December 2017 Pastor Mark s Moment Colder weather is on the way. Snow. Christmas! It s hard to believe, but true. Time marches on, and we are one day closer to the return of our Lord and Savior. This Christmas season we will once again be using the advent wreath to facilitate our celebration. I m hopefully going to be able to tailor the book of Ruth to the major themes of advent: hope, love, joy, and peace. The working sermon titles are: Hope for the Hopeless (Ruth 1:1-2:1) Sacrificial Love in Action (Ruth 2:2-3:13) The Joy that Comes from Knowing our Redeemer (Ruth 3:13-4:17) God s Plan for our Peace (Ruth 4:17-4:22) Speaking of Christmas, have you thought about your devotional plan for the New Year? I m sorry to say that my plan broke down last year and Valerie and I ended up doing something different. This year, however, I m trying to engineer a plan that is simple and straightforward, and I m going to ask you if you d like to join me in it. Are you familiar with the Youversion Bible app? It s available for free, and they not only have Bible reading plans, but they also allow you to group together for those plans. That means each day after the reading I can include my thoughts on the meaning of the passage, and others can comment as well. I thought that going through the New Testament in a year would be a good place to start. If you d like to join me, please download the app, and then let me know that you want to participate and make sure that I have your mobile phone number. In late December you ll get an invite from me. Click on the link and then choose to open it with the plan portion of the app. You should then be a part of the plan! Each day you open the app, go to the plan, read for that day, and then have the opportunity to go to the comments section. I also believe that your phone will notify you whenever someone has posted a comment (assuming that you haven t turned off the notifications!). I m hoping that this will work similarly on tablets and will post a generic invite to the church Facebook page (make sure you like the page ahead of time). I guess that I d better send the invites out before the final Sunday, so that we can work on the tech together if you have a problem! Looking forward to a great season and a Merry Christmas. Hope to see you in church! Pastor Mark Sunday Fellowship Each Sunday we will be celebrating with a member of our church fellowship - details on page 5 Sunday, December 24th 10 AM Fellowship 4 PM Food & Fellowship 4:45 PM Organ Music 5 PM Worship Join the fellowship!
F ROM TH E ELD E R BOARD The meeting was opened by prayer with members praying for specific church family needs. The minutes from October were approved. The financial report was reviewed. The 2018 budget was finalized with the help of Dale Visgar. Benevolence matters were considered. The fall/winter business meeting and agenda were set. Other items were discussed. The next meeting will be on December 5th at 7 p.m. The meeting was closed in prayer. CHRISTMAS EVE - 4 PM Join with others to celebrate the evening with food & fellowship hosted by Pastor Mark & Valerie. At 5 PM we will join together for a Christmas Eve Service together. 50 PLUS & SO50 Wednesday, December 6th at 11 AM, the 50 Plus & SO50 will be taking part in the Senior Dinner provided at Gibraltar Schools. You will need to make your own reservations by calling Gibraltar @ 920-868-3284 ext 244. In addition to the turkey dinner there is always entertainment by students. Seating begins at 10 AM & drop off can be made in the bus lane. WOMEN S MINISTRY TEAM The Women s Ministry Team is sponsoring monthly Scrapbooking/ Craft Events. The next one is scheduled for Friday/Saturday, December 29-30. Friday they work from 2 to 9 PM & Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM. Bring your work (fun) and accomplish a new project while having fun building relationships with other women. You may request to join The Crafty Scrapbookers@First Baptist on Facebook for current information & plans for food, etc. Annual Business Meeting - 9:15 AM - December 10th Gathering Room Letter from Roman Dolya Dear First Baptist Church in Sister Bay, My name is Roman Dolya. I am Ukrainian. This summer was my second time in Door County. This year I came for two months (since I have a pregnant wife and a three year old daughter waiting for me in Ukraine) and I was hosted by my dear friend Ken Hollenbeck, who became my second father. This year I came to your church for the first time. Indeed, throughout your church community I felt Christian love and support. You are doing an awesome job through Bridges. May the Lord bless you to continue impacting the lives of many students from different countries and with different worldviews. I also want to say a special thanks to the Mission Committee who blessed me unexpectedly with a financial gift. Back at home, I have many ministries which I hope to continue to do this and next year. I preach at church, sing in the choir, participate in the family ministry, play in the orchestra, and spend a lot of time with orphans who lack love and care. God blessed me and I had a talk with your pastor and hopefully, we will continue being in touch on a personal and church level. I told my church many good things about your ministries and church life in general, and we promise to pray about your church on a regular basis. May the Lord bless your church and each and every member abundantly. Regards, Roma Note from Pastor Mark: Roma s daughter was born on November 14 th! Be sure to check out Christmas in the Library Be inspired with some Christmas reading, music or a movie. There are many to choose from.
