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Greetings, everyone! I trust that you had a pleasant Thanksgiving Day. This week is a reminder to God's people that our lives ought to be characterized by the giving of thanks.
1 Chronicles 16:8-11 gives us this encouragement: "Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the people. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders. Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad. Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually." THE LORD’S DAY This Sunday begins our Week of Prayer for International Missions. Join us in person for emphasis on this mission. Lottie Moon Christmas Offering commences this week. Our nationwide goal is $175 million, and we have the opportunity to be a small part of that goal. Every penny of this offering goes directly to support our 3,535 field personnel on the worldwide mission field. Lottie Moon was one of 300 missionaries in the 175 year history of the International Mission Board of the SBC who gave their lives for the sake of the Gospel. Here is a brief video that pays tribute to those 300. Please pray about what the Lord would have you give this season. Advent begins this Sunday. We remember the coming of Christ into this world, when true God became true man to take our sins upon Himself and pay the penalty for them on the cross. Rising, ascending, sitting at the right hand of the Father, Christ will come again one day to judge the living and the dead. Advent also looks forward to that glorious day. Scripture readings, songs, sermons, and prayers will reflect this traditional season of the church culminating in Christmas Day. Here are the Scriptures that will frame our time of worship tomorrow. Take a few moments to read and meditate on them as we prepare our hearts to gather: Fighter Verse: 1 John 4:4 Call to Worship: Psalm 5:11 Old Testament: Isaiah 64:1-9 New Testament: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Assurance of Pardon: 1 John 1:8-9 Sermon: Luke 8:22-25 Benediction: Numbers 6:24-26 I often use the word "meditate" when it comes to the Scripture, and I understand that various understandings exist for that word. I am using it in the sense so well and thoroughly described here by J. I. Packer in his seminal work, Knowing God: "Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God. "Its purpose is to clear one's mental and spiritual vision of God, and to let his truth make its full and proper impact on one's mind and heart. It is a matter of talking to oneself about God and oneself; it is, indeed, often a matter of arguing with oneself, reasoning oneself out of moods of doubt and unbelief into a clear apprehension of God's power and grace. "Its effect is ever to humble us, as we contemplate God's greatness and glory and our own littleness and sinfulness, and to encourage us and reassure us-- 'comfort' us, in the old, strong, Bible sense of the word -- as we contemplate the unsearchable riches of divine mercy displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ." (p. 23) THIS WEEK
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87573789453?pwd=Zjg5ZWZ2N1h5WklxOEFjM3IrVUt1QT09 Meeting ID: 875 7378 9453 Passcode: 478672 COMING UP Christmas Eve Candlelight Service is still on at this point, at 6 pm. It is always a special time to gather together with our church family for a service of Scripture, song, prayer, and sermon culminating in a candlelight singing of "Silent Night." We believe this can be done safely as we gather in families that evening. Please plan to join us! ICYMI: Audio of Sunday’s Message on Luke 1:5-25 "God of Promise and Of Prayer" A PASTORAL WORD ON COVID-19 Ever since the COVID-19 virus has been a concern, opinions abound concerning how best to address it. Church family, you have been gracious in your words and deportment on this matter, and I trust that will continue to be the case. Regardless of what your personal opinion on the virus is, most of us have known someone personally who has been seriously affected by it. I have known 3 people personally who have died due to COVID with no compromised health otherwise. None of these cases have been in our immediate area. With the recent uptick in cases in our immediate area, some of you have asked what we are doing as a church to be proactive in addressing it in our gatherings. Please allow me, first of all, to share a few of the facts as I understand them followed by what we have already done to respond, then some pastoral advice which I believe will help us maintain "the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," and maybe stay healthier especially as cold and flu season are upon us. First, the facts: 1. DeKalb County has had 579 total cases of COVID-19 reported since March, with 10 deaths. 2. Of those cases, 138 were reported during the period of November 13-26; that's 24% of the total cases in the most recent 2-week period. 3. The total population of DeKalb County is 12,547, meaning the rate of positive cases in the county is 4.6% of the total population. (If our experience of COVID at home is typical, for every one positive test case, there are two who experienced symptoms during quarantine without being tested). 4. The percentage of deaths in relation to total positive cases is roughly 1.7 %, or 1 in 58. The inverse is, of course, a 98.3% survival rate. (It is my understanding that the death rate goes up with those who are above 60 years of age or have other complicating issues). What we have done to respond so far: 1. Shut down completely for 8 weeks, mid-March to mid-May 2. Provided online and FM radio options in the parking lot for those choosing not to attend in person 3. Once we returned to in-person services, provided disposable masks and hand sanitizer to all attendees 4. Discouraged handshaking 5. Encouraged social distancing of 6 feet or more for periods of 15 minutes or more if unmasked 6. Taped off our seating in the sanctuary to help maintain the suggested distances 7. Made mask wearing voluntary, not mandatory 8. Pastoral staff have been more proactive in recent weeks to wear masks in worship center until seated or at the pulpit. What has happened in and among our congregation: 1. Several folks have self-quarantined when they became aware of primary exposure. 2. Five families in the church have had at least one member who tested positive. 3. These positive test instances have been over the course of the last 8 weeks, and only two have overlapped in time due to being in a common extended family setting. 4. None of these instances were traced to contact while at a church gathering. 