FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, COOLIDGE

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, COOLIDGE Cool Connections Volume 6 Issue 10 October 2016 Reaching younger Families Conference Part 2 October 29th Our September 17th Reaching Younger Families Part 1 was a wonderful success. Everyone who gave any comments was very appreciative. Each class was well attended and 14 people with FBC Coolidge attended. Now it is time for Part 2. October 29th at the First Baptist Church of Mexia just like the September 17th. Classes, times, and breakouts are listed on the back page of this newsletter. This will be a wonderful time that has been in the process of being prepared for the last 9 months! Dr. Lance Beaumont, who did our worship at the last Bi-Stone Baptist Association meeting will be our keynote speaker in the morning session. Coffee, water, tea and snacks will be available as well as a wonderful lunch as was also provided September 17th. See the schedule on back and ask Pastor Chuck any questions you may have! We are now collecting Trunk or Treat candy for our October 31st outreach. No chocolate please. see Melanie for more details November 5th 8:30AM Cleanup for Christmas season. Inside this issue: Note from Pastor 2 Children Update 2 Outreach 3 Prayer 3 Discipleship 4 Students 5 Conference Sched. 6

P A G E 2 I t s o n m y h e a r t... Dear Church Family, Just look through this newsletter and see just how much God is blessing our church. It is amazing to me the many opportunities He is giving us to share Jesus in His Name. But at the same time He has provided us with a wonderful study for our Winter Bible Conference in January, not to mention the fact that our church was asked by Lifeway Publications to be a Launch Church for their brand new discipleship study called The Journey. In the coming days you will hear much more about this fantastic opportunity we have to be one of the very first churches in the whole convention to use this material and to give to Lifeway weekly feedback to help make the study better for the churches that will choose to use it. This is a great honor for our church and I think, in looking at the class plan, that we are in for a super treat. Each week we will look at different topics that are designed to help all of us grow and mature in the faith. I am sure our church will richly benefit from this opportunity we have been given by God. But don t forget that we have the Trunk or Treat Family C OOL C O N N E C T I O N S Outreach this month, the Coolidge Community Thanksgiving Meal and Outreach happening next month, and the Christmas Caroling and Cheer Outreach in December. Are you ready for a hayride around town as we sing with joy the songs of Christmas? Me too!!!! We want to see the Glory of God shining out from our church and we all know that to see that happen, each of us must consecrate our own personal lives before the Lord. Submit your life to the Lord and be prepared for the ride of your life! God wants to show His Glory in Coolidge through the windows of your life! Will you let Him? Will you be a part? Come on and let s go! Pastor Chuck All the children s programs are going strong at First Baptist Church on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. On Wednesday, September 21, Becky, Jessica, Yessica, and I had 19 children in the younger children s class. Glen and Deborah had 13 children in the older children s class, and Melanie had 4 high school youth. On Saturday, September 24, Deborah and Glen hosted a food and games party at the church for 7 members of their Sunday school class. The children also worked on memorizing Bible verses, making knitted hats for a service project, and making candy Gospel cards to hand out during Trunk or Treat. Children s Ministry report Jesus, however, invited them: Let the little children come to Me, and don t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Luke 18:16 (HCSB) Please pray that we will present Christ to these students in everything we do. What an awesome responsibility God has given us to teach and demonstrate truths that can affect these children s whole eternity. Without Him we can do nothing. It is nearly time for Operation Christmas Child. There will be an area Operation Christmas Child rally at Meadow Brook Baptist Church in Robinson on Sunday, October 8, at 3:30 PM. Let me know if you would like to go. The ingathering date at our church is Sunday, November 13, but you may begin bringing your boxes any time before then. Remember to include $7.00 with each box you bring. Please check out the list of items that are suitable and not suitable for the boxes. This year they asked us not to include toothpaste in the boxes, although toothbrushes are greatly appreciated. If it is not convenient for you to buy items for a box, you may donate money toward filling a box. Jo Lynn

V O L U M E 6 I S S U E 10 Outreach Opportunities (Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing!) Saturday, the youth 5th grade-7th grade, had a fun party at the church. There were ping-pong games, foosball challenges, and even a game of corn toss. Games were not all what the youth had come to do. While they were there, the worked on a couple of service projects. One project was making caps out of yarn for the homeless. We are hoping to get enough made to go take them to Waco and let the Church Under the Bridge hand them out to some of their congregation. Also, the youth made a card that has a Lifesaver attached to it that read "Jesus is a Lifesaver." These cards will be placed in our Trunk-o- Treat bags that we hand out to the children of Coolidge. The youth have accepted the challenge to do service projects during the month, as well as memorize Scripture, and to read and write Bible verses for 21 days. Those that have accepted the challenge and are working toward a fun trip to Waco are Natalie Mora, Merissa Mora, Emili Perez, Santiago Fabila, Monica Perez, Martin Deanda, Damarcus Hervey, and Manuel Molina. Of course, it wouldn't be a party without eating! A big thanks goes to Glen and JoLynn who helped out with the delicious hot dogs and nachos. Also, we enjoyed a visit from Chuck and Laura!! Thanks for your support. These are great youth! Encourage them with kind words, or even ask them what verse they memorized and what it means to them! We are off to a great start to our 21 Day Challenge. I hope many more youth will take the challenge! Deborah Wednesday Night Prayer Meetings P A G E 3 Prayer is a critical part of any success in our church today. It is vital that we meet to pray for our church and for the people of our community who are yet without Christ. Every time we meet to pray, the Lord Jesus Himself is there in His Presence with us. He and each of us there are looking for you to come and be a part of this most critical ministry of our church. Watch the morning announcements on the screen to see where the next Prayer Meeting will be the following Wednesday. I pray that you will sense the need to gather and to worship the Lord Jesus with us in prayer each Wednesday evening. It gives us all such a sense of refreshment and energy to face the rest of the week when we gather to pray. No one is required to pray out loud, but all are welcome to do so. See me if you have any questions. Johnnie

