1

Wading River Baptist Church P.O. Box 438, 1635 Wading River-Manor Road, Wading River, NY 11792

(631) 929-3512; 929-6022 www.wrbc.us office@wrbc.us

OOuurr DDooccttrriinnaall SSttaatteemmeenntt:: WWhhaatt’’ss tthhee PPooiinntt?? “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught,

whether by word of mouth or by letter from us” (2 Thessalonians 2:15).

It appears that we live in an age in which convictions no longer matter. Such con-victions that are still regarded as impor-tant are largely media-promoted, and include such populist political causes as environmentalism, animal rights, racial and ethnic diversity, and universal sexual rights regardless of orientation. Some people firmly believe in the abolition of poverty, the means to which is the social-istic redistribution of wealth; others just as firmly believe in the right of private property and free-market capitalism. Those who believe even these things, however, constitute a relatively small minority of American citizens. One arena in which convictions are generally considered illegitimate is that of religion. Opinions are acceptable; dogmatism is not. We have freedom to believe whatever we want; however, in the minds of many people today, we do not have the freedom to try to convince others to change their beliefs to conform to ours. Such proselytizing is intolerant of those who may happen to disagree with our beliefs. This kind of thinking is the majority opinion among younger adults, and because this is the demo-graphic to whom many of our seeker-sensitive churches are attempting to ap-peal, the same sentiment has infiltrated our sacred precincts as well. Here’s the problem in a nutshell. As Rick Warren writes, “unbelievers aren’t interested in truth these days. In fact, surveys show that the majority of Ameri-cans reject the idea of absolute truth” (The Purpose Driven Church, p. 226). Since unbelievers are the target audience in the seeker-sensitive, purpose-driven

churches, truth has become the victim. “Most unbelievers are looking for relief,” says Warren, “not truth” (p. 227). When a church dispenses with biblical truth as its ultimate standard, then the guiding principles will constantly change accord-ing to the whims of culture, the values that drive the majority of the unbelieving world at any given time. It is for this reason that many con-temporary churches have either elimi-nated, dumbed-down, or de-emphasized their doctrinal statements in favor of mission statements and purpose state-ments. What we are seeking to do has become more important than what we believe and why we believe it. This kind of thinking, however, is relatively new in the history of Christianity. From the be-ginning, Christians were convinced that what they believed mattered, since that was the foundation of everything they did. Doctrine was the foundation upon which a church’s ministry was built. That’s why the early church developed such basic statements of belief as The Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. Historically, most churches have subscribed to some kind of doctrinal standard—a written document, or docu-ments, that state, in systematic form, their non-negotiable beliefs. The historic Protestant Christian denominations have each had their own standards, often framed as “confessions” (expressing their doctrinal convictions) and “catechisms” (formulated to instruct their children or new believers). The Anglicans have the “Thirty-Nine Articles,” and the Longer and Shorter Confessions. The Presbyte-rians have the Westminster Confession

and the Westminster Catechism. The Lutherans look to the Augsburg Confes-sion, the Formula of Concord, and Lu-ther’s Catechism. The Reformed Church uses the Belgic Confession and the Hei-delberg Catechism, while the Methodists subscribe to their Articles of Religion and Methodist Confession of Faith. Baptists, however, have prided themselves on being a “creedless” people whose only authority was the Bible (or the clichéd, “No creed but Christ!”). In spite of this, however, there are a number of Baptist confessions: the London Con-fession of 1644, the London Confession of 1689, the Philadelphia Confession (1742), the New Hampshire Confession (1833), and the Southern Baptist Faith and Mes-sage (1825, 1963, 2000). Moreover, most Baptist churches, and especially those which do not subscribe to any of these historic confessions, have prepared their own doctrinal statements. Wading River Baptist Church is just such a congrega-tion. Our Doctrinal Statement is Article IV of our Church Constitution. I would hazard a guess that most of the members and regular attenders of WRBC have never read the church’s Doc-trinal Statement; most probably don’t even know where to go to find it! One argument for disregarding this statement is that if we believe in the sole authority of Scripture, why would we want to add an institutional statement of belief and practice? The answer to this question lies in the fact that the Bible is not in itself a confession of faith or doctrinal state-ment. Although it contains statements of faith, those statements are not collated in any systematic order. But why should we