5. Virtually all have occurred following prolonged close proximity to a friend or family member who had COVID-19. Now, how we plan to respond in the future: 1. We have no plans to shut down in person services again, preferring instead to allow you the freedom to make the choice to stay home and watch online, attend in the parking lot, or attend in person. 2. We have no plans to issue a "mask mandate," preferring instead to allow you to make that choice to wear or not to wear a mask or other protective gear. 3. We have no plans to alter our worship services in any way, but we reserve the right to add an earlier or later service for those who are more wary of the virus. 4. These decisions are not made unilaterally, but in consultation with and approval of the deacons, and in some instances, the church body gathered in conference. Now the advice section (suggestions, not mandates). Because of health concerns not only with COVID, but also flu season: 1. Wear a mask whenever you are unable to socially distance from those around you. 2. Wear a red adhesive dot if you prefer not to shake hands, hug, or otherwise have physical contact with someone at church. (Wave, "fist bump," "elbow bump," or otherwise find an alternative to shaking hands as greeting). 3. Wash your hands frequently and make use of the hand sanitizer when needed. 4. Recognize that we are all breathing the same air, filtered through the returns and circulated throughout the various zones of the building, so none of these precautions are "fail safe." 4. If you consider yourself to be particularly at risk, please stay home and join us online or come to within 300 feet of the sanctuary and join us by radio, FM 103.1. 5. Above all, "trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6) Beloved, let us seek to glorify the Lord and enjoy Him forever as we live lives of faith, love, joy and peace in Christ. Remember these words from the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians 4:1-3: "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Visit the website for more up-to-date information! See you in church! Grace and peace, Pastor Greg
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Wonderful job, everyone! Operation Christmas Child collection week is this week, and you did your part by collecting 106 shoeboxes with gifts for children in need in places all around the world. Practical items like soap, washcloths, toothbrushes and toothpaste, pencils and sharpeners were included along with age appropriate toys. You also gave money for postage o $608! It costs $9 per box to mail each one to its destination, so roughly two-thirds of the postage was offset by your gifts. Well done, church family!
Thanks also to those who came out and/or joined us virtually for IMB Virtual Sending Service last Wednesday evening. Our IMB appointed 79 missionaries, 30 of whom were featured during the service itself. If you were not able to join us, click on the above link to watch the service in its entirety. Also, at the bottom of the page are all of the missionary testimony videos, including the ones not able to be included in the virtual service due to time constraints. TOMORROW is THE LORD’S DAY! "Happy are they, they that love God, whose hearts have Christ confessed! who by His cross have found their life, and 'neath His yoke their rest. Glad is the praise, sweet are the songs, when they together sing, and strong the prayers that bow the ear of heav'n's eternal King." These lyrics from a hymn by William Croft (1678-1727) have been at the front of my mind in the last few days. They will also as we gather for worship tomorrow, to acknowledge Christ's Lordship over sin, death, hell, and the grave, and to magnify the One who has given us life and in Whom alone we have life. As you prepare to gather for worship tomorrow, meditate on these Scriptures that will frame our time in worship together. Click anywhere on the link and it will take you to a printable version of these Scriptures: Call to worship: Psalm 100 Fighter Verses Psalm 84:10-12 OT Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 NT Reading: Ephesians 1:15-23 Assurance of Pardon: Psalm 25:7 Sermon Passage: Luke 1:5-25 Benediction: Numbers 6:24-26 Stewardship Committee will meet right after morning service in the conference room to discuss the 2021 budget proposal. If you are responsible for a budget line item and are requesting a change in that line item from 2020, please submit that request in writing to church treasurer, Marsha Smith at iam2messy@gmail.com or text her at 816-312-0032. If no change is requested, it will likely be the same as 2020. THIS WEEK the office/building schedule will be adjusted due to Thanksgiving:
COMING UP Week of Prayer for International Missions will kick off on November 29 with a visit from Scott Hill. Scott and his wife, Stefanie, were commissioned by the IMB during their Virtual Sending Service on Wednesday. Scott is the immediate past youth and children's minister at First Baptist Church in Cameron. Scott and Stefanie are the parents to three small children and will be serving in an area of the world that cannot be disclosed for security reasons. For this reason, their real names and images will not be used during the sending service. Scott will be sharing a challenging message to our youth during the Sunday School hour, and he will be preaching a missions message during the morning worship service. Join me in praying for and encouraging the Hills as they plan to begin their international missions journey in January. ICYMI Last Sunday’s Message Luke 1:1-4 The Prologue BONUS: I share online resources with you from time to time, and this week I would like to share Breakpoint from The Colson Center, named for its founder Charles Colson. This week, the feature is Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito and his speech to the Federalist Society on the subject of religious liberty. I highly recommend you listen since we are living in a time when religious liberty is in the crosshairs of the political left. Here is the specific link. (About 37 minutes in length). See you in church! Grace and peace, Pastor Greg Greetings, everyone! This week we celebrated Veteran's Day, first on Monday as a legal holiday, then on Wednesday as the 102nd anniversary of the Armistice which ended hostilities of World War 1 at 11 a.m. on November 11,1918. For many years, the day was known as "Armistice Day," changing to Veterans Day in 1954 by an act of Congress to honor American veterans of all wars. Thank you to all those who served our country so that we might remain free.
