PO website: fbcburnet.org November 28, 2017 Box 310 Burnet, Texas 78611 Phone: 512.756.4481 Pastor s Page I pray that you had a wonderful time of giving thanks with family and friends. Adopt an attitude of gratitude throughout the year; it will be a blessing to Jesus and to you too. Our annual Thanksgiving Meal as a church family was awesome. A huge THANK YOU! to the Hostess Committee for their labor of love. As we begin to look toward the Christmas holidays, make a commitment to keep it all about Jesus. Look at it as a great opportunity to talk about Him and the fact that we are celebrating His birth. re is no easier time to talk about Him than this. It s also a great time to invite others to worship Him with us at church. I rarely (if ever) come across someone who is not planning to go to heaven when they die. thing that we will be doing in heaven more than anything else is worshipping Him, and yet so many people who are planning to go to heaven seldom worship Him in this life. question occurs to me; If you are planning to go to heaven where we will worship all the time, why aren t you interested in worshipping Him now? Church is genuinely expressing our love and appreciation to the Lord (worship), but in a very real sense it s also Heaven rehearsal. Encourage others to make it the priority it needs to be. Jesus will be honored. Our first grandson finally arrived. Jude Lincoln Mullin arrived November 15 th and he is doing great. Every time I hold a new born baby I can t help but think about the fact that this is how Jesus came into the world He made. What an incredible expression of love. It is our 25 th year of hosting Main Street Bethlehem. It humbles me to think that Jesus chose First Baptist Church Burnet to host a ministry that reaches 25,000 people a year from all over the world, and to think about the thousands of hours of hard work that have gone into making it what it is. As we celebrate His birth through Main Street Bethlehem remember to pray daily, help when and where you can, and invite your friends and family to come celebrate with us. I am so honored to be your pastor. I look forward to seeing you Sunday. Church Staff Pastor Doug Lindley Inside this issue: page Children s Ministry 2,3 Music/Mission Minister Senior Adult Director Children s Program Director Nursery/Preschool Director Church Secretary Financial Secretary Custodians Sound Technician Dennis Lofton George Harrivel Ruby May Jo Gamble Bettie Taber Leslie Walzel John & Silvia Nistor Al Priest Nursery Workers: Nubia Suarez, Amanda James, Melissa Meeks, Julie Webber Music / Missions; Missions Update 4 Calendar at-a-glance 5 Preschool news ; December birthdays 6 Notes received, VOM update 7 First Baptist Church, Burnet Loving Jesus and Serving Burnet since 1877
Page 2 Children s ministry by Ruby May
Page 3 Children s Ministry by Ruby May
Page 4 Music / Missions by Dennis Lofton As we wrap-up 2017, it's a good time to reflect on all the wonderful things Father has blessed us with this year. He "gives us this day our daily bread" and so, so much more. New members joining, sponsoring a mission family to Ecuador, 2 mission trips to Romania, Grief Share, VBS, Main Street Bethlehem...I could go on and on and still not name so many of the good things Jesus has provided our fellowship. As we enter the time of year that we celebrate His birth, don't get caught up in the world's view of Christmas. Make time to spend time with Him, thanking Him for coming to be one of us. Jesus didn't come as a conquering hero; he came as a baby needing a human to care for His every need. He didn't grow up to subject the world to His will; He became the servant of all. Meditate on that as we all seek to become more like our Lord. I thank Father every day for one of the greatest blessings He's ever given me - the opportunity to be here, working with you. I consider it a privilege and an honor to be here! Have a blessed Christmas, Dennis Missions Update Compelled by Chick Wood December 3-10th is the designated Week of Prayer for International Missions. What does that really mean to us at First Baptist? It is a special week of the year for our denomination to focus on lifting up our International Missionaries to the Father as they carry the message of salvation to lost people all over the world. What a task! But they have answered the call to go and we must answer the call to undergird them with our prayers and offerings. Please use the Prayer Guides daily and pray for the needs listed for the focused missionary. Also, magnets will be handed out Sunday, December 3rd as prayer reminders for the year. Our church offering goal is $10,000 to help provide for our International Missionaries. Our church helps support over 3600 missionaries. One of them, Zack Dove, IMB Missionary to Norway said, Because churches give to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering, we ve been able to tell people about Jesus who have never heard the real gospel message before. May we be compelled to pray and give!
