The Testament. Come Join Us for our 54th Church Anniversary Sunday, May 16th 3:00pm. Saluting Our Senior Adults Age Strong! Live Long!

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1 The Testament May 2010 Lincoln Memorial Baptist Church Durham, NC Vol. 8 No. 1 A timeless message from the archives... Pastor s Corner Rev. Linzie B. Atkins, III The Good Book Read any good books lately? Let me kindly recommend the #1 Best Seller and the first book to be printed on the Johannes Gutenberg's Printing Press - The Holy Bible - the first book to be published in volume (The Gutenberg s Bible). Yet, it seems strange to me that this Good Book is read and consulted less and less as times have become worse and worse. Sure, it is still the #1 seller but is it the #1 reader? Too often this Good Book is found as a decorative piece taking up space on an end/coffee table or littered/scattered about in churches and hotel rooms. The Holy Bible is a fascinating book. It will keep you when you are lonely, comfort you when you are sad, and give you direction when you are lost. I want to share with you an important truth that I learned early in my biblical studies: Sin will keep you away from the Bible; however, the Bible will keep you away from sin. Read it, study it, and live it. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceed out of the mouth of God. The Psalmist in Psalm 119:11 said thy word hath I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. Finally, and later in that same Psalm verse 105 says thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. So take a look at the Good Book. The central theme of the Bible is love - it s a love story and You are the object of God s love pursuit. Come Join Us for our 54th Church Anniversary Sunday, May 16th 3:00pm Please support our annual Church Anniversary Program and Fundraiser. Our guest speaker will be Rev. Clarence Burke from Beacon Light Missionary Baptist Church here in Durham. We need YOU to make our anniversary a success! Saluting Our Senior Adults Age Strong! Live Long! The month of May is recognized across our nation as Senior Adult Appreciation Month. Under Rev. Atkins leadership, Lincoln has made it a priority to recognize our seniors during this observance and salute for them for the value they add to church. A special dinner will be held for our seniors on the first Sunday in May. We salute our seniors and pray that this year s national theme - Age Strong! Live Long! will apply to all of our senior adults. Congratulations Senior Adults! Several of Lincoln s senior adults posed recently with Rev. Linzie and First Lady Marva Atkins following morning worship services..

2 Laymen s League Tool Workshop In an effort to expose our young males to various trades and skill-sets, the men of the Laymen s League recently organized a Tool Workshop to provide an orientation to many of the tools used in homes and various vocational settings. Power saws, screwdrivers and other power tools were used to provide hands on experience regarding the purpose and proper usage of these types of tools. Hats off to the Laymen s League for providing this valuable learning experience for our male members.

3 Women of Faith Sweating in the Spirit by Sis. Joan Lofton The Women of Faith meet on Saturday, April 3, Sister Kathy Poole spoke from the Power of a Praying Woman: Lord, Bless Me in the Work I Do. Everyone has a job to do. Sister Poole stated that you should approach your work with passion and zeal, enjoy your work, understand for who you are really working for and commit your work to the Lord. It doesn t matter if you are a stay-at-home mom, a full-time student, a CEO of a giant corporation, a single woman who is self-supporting, a married woman running a home, a skilled career woman, a disabled person, a baby-sitter, a house sitter, or a single working mom, you have work to do. Whatever work we do, we want to do it well and be successful. When our work is good, it gives us fulfillment. When we accomplish something worthwhile that makes life better for other people, our families, or ourselves, it gives us satisfaction. But when the work of our hands is not blessed, we are weighed down with frustration and unfulfillment. If you have a paying job, don t hesitate to pray that you will be compensated fairly and generously. Pray for your employer to be blessed in his business so he in turn can afford to pay all employees well. Pray that your work is recognized and appreciated by others. Pray to receive promotions and advancement in line with God s will. No matter what your paycheck reflects, your work is important to God, it s important to others, and it s important to you. Psalm 90:17 states Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands. Following our Bible teaching, Sister Poole facilitated a 35 minute Gospel Workout session of exercise and stretching called Sweating in the Spirit. This was a Christian Workout, which means that we were exercising and getting into fantastic shape in order to respect our body and treat it as it deserves. This was a fantastic workout and we forward to another workout real soon. Thank-you Sister Poole for a great spiritual time! Next : May 1, We will be hosting our first ever "Beauty Day", hairstyling, manicure, facial and pedicure. All for free. Look for the flyer. The Tie That Binds Bro. Eugene and Sis. Joan Lofton match wits against Bro. John and Sis. Gloria Manley and Evangelist Prentice and Minister Cassandra Stone during a couples activity at Lincoln s Family Night event in March. Patterned after The Newlywed Game, the couples answered questions about their spouses ranging from their favorite foods to their favorite friends. Fortunately, all of the participates knew their spouses well and in the end - they were all winners! Congratulations couples!

