Reaching beyond our walls for Christ through teaching, preaching, and servanthood.

Transcription

1 June 2015 Reaching beyond our walls for Christ through teaching, preaching, and servanthood. Sundays 9:45-10:30 am Sunday School 10:30 am Fellowship Time 10:45 am Worship Wednesdays 5:30 Dinner (3rd Wed.) 6:30 Prayer Service Children/Youth 7:15 Adult Choir Practice Staff Joseph Needham, Pastor Brandon Watson, Minister to Families Valerie Wilson Music Director Our Dad God took the strength of a mountain, The majesty of a tree, The warmth of a summer sun, The calm of a quiet sea, The generous soul of nature, The comforting arm of night, The wisdom of the ages, The power of the eagle's flight, The joy of a morning in spring, The faith of a mustard seed, The patience of eternity, The depth of a family need, Then God combined these qualities, When there was nothing more to add, He knew His masterpiece was complete, And so, He called it... Dad Teah DiSpirito, Secretary teah@calvarybcshallotte.org Web Page calvarybcshallotte.org Office Hours Mon. Thurs. 9:00 3:00 Friday Office Closed Phone (910) Fax (910) Pastor s Page..page 2 Minister of Families...page 3 Baptist Women.. page 3 Remembering Memorial Day...page 4 Introducing our Graduates...page 5 Connections.....page 6 E-giving....page 7 Calendar......insert Birthdays....Back Page

2 The Amazing Grace of the Body of Christ No matter what any particular individual may say, everyone needs to be a part of a group. Some people like to be part of a large and socially active group. Others prefer smaller more intimate groups. Even loners, who spend the majority of their time alone, still need someone to relate to, even if it is a rare occasion. All who choose to follow Christ are automatically included in a group. The Apostle Paul called this group The Body of Christ. In this month s article I want to discuss the powerful benefits of being a part of the Body of Christ. First, all members of The Body of Christ are on equal footing with God. In 1 st Corinthians chapter 12, Paul discusses in detail that every member is important. The Bible is riddled with verses that show God loves and cares for us all equally, no matter what our role in The Body may be. Scripture tells us that God is not a respecter of persons, and that Christ died for all. We are urged to put each other above ourselves, no matter what our particular roles may be. In many groups there is a distinct hierarchy with higher levels of privilege. But not so in The Body of Christ. There may very well be a hierarchy, depending on the ministry task at hand, but there are no higher levels of privilege. Furthermore, no matter what the hierarchy may be, Jesus is always at the top. Second, all members of the Body of Christ are critical. Again, in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul discusses the fact that we all have a purpose. Some are called to preach, to teach, to encourage, to pray, etc but we are all called to a purpose. As Christians, once we accept Christ and are saved, we ought to then ask, Why?. Were we saved just because God loves us? Some may say yes, but is it that simple? Is being saved just God giving us a love letter that we can put in a drawer? Of course not, it goes beyond that. We were saved for a purpose. We were saved to be an active member in the Ministry of Christ Jesus. If any particular member of The Body is not actively involved, then they are truly holding back the rest of The Body from becoming what God intends. We are all important and are needed. Lastly, being part of The Body of Christ, means that we exist within the very power and love of Christ Jesus. In Ephesians chapter 2, The Body is likened to a Temple. Verses of that chapter are extremely powerful. To paraphrase, those verses let us know that we are part of the body and that Jesus is our Cornerstone in which we are all fitted together. What does that mean? Each of us as members of The Body are being held in place by the Love, Power, Grace, and Mercy of Christ Jesus. When we make a mistake and hurt another member, then the Grace and Forgiveness of Jesus allows us to make amends and move forward. When we feel weak as individuals or a group, then the strength of Jesus that passes all understanding is there to see us through. When we feel alone and unimportant, it is the Love of Jesus that informs us of the very opposite. Praise God for Jesus. He is truly our All in All. The Amazing Grace of The Body of Christ is that we are all equal, we all have a purpose, and that we always have Jesus. In closing, I want to touch on one more benefit. That benefit is that we should always have each other. My prayer is that each of us will follow the lead of our Leader. We will bring our love, our grace, our mercy, our forgiveness to bear each and every day to one another. Only then will we be functioning as God intended. Pastor Joe 2