JJuullyy // AAuugguusstt 22001133 VV

ooll uu

mmee

88 ##

77

2

want such logical arrangements of the truth we believe? One obvious reason is the presence of heresy. Even before the close of the New Testament canon, false teaching had become a major concern, as we see from the epistles of Galatians and Colossians, the letters of Peter, John, and Jude, and those to the seven churches (Rev 2-3). The churches needed easily accessible statements of their beliefs by way of refuting the heretics. But there are other considerations. How are churches supposed to maintain any kind of order in the selection, train-ing, and ordination of pastors if there are no normative doctrinal standards? Who (or what) will serve to mediate disputes when there are disagreements over bibli-cal interpretation? Where are the “lines in the sand” beyond which members cannot go without risking discipline or excommunication? Creeds, confessions, and catechisms have generally emerged from times of doctrinal conflict such as the early Christological controversies or the Middle Ages dominated by Roman-ism. Most of the Protestant standards were the codification of the anti-Romanist beliefs and practices of the Reformers. The development of confes-sions of faith was their way of handing on their theological traditions to future gen-erations. This was the Apostle Paul’s perspec-tive. Understanding just how fragile bib-lical orthodoxy is, he wrote to his friends in Thessalonica, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us” (2 Thess 2:15). “Traditions” here is a word that derives from a Greek verb (paradi-domi) literally meaning “to give (or hand) over,” and thus to deliver, transfer, com-mit, or entrust one’s doctrinal convic-tions or religious practices to another. A tradition is one generation’s bequest to the next. Paul wanted the Thessalonians the hold on to their original Christian

convictions as he (Paul) had taught them to them, both personally and by way of correspondence (see also 2 Thess 3:6). In order to facilitate familiarity with and understanding of these traditions in an increasingly complex world, the church realized that they had to state their con-victions in a succinct and manageable order. These statements were often re-cited in public worship or at baptisms (1 Timothy 3:16 is an apparent example of such a formula). Traditions can be wrong, of course, as the Lord Jesus pointed out with regard to the Jewish practice of “Corban” (Mk 7:9-13). He said to the Pharisees: “You are experts at setting aside the com-mandment of God in order to keep your tradition” (v. 9). Paul warned the Colos-sians to beware of erroneous traditions when He said, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradi-tion of men, . . . , rather than according to Christ” (Col 2:8). The ecumenical creeds were a reaction to the errors which denied such foundational truths as the Trinity and the deity of Christ. Likewise, the various strands of Protestant Christi-anity were founded by the Reformers because they were convinced that the Roman Catholic traditions were wrong. To make the necessary distinctions between biblical truth rightly understood and beliefs derived from Scripture misin-terpreted or from human philosophies, the church’s theologians have always had to do more than simply quote Scripture. They have had to explain its meaning much as a dictionary defines a word by using other words. Even so, it is impor-tant to realize that humanly composed creeds, confessions, and catechisms are fallible; only the Bible is infallible. Most of the historic creeds and confessions recognize this. Consequently, they have only a relative authority, and may have to be adjusted as the church’s biblical un-derstanding matures. In practice, how-

ever, some denominations have so re-vered their doctrinal standards that they have refused ever to change them, thereby risking the perpetuation of a con-flict between the standards and the Scrip-tures. Like many other similar congrega-tions, therefore, Wading River Baptist Church recognizes the value of having a doctrinal statement. It is the declaration of the beliefs handed down to us from faithful believers in previous generations, beliefs we now affirm in common and intend to pass on to the next generation. We believe that churches who are cur-rently abandoning doctrinal statements in the interest of promoting flexibility and diversity or out of indifference in maintaining unity and stability are not only violating the consistent practice of Christianity throughout the last two mil-lennia, but are leaving themselves open to the corrupting influence of error. This month we celebrate Independ-ence Day. The only reason we can still do this, 237 years after the founding of the United States of America, is because our nation has historically stood for some-thing. Think of those opening words of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident.” The Founding Fathers believed that there was truth worth believing, and for which they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. As a symbol of their convictions, they flew the Stars and Stripes. That flag said in one glance what the founding documents so eloquently declared in writing. Should our com-mitment to biblical truth be any less firm? As the great 19th-century theolo-gian, W. G. T. Shedd declared, let the banners of our belief stream in the wind for all to see!

—Pastor Ron Glass

MMiissssiioonnaarriieess ooff tthhee MMoonntthh –– MMiicchhaaeell aanndd DDeebbbbiiee BBaannnnoonn

Evangelism, church planting and leader-ship training are Michael & Debbie Ban-non’s three primary objectives no matter

where it might be. After serv-ing in Lithuania for 15 years, the World Venture team of Ireland

voted unanimously for the Bannons to join their ministry in Galway, Ireland.

So the Bannons arrived in a beauti-fully green rain-soaked Ireland on Sep-tember 2, 2012, needing a home, a car, a visa, a phone and all that goes with such a move. It was not until a month later that their shipment arrived on October 8.

