First Baptist Church December 10, 2017

Transcription

1 First Baptist Church December 10, 2017 God has surely promised His grace to the humbled: that is, to those who mourn over and despair of themselves. But a man cannot be thoroughly humbled till he realizes that his salvation is utterly beyond his own powers, counsels, efforts, will and works, and depends absolutely on the will, counsel, pleasure and work of Another -- God alone. - Martin Luther

2 Your Message Notes The Greatest Christmas Gift John 3:16 The Dark Side to Giving The Greatest Christmas Gift Ever Given Each weekday during Advent we will be sharing a devotional written by various people in our church. Please check our Facebook page (First Baptist Church in Madison IN) each morning for the devotional. Past sermons are available at madisonfbc.org. Copies (CDs) are available upon request. Activity pages for children are available at the back of the sanctuary.

3 Traditional Worship 8:45 a.m. * = please stand for hymn Prelude Hosanna to the Living Lord Zachau Welcome & Opportunities Invocation Hymn #138 Offertory Hymn #134 Prayer & Offertory *Doxology #624 Go, Tell It on the Mountain Emmanuel Lighting of the Advent Candle Love Children dismissed to Kidz Worship Congregational Prayer Hymn #132 Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates Bender Juniors Sunday School Class Angels We Have Heard on High Choir Anthem O Bethlehem Pethel Message *Invitation Hymn #341 Benediction The Greatest Christmas Gift Dennis Bickers Lord, I'm Coming Home Postlude Wake, Awake for Night Is Flying Manz Contemporary Worship 11:00 a.m. Call to Worship Welcome & Opportunities Congregational Prayer O Come All Ye Faithful Congregational Singing Angels From the Realms of Glory Congregational Prayer Offering Away In a Manger Lighting of the Advent Candle Love Mike & Nita Scarff Children dismissed to Kidz Worship Special Music How Many Kings Message The Greatest Christmas Gift Dennis Bickers Invitation Silent Night Benediction

4 Coming Events THIS WEEK TODAY! Search Team Reception Our search team is working hard to find a senior pastor for our church. Everyone is invited to show them our appreciation and support at a reception today at 9:45a in the lower auditorium. Creative Kidz Club All kids Kindergarten through 5th grade are invited to join us in the basement tonight from 5:30p-7p for a Birthday Party for Jesus. The fun will include crafts, a piñata, decorate your own cookies, pizza, cake, goody bags and more, and we ll learn more about Jesus birth. As a birthday gift to Jesus (Matthew 25:40) please bring a canned good, non-perishable food item, or hygiene item to donate to the House of Hope. Business Meeting Please join us at our special called church business meeting in the lower auditorium Wednesday, December 13th, at 7:30p. We ll discuss staff raises, repairs on the retaining wall at Eggleston, upholstering the lower auditorium furniture, and Church Council positions to be filled. (Members! We need a quorum to vote, so please join us for this meeting.) NEXT WEEK Pastoral Search Announcement Our Pastoral Search Team has news to report! Everyone is encouraged to join us in the lower auditorium Sunday, December 17th, at 10:30a to hear this important announcement! Choir Cantata Don t miss the musical celebration on Sunday, December 17th, as our choir presents their Christmas cantata during the 8:45a service. Church-Wide Caroling Come share Christmas cheer as we get together to sing for some of our shut-ins on Sunday, December 17th. We ll meet at 3p in the lower auditorium before heading out to sing. COMING SOON Christmas Eve Services We ll hold two services on Christmas Eve, one in the morning, one in the evening. The morning service will be at 11a and will feature music led by our praise band. The evening service will be at 7p and will feature music from our choir. Invite family and friends and join us for the celebration! Prayer Fast Our Deacons are sponsoring a 40 Days of Fasting and Prayer starting January 1st. Everyone s encouraged to participate! We re looking for at least one person per day to volunteer to fast and pray for 24 hours - your choice of how or what you want to fast. We ll be praying for our search team, our future pastor and his family, our pastoral staff, our ministry areas, and our congregation. To participate, please sign up in the lower auditorium.

