Christmas Message from the Senior Pastor There is a story that I always remember around Christmas time. An old preacher fell into discouragement for awhile. It seemed to him that all the effort he put into preaching the Word of God yielded little result. His congregation perceived that he was going though some tough times, so they got together to find a way to encourage their pastor. They took the pulpit and had a professional woodworker carve these words right where he would place his Bible Expect a miracle! The following Sunday the preacher went up to the pulpit and found the inscription. He felt convicted and the light of God s Spirit instantly dispelled the darkness of his doubt. From then on, he always entered the pulpit expecting the miracle of God. To the unbelieving Zechariah, and to the perplexed Mary the angel gave the same message, Expect the miracle of God! Christmas is an annual reminder that we live by faith expecting the wonderful miracles of God to continue to visit His people. My prayer this Christmas for all of you is this, Expect a miracle! - Pastor Sam Grozdanov Special Events this Month Saturday, Dec. 1 4:00pm Youth Walk to Bethlehem Sunday, December 2 1:00pm Children s Party 3:00pm White Christmas Saturday, December 8 10am noon Manger Build Saturday, December 15 5:30pm Youth go on Tacky Lights Tour, return to KH for party Sunday, December 16 11:00am Christmas Cantata Tuesday, December 18 10:30am Karen Collins WMU Thursday, December 20 10:30am Young-at Hearts Monday, December 24 7:00pm Christmas Eve Service 1
Branch s Kidz Corner for December But the angel said, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10-11 This is an exciting month as we gather to celebrate that Christ came down from heaven to save us. The children have been singing about His birth. I hope you will come to hear the voices of our children as they sing and ring chimes during the White Christmas service. Check out what is happening for children. Dec. 2: White Christmas /Time: 3:00pm Bring choir T-shirt and canned food for families Dec. 2 nd Celebration of Jesus birth in Kincheloe from 1:00 2:30 Families of children are invited to stay for lunch Children: crafts, games and movie Adults and youth movie and fellowship Dec. 8 th : Manger Build event in Kincheloe Hall. Dads and their children, age 5 through high school, build a manger for their home to remember to place Jesus first this Christmas. Time: 10:00 12:00 - Bring a hammer. Cost $7.00, but scholarships are available. Registration required by 12/2 Call church office to register. Pay at door or place in offering plate clearly labeled manger build. After the manger build, we will help plant trees. J.T. Ross will serve Brunswick Stew. Wednesday Night: Our mission s children: packed, wrote letters and prayed over our shoeboxes. Children made encouragement cards for Thanksgiving delivery boxes. We also made some fall trees to decorate the tables. Children and youth sang at Commonwealth Senior Living Center on Nov. 28 and shared some Christmas joy. Come join us this winter as the choirs sing and ring chimes. Then after choir we will have a time of sharing missionaries stories, praying for and even participating in missions. Cute story: Veterans Day 2018 Our children and preschoolers had worked hard making cards and a keychain to thank our veterans for keeping us safe. As we passed the cards out, the daughter of Tuck Perkins asked the children to gather around her. She told them how the Get Well cards which we had sent to Tuck after his fall had meant so much to him. She said he just read them over and over again. The children were so pleased! Our children have huge hearts and want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. It is a joy to train up new Christ followers. Children s Celebration of Jesus Birth Date: Dec. 2, 2018 Time: 1:00 2:30 For: Families of Children Preschool, grade school, youth and adults are all welcome to enjoy lunch and fellowship together. Come let us adore Him Christ the Lord. Preschool and Grade school: Crafts, games and a movie Youth and Adults: Fellowship and a movie **After the celebration we will go to the sanctuary to prepare for White Christmas. Pastor Arlene will give the message, and children and preschoolers will sing. There will be a special message for the children. Youth will dance and sing. 2