Page 5 Calendar at-a-glance: December 2017 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Main Street Bethlehem 6-9 2Main Street Bethlehem 6-9 3 Regular schedule. No evening service MSB 6-9 4 5 6 7 8 Main Street Bethlehem 6-9 9 Main Street Bethlehem 6-9 10 Regular schedule. No evening service MSB 6-9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Regular and evening schedule 18 19 20 KidZone Christmas program 6:00 pm 21 22 23 24 Regular schedule Christmas Eve live nativity 6pm 25 26 27 28 29 30 Church office closed all week 31 Regular schedule No evening activities
Page 6 Preschool News - December Birthdays Nursery/Preschool An early step toward a Godly walk One of the fundamentals in a nursery or preschool area is a toy. We select toys very carefully. We watch the children as they play. We use the toys to interact with a child. We watch the children as they interact with each other. How do with teach fundamentals of faith with toys? Enjoyment-----God loves his children and He wants them to be happy. Teaching----Jesus shared with His disciples. God gives us rules because he loves us. God wants people to sing and pray to Him. But, most of all, God wants us to learn about Him. re is such a variety of toys to choose from. Choose carefully. In His love, Ms. Jo If your birthday is wrong or not listed, please contact the Church Office, 756-4481. Bonnie Jordan 12/1 LouAnn Lovelady 12/2 Glenda Thomas 12/2 Wanita Thying 12/4 Shelby Wagner 12/4 Morgan Taylor Johnson 12/4 Clayton Smith 12/4 Gloria Vaughan 12/6 Leona Williams 12/8 Bonnie Hoyer 12/8 Danny Floyd 12/10 Martha Heffington 12/10 Glenn Peavy 12/10 Alan Hicks 12/10 Donna Galyean 12/10 Craig Lee Hilton 12/11 Silvia Nistor 12/11 Danny Gamble 12/13 Ty Duffner 12/13 Daisy Christiansen 12/14 Chris Neal 12/15 Pierce Frost 12/16 Marilyn Davis 12/16 Debbie Weston 12/17 Michael Doan 12/17 Jean Worrell 12/20 Seth Shelburn 12/20 LaJoy Eubanks 12/20 Sandra Brandon 12/20 Paul G. Nelson 12/21 Claudia Acuff 12/22 Nancy Middlebrooks 12/22 James Halbert 12/22 Kristine Womack 12/22 Kay Rowney 12/23 Avery Danielle Floyd 12/24 Betty Lindley 12/25 Andon DeShazo 12/26 Michael Lindley 12/27 Joyce Vaughan 12/27 Rita Gooch 12/29 Matthew Smith 12/30 Dava Horton 12/30 Al Priest 12/30 Kathy Vaughn 12/30 Danielle Lindley 12/31
Page 7 Notes of Appreciation, Voice of the Martyrs update following are cards and letters that have been received by FBC over the past month: We would like to thank everyone for all the love and encouragement and support we have and are receiving through this difficult time. God has shown us so much love through our church family, our families and our friends. God s love and mercy surely shines through you all. Love in Christ, Travis family My dear church - Thank all of your for your prayers. I continue to try to heal but it is a long process...my Lord is the great healer so this too will pass. Love in Christ s name, Carolyn Scott Dear friends at First Baptist Church in Burnet - thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate your kindness. Sincerely, Harold Norcross My dear church family - I knew I loved you all, but now just appreciate you so for the food, the flowers and the prayers for my sweet Bobbette. My family members know they don't have to worry about me because my church family will see me through this time of sorrow. Judy Lightfoot Dear Church Family - God bless you for blessing our family during the passing of Leroy Bollinger. For all of the cards, food, calls, thank you seems so inadequate. Your prayers were felt at this time by our family. God bless you, everyone! Bollinger family Update: Your Persecuted Family Last month, Nelly Griffin and I were able to attend and work a VOM Advance conference in San Antonio, where we heard speakers from Syria, Myanmar, and America, and we joined in worship led by an Iranian musician. All of them have seen or experienced persecution for being witnesses for Christ, and they all expressed great joy at what God is doing! re is a genuine excitement about the spread of the gospel into countries that have been closed, so to speak, to the message of Jesus. We got to meet and hear from Gracia Burnham, who was captured by Islamic militants along with her husband in 2001 in the Philippines, where they served as missionaries for 17 years. y were held captive for a year, and her husband Martin was killed during their rescue. Gracia spoke frankly about the anger she had during their captivity, and how God softened her heart and helped her forgive her captors and even be a part of seeing some of them accept Christ. I also want to mention that there are some wonderful ways to help your persecuted family through VOM: Christmas Care Packs that include school supplies, clothing, a children s Bible, and a toy, can be sponsored for just $30. Village Outreach Kits, which help equip front-line workers in hostile countries with Bibles, discipleship resources, literature for distribution as well as personal Bible study, and other ministry tools such as a DVD player and discipleship films, are $150. You can visit www.christmascare.com to find out how to sponsor these kits. Above all, please remember your persecuted brothers and sisters in prayer! Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. -- Hebrews 13:3 Julie Taylor