4 Building A Community by Rev. Lawrence N. Clark Lincoln Memorial Baptist Church has adopted as its motto: Building the Church in the Community and the Community in the Church. In our Sunday School we have studied the teachings on community. We have highlighted the response of faithful people to God s call. We have examined how their Spiritled mission inspires a new kind of relationship between God s followers. God has truly blessed this church. Here we have many people who possess many talents, skills, and abilities. Our vision is to fully embrace and live out God s word by contributing to the growth of His kingdom. The Bible exhorts us to stir up the gifts that have been given to each of us. By precept and example we can all become a priesthood of believers by reaching and teaching for Christ. The question may be asked: What are the new challenges for our Church? More personally we may inquire: What are the new challenges that God desires each member here to accept that will impact us individually and corporately? Pastor Linzie B. Atkins, III, has thrown down the gauntlet for the members of Lincoln by asking us to Make the Right Move! In prayer, through fasting, and with a willingness to make a difference each of us can help to expand our church community. Joshua 17: 14, 15 provides an excellent example for those seeking to establish a community. When God lead his people into the Promised Land they were explicitly told to drive out the people from land. (13:1-6). The failure to remove completely the pagan people and their gods from the land would cause many problems for this nation. The book of Judges records many of these struggles. There were contrasting attitudes toward settling the Promised Land. Caleb took what God gave him and moved ahead to fulfill God s plan for him (14:12). He was confident that God would help him drive out the wicked inhabitants and that he would soon occupy his land. (15:14, 15). In contrast, two tribes of Joseph were given rich land and lots of it, but they were afraid to drive out the inhabitants and take full possession of it. Instead, they begged for more land. But Joshua asked them to prove their sincerity first by clearing the unclaimed areas. It takes work and dedication to make a bold move for Christ! The land that we clear and the community that we build not only be for us but for our posterity also. Together, we must decide what kind of community will we build here at Lincoln? Laying the Foundation Sis. Barbara Leathers listens patiently as she provides guidance to our youth in the new members class. New member classes lay the foundation for becoming members of Lincoln and disciples in the body of Christ. The members pictured with Sis. Leathers are all candidates for baptism and will be baptized following their completion of the new member class.

5 Pastor s Aide Mini-Concert Congratulations to the Pastor s Aide on their first ever Gospel Mini-Concert. Organized to show love and support for Rev. Linzie and First Lady Marva Atkins, the event was a spirit-filled endeavor and featured uplifting vocal performance as well as an inspired dance ministry performance. The presence of the Lord was truly felt during this outstanding event. Congratulations to the Pastor s Aide Ministry! Thank You Rev. Linzie and First Lady Marva Atkins

6 Family Night Congratulations to the Christian Board of Education for sponsoring another successful Family Night outing for our church. A fun-filled evening of songs, games, face-painting, food and fellowship characterized this outstanding event. Jesus is Love - by Sis. Gloria Manley Thank you God for giving your only begotten son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Love conquers all, with love in our hearts, we can make a new start. Love covers a multitude of things; us being treated like human beings, and not being judged by the color of our skin. We should love one another, like sister and brother. We as a nation can stand tall and bold. Let it be Jesus love in our hearts unfold in our souls. Jesus died for us on Calvary, He shed his blood for you and me. He gave His love to set us free. By accepting God s love in our hearts, We can make a new start. He can change, rearrange any condition, or situation around as a plan. Right now, our future lies in his hands. We all need love, and this we shall give plenty of: He gave his love for us; right now he needs our trust. I quote, All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord. I love Jesus very much; I honor and praise His holy name. I give Him all the love, honor, thanks and glory for all He s done for me. He didn t have to do it, but he did. I m one of His children and He loves me as well as you. He is omnipotent; He made everything and everybody. He loves all of us; Right now, He needs our trust. We can surely give Him this - we surely must. Help us to love one another, like sister and brother. We are the descendents of Adam and Eve, this I know and believe. Lord, help us to love you more and more; to trust and to have faith in You at all time. This, I pray. This would make Jesus surely happy, and give him a good sign. We want to go forth, and not behind. Thank you for all you do, we truly love You. Your love is no lie, it is true. It won t come back void. Your love we can truly afford. Help us to praise Your love and be sincere in what we do; Lord, we truly, truly love You. Let s continue to have a heart for God.