3 Greatness! Greatness in this world isn t measured by our standards, but by God s. With our children we want them to be okay when they grow up, we want them to have had pleasant memories of their childhood, we want them to find the perfect spouse, we want them to be able to provide even better for their families than we did for them. If all these successes happen then we feel as if they are okay. But, how does God view all these successes, does He see them as greatness? Remember the scripture that tells us to seek first the Kingdom of God and then all these other things will be added to us? Remember how Christ told us the marks of great character often don t reflect that of this world? Remember how greatness in the Kingdom is service to others in this world? As much as I want the best for my child I have to keep my eyes and my goals on the Kingdom of God. I want all the same things for her as everyone else, I just have to remember that success in this world doesn t translate to eternal greatness in the Kingdom of God. Success in this world fades and leaves us feeling empty even we get all that we can. Greatness though is eternal, greatness brings Glory to God, greatness reflects the life of Christ. Greatness may not have the best job, but a faithful servant in a job. Greatness may not have the nicest home, but a home where a family loves on children and serves their neighbors tirelessly. Greatness may not mean keeping the appearance of a perfect marriage, but actually having a marriage where two people put each other above the other and serve one another for the Glory of God. Greatness is measured by God s standard in scripture and not what the world calls success. Aim for greatness and all these other things will be added unto you. Until the whole world hears, Brandon Watson May 31st we will be recognizing and awarding several children who belong to Children in Action. CA s is a missions program for boys and girls in grades 1 6. The last few months have found the children busy every Wednesday night studying missions, praying for missions, and doing missions. They have worked on badges in several areas; Pray, Grow, and Learn, to name a few. They will be sharing with the church the CA Pledge and Motto. The following children are enlisted in CA: Eli Needham, Kaidan Huddle, Claire Watson, and Lily and Eden Romero. Please come out next Sunday and show your support. I would also ask you to be in prayer about helping us next August when we start back up with the CA s. The teaching guide is very easy to follow and there would be training available. Also, we are in need of men and women who would be willing to take one or more Wednesday a month to share with the children through the summer months. The time is 6:30 7:15 or 7:30. You could work on a craft project, wood work, cooking, games, etc. Incorporate a devotion and the list is endless. Share a passion of yours. We average 3 5 children on Wednesdays. There is a blue sign-up sheet on the table by the entrance to the FLC. This past school year the Baptist Women have donated 80 health kits to the children of Supply Elementary. We will start this back up in the fall with the beginning to the next school year. Thank you to all who donated items. We could not have done it without you. Valerie Wilson, Baptist Women s Director 3

4 Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. Over two dozen cities and towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. Regardless of the exact date or location of its origins, one thing is clear Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War and a desire to honor our dead. It was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11. The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land, he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn t the anniversary of any particular battle. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in After World War I, the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war. It is now on the last Monday in May with Congressional passage of the National Holiday Act of This helped ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays. Memorial Day is not to be confused with Veterans Day; Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving, while Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans. 4 Freedom Is Not Free By Kelly Strong I watched the flag pass by one day. It fluttered in the breeze. A young Marine saluted it, And then he stood at ease. I looked at him in uniform So young, so tall, so proud, He d stand out in any crowd. I thought how many men like him Had fallen through the years. How many died on foreign soil? How many mothers tears? How many pilots planes shot down? How many died at sea? How many foxholes were soldiers graves? No, freedom isn t free. I heard the sound of TAPS one night, When everything was still. I listened to the bugler play And felt a sudden chill. I wondered just how many times That TAPS had meant Amen, When a flag had draped a coffin Of a brother or a friend I thought of all the children, Of the mothers and the wives, Of fathers, sons, and husbands With interrupted lives. I thought about a graveyard At the bottom of the sea Of unmarked graves in Arlington No, freedom isn t free.

5 Gray Cheers WBHS Plans to continue his academic and basketball career at Hampton- Sydney University to become a pharmacist. Sylvia Craig WBHS Plans to attend Campbell University in the fall to study Communications. Joshua DiSpirito WBHS Plans to attend BCC in the fall, then transfer to Western Carolina to major in Physical Therapy. Dylan Howard WBHS Plans to attend UNC Chapel Hill in the fall. He hopes to one day be an Anesthesiologist. Join with us Sunday morning, June 14, Cameron Lewis WBHS Will be attending NC State University in the fall. as we honor our graduates during the morning service. Following the service we will continue the celebration with a luncheon. 5

