December Letters from Our Churches. Alpha. First Marion. Monthly Letters from our Churches Coffee Creek Baptist Association

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1 Monthly Letters from our Churches Coffee Creek Baptist Association December 2018 Alpha Letters from Our Churches Happy New Year to CCA! May 2019 bring to each of you good health, increased faith, and sunny days! Well, I can wish that for you anyway! Alpha had a very busy month of December. We were unable to participate in Carols and Choirs due to many factors. Some were ill, some called away due to illness in the family, etc., but those of us who attended really enjoyed the music. Surely enjoyed the Best Boy Band of Leota!! Great job, Gentlemen. Good one, Brent! Our cantata, "I Have Seen the Light" went very well! And we had a nice crowd in attendance. Thanks to our Mary and Joseph, and the Angels. Also thanks and best wishes to our soloists for the cantata, Tammy Johnson and Mike Pruitt. Great job! The AB Men's and Women's groups filled several fruit baskets to be delivered to shut-ins and those who might need a lift. The group also helped fill about 60 treat bags to be given out on the Sunday before Christmas. We look forward to January goals of gathering food items, personal products, etc. for the homeless and for EMCC. Those are due in by the first Sunday in February. We missed having the EMCC group with us for Carols and Choirs, and hope they can return for next year's service. Thanks to those who transported the gifts that were brought to Scottsburg First Baptist to the EMCC. Big job! Many remain on the prayer list, and many are due for evaluations, x- rays, scans, etc. Keep those folks in your prayers, please. Again, we wish you a very Happy New Year! Written by Jackie McGannon First Marion Greetings to Our Sister Churches! We attended the Carols and Choirs on December 2 nd at Scottsburg Baptist. Another blood drive was held on December 7 th. Twenty people were able to give this time. Several Christmas programs were given during the month, put on by the

2 pre-school, church, and choir. A Chritmas Eve program was also held, as well as caroling. All programs were well attended. ABW and ABM enjoyed their December meetings with lots of food and fellowship. The deacons and their wives had a great evening at Salem at the Indiana Restaurant on December 15 th. On December 23 rd a neat program was pesented by our young people entitled The Sparkle Box. It was a program about how our lives should sparkle because we are Christians. Let our lives shine and sparkle for the Lord! Lick Branch Greetings! We at Lick Branch Baptist hope your celebration of Christ's birth was blessed and rich in love. December was a blend of old traditions and new.. In keeping with the Baptist tradition, our Advent season revolved around worship of our Savior, friends, family, and food. We held a Hanging of the Greens service early in the month. This was the kick off for the Advent season. Our sanctuary was beautifully decorated with the greens, white lights, and a nativity. At night, it produced a magical setting fitting for worship. During the service our family and friends were given ornaments of various Christian symbols to dedicate to a loved one (past and present) to place on the tree. Afterword, we hosted a light snack of sandwiches and cookies. The second week of Advent we shared a huge dinner of ham and turkey with all the sides. It was festive and kept our spirits buoyant in the richness of the Christmas season. The third week of Advent a group of us went Christmas caroling at Hickory Creek in Madison. We also traveled to various homes and sang to shut-ins as well as friends and families who could not join us. It was wet, but the Holy Spirit and hot chocolate warmed us. The final week of Advent we had a Christmas Eve service where we sang carols and hymns in a dimly lit sanctuary. All of us expressed gratitude for Immanuel and what God has done for us. The close of December was the Fifth Sunday Hymn Sing. Fifty-five brothers and sisters in Christ joined us for song, testimonies, and a spread of food that could have fed an army. There was much laughter and encouragement that came with this event. In addition to the Christmas activities, our membership continues to grow. We now need nursery workers and helpers with Children's Church. Thankfully, our church family has stepped in to help. In reflection, it was the perfect end for May God bless 2019 for each of you! Contributed by Lisa Kiser Scaffold Lick Greetings to Our Sister Churches: Happy New Year to you all and we wish you all a prosperous New Year! I am sorry that I missed reporting for November, but with the holidays, time slipped up on me. On October 21st Ishmael White was baptized, after professing his faith and accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. We welcomed him to our congregation. On 2