Their orientation began by getting to know parts of Ireland, getting acquainted with the Irish language, Irish customs and most importantly, building a rela-tionship with the people of the church where Michael serves as co-pastor.

When they first arrived, they joined a great leadership team of missionaries consisting of three families. But one fam-

3

ily will be starting a new church while another couple will be retiring. Please pray that God would enable the Bannons to lead the church in such a way as to continue on with the ministries in which these two families have so faithfully been involved.

Surprisingly, they have had the op-portunity to connect with many Kenyans and Lithuanians there in Ireland. World Venture has reported for the most part, in Ireland the Mus-lim numbers are increasing faster than evangelicals. There is an ethni-cally diverse immi-grant population, poised to continue this rapid growth. Therefore, the Bannons are asking for prayer that God would give them wisdom

how to best minister and care for their new diverse church family.

One of the greatest needs in any church is godly leadership, so they are delighted that several men have come forward with the desire and interest to be leaders/elders. Back in March, at a breakfast meeting, these men took the first steps toward their training. The Ban-nons are also praising God for the bap-tism of four followers of Christ and won-derful family fellowshipping celebrating the birth of a new little Irish baby among other things.

The Bannons are also praising God for the birth of their grandson, Dominic Vincent Bannon. Dominic was born Feb-ruary 6, 2013 to their son, Nathanael, and his wife, Jessica. It is their son’s firstborn. Another blessing to the Bannon family was the wedding of their youngest child, their daughter Krista. The Bannons had the joy of witnessing and performing

the wedding of Krista to Stephen, a fine young man to whom the Bannons have opened their hearts.

As always with most of our mission-aries, there is a concern for their monthly support. The Ireland field stated re-cently, as the Bannons met and discussed their upcoming home assignment in the U.S, that “It is crucial that the Bannons return back to Ireland fully supported.” Presently they have a support deficit of $1,262.59 a month. Continue to pray for this need, along with wisdom and guid-ance; for the people of their church strug-gling with their faith and/or depression; that God will raise up godly leaders; for training teachers and helpers; for out-reach to those around them; and for their home assignment preparations.

⎯ Joan Tyska

Hello to another Day

Hello to my family, friends, and neighbors A phone call answered with “Hello”

Hello, how are you? Hello to my heavenly Father.

The heavens open wide and there’s rejoicing up above When even the youngest child calls out for God’s love

God loves us all, we are created by Him Loving brothers and sisters, no matter the color of our skin

Oh! What a pleasure on the Lord’s Day when we gather in His home All of us together to sing, read the Bible, and pray in God’s room.

Thanks for giving your life for us

For your loving care, answered prayers, and forgiveness without a fuss So we say Hello in the beginning of each day

We ask for your protection through God’s protective way.

⎯Diane Pandolfini

TThhoouugghhttss oonn LLeeaaddeerrsshhiipp aanndd TTeecchhnnoollooggyy::

A Review of “The Digital Leader”

Tim Challies’ book, The Next Story, a unique book, looking as it does at the digital revolution and our increasingly digitized culture, has encouraged many 21st-century Bible-believing Christians to think carefully about whether or not all of the sophisticated digital technology available to us is actually profitable for our souls. And interesting sidebar to this book is Chapter 21 in Al Mohler’s recent book on leadership: R. Albert Mohler, Jr., The Conviction to Lead: 25 Princi-

ples for Leadership that Matters (Min-neapolis, MN: Bethany House Publish-

ers, 2012), pages 175-182. The chap-ter is entitled, “The Digital Leader.” Although Mohler considers princi-ples bearing on a broad range of leadership roles, as a pastor, I look at it

from the perspective of one committed to local church ministry, as well as from the outlook of an ordinary church member. In an otherwise commendable book, this chapter poses the weakest link. Mohler’s basic premise is that the digital world, although it is recent, is here to stay. No one would argue that. We have personal computers, the internet (the web), social media, the “cloud,” smartphones, and tablets (iPads, Kindles, Nooks, etc.). Today, the digital world,