5 Opportunities & Reminders GIVING & SERVING OPPORTUNITIES Retired Ministers & Missionaries During December, you can thank ministers who have served around the world by donating to RMMO. Some of our own retired ministers, including Harold and Emogene Carter and Dennis Bickers receive a portion of this offering. To give, please use the envelopes in your pew, or designate gifts RMMO. See insert for more about this offering! Homework Helpers Want to help a child? Come form a friendship with a K-4th grader at Lydia Middleton! There is a great need for younger children to learn sight words and older ones to learn multiplication tables. In January Homework Helpers will resume meeting from 2:45p-3:30p on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. If you d like to help, please sign up in the lower auditorium or write Homework Helpers on your communication card, along with the days you re available to help. DUE NEXT WEEK! Angel Delivery You can send a message of God s love this Christmas with a special gift to local families in need and lonely nursing home residents. Stop by our displays in the lower auditorium and pick an angel to sponsor. Gifts need to be wrapped (please tape the angel to the package) and returned by Sunday, December 17th. Staff Love Gift Our church staff works hard to provide us with opportunities to connect with God and with others throughout the year. You can thank them by designating checks and envelopes Staff Love Gift. Please place in the offering plate or send them to our office by Wednesday, December 20th. Animal Shelter Tree You can help out the Animal Shelter this Christmas! Stop by the tree in the lower auditorium and choose a gift from the tree display. (Place one tag in the box and take the other with you.) Gifts are due December 22nd. Questions? Contact Ansley Crutchfield at Sister Church Scholarships You can be a blessing to the children of Shekina Baptist Church in El Salvador by helping students attend primary school, high school, and university! To donate to our Sister Church scholarship fund, designate gifts ES Scholarships. Money due December 24th. REMINDERS/NOTICES Offering Envelopes If you ve never had offering envelopes and want to use them in 2018 you can get them by filling out your communication card with updated contact information and writing Offering Envelopes on the back, or by contacting our office by the end of today. Mission Circles: We ll hold our Christmas Party at Harry s Stone Grill on December 12th at 6p. Mr. Lee, Director at Jefferson House, will be our guest. Please bring your items for the Jefferson House (warm socks, snack foods - Little Debbie Cakes, cookies, candies, pretzels, and nuts [NO popcorn!]).

6 In Our Thoughts & Prayers Please Keep Us In Your Prayers Audrey Andrews (Hickory Creek) Norman Crabtree (Home) Claude Dale (Res Care) Phil Eades (Waters of Clifty) Melanie Fuhrman (Home) Paulina Giltner (Thornton Terrace) Mary Jo Goins (Home) Chris Hassfurder (Home) Judie Ingalls (Home) Louis Jenkins (Home) Kit Peters (Hanover Nursing Center) Laura Jean Risk (Home) Don Royce (Thornton Terrace) Bea Rusk (Thornton Terrace) Dru Tripp (Home) Margaret Sage (Home) Irvin Stockdale (River Terrace) JoAnn Wehner (Waters of Clifty) Irene Youngblood (Hickory Creek) Military Personnel Captain Nathan Barr - Ft. Rucker, AL Jacob Childs - Air Force Captain Matt Cuthrell - Ft. Bragg, NC Colton Fox - Marines Staff Sgt. Skyler Harrod - Air Force, Germany Logan Hudson - Air Force Taylor Kelly - Air Force Please pray for the safety of those on active duty Brady Lattire - Army, Afghanistan Alex Marion - Coast Guard Maj. Justin Roman - Army Jim Saylor - Army, Afghanistan Ese Taylor - Marines Brandon Yowler - Army First Baptist Missions Partners Kerry Dougan - Kids Alive Dominican Republic Pastor Ruth - Our Sister Church El Salvador Amy Fisher (Cecil Fisher s great-niece) - Peru IN/KY American Baptist Missions Partners International Ministries: Kristy D. Engel Caribbean Carlos Bonilla & Mayra Govanetti Nicaragua; Rev. Madeline Flores-Lopez Dominican Republic; Rev. Peter & Sarah McCurdy Dominican Republic; Katie & Taku Longkumer India; Scott & Tan Coats Thailand; Kihomi Ngwemi & Nzunga Mabudiga Haiti; Larry & Rebecca Stanton Hungary; Rev. Kyle & Deborah Witmer Thailand; Emerson & Ivy Wu Macau Home Missions: Tysha Hardy-Sellers Edna Martin Christian Center, IN; Susan Harding Cordova Community Christian Center, AK; Yvette Kenner, South Providence Neighborhood, RI First Baptist s Special Focus Missionaries: Dwight & Barbara Bolick Chile You can find out more about our American Baptist Mission partners at internationalministries.org and abhms.org