The Advent and Christmas Season is Here! My daughter and I were driving and singing a few songs. She was about five. She sang, Hark, the herald angels sing: Glory to the newborn King. Peace on earth and mercy mild, God has sinners dressed in style. Wait. What? Sweetie, could we sing that again? So we started over. Hark, the herald angels sing: Glory to the newborn King. Peace on earth and mercy mild, God has sinners dressed in style. She was only five, but what a lot of theology came out of her little mouth! She was singing what she heard. Instead of hearing God and sinners reconciled, she heard God has sinners dressed in style. What an incredible picture of reconciliation! When I think of the reconciliation that God provides for us through the shed blood of Jesus on the cross, what better image can we imagine. God dresses sinners in style. No longer does He see our sin, but he sees His perfect and beautiful style the blood of Jesus style, pure, white, righteousness of Christ style. As we join together in worship this Christmas, come in style. Wear your beautiful garments and stand before Him expectantly. Join us each Sunday as we light the Advent candles of hope, peace, joy, and love. On Christmas Eve, we will light the Christ candle. On Sunday, December 2, at 3:00 PM we will have our White Christmas service. The Festival Ringers will ring on December 9, and on December 16, the Chancel Choir will present The Greatest Story Ever Told. The Reflections Choir will be singing in the community and sharing the season. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas season! May Jesus be the melody in your heart! The Karen Collins WMU will have our Christmas meeting on Dec. 18 at 10:30a.m. Bring a $1.00 gift to exchange. Location will be announced. Watch for it in your Sunday School bulletins. As of January 2019, the minimum cost for two Sunday morning choir loft arrangements will be $50. We have kept costs down by recipients returning unneeded vases which are reused. The cost of the arrangements has increased, and we must pass this cost on to the sponsors. The Flower Committee will absorb the increase through 2018. Please continue returning the vases. Poinsettias If you wish to place a red poinsettia in honor or in memory of someone this Christmas, please submit your form with $10 for each. Checks must be made payable to Branch s Baptist Church, and marked poinsettia. The poinsettias will be in the sanctuary December 23rd and 24th. You may take your poinsettia home after the Christmas Eve service. Unless other arrangements are made, unclaimed poinsettias will be delivered to shut-ins and nursing homes after the service. December 2 is the deadline for orders. Please use one form for each poinsettia ordered. Forms are on the Welcome Table. White Christmas, is our traditional Christmas gift of food to the needy. Please put your donations of non-perishable goods in the labeled boxes in each Sunday School room. The White Christmas Service will be at 3:00pm on Sunday, December 2. We need enough to serve 17 families. Please call Shirley Collins if you can help give out food on Wednesday morning, Dec. 5. Suggestions: cereal, crackers, canned or dry soups, cake mix and frosting, stuffing, gravy, canned fruit, juice, Jiffy mix corn bread, peanut butter, jelly, mac & cheese, canned meat, tuna, pork & beans, dry beans, biscuit/ pancake mix, rice, syrup, spaghetti & spaghetti sauce, vegetables. 3
December 2018 Pray for the Families of Metropolitan Richmond. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:3) December 2, 2018. We pray for the families of Metropolitan Richmond: For single-parent families, adoptive families, foster families, and for households that are communities of friends; for elderly persons living in their own homes, in retirement communities, and in nursing institutions. December 9, 2018. We pray for the families of Metropolitan Richmond: For persons who are lonely or have no family; for persons who are estranged from their families; for persons who are grieving the loss of a loved one; and for all who need to feel the love of God. December 16, 2018. We pray for the families of Metropolitan Richmond: For the care and protection of infants, children, and youth; and for the intimate knowledge that each one is a beloved child of God. December 23, 2018. We pray for the families of Metropolitan Richmond: For an end to child abuse; for healthy relationships between children and their caregivers; for families going through divorce; and for all in the midst of life transitions. December 30, 2018. We pray for the families of Metropolitan Richmond: For peace, reconciliation, forgiveness and accord among family members, whatever the distance, and however old the hurt or grievance. "Deck the halls with boughs of holly" and fa la la la la yourself to Kincheloe Hall on Thurs., Dec 20 at 10:30! Join your friends as Bonnie Surma leads us in singing our favorite Christmas Carols as we prepare for HIS birth! We'll top it off with a delicious ham and your favorite side dish. The Prayer Shawl Ministry is on hiatus until January. Watch your Sunday School Bulletins for the 2019 schedule. Can't wait to see ya! ESL @9:30am Wednesdays Classes in English as a Second Language are on Wednesdays at 9:30am. We need teachers, aides, child care providers and snack servers. Please contact Ernie Moore to volunteer. NO CLASSES on Dec. 26. Supper is every Wednesday at 5:30pm, except for holidays and the eve of holidays. Please call the office if you wish to be on the permanent list, which means you call only when you will not attend. If you attend once in a while, please call the office on Monday of the week when you mean to be here. Menus are published in the Wednesday and Sunday bulletins a week in advance 4
