The Baptist Beacon REV IT UP. Work, In a Christian Perspective. First Baptist Church 340 North 13th Street Leavenworth, KS

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1 First Baptist Church 340 North 13th Street Leavenworth, KS September 2018 Volume 4, Issue 9 The Baptist Beacon REV IT UP Work, In a Christian Perspective How do you view your work? For you, is it work, work, work? Is it a joy? Is it fulfilling? Is it drudgery? What is work for you? Work, in our society, has become almost exclusively an economic concern. This is unfortunate. Often, we Christians have allowed the definition and values given to work, to be drawn from secular sources. In reality, work is a theological concept, not an economic one. The idea of human labor was born in the mind of God. Thus, in order to understand the meaning of work, our attention must be focused on the truth found in Scripture. So what do we find about the nature and significance of work? Though the command to work is written into the creation accounts for the Old Testament, the best insights into the nature and significance of work, are to be found in the New Testament. Colossians 3:23-24, shares the nature and significance of work for a Christian. The Good News Bible translation of this text reads: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for men. How s that for a precise Christian perspective on work?

2 In the New Testament, the only distinction between types of work, is work done for purposes other than work for the Lord. It s an either or choice in work, either it s for the Lord or it s not. Angel s Attic Notice what distinctions this understanding destroys. Gone is a comparison of different types of work on the basis of: physical versus mental labor Manual skills vs supervisory abilities how much it pays. September 15, 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Bring your children s unwanted items to donate and then go shopping for new items for free!! Spring was sprung and summer has come and now it s time to have more fun! We called it a SWAP we called it a SWISH. Bring your children s items that they will not MISS. It s time for the Fall Children s Clothing Exchange. Our next Angel s Attic will take place September 15, 9 a.m. What matters is how or whether the work is offered to God in a life of Christian discipleship. The New Testament view of work makes no distinction between tasks that are considered sacred or secular. In fact, the New Testament apparently has no concept of secular employment. When honest work is done for the Lord, whatever work that may be, that work becomes sacred. Having considered the nature and significance of work, let s now shift gears to the purpose of work. As you would expect, one s understanding of the nature of work will directly affect one s grasp of the purpose of work. Our desire as disciples is to see these two working in concert together from a Christian perspective. To illustrate: Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:29; The man who used to rob must stop robbing and start working, in order to earn an honest living for himself and to be able to help the poor. In other words, you cannot become a Christian and continue your work as a robber. There is a conflict here between the faith and this work. As Christians our faith and work are to be in concert with each other, they are to complement each other. Work is important, but it is not so important as to demand the entirety of our lives. The truth is that when our total allegiance and energies are devoted to something other than God that is sin. To be able to view one s work from the perspective of faith being able to look up from one s work and see reminders of faith, is the way life should be. Pastor Jerry A ngel s Attic is a children s clothing exchange program. We will be helping each other with children s items that no longer fit or you no longer need or use. How it works: Go through your child's clothes, shoes, toys and misc. items that you no longer want and donate them to the church. Donations will be accepted August 19 - September 9. The donations will be sorted and organized by size and gender for your shopping pleasure. No money will ever change hands, this is strictly an exchange! So that we don t get overwhelmed, for the year of 2018, this program will only be open to our church members and regular attenders. We will only accept gently used children s clothes, shoes, toys and non-clothing items such as strollers, baby beds, baby bottles, etc. Once the exchange is over we will only be keeping clothing items for family needs which may arise throughout the year. All other donations will go to the Salvation Army. Since the last Angel s Attic we have organizing a Children s Clothes Pantry which is set up in Room #4 (old church office). Please feel free to shop in the Children Clothes Pantry for needed items. You will also be able to make donations of clothes that no longer fit. Please note we will only accept gently used items. No broken items will be accepted. If you would like to participate in this program or you have question please call the church office ( ) or talk to Robin (Terrill) Klein.

3 Parent s Night Out This Friday Parents, do you need a night away from the kids to recharge your batteries? How about a date night or just a few hours of sleep? Check out our next Parent s Night Out on September 7th from 6 9 p.m. Sign up at the Welcome Center! New Member Orientation and Exploration New church members and those considering membership in First Baptist are invited to attend this orientation on September 15th, 9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (lunch provided). If you have joined within the last year or so and have not been able to attend an orientation, here s your chance to find out more about who we are at First Baptist and our American Baptist family. If you are not a member, but are considering church membership, please feel free to attend as well! Come find out more about what we believe and how we operate as a church family. Please RSVP with the church office ( ) no later than September 12. Knowing Jesus How much do you know about Jesus? Our Christian Faith rises or falls on the Truth that is Jesus. In this study at 6:30 pm on Wednesday Evenings in East Fellowship Hall we will be exploring questions such as: FALL Bible Study on Wednesday Nights: Where did Jesus ministry take place? Prayer Chain Update It is time to update the church Prayer Chains. If you would like to be a part of either the ed prayer chain or the phone prayer chain please call the church office ( ). Please indicate which prayer chain you would like to be on: daytime, evening or . Annual Gathering When did He do things?/the life of Jesus Beliefs about Jesus? What are Biblical Names of Jesus? Why? Christ s deity and humanity? Why Parables Jesus? (A brief overview) The Annual Gathering of Central Region American Baptists will take place October at Cross Wind Conference Center in Hesston, KS. If you are interested in attending registration forms are available at the Welcome Center. If you plan on attending, completed forms and fees must be turned into the church office no later than September 6 th. Children s Ministry Need The Children s Ministry is in need of kid friendly snack items for our children s programs. We are also in need of short (30 min.) Veggie Tales and Adventures in Odyssey DVDs. If you would like to help, please leave items at the Welcome Center. What is the Resurrection? Want to know more about the One whom we follow as Savior and Lord, then come and get to know Jesus better on Wednesday nights. After all, He IS the pioneer and perfector of our Faith. The better we know Jesus, the better we can follow Him in our daily lives. If you have questions, contact Pastor Jerry who will be leading the study.