P A G E 4 This year s Winter Bible Conference will be held January 28th and 29th in the same format we have done in previous conferenced. Glen will begin to accept order s for your Student Book in November. Cost this year is $8.00 per book. Books will be ordered from Lifeway the last week of December. Save these dates and come and be a part of starting our year together in the study of God s Word. On Saturday we will start with a light breakfast at 8:30 AM. At Noon, we will lunch together. Then our last sessions will end around 2:45PM On Sunday, we will maintain our normal times, but will meet in the Fellowship Hall just like we did on Saturday. More Information coming soon Starting January 8, 2017 Our church has been invited by the Disciples Path division of Lifeway Publications to be one of the Launch Churches for this brand new class in personal discipleship. Each week for the whole year we will consider different aspects of the Christian life and what the Bible says about how we are to grow and mature as Christians today. Each student will need to purchase a class book for each quarter at a cost of $3.95. In each book will be study helps to prepare the student for the subject in the coming class. Class topics will cover everything from what happens when you first come to Christ to how does a disciple learn how to disciple others. We will have different teachers leading the classes and we will enjoy celebrations at the end of each quarter where we will rejoice together in the Lord for all we have learned in the previous weeks. More information coming soon.

Student Ministry News 12 Let no one despise your youth; instead, you should be an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12 (HCSB) Student Ministry is off to a great fall. Our Junior youth class is growing and working hard. So proud to see these young gentleman and ladies getting involved in the worship services on Sunday mornings. P A G E 5 not only was this going on in Coolidge, Texas but also all over the world. To know that believers are praying and lifting the name of Jesus Christ. As the movie said, God s not dead, you can see faith is alive and well around the world. The Christian voice is still speaking His name and message. The Junior youth had a wonderful party in September and the Senior youth will be having one on October 22nd from 1:00 pm to 4:00pm. We will be inviting all Coolidge students from 8th grade to 12th grade. This will be an allaround fun time of fellowship with games, music, and of course food. If anybody wants to help either by being a chaperone or by providing snacks (teenagers love to eat) please let me know. If you just want to drop in and show love to these students that would also be very welcomed. The student ministry is once again collecting candy for trunk-or-treat. Please no chocolate as it has a tendency to melt and being Texas who knows what the weather will be like. The students will be making up bags of candy with inspiring messages for our adult volunteers to be passing out on Monday, October 31st, Halloween from 5:00 till 8:00 or when the candy is gone. Please keep our students in your prayers as they They have been taking turns reading scriptures. Our Wednesday meetings are going strong. We had a great See You at The Pole turnout. We met at the elementary flag pole on September 28th at 7:30 am. There were prayers lifted and praise songs sang. The students were joined by faculty, staff, parents, and community leaders. What a joy it is too see all these people coming together to lift up the Lord and pray for our students, city, and nation. To also know that get into the word of God and learn how it applies to their lives. Pray for us teachers as we have the Holy Spirit lead us in the right teachings of God s word. Pray for our wisdom and discernment. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. In His hands, Melanie Matthew 11:29

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, COOLIDGE P A G E 6 PO Box 189 Coolidge, TX 76635 Church Phone: 254-786-2232 Pastor s Email chuck@fbccool.com He Came, We Go Worshipping God Together Experiencing God Reaching Out Web Address is: www.fbccool.com Giving Generously M.E.N. s Prayer Breakfast Saturday October 15th at 8:30 am The food is great! Come together as the Christian Men of Coolidge and Pray for God s Presence in our city! Reaching Younger Families Part 2 Conference Breakouts Registration: 8:00AM-8:30 AM (Coffee will be hot and ready!) Welcome/Worship & Teaching on Worship Theology 8:30-9:30AM In the Main Sanctuary Space. Dr. Lance Beaumont Breakout Session 1: 9:30-10:30AM Sound Session 1 in the Sanctuary Go to Worship Planning: Templates, Songs, and Toolboxes in class room ProPresenter/Video Session 1 in class room Social Media, Church, and ROI in class room Break 10:30-10:45 Snacks, Water and Coffee will be available Breakout Session 2: 10:45-12:00PM Sound Session 2 in the Sanctuary Finding and Training Musicians for Ministry in class room ProPresenter/Video Session 2 in class room Going to Where the People Are: Using Facebook and Instagram to Reach People Lunch with Questions and Answers During Lunch 12:00-1:00PM Breakout Session 3: 1:00-2:00PM Sound Session 3 in the Sanctuary Leading Multi-Generational Worship: Inclusive Worship Planning and Leading in class room ProPresenter/Video Session 3 in class room Optimizing Your Website for Maximum Involvement and Connection Session 4 2:00-3:00PM Sound Session 4 in the Sanctuary ProPresenter/Video Session 4 in class room Growing Your Music Ministry Using Digital Technologies to Disciple Your People Where might god be calling you to serve?