4

says Mohler, is the real world. He then asserts, “If the leader is not leading in the digital world, his leadership is, by defini-tion, limited to those who also ignore or neglect that world. That population is shrinking every minute. The clock is ticking.” (p. 176). The implication of this is to say that if you do not have a cell phone, if you are not on Facebook or Twitter, or if you do not regularly surf the web, you can only lead those who are similarly still living in the technological Stone Age. This seems to me grossly to overstate the case. After surveying the statistical magni-tude of the digital enterprise in today’s world (“the digital world is huge, compli-cated and explosive”), he acknowledges that although digital technologies con-nect people, they also disconnect them; the effect has been a global case of Atten-tion Deficit Disorder (p. 177). He also agrees that much of what is on the inter-net is harmful. In spite of these caveats, however, Mohler insists that digital tech-nology cannot be ignored, and is one of the most important “arenas of leader-ship” in this generation. “If you are satis-fied to lead from the past, stay out of the digital world. If you want to influence the future, brace yourself and get in the fast lane” (p. 177). Another overstate-ment, or so it seems to me. Mohler contends that if a church does not have a presence on the internet, for many people it does not exist. A church leader, therefore, must see that his church not only has such a presence, but that this presence is attractively de-signed and effective (“content is king”). A stale internet site leads those who view it to assume the organization is equally stale (p. 178). Furthermore, a leader needs to have his own personal presence on the web (his is www.AlbertMohler.com). In addition, today a leader—including a church pas-tor—must blog. The blog, says Mohler “offers history’s most cost-efficient way of communicating big ideas and solid content” (p. 179). So, “if you’re not writ-ing a blog, you should be.” Really? Moh-ler puts his finger on a major problem with the blog when he acknowledges that, “A blog requires constant feeding, and I have to keep it always in mind.” And then, he says that we also need to learn how to use links, images, and social me-dia to drive people to our blogs (p. 179). Social media is now the fastest way to get to know a person (or at least to know what the person wants you to know

about him or her!). Mohler finds Face-book limiting, however, because it limits the number of personal page friends to 5,000 (!); and thus, he has dived head-long into Twitter (p. 180). Then, a leader of an organization (including a church) should become a producer of video and audio content (podcasts and streaming video). Mohler does this too (pp. 180-181). Now let’s see if I understand this. Here are the things Al Mohler says he does in this chapter, in addition to being the president of Southern Baptist Theo-logical Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky: (1) He writes books and articles (p. 179). (2) He speaks all over the country. (3) He makes media appearances. (4) He blogs (which requires con-stant feeding, which implies, thinking). (5) He is on Facebook regularly. (6) He Twitters constantly, com-municating to his followers, and also using it as his primary source for news. (7) He produces a daily podcast five days a week (The Briefing, a review of the news from a Christian worldview). He uses a Macbook Air, and can produce a blog standing at a food counter in an air-port terminal! (8) He produces a weekly long-format podcast (Thinking in Public, a 45-minute to 1-hour interview program). Oh really? At some point even the most brilliant Christian leader has to eat and sleep! He also has a family. But here’s the real problem. In the 25 chap-ters of The Conviction to Lead, Mohler never describes the leader’s devotional life, and never says that “A Leader is a Person of Prayer.” What he has profiled is a person who has invested a great deal of money in technology, and an even greater amount of time. What he has described is a life which has no time for extended Bible study, meditation, or prayer. He may be a “digital leader,” but Mohler never says that he is a “spiritual leader.” I came away from this book—and particularly this chapter—with the distinct sense that something was miss-ing, something very important. Mohler also never tells us how much of his digital work is done by his assis-tants, aides, and associates. Throughout the book, he never refers to any help he receives in producing all this content. Take a step back and a deep breath. Every leader, and particularly the pas-

toral leader, must give considerable time to those hopelessly old-fashioned disci-plines of Bible reading, Bible study, meditation, and prayer. He must prepare his preaching and teaching thoughtfully and with attention to precision and accu-racy, both in interpretation and in expo-sition. He needs to read a variety of jour-nals and books for his own edification—and trying to speed read this literature just doesn’t cut it because they demand thoughtfulness, and thoughtfulness de-mands time. Moreover, none of these disciplines lend themselves to digital multi-tasking.

“Brace yourself and get in the fast lane”? (p. 177). No, I think that most of us need to slow down. Many of us in ministry today have left our first love (Rev 2:5)—not only our Lord, but the people we are to shepherd. Few of us pray enough (if at all). Al Mohler shares much of his own experiences in this book, but conspicuously missing is any refer-ence to his devotional life. I would like to know how much time each day he de-votes to prayer. I think digital = danger. It is more of a problem than it is progress. As one of the few remaining Neanderthals without a cell phone, I might be expected to say something like that, but I think it is true nonetheless. How can I justify two hours of surfing the net at the expense of Bible study or prayer? Several months ago, our home computer crashed. Frankly, I don’t want to replace it, and I’m not sure I will. I just hope that most of the pastors, espe-cially the younger ones, who might be influenced by Mohler’s book will not be misled by chapter 21. We need devout spiritual leaders, not cutting-edge digital disciples. — Pastor Ron Glass

5

AA MMoonntthh iinn RReevviieeww

We need to know that God is in charge as we look back at the month that it was. May ended with devastating tornadoes, flooding and fires throughout our nation while our federal government became lost in multiple scandals. And then June brought in the hurricane season with predictions about which to be concerned. But yet we know that God has a plan and as His children we are covered by His love and constant care.

