FIRST LIGHT PASTOR S PAGE

Transcription

1 FIRST LIGHT First Southern Baptist Church DECEMBER 2017/ JANUARY 2018 December: PASTOR S PAGE Christmas is a special time of the year. For many it is a time of joy and celebration, of family and friends. Christmas is also a time of reflection. Many of us, in this season, contemplate former Christmases. Perhaps we think of our childhood and the excitement and anticipation of waiting for presents. Perhaps we think of that loved one who has gone ahead of us to be with the Lord and will not be with us as we celebrate this year. As we enter into this Advent season, I d like for us as a church to enter a season of reflection. I'd like to offer you a few things to prayerfully consider as we enter this season. First, this body has been through a long and, at times, trying season of change. By God's grace we are together today, and my family is excited to be part of the First Southern family. As we begin this new journey together, what have you learned about God through this time of change? What are some ways you've seen God working in our church, and in your own family over these transitional months? Second, we have been and continue to be served faithfully by Kenton and Kelli. What are some ways in which their ministry has helped you as you walk with the Lord? I would encourage you to continue to pray for both of them, and especially Kenton as he serves our state as Disaster Relief Director. As we anticipate many years of fruitful ministry in our church, let us pause and celebrate what God has already done. Finally, Christmas is a time of joy and thanksgiving. As we reflect on some of these questions, let's pause in prayer and express our gratitude to God who has so richly blessed us. We have much to be thankful for because we have a living hope in Jesus Christ. God bless you and your family this Christmas season. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!! January: Last month, I encouraged you to pause, reflect on the past, and give thanks. This month, I want to encourage you to pause, dream about the future, and faithfully take some actions to improve your spiritual life and do great things for the sake of the gospel. Below are some questions written by Don Whitney, one of our Southern Baptist seminary professors, that provide a helpful challenge for us as we enter this new year. I'd ask you to prayerfully consider these questions, discuss them with a friend, and pursue accountability for them as you walk through the year: "1. What s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God? 2. What s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year? 3. What s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year? 4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it? 5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year? 6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church? 7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year? 8. What s the most important way you will, by God s grace, try to make this year different from last year? 9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year? 10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?" Copyright 2003 Donald S. Whitney. All rights reserved.

2 Worship through majestic music, the beauty of candlelight, the birth of the Messiah, and the promise that Jesus will come again! CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICE December 24 6:00 P.M. We will have our usual Sunday morning service on Christmas Eve Day beginning at 10:15 A.M. GOD S GALS PRAYER GROUP We are studying the book Fervent by Priscilla Shirer. J o i n u s o n W e d n e s d a y s a t 6 : 3 0 p. m. WELCOME BAG ITEMS NEEDED Keep this ministry in mind as you are doing your Christmas shopping. Consider items that we could include in our Welcome Bags, something that would make people smile. A lot of different people come during the holidays so we would like a variety of items. If you have a special craft or baked goods that you would like to contribute to our Welcome Bag ministry, please see Jill Mitchley.

3 First Southern Baptist Church 89 Kimble Hill Road Williamsport, PA :00 A.M. Worship Service 10:15 A.M.... to embody the unconditional love of God. DECEMBER PRESCHOOL CHURCH Dec. 3 Marilyn North Kelli Hunt Dec. 10 Troy Boring Cheri Boring Dec. 17 Carol Turnbow Sue Opdahl Dec. 24 Sandra Trick Nathan Trick Dec. 31 Darleen Coon Rod Coon DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS 1 Michael Opdahl 2 Wayne Kirkland 3 Troy Boring 4 Jasmyne Burgess 12 Judy Robertson 15 Lynnette Reitz 24 Gabriel Strothers 26 Heather Waldron Articles for the FEBRUARY issue of the FIRST LIGHT are due in the Church Office by TUESDAY, JAN. 23! Sanctity of Human Life Sunday January 21, 2018 JANUARY BIRTHDAYS 10 Mike Bennett Michi Reichmann 20 Kathy Lucas 21 Karen Phillips 23 Rachel Foresman 24 Zach Perkins 28 Steve Bennett

4 LOTTIE MOON The national goal for this year s Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is $160 million. First Southern Baptist Church s goal is $ 2, Special envelopes are available. Prayerfully consider your contribution to support international missions. Sunday, DEC. 31 st will be our last day to give to this offering. The Week of Prayer features families, teams, & those in need of the gospel. The Bagby family in Nepal hikes rough terrain to bring the gospel to unreached people and villages. God is moving Muslims of Russia toward faith in Christ. Also the WMU International Mission Study. For the Jones family in Japan, God is using the adoption of their son to open doors and hearts. The diverse backgrounds and skills of the Mexico City team help them serve unreached people in this global megacity. Often alone, the forgotten refugee needs to know he is loved by God. IMB missionaries have the opportunity to share the hope of the gospel. The world converges in the kitchen of the Mikeska family in London. There they encourage new believers and develop strategic friendships. Celebrate what God has done to draw people to Himself and continue praying for hearts open to Him. Boldness, clarity, joy, effectiveness, and more. This is what IMB missionaries need and why prayer matters. OFFERING ENVELOPES for 2018 are available in the foyer. Please stop by the table & pick yours up. If you don t see yours or you would like more, please contact the Church Office. Page 4 GREETERS The sign-up sheet for our 2018 Greeters is posted on the bulletin board. Please sign-up for the months that you can serve in this area of ministry. DECEMBER 2017/JANUARY 2013

