Operation Christmas Child

Shoebox Packing Party

Bags of Blessings

Thanksgiving is now behind us, but I don’t want to enter the next season without sharing some of the many things that I am thankful for at First Baptist Church.

I am thankful for people who serve—for those who make “The Bridge” happen each week beginning with grocery shopping, meal preparation, table set up, serving our plates, and cleaning up afterward. Thank you.

I am thankful for those who work with our children and youth, who prepare lessons and choose to love our children and hang out with our youth. You create a safe place, a fun place, a “real” place, a place the kids want to come back each week. Thank you.

I am thankful for those who work behind the scenes keeping our building clean, sweeping up leaves, mowing the grass, working on the sprinklers, removing the snow, fixing things when they get broken and keeping our church looking great. Thank you.

I am thankful for those who work with our finances and maintain a high level of accountability each week counting the offering, depositing money in the bank, and overseeing the budget. Thank you.

I am thankful for those involved in our Sunday worship services—the greeters that help to make people feel wel-come from the sidewalks to the entryway, the praise team who practices diligently and leads us into the presence of God through music, and our sound/media team who puts the lyrics and sermon notes on the screen and makes it possible for us to hear what’s being sung and spoken. Thank you.

I am thankful for the security team that pays attention to what is going on when we’re together and works to keep us safe. Thank you.

I am thankful for our nursery workers who love on our little ones and create a safe place for parents to leave their children during the service. Thank you.

I am thankful for our ushers and for those who help with the offering. Thank you.

I am thankful for those who are leading our small groups. Thank you for investing in the lives of others, for bringing folks together on a consistent basis and for creating community. Thank you.

I am thankful for a church that gives to others by supporting local ministries in Casper and global ministries all across the earth. I am thankful for those that are extending the kingdom, those that are impacting the injustices in our world, and those who are meeting the needs of individuals right here in our own church. Thank you.

I am thankful for the leadership of this church who serve in incredible ways. I am thankful for the elders who oversee the life of the church and for the trustees who maintain the facilities. Thank you.

I am thankful to serve alongside an amazing staff that is more like a family to me than a responsibility.

It takes all of us to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world. I am thankful that our church is made up of people who together, using our spiritual gifts, are making a difference. Thank you to all of you who serve. I am thankful for each of you and I am blessed and thankful to be your pastor.

Volume 12

Number 12

December 2016

December 3rd

9AM Come help

decorate the church for

Christmas

6PM Women’s Dessert

and Game Night RSVP to Becca

315-5216 or for

questions.

Christmas Eve services:

6 and 7:30PM

Christmas Day

service: 10:30AM

FBC Financial Report

Oct. 31 $ 6,882.80

Nov. 6 $ 9,238.20

Nov. 13 $ 9,764.80

Nov. 20 $ 3,924.58

Nov. 27 $ 3,868.00

We were very busy in children’s this past month. The kids decorated bags for the Bags of Blessings event. We also had a packing party for Operation Christmas Child. The kids packed 20 boxes. We had more than 20 kids so we had older kids working together with younger ones. I must tell you my heart was so delighted at what I saw and heard. You should be very proud of your children every one of them showed such kindness and concern for their partner. I could not have been more proud of them. I would like to give a big thank you to Paul and Kathy Grossheusch for making this fun night possible.

What a fabulous afternoon it was serving our neighborhood with you all during our Bags of Blessings event! The joy and enthusiasm you guys had while serving was infectious! We have gotten various feedback from our neighbors, some were genuinely blessed, some even offered to give it to other people in need! All in all, it was a great outpouring of love for our community. I encourage you to keep seeking ways to love your neighbors. Thank you for proving Pastor John wrong about our ability to put on an awesome potluck. I always knew you could do it! We have some excellent cooks in the congregation.

This Christmas our Sunday school classes are going to respond to the great news that God shared the biggest gift of all when He gave us His Son, Jesus. We’ll be following God’s example of blessing others with a gift by raising money to give 1-goat and 2-chickens to children in need through World Vision Gift Catalog. We love World Vision because they follow Jesus, serve children in need, and help entire communities build better futures!

Our goal is to raise $100! How do these goats change lives? Ask your child. They are learning about how goats help kids in places like Burundi, Mongolia, and Zambia.

Want to get involved? When your kids ask what they can do to earn money, give them an extra chore, have them help a neighbor, be creative, allow your child to have a tangible part in raising the money. I know it will make them feel like they are doing something great and they are!

Merry Christmas, Diane Shaffer Children’s Minister

Sunday Worship 8:30 and 10:30AM

Youth & Children

Classes and Nursery at

10:30AM

The Bridge between services -

brunch, coffee and

fellowship

Children and Youth

Ministry

Wednesday 6:30-8PM

Online Giving: To give online using your

smart phone, send 'fbccasper' to 77977

and you will receive a one-time reply containing

a link to give to FBCCasper.

There is also a link on our website to give using

our new giving site: Pushpay.

Please be aware that msg & data rates may apply to texts.

For full terms & conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms.

For the privacy policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy.

For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.

Got Debt?

Or just feel like money is tight

month to month?

We will be offering a Financial

Peace class beginning in

February! If you're not sure if this

class is right for you, please join

us on January 15 at 6PM for a

preview! (If you attend this

preview, you are under no

obligation to join this class. We just

want you to see what it is about.)

