Benson Baptist News November 2017 SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST Attendance & Offering Upcoming Events Looking Ahead SLT Minutes Birthdays Staff & Contact Info. John Sievering Senior Pastor Pastor.john@omahabbc.com Scott Jones Family Pastor familypastorscott@gmail.com Tiffany Schlup Office Administrator office@omahabbc.com Website www.omahabbc.com Facebook www.facebook.com/ BensonBaptist Twitter http://twitter.com/ DirectorofComm IT S THE LITTLE THINGS...GIVE THANKS! It is November and Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away! This is a great day to reflect on the past year and ponder what you are thankful for. It also gives you an opportunity to think about how God has worked in your life. When I think about the past couple years I am reminded that God works in the little things. I was born and raised in Ohio. When I was little I always thought about moving south with my family where the weather was warmer. However, God had a different plan when I got married to an air force man and moved to Nebraska a state in weather comparison is similar to Ohio. Instead of a southern state I was now in a state where I had no friends, no extended family, no job (yet), and nothing that I was familiar with. To be honest when I first arrived I was a little bitter. However, even through the difficult time I had adjusting God was sending people into my life to uplift and encourage me. First, God gave me a husband with a kind heart, understanding mind set, leadership abilities and consistent words that point me to Jesus (Blessing #1). Second, HE gave me a mentor that encourages me daily and I would claim to be my 2nd mom (Blessing #2). Third, HE blessed my husband and I with a small group that has become like family (Blessing #3). Fourth, I prayed to work at a job in ministry Monday-Friday 8:00am-12:00pm. God answered my specific prayer with yes and I am now working here at Benson Baptist (Blessing #4). Fifth, My husband and I are now small group leaders in our church youth Group. Allowing us to invest and mentor the youth (Blessing #5). Sixth, moving to Nebraska was the biggest blessing because all the blessings listed above wouldn't of happened if I didn t move. God put me in Nebraska for a reason and HE has been teaching me, molding me and using me here (Blessing #6). When I step back I am amazed at how much God has worked in my life and how much I have grown. I am thankful that little by little God is chipping me into His masterpiece. Are you thankful for the little things? The things that you don t even realize are a blessing at the time, but when you look back you can see how God was moving. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God s will for you in Christ Jesus. We need to give thanks in ALL Things because even though you may not see it in the moment God is working for your good. He walks before you and behind you and He wants to shower HIS people with blessings. Be open to HIS blessings and Give Thanks! Tiffany Schlup 1
FOR THE RECORD - OCTOBER October Offerings Received : 10/1 $ 6,381.55 10/8 $ 5,988.00 10/15 $Sum included in 10/22 10/22 $5,329.48 10/29 $ TBD October Attendance : 10/1 110 10/8 107 10/15 102 10/22 113 10/29 TBD UPCOMING EVENTS & INFORMATION Saturday, November 4, 2017 Craft Fair! Join us for a craft fair in the FLC 9:00am-2:00pm! Guest entry fee and food is free will donation. There will be Chili, hot dogs, coffee, hot apple cider, and cookies! All proceeds benefit the Costa Rica Mission Trip. See you there! Saturday, November 11, 2017 Holidays with the Merrills Come out to Camp Moses Merrill for Holidays with the Merrills! Enjoy a day in the country with family and Friends starting at 10:00 am. Festivities will include: FREE Admission, silent auction, quilt display, bake sale, holiday decorating, Santa, wagon rides, and more. Monday, November 13-20 Operation Christmas Child People pack shoebox gifts each year to bless children in need around the world. We will have a collection week here at the church! The collection dates and times are as follows: November 13th-17th 6:00-8:00 pm, November 18th 1:00-5:00 pm, November 19th 11:30 am-2:30 pm, November 20th 10:00 am-5:00 pm. For more details please see Holly Mayo. Saturday, November 18, 2017 Food Pantry! Our Pantry will begin at 9:00 am! If you are interested in volunteering please contact the church office at office@omahabbc.com. Saturday, November 18, 2017 Turkey Bowl Come out and enjoy the Turkey Bowl game and play some flag football at Brownell Talbot School beginning at 3:00 pm! Wednesday, November 22, 2017 Young Adults Friendsgiving The Young Adults will have a Friendsgiving potluck at 6:30 pm at the church. Thursday-Friday, November 23-24, 2017 Thanksgiving! (Office Closed) The office will be closed in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday November 23rd & 24th. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4 2
LOOKING AHEAD December 4 There will be an SLT meeting in the Beacon room at 7:00 pm. December 9 Join us and go Christmas Caroling through the streets of Benson at 8:00 pm. December 15 We will have Young Adults Christmas Party here at the church! December 16- Our Pantry will begin at 9:00 am! If you are interested in volunteering please contact the church office at office@omahabbc.com. December 20 Join us for our Kids Club and Frontlines Christmas Party at 6:30 pm! This will be the last Wednesday night activity of 2017. Activities will resume in 2018! December 22 Come out to the church and enjoy a Christmas Movie! December 24 We will have a Christmas Program on the morning of Christmas Eve. December 25 Christmas! The office will be closed in observance of the Holiday. January 1 New Year s Day! The office will be closed in observance of the Holiday. SLT MINUTES OCTOBER 2017 Present: Pastor John Sievering, Pastor Scott