6 Registration has started For this summer s VBS. June 22 26, 9 12 am Invite your friends. Technology Moves Into The 21st Century! Changes continue to be made in Calvary's "Sound Room". Most of you may only be aware of the problems we have had with feedback "hum". Thank you for your patience as we have repaired some equipment and adjusted others. We especially have missed Doug Huddle, our real audio man. During the past two months we have been fortunate to have the volunteer service of "Richard", an Emmy Award winning Sound Producer from Hollywood. Richard retired recently to Brunswick County and now teaches at Cape Fear College. He has re-arranged our sound equipment and microphones and trained us on the use of our very complex sound mixer. Thanks to Richard, the FLC audio has improved dramatically. We hope you agree! We have also been testing live broadcasting of the Worship Service each Sunday. If you cannot attend, you can view the service live online at: using your mobile device or phone. The Service file is stored at the same site for future viewing if you are not able to watch live. The link is also available on the church website ( under the Ministries tab and Live Broadcast. The church website is also being updated each week with the Sermon, Praise Team songs, and Special Music. Check the Ministries tab for each of these and more. Photos are welcome for posting on the site. Send to gjenkins@atmc.net. If you need an audio CD of the entire Worship service, contact Teah in the church office. We record the service on CD each Sunday for use in the homebound ministry. Two people have joined our Sound and Video team: Brett Milligan and Jeremiah Earney. When there are four of us in the Sound Room, it is much less hectic! Thanks for stepping up. We can still use a couple more people to train for backup and part time help. Audio technicians are needed on Sunday morning, Monday night, Wednesday night and special events like the Academy, funerals, and weddings. So step out and join the "Hollywood Team"! On the video side, Rocky Earney has improved videos for sharing with the congregation. Gene Jenkins 6

7 2 Corinthians 9:7 (Good News Translation) You should each give, then, as you have decided, not with regret or out of a sense of duty; for God loves the one who gives gladly. Historically and traditionally, churches have relied on one primary way to promote giving offering envelopes. We still have them here at Calvary. Most of us have dropped one in the offering plate recently. But now we have an additional way to give to the programs here at our church: E-Giving What is E-Giving? The E says it all. Basically, it is using your computer, smart phone, or other device to make your donation electronically. It works just like paying your mortgage on-line, buying stuff on the internet, or making contributions to your favorite charities. You get the picture. You don t have to write a check; you can put it on your charge card or set up a debit to your bank account. So, why use E-Giving? Well, it is very convenient. You can make your contribution whenever you want, no matter where you are. You can plan and manage your giving easily by putting it on your charge card or scheduling it with your bank. You can even set it up to be recurring. With the E- Giving program we have you will be able to obtain a transaction history and see your giving summary for the month, year-to-date, and even previous years. It is very convenient record keeping for you and also for the church. How do you begin E-Giving? Start by going to our church webpage, calvarybcshallotte.org. Then click on the E-Giving button on the right side, under the Verse of the Day. That will take you to the signup screen for the program. You just fill out the registration information and you will get verification so you can begin. Then you just choose how you want to give. There is even a tool that helps you calculate your giving plan. Look at it. Try it. Remember, God loves the cheerful giver. Dear Calvary Church Family, Thank you from the heart of our hearts for your thoughts and prayers, spoken words of comfort, cards, the Peace Lily, and the meal during the time of the death and funeral of Ruth, Mom, Roosh. The Rick Prince Family Thank you for the thoughts and prayers during the recent death of Virgil s mama. The calls, food, plant, visits at home and at the funeral home meant so much to both of us. Each of you hold a very special place in our hearts and we love you all. Virgil and Gloria Hill Ruth Prince McIlwain Pam Beck

8 Calvary Baptist Church 623 Village Rd. Shallotte, NC June 21 JUNE 4 Jack Soles 7 Mary-Cate Needham 9 Margaret Parrish 10 Peggy Owens 11 Teah DiSpirito 12 Catheryn Robertson 13 Tommi Leigh Rhodes 17 Marcia Montgomery 20 Thomas Teeters 24 Patrick Godsey 28 Don Hobson 30 Betty Jablonski Joe Noble If your name has been left off the list of birthdays, please call the church office so that we may correct our records.

9 June 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat pm Community Dinner 5:30 pm Tiny Tots Graduation pm Deacons 6 pm Board of Director s 10 am Food Pantry 14 Graduation Celebration 6 pm Finance Comm. 15 Honduras Mission Trip Leaves YMCA Summer Camp begins :30 Fellowship Dinner 6:15 Church Conference :30 am Brotherhood Breakfast Father s Day VBS VBS VBS VBS VBS Picnic in the Park

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