4 Northeast Area Gathering The Northeast Area Gathering will take place September 9, from 5 7 pm at First Baptist Emporia, 807 Constitution. The theme is year is: Connecting with Young Adults. The gathering format will be as follows. Dinner will take place first beginning at 5 pm (no cost, but an offering will be collected for Puerto Rico damage). Then at 5:30 pm there will be a brief business meeting, at 5:45 pm special music will be provided by Emporia Praise Band. To conclude the day two panel presentations will take place: 1) hearing and learning from our young adults; and 2) learning from churches that do connect with their young adults with time allotted for questions and answers. AB Women Mini Project The AB Women are sponsoring a food drive to help restock our church Food Pantry. You are asked to bring non-perishable food and/or a financial donation on Sunday, September 16. During the service we will have a special time of dedication for the gifts received. Providing food assistance to our community is a vital ongoing ministry we provide. Puerto Rico Mission Trips Planned American Baptist Men USA (ABMen) is cooperating with the American Baptist Home Mission Society s (ABHMS) initiative Rebuilding, Restoring, Renewing Puerto Rico. They are seeking volunteers for work teams October 15-25, 2018 and January and February 16-23, They will focus on restoration of churches and homes damaged by Hurricane Maria. Construction skills are not a requirement for participation. All necessary tools will be provided at the work sites, but you may bring personal tool bags. Each person who participates will be expected to arrange their own transportation to San Juan. It is ABHMS practice to charge a $150 registration fee to cover the cost of food, housing, tools, etc. ABMen is asking each volunteer to also pay this registration fee unless the financial stress of doing so would prevent you from participating with the team. In that case, upon request, ABMen will scholarship the registration fee if the funds are available. Alternatively you could seek sponsorship through your local church. You may register via ministries/healing-communities/volunteer-ministries/

5 August Birthdays & Anniversaries Hey Parents are you looking for a safe place to take your kids for Halloween? Check out our Hallow- Palooza event (Formerly known as Trunk or Treat) on October 31, 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. This event will take place inside again this year. September Birthdays 1 Lois Chiles 2 Stephen Mustain III, Chelsea Hermann 4 Billey Cordell 5 Nick Ernzen, Lisa Blankenship 7 Michael Miller 8 Bliss Boldridge, Rebecca Fink 9 Leota Jones 10 Wanda Skaggs 13 Deana Jostmeyer 15 Maxine Martens, Marjorie Mundt 17 Richard Houdyshell 20 Jackie Miller 21 Danny Asher, Patricia Shelton 24 Betty McClurg 26 Reagan Klein 27 Lynn Leath 28 LeRoy Seifert, Larry Wise 30 Lena Adams September Anniversaries 2 M/M Frank Geib 3 M/M Bernie Blankenship 12 M/M Ross Perkins 14 M/M John Keller 16 M/M Richard Aaron Attendance Record 8/5 8/12 8/19 8/26 8:15 am Worship Service :30 am Worship Service :00 pm Worship Service Wednesday Evening Services

6 September 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 2 Communion 3 Church Closed Labor Day 4 6 pm - A.C.T.S. Prayer Group 5 9:00 am - Morning Bible Hr. 5:45 pm - Evangelism Mtg am - La Leche League 7 9 am - White Cross Women s Sewing Circle 6 pm - Parent s Night Out am - Wedding 9 5 pm - NE Area Gathering - Emporia am - Pickleball am - Community Blood Drive 4:30 pm - Grief Support Group 6 pm - A.C.T.S. Prayer Group 7 pm - Resurrection Recovery Support Group 12 6 pm - Finance Comm. Mtg am - Angel s Attic 9:30 am - New Member Orientation 16 - ABW Sunday am - Pickleball 18 5 pm - A.C.T.S. Prayer Group 6 pm - Team Mtgs. 19 5:45 pm - Discipleship Mtg am - White Cross Women s Sewing Circle 22 1 pm - Movie Matinee am - Pickleball 25 1:30 pm - Heart for Mission 4:30 pm - Grief Support Group 6 pm - A.C.T.S. Prayer Group 7 pm - Resurrection Recovery Support Group