3 November 18, we had our annual Thanksgiving Dinner following the morning service. We here at Scaffold Lick Baptist hope you all had a joyous Christmas, as we celebrated the birthday of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We decorated the church on November 25th following our morning worship. On December 9, Hubert and Barbara Ashley came forward and requested to join our church. They had formerly been members years ago. We are so glad to have them back in our congregation On December 16 Gary and Audrey LaMaster's children had a reception at the Church of God's Fellowship hall in Austin to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary. It was well attended. On December 23rd we had our Christmas program. We had Audrey LaMaster sing Mary Did You Know. Between hymns and specials, Rev. David recited Scripture readings from the book of Luke. Darrell Morris played his guitar and he and his granddaughter Iris Overberg sang Away in A Manger. The Deacons prepared fruit baskets to be delivered to shutins. Everyone in attendance received a treat bag on their way out of the church. It was a great day enjoyed by everyone in attendance. We here at Scaffold Lick Baptist wish you all a safe winter as we all continue to do Gods work. God Bless You All! Sincerely, Kathy Morris Church Reporter Scottsburg FBC Greetings to all the sister churches of the Coffee Creek Association; may the Lord be with you. The month of December was a very busy month here at FBC. It started with the annual Carols and Choirs concert to benefit Edna Martin. A wonderful time was had by all, even though, through a mix-up in communication, the children s choir from Edna Martin was not in attendance. Fewer churches participated this year, but the generosity of our association was well represented. Almost $1700 was raised in the special offering (almost as much as 2017) and an entire pickup truck load of food was donated; a big THANK YOU to all who came. This year our Christmas program presented the Christmas story through the eyes of some of the people who were present at that time. Mary, Joseph, the Innkeeper, and one of the Wise Men gave their testimony of how the call to be the parents of the Savior and our Savior s birth impacted their lives. Many thanks to Julie Petty (Mary), Gary McClellan (Joseph), Terry Allen (Innkeeper), Chuck Rose (Wise Man), and Dave Everitt (Narrator) for bringing us this exciting insight into our Savior s birth. Christmas Eve Service was very well attended and thanks to all families and the elementary school Sunday School class for doing the Advent and Christmas Eve devotions is off to a great start with the approval of our new boards and committees for the year. Many new and exciting outreach programs are being discussed to have FBC more 3

4 in the community. Mark your calendars for these two upcoming events: March 10 th, FBC will be hosting the Coffee Creek Association annual meeting; and April 2 nd, FBC will again host Lifeline Screening, a very easy was to be checked for heart or stroke problems. May God bless you and keep you safe through these cold winter months. Your brother in Christ, Pastor Kevin Written by Irene Engle Underwood Baptist Greetings from Underwood! It was great to see everyone at Candles and Choirs! Our Choir enjoyed participating and worshiping musically with everyone present. And the fellowship time afterwards was as sweet as the selections on the tables in the Fellowship Hall! Steve Campbell from our church took the donated frozen turkeys and food items to Edna Martin Christian Center the next morning. What a wonderful way for our Association to celebrate Christmas, with music and gifts to the less fortunate! AB Women's Ministries held their December monthly meeting with an ornament gift exchange. Our more talented ladies created the ornaments that they gifted. Others of us were hoping we remembered to pull off the price tag before we put our gift in the box! Gift exchange was followed by lunch. Our ladies also have a weekly Bible Study on Revelation, by J. Vernon McGee. He goes into great detail and we are learning a lot. However, due to intricate detail with which he paints each word picture, we think that we may be on this study for the remainder of our natural lives! Each year our congregation decorates a Christmas tree in the sanctuary. Every member hangs an individual ornament during the first Sunday of Advent. It has special meaning because every ornament is the same in size and shape but the colors are different. What a true picture of the body of Christ, we are all equal but different. We also celebrated with Advent candles lit by families whose children stood on a chair to reach the microphone on the pulpit to do their readings. This is always heartwarming. Our prayer list grew in December with surgeries, illnesses, deaths, and the many challenges of life. As we close out 2018, may God bless your church family with a wonderful 2019! Sincerely, Rhonda Compise Letter from the Editor Dear Readers, I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! This month s issue, as with each issue, will bless your soul. I have read every word, and I feel like I am more in touch with my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I also have something to pray about with them as well as to praise the Lord. You will notice that our association s moderator Tyler Griffin has written a letter concerning our association s annual meeting coming up in March. Also a printer is being offered by the folks at Kimberlin Creek Baptist. See the announcement below. 4

5 Well, Thanks to the contributor s letters this month. Hopefully we will hear from you again next month, as well as from some of our other reporters, who were not able to contribute this time. Due dates are listed below. The Lord knows it s a very busy seaon. Until Next Time, In His Loving Grace, John Posey Editor Isaiah 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those who have young. (NIV) Letter From our Association Moderator Dear Readers, I would like to remind everyone about the Coffee Creek Association's annual meeting. This year it will be on March 10 at 4:00pm hosted by Scottsburg First Baptist Church. Rev. Soozi Whitten-Ford will be our guest speaker this year. I am still working out special music. And as good Baptists do, there will be a meal following the meeting. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me through any of the avenues below. I pray God will shower His blessing on you and your churches and that the Spirit fills your life and church with His presence. Blessings,Tyler Griffin Moderator Coffee Creek Association tylergriffin674@gmail.com January Issue Due Dates The submission days for the January Shepherd are February 4-8. The finished copy will be ed to you no later than February 13. If you wish to submit a letter for your church, send it via to theshepherd2019@gmail.com Announcement From Kimberlin Creek Baptist FREE! We have recently upgraded our copier and would like to offer our old one to any of our sister churches who might have a need for one. It still works great; it is just a little older. This is first come first serve, so if your church is interested, please call Judy at our church office. You will need someone to load/haul it. Look forward to hearing from you! 5