TOMORROW: MACH 4 Men's Ministry has been canceled. THE LORD’S DAY Every Lord's Day is special because God's people come together to worship in local congregations and remember the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what we will do this week as we corporately come under the preaching and teaching of the word of God. This week, we will more closely examine Luke 1:1-4 as we launch into our expositional study of the Gospel of Luke. Here are the Scriptures that will frame our worship gathering this week. Clink anywhere on the link to view a printable version of these verses: Fighter Verse: Psalm 79:9 Call to Worship: Psalm 100 (sung) Old Testament Reading: Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18 New Testament Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Assurance of God's Pardon: Psalm 103:10-12 Sermon Passage: Luke 1:1-4 Benediction: 2 Corinthians 13:14 Visit from the Johnstons: This Lord's Day will also be special because Dan & Kali Johnston, international workers with Reach Beyond, will be with us sharing at the conclusion of the morning worship service. Kali (Carroll) grew up at First Baptist, and she and Dan began serving with Reach Beyond in Central Asia four years ago. They will briefly recap the mission of Reach Beyond and share what has recently been happening in their ministry. Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes will be collected this Lord's Day. Our children and adults have assembled several boxes already, but there are always some that come in on the collection day. If you have a filled Christmas Shoebox, bring it with you Sunday morning and we will include it in the collection. At the end of the service, we will creatively carry the Christmas Shoeboxes to an awaiting vehicle for transport to a collection center in St. Joseph. If you fill a box after Sunday, you may still drop it off at one of the collection centers. Click on the link to find the locations of collection centers near us. THIS WEEK Our IMB (International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention) will be commissioning 79 missionaries in a virtual sending service this week, including Scott and Stefanie Hill (see announcement below). The IMB Virtual Sending Service will be Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 pm Central Standard Time. Click on the link to watch the service or go directly to the IMB Facebook page to watch via Facebook Live. Please join us at the church house to watch this special time of praying over and sending out mission personnel all over the world. If you have ever attended an IMB Commissioning Service, you know how moving and special it can be. We look forward to sharing in this experience with you. COMING UP
ICYMI Last Sunday’s Message Luke: Tell Me the Story of Jesus (Overview of Luke's Gospel) BONUS:
Visit the website for more up-to-date information! See you in church! Grace and peace, Pastor Greg Greetings, everyone! Thanks to all those who joined us for Pre-Election Prayer on Monday evening, both live and virtually. Seventeen of us were praying in the sanctuary and four more joined by ZOOM. We had a sweet time of prayer and intercession for our country, our leaders, and for the election. We continue to pray for our country post-election as we seek God's wisdom.
MBC: Last week, the Bridgmans, the Deans, and myself joined around 800 other messengers to represent our church to the Missouri Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. The Annual Meeting and all the meetings attendant to it provided a great time for us to carry out the business of the MBC, with which our church is happily affiliated. Here is a link to the Pathway to read highlights of the meeting. TODAY our deacons met to pray for the membership, tend to widows and benevolence matters, and move forward on the process of deacon nominations for 2021, among other things. Please pray for them as they do the work for which the church has set them apart. TOMORROW is THE LORD’S DAY! Bible study for all ages meets at 9:30 am, and you are invited to be a part of a group. If you haven't yet attached to one, it is never too late. Join us tomorrow. For morning worship, we will begin a series through the Gospel of Luke. Tomorrow will be an overview sermon to introduce the man, his message, and the meaning of the book for us as believers today. I am excited to start this expositional journey with you that will be an investment of time for us and will yield rich treasures from the store of Scripture. Our service will be framed by the following Scriptures. Please take a few moments to read and meditate on these passages in preparation for worship tomorrow: Fighter Verse: 1 Timothy 6:6-7 Call to Worship: Psalm 78:1-4 Old Testament Reading: Joshua 24:1-3, 14-25 New Testament Readings: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Assurance of God's Pardon: Psalm 32:1-2 Sermon Passage: Luke 1:1-4 Benediction: Numbers 6:24-26
ICYMI: Last Sunday’s Message Ruth 4: Redemption Applied Visit the website for more up-to-date information! See you in church! Grace and peace, Pastor Greg |
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