5 EXPECTATIONS WOMENS CENTER GIVING TREE Again this year we have a Giving Tree in our foyer to help support Expectations Women s Center, our local pregnancy care center. Expectations Women s Center offers hope to their clients through their Wee Care Store. As clients participate in the Earn While You Learn program, they learn how to care for their baby & they earn coupons to spend in the store on items for their baby. You can offer hope to them by selecting tags from the tree in the foyer and purchasing the items listed. After your purchase, you may place the tags on your unwrapped gifts & place them under our Christmas tree at the front of the sanctuary. Your gifts will then be made available in the Expectation s Wee Care Store. Thank you for helping to bless parents & babies who will receive your gifts. SUNDAY SCHOOL ORDER DEADLINE ATTENTION TEACHERS: Please inform Hillary Confer if you need to make any changes to your curriculum order for Sunday School for the Spring Quarter no later than Sunday, DEC. 17.

6 Early C hildhood L earning C enter Infant News Teachers: Ms Leslie & Ms Tammy Thank you God for our food! Our Family Thanksgiving Lunch was so much fun. Our little ones looked so adorable in their Gobble Gobble Bibs. A huge thank you to everyone that supported our annual Wreath Fundraiser. Our Miss Brooke is creeping all over the room & tries to get on all fours... too cute! Welcome to our new little guy, Barrett. Toddler 1 News Teacher: Ms Ali & Ms Tessie We are very excited for the holidays, including our first Candy Cane Hunt. Archer was telling us all about how his Dad missed a big buck while hunting. Toddler 2 News Preschool News Pre-K News Teacher: Ms Stephanie The Toddlers loved having lunch with everyone at our Thanksgiving Luncheon. They also enjoyed preparing for Thanksgiving and making feathers to add to our Mickey Mouse shaped bulletin board turkey. Each family decorated two feathers and the finished product was a Disney themed turkey. The mild Fall days have given the Toddlers more time to enjoy outside play time. Teacher: Ms Ashley Wow, November flew by. We were busy this month learning our parts for the Thanksgiving Play, which we put on Nov. 17 for a packed house of our families & friends. The Play was the 5 Little Leaves. The Leaves were played by Abigail, Jaxon, Roselyn, & Noah. The Bird was Lacey, the bug was Tristan, & the narrator was Ms. Ashley. After the play we sang two songs, which were Autumn Leaves are Falling Down and Red Orange Yellow Brown. Then we wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving & led the prayer with the Pre-K. For the rest of the month we learned about our families, homes, & Thanksgiving. We did many fun activities such as sharing pictures of our homes, drawing pictures of our families, making 3d houses, making play dough turkeys, weaving ribbons, & so much more. We ended the month by decorating for Christmas & putting up the wreaths that we made with our families. We also continued our Healthy Bodies Days where we got to try new fruits and vegetables like Avocados, Blueberries, Cauliflower, Dates, Edamame (our favorite), & Figs. We are looking forward to trying more fruits & vegetables that start with the letters we are learning & all the fun activities that December has in store. Teachers: Ms Michi & Ms Brittney November was an exciting month as the children prepared for Thanksgiving. They made their choice of Native American head dresses, Pilgrim hats or a turkey themed hat to wear to the Luncheon. They also learned about life on a farm and church helpers. They took a tour of our church & used what they learned to create their own church designs out of blocks. They also enjoyed some new Bible themed books and puzzles. We are eating our way through the alphabet and have tried new foods like figs, dates and edamame. We had many thumbs up for the edamame. They are learning songs for each food to help them remember why it is important to eat healthy foods.

7 December 2017 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat :00 pm Hanging of the Greens Lottie Moon Ingathering :30 pm Discipleship Council Meeting 7:00 pm Tiadaghton Quilt Guild :30 pm Stewardship 6:30 pm God's Gals 6:30 pm Men s :00 AM E C L C Christmas Party 12:00 noon Business Meeting 6:30 pm God's Gals 6:30 pm Men s Sunday School Order Deadline 5:30 pm ECLC Advisory Board Meeting 6:30 pm God's Gals 6:30 pm Men s 24 10:15 am Christmas Eve Day Service 6:00 pm Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 25 Church Office closed for Christmas holiday Merry Christmas :30 pm God's Gals 6:30 pm Men s Churchill Family Get Together 31

8 January 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 7 Lord s Supper 1 Happy New Year! Church Office closed for New Year s holiday 2 6:30 pm DISCIPLESHIP COUNCIL 7:00 pm Tiadaghton Quilt Guild :00 pm Stewardship 6:30 pm God's Gals 6:30 pm Men s Prayer :30 pm God's Gals 6:30 pm Men s Prayer :30 pm ECLC Advisory Board Meeting 6:30 pm God's Gals 6:30 pm Men s Prayer 21 Sanctity of Human Life Sunday 22 7:00 pm Deacons 23 FIRST LIGHT DEADLINE for Feb. News 24 6:30 pm God's Gals 6:30 pm Men s Prayer