Jones, Lorraine Arnett, Ron York, Ernie Denniston, Jon Mayo, John Watts, Rick Parks and Ryan Carlson Devotions: Ryan brought devotions. He read Luke 12: 33-34 and discussed how our focus should be laying up treasures in heaven rather than on Earth. Also, as we move forward with education we will hopefully continue to have our focus on having an outward focus. Minutes: Minutes from September were approved as written. Financials were discussed next. Pastor Scott mentioned that there isn t a line item for Young Adults anymore so we may need to budget some for that since they have spent some money on gas but don t have a place to pull from in the budget. Ron thought there was likely still a line item but that it is not shown on the report. Ernie was going to look at it. Pastor Reports: Pastor John mentioned that many of his dreams and goals will be consistently on the report until we meet those goals. He is continuing to meet with smaller groups to survey the members of those groups about where they see Benson Baptist, how we got here, etc. He also continues to look at the current church structure and develop a 12 month schedule for sermons, presentations, classes, bulletins, social media, etc. Pastor Scott brought to our attention some exciting things with the growth of Frontlines. He also summarized the rest of the September activities and previewed some of the activities planned for October. He also mentioned the great work that the Repairs do for us with transportation of kids and youth. The concern is that if we continue to grow and continue to need more transportation how we do that. Also, if they are unavailable we continue to have a concern for how to transport. The next discussion involved the Music Ministry Survey for the church. Jon shared the results from the music survey and how it is organized. We will look at the results and digest the info over the next month. Next month we will come back to this info and discuss what patterns we see. After this, Pastor John led the SLT in discussion in regards to how Benson Baptist is sharing God s love, helping people find God and then follow Christ. He gave us a survey to fill out about this so he can gauge where we see things happening. We will return this info to him before our next meeting when he will have more questions for us. 3 Psalm 9:1-10 I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High. My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you. For you have upheld my right and my cause, sitting enthroned as the righteous judge. You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever. Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished. The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity. The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
SLT MINUTES CONTINUED Next, Jon brought up how we are currently evaluating staff and the process we use. Ron, Ernie, Pastor John and Ryan will work on finding info about how to develop this process and work with staff on that. New Business: Ron Fenton and Ernie Denniston replaced the microwave in the house. The Support Council mentioned that in the last council meeting they felt a Finance committee needs to meet regularly to work on finances. They are looking to do that in the future. SLT nominations were brought up. We discussed the existing form that we have been using the last couple of years. We will make announcements and include that in our prayer concerns next week. Old Business: We did not get volunteers for the Wednesday nursery so we are waiting to see if we get some and then will do background checks. SLT Prayer Concerns: SLT nominations, Budget, Sharing with others during the Holiday season, Suffering within the U.S. from natural and man-made disasters Next meeting: Nov. 6th, Devotions will be brought by Pastor Scott Pastor John closed us in prayer. Submitted by Ryan Carlson PRAYER CONCERNS Prayers for those with medical issues and recovering. Prayers for SLT Team: Ernie Denniston, Jon Mayo, Lorraine Arnett, Rick Parks, Ron York, Ryan Carlson, John Watts, Donna Donner. Prayers for building on the momentum of neighborhood outreach. SERVING OPPORTUNITIES...IS GOD CALLING YOU? Food Pantry The month of October we served many families in need! We are in need of additional volunteers on Wednesdays the week of Food Pantry for boxing at 6:00 pm. If you are interested in furthering the Kingdom by becoming a new volunteer please contact the church office at 402-551-1512 or office@omahabbc.com. Matthew 25 Grant: The Food Pantry has received $500 from the ABC/USA Matthew 25 Grant. Matthew 25:40 "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." These funds will be used to purchase food from the Food Bank for the Heartland. We very much appreciate receiving this award. -Food Pantry Ministry Thank You: Thanks to everyone who went to the Food Pantry fundraiser at Panera Bread October 5th. We raised $133.44! Your support is greatly appreciated! Greeters We are looking for volunteers to greet people as they walk through our doors. We want to ensure that everyone feels welcome and apart of our church family when they arrive. If you are interested please contact the church office at 402-551-1512 or office@omahabbc.com. 4
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS & SERVING CHRIST Thanksgiving 2 Corinthians 4:13-18 It is written: I believed; therefore I have spoken. Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 106:1 5
November Anniversaries Lloyd & Janice Reed November 28th Jeff & Sharr Crow November 29th NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS Anna Hake November 1st Barbara Townley November 2nd Jan Peterson November 12th John Watts November 13th Jodie McWhorter November 14th Ron York November 18th Benson Baptist Church 6319 Maple Street Omaha, Ne 68104 Phone: 402-551-1512 E-mail: office@omahabbc.com 6