Called to Adopt by Gretta Shepherd John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. In January of this year, Dave and I began the process to adopt a son from China. I ve always felt my heart pulled toward adoption. My childhood was spent overseas with children my same age wearing nothing but filthy shorts whose rips covered little, reaching in my car window asking for a gift. From age 7, I wanted to bring these little ones home with me and share from my wealth. I made a commitment to Christ as a high school sophomore at youth group, and the moment I did I distinctly felt as if I had come home. I had never been rebellious, I just hadn t come to the knowledge of the free, unachievable gift of grace that is the smile and embrace of our heavenly Father as he says worship Me. It was my visceral experience of the scripture from Ephesians 1:5 In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will, and I truly felt in that moment of commitment the adoption as God s daughter. Furthermore, the scripture teaches us in Ephesians 5:1 to Be imitators of God, therefore as dearly loved children. Since I have experienced the joy of adoption into the family of God, it is pursuant that the fullness of my faith should be the adoption of a child into our family and the extension of that same grace and affection to one not born of my womb. Just as God paid a great price in the death of his son for our adoption, so we too have a price to pay for our son s adoption. Our adoption across borders is currently estimated to cost about $39,000. After you have recovered a moment from that sticker shock, I will try to succinctly explain why. International adoption is regulated by the Hague Convention to protect children from human trafficking. This is good, however it requires a great deal of paperwork and man-hours to monitor and uphold; checks and balances and measures of accountability between agreeing governments and accredited adoption agencies constitute these man-hours and costs to satisfy the regulations. In addition there are translation and travel fees. So why not adopt domestically, doesn t it seem like a better way to honor God s money? you may ask. I m glad you did. There certainly is need for adopting families in the US, but each of us is called to serve God in different forms. My compulsion in adoption has been toward the most destitute. And China has one of the largest orphan populations over 20 million with most living in institutions. The need for adopting families for Chinese orphans is great. I have trouble reining in my emotions when I imagine those sweet faces stranded in their cribs all day without mom and dad hugs. We were matched with one of these toyless darlings in March. Our soon-to-be-son, Theo, lives in an orphanage in Henan Province, north central China. He is three years old and was born with Spina Bifida. He also had a tethered cord at birth that was surgically repaired at one year old. We expect he will need significant medical follow up care but he is ambulatory and very capable. Our paperwork for Theo, which amounted to a stack about 1 thick, also known as our dossier, was sent to China in early November. Given the next processing stages that follow, we hope we can pick Theo up in March or April. To date we have raised $28,000 of the $39,000 needed through selling flowers, vegetables, and belongings and from very generous gifts. A huge heart-felt thanks to those who have given generously, your gifts are a blessing and a boost to us! If you feel led to support our adoption with a tax-deductible financial gift, you can do by check or card at: tiny.cc/theoshepherd Once home with us, it will take Theo time to adjust to life in our family, learn English, and heal from the deficiencies inherent in institutional care. During those first few weeks we will need to keep social interactions and visitors to a minimum to establish trust, security, and healthy bonding. We will still be a part of this church body; we just might not be visible for a while. We appreciate your prayers for Theo, with his adjustment and for us as we strive to fulfill all the requirements to bring him home. It has been and will continue to be a stressful ride and the peace of your prayers really helps! The scripture from Romans 8:23 has never been more palpable to us than through this effort we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
5 6 F I R S T B A P T I S T C H U R C H C A L E N D A R December 2017 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 26 9:15 AM Adult Sunday School 3 9:15 AM Adult Sunday School Almost 50th Anniversary 10 9:15 AM Annual Meeting Dan Granzow s 90th BD 17 9:15 AM Adult Sunday School Dell Lindbloom s 92nd BD 24 Christmas Eve 4 PM Food & Fellowship 5 PM Candlelight Service 31 27 28 4 5 11 12 18 19 25 Christmas Day 1 New Year s Day 26 NO Tea & Conversation 2 29 6 50+/SO50 Gibraltar Holiday Dinner 13 20 Christmas Party 30 7 14 21 27 28 3 4 1 2 8 9 15 16 22 23 29 2-9 PM Scrapbook/Craft 30 9 AM-2 PM Scrapbook/Craft
