AUGUST 2017 The MESSENGER A Fuller Word Guatemala Mission Trip I want to take this opportunity to thank you for supporting our Guatemala Mission team. We definitely felt your love and support, especially through your prayers and kind words. God did a special work through our team as we had the privilege to serve and minister at Tabitha House (an orphanage in the dump in Guatemala City). Kids are kids no matter where you go or what the circumstance. The children that we were able to serve are just like our children. They love to run, play, joke, be loved on, and yes, even be a little mischievous. What a blessing it was to spend a week at Tabitha House. But as it always happens, our team was more blessed than anyone we served in Guatemala. God has a unique way of joining mission teams together while on the mission field and the bond that is formed will last a lifetime. Great ministry, great memories, and great message: Soft heart and hard feet! I hope that you will pray about being a team member on one of our mission teams in the future. You don t want to cheat yourself out of a blessing. Many Blessings, Pastor Eric Preschool & Children s Ministry It s August and Kid s Super Summer Wednesdays is about to come to an end. We have had so much fun! A huge thanks to Bill, Lori, Emily, Melissa and Emily for heading up the planning for each week. Our mission was to share God s love with our precious children through fun and devotions. Our children s missions activities will resume Wednesday night, August 6, at 6 PM. We have RAs for boys, grades 1-5, GAs for girls, grades 1-5 and Mission Friends for 4 and 5 year olds. I am still praying for God to provide someone who will be willing to do Mission Friends with our babies through 3 year olds. What a blessing it would be to teach these little ones about God s love and sharing it with the world through missions. Every child is looking forward to Moving Up to their new Sunday School class. We have a new curriculum in both the Children s and the Preschool Department and our teachers are excited to teach a new group of children. I am still praying for God to provide a teacher for the Babies, 4 year olds and 3 rd grade Sunday School classes. I know He has someone. It might be YOU!! Please pray with me for the right people to hear and answer His call. My next goal is to provide activities for children during the evening worship time. More to come about that later. Please pray for me as I seek God s wisdom and His will for our children and preschoolers. I would love your ideas and help. Email me at fayebrown444@gmail.com. Mrs. Faye
Guatemala Mission Emphasis Sunday, August 13, 10:45 AM (One Morning Service) Twenty-four team members from OBC served at Tabitha House in the dump in Guatemala City. We had VBS with the children, set up a medical clinic, and did door to door evangelism in the dump. The theme of the week quickly became, Soft hearts and hard feet!
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Michael Barney 108 County Road 108 Ozark, AL 36360 334-545-4943 By Statement Alan & Sherry Morrow 302 Plantation Way Ozark, AL 36360 334-805-4950 By Statement/Letter Mature Adult Adventures Our Boomer Adults are headed to Colquit, GA for some fun @ Swamp Gravy on Thursday, August 10. We will leave the church @ 3 PM. Contact Kay Henderson for more information. September 16, 2017 Race Begins @ 8 AM Entry Fees: Pre-Race Day Registration 5K Run (Walk) $25 1 Mile Fun Run (Walk) $15 *Race Day Packet Pick Up 7:00-7:45 AM Race Day Registration is $30 and $20 All proceeds will benefit the Ozark/Dale County community to help families, children, and elderly. You may register online @ ozarkbaptist.org. NEW MEMBER CLASS Recently our church instituted a mandatory New Member Class as part of our membership process. What this means is that every new member since that date must complete this class to move to final church members. In order to help you meet this requirement we are offering this series of three weekly, one-hour classes on Sunday mornings during the Sunday School hour. Our first New Member Class offering will be September 10, 17, & 24. Bro. Michael will serve as the leader of this class. If you have joined our church since February 2017 this class is required. However, if you joined before that time you may also attend if you wish. Additionally, if you are considering making Ozark Baptist Church your church we invite you to join us as well. We will be mailing invitations to all new members since February 2017. Please call or email the church office to let us know of your interest in attending this first series of classes. We look forward to getting to know you better and to helping you plug-in to the life of OBC. For more information you may call 334-774-9381 or email michael@ozarkbaptist.org. Dates: September 10, 17, 24 Time: 9:30 AM Location: Main Building, 2nd Floor
Worship Ministry Thanks! The Night of Worship was such a blessing!! Thanks to all who worked hard to make it happen!! I was SO impressed with all the talent we are blessed with at OBC. Every song was first rate. I appreciate all your support as a church family for coming out to support the night. It shows just how much everyone loves music that honors and glorifies the Lord. One of the things I noticed during the service was the look on the singers and the congregation as they worshiped. It was wonderful to see so many people just captured by the moment. I pray we will create a tradition of great music, so that more people will be drawn to visit and worship with us, specifically so we will all be drawn to Christ. We need ONE MORE THING!!!! We need more MEN in the choir. PLEASE pray about joining us and have fun with us as we work and worship together every week. It is a proven fact that singing lowers your stress and helps you live longer. See you next Wednesday?? Bro. Alan Education Ministry We begin a new Sunday School Year on August 6. We have some new teachers and workers and have done some reorganizing in our Children s Division in order to leverage ourselves for new growth we expect to see this year. Please pray for our new year! Also, pray for Michael McCraney, our new Sunday School Director. Bryan DeLoney has served in this ministry position for many years. He has stepped back to become our Assistant Sunday School Director, so you will still see Bryan around in the Atrium on Sunday mornings. IF you do not make attending Sunday School one of your Sunday morning habits I want to ask you to COMMIT to making your attendance at 9:30 AM a PRIORITY! We cannot grow into the person God wants us to become if we do not make spiritual growth a priority. Spiritual formation involves the work of God in our lives as we choose to focus on growing into Christlikeness. Sunday School is not the only path to spiritual growth. Christians also need to be in close community with fellow believers, experiencing discipleship, nurture, and accountability. For this reason, our Adult Ministry has designed a new opportunity for you grow in your spiritual formation. DNA Groups (you may visit the church website to get more information and to sign-up) are designed to provide a discipleship experience, a nurturing atmosphere, and a group of like-minded, same-gender accountability partners. DNA Groups are made up of 3 to 5 same-gender persons who commit to meet together once-a-week at an agreed upon time for the next 9 months. The group will select a discipleship-based study and move through that study together. Once the first study is complete, they will select a new study, and so it goes! As minister of education I will contact the Group Leader weekly to gather attendance data and to make myself available for assistance. If you would like to lead a DNA Group please let me know very soon. I will also be asking several of you to lead a group so we may begin this ministry the week of September 4th. We will have a sign-up table beginning Sunday, August 13th and as always, you may sign-up online. This is going to be a great adventure! One of the Heart-Beats of church growth is our Outreach Ministry. We will return to Sunday afternoon outreach visitation on Sunday, September 10, @ 4 PM. I look forward to going out into our community each week with our deacons, Sunday School leaders, and others. I know that you will make this a priority in your weekly schedule. Bro. Michael