Sundays 9:15am Prayer Time ~ C216 9:30am Sunday School/Bible Study 10:30am Announcements & Fellowship~KH 11:00am Worship Services in the Sanctuary (English) and in Kincheloe Hall (Spanish) Mondays 8:00am Bon Secours Care-a-Van (2nd Monday only) 9:00am Tellers Committee 7:00pm Deacons Meeting (1st Monday) Tuesdays 9:30am Staff Meeting 6:00pm Festival Ringers No Prayer Shawl Ministry until January No Reflections Choir practice until January Wednesdays 9:30am ESL classes 5:30pm Wednesday Night Supper 6:15pm Prayer & Bible Study 6:30pm Spanish Prayer & Bible Study 6:30pm Children s Choir 7:00pm Activities for Children and Youth 7:00pm Chancel Choir & Preschool Choir 7:00pm Preschool Children s Choir 7:00pm Spanish Bible Study NO ACTIVITIES on DEC. 26 Thursdays 9:30-10:30am Food Pantry Christmas Services Sunday, December 2 3:00pm White Christmas Service Monday, December 24, Christmas Eve 7:00pm Festive Service in the Sanctuary Sunday, December 16 11:00am Christmas Cantata, The Greatest Story Ever Told Leora Farrar December 1 Doris Napier December 5 Randy Castro December 9 Betty Young December 11 Ruth Savage December 14 Dallas Brewer December 16 Adrian Rios December 16 Maxine Watson December 16 Andres Rios December 17 Jonathan Bonilla December 19 Liliana Guerrero December 20 Gene Watson December 21 Ester Torres December 22 Christa McGee December 26 Snezana Grozdanov December 28 Vangie Martinez December 28 Antoine Page December 29 Mildred Brown December 31 Special Youth Events this Month Dec. 1 ~ Bethlehem Walk We will meet at church at 4:00pm, and leave by church bus at 4:10pm, arriving at the Bethlehem Walk 5:00pm. We will stop for pizza after our walk and return to church about 10:30pm. Bring friends! Dec. 15 ~ Tacky Lights Tour & Party Youth meet here at 5:30pm. We will go on a Tacky Lights Tour, and then return to Branch s for a party in KH. See Gerry Eberhard for permission slips and any other details for these events. 5
Thank you church family for your prayers, calls, visits, gifts of food and concerns during my rehab from a fall Dear Church Family: FINANCIAL NOTES Love you! Graham Nelms We want to thank each and every one of you for 213 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes going around the world carrying Jesus Christ s love and the donations. We hope and pray that you prayed over your boxes and enjoyed shopping or making things for the children. - OCC Team Offering envelopes for your 2019 donations will be in the lobby by the Sunday School Office through December. Please take yours home and begin using them the first Sunday in January. DO NOT USE 2018 ENVELOPES in 2019. The numbers change every year because of membership changes, and you will not be credited with all your gifts if you use outdated envelopes. Also, please be aware that any contributions received after midnight December 31, 2018 will be credited to 2019. This is an IRS regulation Sunday Services 9:15am Prayer Time ~ C216 9:30am Sunday School/Bible Study 10:30 am Announcements & Fellowship ~ KH 11:00am Worship Service- Sanctuary 11:00am Spanish Worship ~ KH Rev. Sam Grozdanov Senior Pastor sam.grozdanov@branchs.org Rev. Dorryce Ann Rudd Minister of Visitation & Seniors dorryceann.rudd@branchs.org Rev. Arlene Guzman Pastor of Casa Refugio de Amor ( the Spanish Speaking Members ) arlene@wbtk.com Bonnie Surma Director of Music Ministries bonnie.surma@branchs.org Keith Wilmoth Organist/Pianist klw728@aol.com Branch's Baptist Church Condensed Financial Report Year-to-Date as of October 2017 Actual Budget Over/(Under) Account Description Year-to- Date Year-to- Date Budget YTD Regular Offering 360,820 386,810 (25,990) Expenditures: World Programs 25,356 27,967 (2,611) Personnel 195,628 219,135 (23,507) Educational Ministries 15,325 16,869 (1,544) Service Ministries 16,166 18,316 (2,150) Building & Equipment 123,011 104,192 18,819 Miscellaneous 0 331 (331) Total Expenditures 375,486 386,810 (11,324) Lorena Markowski Office Manager & Financial Secretary office@branchs.org Karen Collins Missionary to Taiwan kc2204@pobox.com Ernie Moore Treasurer treasurer@branchs.org Joshua Zalesky Sunday School Superintendent & Director of Outreach Net Surplus/(Deficit) (14,666) 0 (14,666) 6
BAPTIST CHURCH 3400 Broad Rock Blvd. Richmond, VA 23234 Office: 276-5000 Fax: 675-0759 website: www.branchs.org office@branchs.org Office Hours: Monday Friday 9:00am-12:00pm (staff breaks for lunch) and 1:00-4:00pm