Christmas greetings are extended from our Sister Church at Krasnopolya; From Alexy and his wife Tanya, Igor and his wife Tanya, the new teen group, and from Annya (Victor's wife) in Belarous. Everyone extends God's richest blessings at this season as we celebrate God's great gift of salvation. Alexy reports that all of the legal papers for all of the churches and many other properties in Ukraine are being revised and updated to reflect Ukraine nationality and to omit all references to the now defunct USSR. Work has been completed for the The Baptist Union of Ukraine and all of the regional Baptist Unions. Work is now starting with the individual congregations and will be completed shortly. The youth program continues very active with a core group of 3 5 youth attending each Sunday. As their attendance becomes more regular plans are underway to include them as part of the worship program. One Sunday in November, about 14 youths from the church at Lebedyn came to worship and share at the regular service. The every other week youth gatherings (pre-teen and teens) continue to attract 8 to 10 to each meeting. Alexy and Tonya are making plans for a visit to the United States. They plan to visit with us as well as with others while here. He is asking for prayers as the application process for a Visa can be very convoluted and complex. Continue praying for all of the new believers and also for larger worship and meeting facilities. December Celebrations Sunday, December 3 Almost 50th Wedding Anniversary Jim & Kathy Springer Sunday, December 10 Dan Granzow - 90th Birthday Sunday, December 17 Dell Lindbloom - 92nd Birthday Each of these will be celebrated at the 10 AM Fellowship Hour. Join us as we honor each one. No Gifts - Cards are appropriate. A Few Statistics... Date 10:30 S.S. Offering October 29 140 $ 8,305.00 November 5 153 30 $ 7,305.00 November 12 133 25 $ 3,535.00 November 19 129 29 $ 5,075.00 November 26 127 23 $ 9,269.00 $ 33,489.00 BIRTHDAYS 3rd: Karen Sunstrom 5th: Gary Nelson Andrew Stewart Greg Stewart 8th: Joan Lonstine 12th: Dan Granzow Jacob Kordon 13th: Dell Lindbloom 14th: Paul Burgess 15th: Laura Dobre Bill Olsen 17th: Jan Burgess 18th: Lois Seaquist 19th: Mike McAndrews 23rd: Gary Lundquist 24th: Gretta Shepherd 26th: Helen Carlson Al Nowachek 28th: Sam Kordon 29th: Carl Burgess 31st: Colleen Budzis ANNIVERSARIES 6th: Glenn & Gloria Sitte 14 years 14th: Conrad & Linda Johnson 43 years 20th: Steve & Sally Jacobson 49 years 23rd: Gene & Barb Jarvis 45 years 25th: Lyle & Nitzie Bruss 62 years 26th: Carl & Vera Lenz 64 years 30th: Chris & Mary Jackson 22 years Jim & Kathy Springer 50 years
First Baptist Church 2622 S. Bay Shore Dr. Sister Bay, WI 54234 920.854.2544 www.firstbaptistsisterbay.com firstbaptistsisterbay@gmail.com F R O M O U R G L O B A L M I N I S T R Y Tim Geoffrion - Faith, Hope & Love Global Ministries In Myanmar (Burma) there are many areas with serious problems such as hunger, persecution, war, discrimination, poverty, and political unrest. Over the past 5 years, the Rakhine State, located in northwestern Myanmar has had escalating violence. About a century ago, Muslims migrated from Bangladesh to settle in the Rakhine State. The Rohingya militants (the Rohingya Salvation Army) had killed 12 Burmese soldiers; as a result the Burmese retaliated by burning homes and villages, killing hundreds of Rohingyas, and caused the displacement of thousands who have tried to survive in a squalid refugee camp of 120,000. Most of the students at Myanmar Institute come from problem areas; however none are from the Rakhine State which is 400 miles north of the Institute. Tim was teaching for about a month starting on September the 26th. He had 90 students in New Testament Theology, 11 in a Romans course, and 7 in Dynamics on Christian Spirituality by using his new book Saying Y es to God; How to keep in Step with the Spirit. While teaching, he asked the students the following questions 1. How does Jesus teaching on peace apply to a war torn nation? 2. How does Paul's teaching on grace, love and Christian community relate to the challenges that the church faces in impoverished Chin Hills, jungle villages, and displaced people in the Kochin State? 3. What is the real relevance of Christ to the Christian faith on many mission fields? On October 24th, Tim presented a two and one half hour lecture to 230 students, 25% Buddhists, who are enrolled in the Liberal Arts program. The topic was the Christian faith for young people. The students heard the Gospel and were told many reasons why young people should devote their life to Christ. For the past several years, Tim has been teaching, giving various seminars, and workshops so that the graduates will be better prepared to minster in the difficult and demanding mission fields. Each year Tim has received very positive feed back and has seen and heard how God has been at work in each of their lives.