7 Welcome New Members! - by Sis. Barbara Leathers Joshua Leon Talley joined the LMBC Family on 3/7/2010 and completed classes on 3/17/10. Joshua has been coming to LMBC basically all of his life. He is a 7th grade student at Carrington Middle School. He is surrounded by lots of family members who are also LMBC members: Mother (Felicia Talley), Grandmother (Mamie Brodie), uncles and an aunt. Joshua was baptized on Resurrection Sunday. Angela Svetaketu joined the LMBC Family on 2/28/10 and completed classes on 3/28/10. Angela is a native of Durham and a graduate of Hillside High School. At Hillside she met her Guidance Counselor, Sister Kathy Poole, who invited her to LMBC. Angela attends NCCU and is in pursuit of a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice. SAVE THE DATE!! LMBC Jimmy and Torian Graves Memorial Scholarship Program Saturday, June 26th 4:00pm Please stay tuned to the weekly church bulletin and The Testament for more information. Happy Mother s Day!! To all of the mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts and special women who fill the role of mom in someone s life - we salute you and honor you on your day! You are truly loved and appreciated. Happy Birthday to our May Birthday Celebrities Toniea Slaughter William Mayfield, Jr. Paul Belcher Maranda Leverette Genavous Williams Makiah Atwater Jeral Ore Jeanette Ramsey Kenneth Holman Chakenya Denson Best Wishes for Many More!! Food For Thought... Two Horses - submitted by Sis. Barbara Leathers There is a place in the countryside with a field that has two horses in it. From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse. But if you stop your car, or are walking by, you will notice something quite amazing... Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him. This alone is amazing. If you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field. Attached to the horse's halter is a small bell. It lets the blind friend know where the other horse is, so he can follow. As you stand and watch these two friends, you'll see that the horse with the bell is always checking on the blind horse, and that the blind horse will listen for the bell and then slowly walk to where the other horse is, trusting that he will not be led astray. When the horse with the bell returns to the shelter of the barn each evening, it stops occasionally and looks back, making sure that the blind friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell. Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect, or because we have problems or challenges. He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need.. Sometimes we are the blind horse, being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives. Other times we are the guide horse, helping others to find their way... Good friends are like that... you may not always see them, but you know they are always there. Please listen for my bell and I'll listen for yours. And remember Be kinder than necessary - Everyone you meet is fighting Some kind of battle. Life may not be the party we hoped for, But while we are here we might as well dance!

8 May 2010 Transition To Win In 2010 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat To add an event to the church calendar, please contact Sis. Janice Campbell by calling the church at , option 1. You may also her at churchcalendar@mylmbc.org. Please send articles, photos or information for The Testament to newsletter@mylmbc.org by the 3rd Sunday of each month. 10:00am Trustee Ministry 11:00am Nurse s Aide 12:00pm Women of Faith 2 Senior Adult Appreciation Day 3 4 6:30pm Pastor s Aide Committee 5 Noon Day Prayer Sounds of Joy Bible Study 6 7 Praise Team 8 10:00am Deaconess Ministry Mother s Day 3:00pm Youth Missionary Voices of Praise Noon Day Prayer Bible Study Christian Board of Education Praise Team Voices of Praise 9:00am Laymen s League 1:00pm Victorian Tea Party :00pm Church Anniversary 6:30pm Deacons Leadership Noon Day Prayer Bible Study Church Conference Praise Team 10:00am Durham County Missionary Dept. Usher Board 2:00pm Missionary Dept Voices of Praise 25 Computing & Technology Committee 26 Noon Day Prayer Sounds of Joy Bible Study 27 Neighborhood PAC 28 Praise Team Voices of Praise 29 Church Calendar Updates Available Online at: calendar.yahoo.com/lmbccalendar Special thanks to Bro. Reginald Davis and Sis. Latisha Johnson for photos.