stories and pictures about the wild life parks. For snack we had South African Malvapoeding (Marshmallow Pudding), raspberry zinger hot tea, and a milk tart. The children are really good about trying the new foods. We also make sure they get a packet at the end of the evening that talks about missions in the country we have learned about as well as recipes for the snacks. Krista Pickering Awana Leader

4 Music Box Choir has started our new Christmas musical, O Come Let Us Adore Him. It is a beautiful mixture of Christmas music from Hymn classics, to carols, to new songs we ve never heard. We meet at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoons. We will be presenting the musical on Friday & Saturday night of the Live Nativity, December 11 & 12, and then on Sunday morning December 13 th. We would love to have you. There truly is a blessing when we sing God s praises. Also a note, we will be having sign ups for 15 minute increments for the live nativity scene, so please be thinking about what music you could play or sing, and which night you would be free to come and help us. Live Wires will leave at 11:30 Thursday, October 15 th for the Villa on 45 in Neoga. After lunch they will go to the home of John and Marge Alumbaugh for dessert. Sign up sheet on bulletin board in front entry way. Crisis Pregnancy Center Invites you to their Choices 27 th Annual Fundraising Dinner Celebrate Life with Laughter Saturday, October 17, 2015 Doors open at 6:00 p.m. EIU Grand Ballroom, Charleston, IL Featuring Christian Comedian Gordon Douglas Guests must make reservation by Oct. 11 th. Please call Sarah at to reserve your seat! Questions see Judy Lowey Who were the three James in the New Testament? 1. James the Just - half- brother of Jesus, believed to be writer of the book of James. 2. James, son of Zebedee one of the twelve disciples also called James the Greater and James the Elder, He was John s brother. They were Jesus cousins (their mother, Salome was Mary s sister) 3. James son of Alphaeus one of the twelve disciples, also called James the Lesser or James the Younger. It is believed that he was Jesus cousin, that his mother and Mary were sister s in law. They have Dial-a-Prayer for atheists now. You call up and it rings and rings but nobody answers.

5 One Sunday morning in a Midwest church, a young child was "acting up" during the worship hour. The parents did their best to maintain some sense of order in the pew but were losing the battle. Finally, the father picked the little fellow up and walked sternly up the aisle on his way out. Just as they reached the foyer, the little boy yelled out, "Pray for me! Pray for me!" Who were the three Judases in the New Testament? 1. Judas called Jude. Half- brother of Jesus, believed to have written the book of Jude. 2. Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples. He betrayed Jesus. 3. Judas, also called Thaddeus one of the twelve disciples,. VBS Coming next summer Pat and Mike, both in their 90's, had played professional baseball together and, after they retired, had remained close friends. Pat suddenly fell deathly ill. Mike visited Pat on his deathbed. After they talked a while and it became obvious that Pat had only a few more minutes to live, Mike said, "Listen old friend. After you die, try and get a message back to me. I want to know if there's baseball in heaven." With his dying breath, Pat whispers, "If God permits, I'll do my best to get you an answer." A few days after Pat died, Mike is sleeping when he hears Pat's voice. Shelby Pickering, age nine, came forward for baptism last Sunday. Tentative date for baptism is October 25 during morning worship. Shelby is the daughter of David and Krista Pickering of Mattoon and has attended FSBC with her mother and brother, Conner since she was a baby. Pat says, "Mike, I've got good news!. The good news is, yes, there IS baseball in heaven and you're scheduled to pitch the top half of tomorrow's double-header."

6 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Trustees 4:30 p.m :30 a.m. Men s Ministry Breakfast at Pagliacci s 4 10:05 a.m. Worship 6:00 p.m. Worship 5 5:30 p.m. Deacons 6 7 1:00 p.m. WOM :00 3:00 p.m Spa day in the Gym :05 a.m. Worship 6:00 p.m. Worship 12 6:00 p.m. Outreach & Sunday School Council 13 7:00 p.m. Finance Committee :30 a.m. LiveWires leave church for Villa on 45 for lunch :05 a.m. Worship 6:00 p.m. Business Meeting :05 a.m. Worship/Lord s Supper 6:00 p.m. Worship Don t forget to turn your clocks back tonight! Who were the three Marys in the New Testament? 1. Mary, mother of Jesus. 2. Mary Magdalene, Jesus healed her of seven demons, she became one of the women who traveled with Jesus as one of his followers 3. The other Mary, mother of James the Lesser. She was the sister-in-law of Jesus mother, Mary. She was wife of Clopus ( also called Alphaeus).

7 October Shawn Couch 01 Mark Croy 01 David Hilligoss 03 Jim Ayers 04 Ann Hardin 04 Krista Pickering 04 Lexi Landrus 06 Kathy Evans 08 Claire Beck 10 Ruth Biggs 15 Nicolle Kuyrkendall 17 Hayden Righter 17 Jim West 17 Fred Nieman 18 Jack Hudson 20 Logan Dann 23 Maggie West 25 Jazmin Kuyrkendall 27 Dean Nichols 29 Sharon Layton 31 November Addison Caulk 01 Sharron Maguire 01 Timothy Crask 03 Scott Biggs 06 Natalie Pruitt 08 Jeanne Elliott 10 David Tabbert 10 Bud Biggs 13 Tommy Heiser 13 Sierra Curry 14 Sharon Birdsong 15 Paul Calio 15 Joseph Calio 15 Christina Couch 17 Keegan Henderson 18 Donald Hilligoss 18 Hayden Chupp 20 Mike Varady 24 Shyanne Stiffler 25 Conner Pickering 26 Joyce Cunningham 28 Mike Landrus 28 Amee Crask 30 four-year-old boy was eating an apple in the back seat of the car, when he asked, "Daddy, why is my apple turning brown?" "Because," his dad explained, "after you ate the skin off, the meat of the apple came into contact with the air, which caused it to oxidize, thus changing the molecular structure and turning it into a different color." There was a long silence. Then the little guy asked softly, "Daddy, are you talking to me?"