7 Please Keep Us In Your Prayers Please keep us updated on changes to this list. Requests remain on the list for six weeks before being removed, unless we hear otherwise. The date after the name is the week they were added to the prayer list. Our Pastoral Search Team: Jerry Dougan, Roger Fuhrman, Emily Goins, Mike Hopper, Bill Lindquist, Ken Pettit, Karen Thomas, Nancy Totten Family of Dottie Demaree Baby Beau - born with heart condition; post-surgery stroke; having seizures 12/10 Jim Bright (friend of Carolyn Strouse) - brain cancer 12/10 Peggy Crutchfield - health problems 12/10 Barbara Feider - back problems, arthritis 12/10 Jennifer Goodin - battling cancer 12/10 Judy Hassfurder - surgery recovery 12/10 Joann Goins - knee replacement December 14th 12/10 Sharon Imel - in comfort care at Kindred in Indianapolis 12/10 Virgil Imel - health problems; at KDH 12/10 David Rusk (Bea Rusk s grandson) - serious health problems; needs wisdom as plans next steps 12/10 Margaret Grace Strouse - declining health; at River Terrace 12/10 Jody Sullivan - health problems 12/10 Ryker Harris (2-year old with brain cancer) - chemo/bone marrow transplant 12/3 Sheila Van Tassel (Connie Dalgleish s sister) - surgery recovery 12 /3 Shane Brown - in cancer treatment trial 11 /26 Patrick Dalgleish - health issues; facing additional tests, possible surgery 11 /26 John Carlson - inoperable cancer 11/5 Frank Cosby - hip replacement surgery recovery 11/5 Leon Scott - UTI, pneumonia; at home 11/5 Persecuted Christians around the world If you have an immediate prayer concern, or want to be a part of the prayer network, (a team of people contacted to pray for concerns that arise during the week) please contact pray@madisonfbc.org

8 This Week s Events Today 8:45-9:45 a.m. Traditional Service 9:45 a.m. Search Team L. Auditorium 10:00-10:45 a.m. Sunday Morning Studies 11:00a- 12:00 p.m. Contemporary Service 5:00 p.m. The Eggleston 5:30 p.m. CKC Birthday Party for Basement 6:00 p.m. Bible Lower Auditorium Monday 3:30 p.m. Basement 5:00 p.m. Finance Builder s Room Tuesday 6:00 p.m. Prayer Sanctuary 6:00 p.m. Property Team Library 6:00 p.m. Mission Harry s Stone Grill Wednesday 7:00 a.m. McDonald s (Madison) 5:30 p.m. Sister Library 6:30 p.m. Church Builder s Room 7:30 p.m. Business Lower Auditorium Thursday 7:00 a.m. McDonald s (Hanover) Your Financial Gifts Last Week Offering: $26,631 Sunday School: $16 Justice Breakfast: $29.38 Sister Church Scholarship: $5,000 Benevolence: $665 Deaconess: $14 Staff Love Gift: $110 RMMO: $75 To designate gifts, please use the envelopes available in your pew. Together Last Sunday Morning Sunday Morning Worship 185 Sunday School 92 Madison First Baptist Church Transitional Pastor: Dennis Bickers Associate/Youth Pastor: Randy Crutchfield Director of Children s Ministries: Kelly Rector 416 Vine Street, Madison, IN (Eggleston Community Center: 419 East St.) Church Office: allstaff@madisonfbc.org Website: madisonfbc.org Facebook: First Baptist Church in Madison IN Newsletters, bulletins, and information about First Baptist and our ministries are located in the Lower Auditorium, at our office, and at madisonfbc.org.