Town Hall Meeting January 8th 6PM

Please join us on January 8th at 6PM

for a “town hall” meeting. At this meet-

ing you will have the opportunity to

learn about the restructuring of our

church leadership and have the

opportunity to look over the 2017

church budget. We have some exciting

changes that we would love for you to

know about as we enter into the

New Year. Hope to see you there.

A21 Walk for

Freedom

October 15th

Youth 24 Hour

Justice Experience

October 7,8th

Mark your calendar:

Town Hall Meeting January 8th

21 Days of Prayer January 9-28 5:30PM

Financial Peace Preview January 15 6PM

Small Group Leader Training January 22 6PM

Contact Us

fbccasper@gmail.com

307-234-6946 514 S Beech St

Casper WY 82601

ELDERS

Doug Neubert Michael Miller

Shane Harkins Scott Gamble

Kent Neubert John Marshall

Jim Fuhrer John Spear

Ministry Coordinator: Charity Harkins

Operations: Ron Sucher

Youth Ministry: Beau Gamble

Children’s Ministry: Diane Shaffer

Our Facebook page:

First Baptist Church of Casper

Website: fbccasper.com

Church App: FBC Casper

Note: If you would prefer to receive the

First Focus by email, please send an

e-mail to fbccasper@gmail.com.

It is also available to view on our

website fbccasper.com

First Baptist Church 514 South Beech Casper Wyoming 82601

Operation

Christmas Child

Thank you so much for

participating!

We collected

132 boxes!

Romania Mission Trip May 2-11th

Cost $2500 (fundraising will be done to help

offset the cost) We will need a commitment

by Dec. 31st.

If you are interested in leading a small group in the new

year, please contact Charity in the church office 234-6946.

If you’ve never lead a group before, plan on attending this

helpful training.

Small Group Leadership Meeting

January 22 at 6PM

New groups will be starting

the week of February 6th. Connect GROW

About two years ago I had a strong belief that there were a lot of benefits to having middle schoolers and high schoolers together for group. I also knew that at some point there would come a downside as well. What I didn’t see was those two things meeting so quickly. We have grown tremendously over the last few months and we have identified a great need for these groups to have separate time as well.

As we move forward towards the new year, I would ask that you join us in prayer for a few different things. First, please pray for wisdom for me and my leaders as we look for more leaders. We need to have more leaders to make the necessary changes that are coming. The student numbers are growing and the leader numbers need to grow as well.

Secondly, please pray that we can devel-op some plans to reformat the way we are doing things, so that we can continue to be effective in loving these kids well.

Lastly, but certainly not least, please continue to pray for our youth. They are facing some of the most difficult things they may ever face. We as leaders are at war to fight against the evils around them in hopes that the love of Jesus that we display will shine through the cracks in their dark worlds. On December 14th we will be doing our Christmas "Pale Pachyderm Party” or as many of us know it "White Elephant” gift exchange. I told them nothing that is political or inappropriate in nature will be allowed. It will be at the normal youth time from 6:30-8:00. If they would like to bring some sort of treat like cookies or some-thing that would be great. I do want to encourage them to bring their friends, the more the merrier!

Beau Gamble Youth Pastor

We are LIVE! Did you know? We are now streaming our 10:30 service LIVE on Facebook! This is a great opportunity to share what is going on at FBC with your friends

and family near and far - and they don't even have to walk through the doors! Check out our Facebook page: First Baptist Church of Casper to like and share our videos. It's one more tool for

sharing the love of Jesus! (If this is an area in which you could assist, please let us know.)

FBC’s Justice Journey As December dawns, and I think back over the year to this point, I am struck by the number of incredible things our church has been blessed to experience. I love that we have expanded our awareness and vision-both in our own community as well as abroad. This momentum that has developed will only build as we move into a new year. I believe that God wants to use FBC to move mountains in His name. In fact, one of our own will be climbing a literal moun-tain- Mount Kilimanjaro- in January to raise funds for Africa New Life in Kigali, Rwanda! Ashley Creager is one member of a team of thirteen women who will climb the mountain. They are raising money that will be donated toward the Dream Medical Center that is being built in Kigali. This medical center will provide much needed healthcare to the underserved people in the region and will simulta-neously expose them to the love of Jesus. The hospital will be run by Rwandan doctors and staff. Contributing to the medical center will better equip them to continue the work they are already doing. We want to come alongside Ashley as she embarks on her adventure! I’m sure you do as well. Here’s how:

Donate directly toward the medical center by going to africanewlife.org/Kilimanjaro. ALL proceeds go toward the completion of Dream Medical Center.

Participate in Chili4Kili on December 17th from 4-8 p.m. at KidsWorks! This will be a fun, family-friendly event. There will be chilies to try, baked goods for sale, silent auctions and live music. The ball pit and play equipment will be open on a donate-to-play basis. ALL proceeds go to the Dream Medical Center. Come have some fun while supporting Ashley’s efforts to make this much needed facility a reality!

Make a chili for the event!!! If you would like to provide one of the chilies, let Ashley know ASAP! She can be reached at 307-258-4779 -or- acreager0@gmail.com.

Thank you for being such a generous community. I am so

grateful to be part of this family. Blessings, Laura Justice Small Group