Weekly Update

Greetings, everyone! As we approach the third week of Advent, just a whole lot of information in this week's update to absorb. Some of these items are more consequential than others, but I have given them here in no particular order. Take your time, read, and be blessed. Blessings to you!

FELLOWSHIP HALL FLOORING COMMITTEE recommended resurfacing the fellowship hall and kitchen area with hard-surface, wood-like polyvinyl flooring. In our special business meeting, we voted to authorize a combination of memorial funds and undesignated funds on hand to complete the project, estimated at about $10,000 including labor and materials. A little less than half of that amount will be from undesignated funds which we will ask our members to give towards repaying over the next several months. This project will enable us to have a much cleaner and sanitary environment when we start up regular meals and midweek ministries again. Praise the Lord!


AED (automated external defibrillator) is located on the wall in the foyer next to the cloak room. This unit and ones like it were provided to the churches of DeKalb County by the local health board. While the unit is self-explanatory when used, we will seek to provide training on the unit in the near future. We will keep you posted, but for now, just know that it is available in case of an emergency when seconds are precious.

MACH 4 MEN'S MINISTRY will meet at Hopewell Baptist on Saturday at 6 pm. We will begin with a meal, have a devotional message, and discuss any upcoming ministry projects. All men and boys are invited to attend.

ANNUAL BUDGET PROPOSAL: This Sunday morning, the first draft budget proposal for 2021 will be distributed to those in attendance, along with a brief explanation. The 2021 budget proposal from our Stewardship team is essentially the same as the 2020 budget with slight increases under personnel and missions. The overall recommended increase is 4%. We will discuss it during the member meeting Sunday evening at 6 pm. Any questions should be brought at that time or directed to Stewardship chairman Russ Wright before the meeting. After discussion, the final version will be tabled until Sunday morning, December 20, when it will be brought to a vote of the members assembled. 

OFFERING ENVELOPES are available in boxes of 100 at the rear of the sanctuary for your convenience in giving for 2021. We also have a limited supply of 25-envelope bundles for those needing fewer envelopes.

DEACON ELECTION Having been nominated according to the process set forth in our church's by-laws, Randy Morrow, David Ousley, and Chet Owen have each agreed to serve a 3-year term as deacon beginning January 1, 2021. Each man's service is contingent on receiving the affirmative vote of the church body gathered in conference on Sunday evening, December 13, at 6 pm.

CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS PROGRAM Preschoolers through 6th graders will present a Christmas program during the first half of morning worship service this Sunday (Dec. 13) under the direction of Dava Hackett. Come out and support our children as they present the story of Jesus' birth!

MARTHA SPIERS CARD SHOWER As most of you are aware by now, Martha Spiers, our church secretary of more than 30 years, is retiring from that position. We will be honoring her and her service at the conclusion of the morning service on December 20, Lord willing. What we are asking of the congregation is to bless her with a card shower. Share your appreciation, thanks, and tokens of esteem by means of a card that morning (or if you are unable to be here that morning, get it to your Sunday School teacher beforehand). We will be recognizing her during the service, of which she is aware. However, the card shower she is not aware of, so let's keep that part discreet until the time of recognition. (Also, if you get The Pathway, the Missouri Baptist news journal, they did a story on Martha, and it should come out in the next issue of the paper).

LOTTIE MOON CHRISTMAS OFFERING for INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS amount given to date is $360. Our church's baseline goal is $800, but I think we can do better than that this year. How about $1000? How about $1500? Pray about what the Lord would have you give, then give freely and cheerfully. Every dollar, dime, and penny of this offering goes to support our IMB personnel on the field; none is used for administrative or overhead costs.

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL: Last Sunday, I shared with you the devotional booklet The Peace and Promise of Christmas: 10 Christmas Reflections from Our Daily Bread (click on the link if you prefer the online version). Our family has been using these devotionals during our family worship over the past week. I have been impressed with their depth, especially given their brevity. One of the bonuses is a series of brief videos that the author, Bill Crowder, has done to complement each of the ten reflections. If you want to quickly link to each one, I have provided the list here. Each one is 2 or 3 minutes in length:
  go.odb.org/Christmas-1
  go.odb.org/Christmas-2  

  go.odb.org/Christmas-3
  go.odb.org/Christmas-4

  go.odb.org/Christmas-5 

  go.odb.org/Christmas-6 
  go.odb.org/Christmas-7 

  go.odb.org/Christmas-8  

  go.odb.org/Christmas-9 
  go.odb.org/Christmas-10  


BONUS: 

• One of the podcasts I enjoy listening to is the weekly "Pastors Talk" with Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman. Occasionally they will have a guest, but on this episode, the "guests" are a bunch of fun biographies, mostly Christian biographies. I learned early in my ministry that the three books I should always be reading are the Bible, the hymnal, and Christian biography. If you enjoy learning about the lives of great Christians (and perhaps more importantly, if you don't!), take a listen to this episode and peruse the list of biographies recommended with the links given. It will be worth your time.
• File this episode of The Briefing (12-10-2020) with Al Mohler under "Through the Looking Glass." If you had any doubt that we are now living in a world in which down is up, up is down, wrong is right, and right is wrong, this episode will disabuse you of that notion. And if you thought that simple biology was the fixed and immovable barrier which the sexual revolution would eventually come up against, you would be wrong. What's new, you ask? "Trans-Inclusive Abortion Services." I wish I was kidding, but sadly, I am not.

POSTSCRIPT: Every week, I try to review the audio from the previous Sunday's sermon. That is, I force myself to do the sometimes unpleasant task of listening to myself talk for about 40 minutes. I try to listen a little more objectively and catch any verbal errors I made, and if necessary, clear them up. I made one on Sunday when I said that the mission trip to Israel that I led was "just after Christmas in July 2009." Of course, I meant December 2009 leading into January 2010. I just wanted to clear up any possible confusion for those who were paying close attention!


See you in church!

Grace and peace,

Pastor Greg