Senior fellowshipping was at its best on May 25, 2013, when 30 seniors gath-ered at the WRBC for an afternoon of devotions, dining and hymn singing. The

theme, “I Did Not Promise You a Rose Garden” offered a backdrop of flowers for dé-cor; thought for

the seniors of its meaning and a topic for Pastor Glass to expound upon. With Pas-tor’s special skills of open-ing windows of Biblical under-standing, the gardens of the Bible provided a meaningful devotional and resulted in greater insights into the Garden of Eden, Solomon’s Gar-den, Garden of Gethsemane, The Cruci-fixion & Resurrection Garden and lastly, Heaven’s Garden. Without a doubt there was a sense of deep appreciation coming from the hearts of the seniors with the spiritual nourishment of the message.

As for the nourishment of the body,

the seniors arrived at the luncheon with hearty appetites noticeable as seniors returned to the buffet table to finish off the meatloaf, rice & beans and vegeta-bles. The appetite did not wane one bit as the buffet of desserts was offered. They

make you forget that they are seniors as they bring a youthful way not only in their appetites but in their attitudes. These seniors are warm and loving as they bring the “good ole days” kind of wisdom and sharing into the whole at-mosphere of the luncheon.

In spite of the luncheon falling on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, attendance remained up with some of our veterans attending. A moment of appre-ciation was given to these veterans as they represented most of the branches of our armed forces in their service of the past.

May 26, 2013 – The Lord’s Day of Memorial Day weekend brought mo-ments to mention as Pastor Glass took the time to honor all veterans adding to the honored, Christian Soldiers and there are many of them so forgotten at times. And always at WRBC are musical mo-ments to mention, sometimes so many of them with such gifted musical skills we sometimes take it for granted the abun-dance of talented musicians WRBC has that serve musically. But on this particu-lar Lord’s Day, two of WRBC’s gifted vo-calists joined together in a duet for the first time; their musical worship is cer-tainly worth of mention. The voices of Reeva Bellard and Liz Hyland were so beautifully in tune with one another as they sang “He Hideth My Soul” that it brought praises by many. Marie Caputo accompanied the two, rounding out the musical worship in its perfection.

June 2, 2013 – Seven high school

and college graduates were honored for their achievements at the Lord’s Day ser-vice and at a luncheon following the ser-vice in Fellowship Hall. Honored were: Steven Heuzey graduating with honors from Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio with a B.A. in Information Technol-ogy Management; Briana Hyland gradu-ating Magna Cum Laude from the Hon-ors Program at St. Joseph’s College in

Patchogue with a B.A. in Elementary Education with a concentration in Special Education; Kaitlyn Hallstrom, a homeschooled graduate, graduating from A Beka Academy; Angela Vacarro gradu-ating from Mattituck High School; Garrett Valentine graduating from Rocky Point High School ranking among the top ten students of his class; Kendal Conway graduating from the Shoreham-Wading River High School; and Sarah Ritzmann graduating from South Manor High School in Eastport, NY.

Missing in the picture and at the ser-vice were Angela Vacarro and Kendal Conway to accept their congratulations both formally and later at the luncheon.

Special recognition was given to

Kaitlyn Hallstrom, the 2013 recipient of the English Memorial Award, an award to honor annually one graduating senior from high school who has distinguished himself or herself for excellence in Chris-tian character, achievement and service. Not only is this award designed to recog-nize excellence, it is accompanied by a financial gift as a scholarship incentive. Not to forget the supportive parents, Chris & Jackie Hallstrom, and a job well done in raising their girls, Kaitlyn the first to leave the nest.

What a fine group of seniors WRBC is so blessed in having. Briana Hyland graduating Magna Cum Laude; Garrett Valentine being among the top ten scholastically; and Sarah Ritzmann that will be attending Williams College in Wil-liamstown, Massachusetts, a college that Forbes Magazine for the past three years has ranked the best undergraduate insti-tution in the U.S., ahead of every Ivy

6

League University and National Liberal arts college. All seven of WRBC’s gradu-ates are among the best and WRBC can be proud of all of them for their achieve-ments.

Not only were the seven graduates

honored at the luncheon, but it was a time to say good bye to Ruth Kerr with a moving date of June 15, 2013. Ruth, now 85 years old, has made the choice to move to Pennsylvania to be near her fam-ily. She had become a part of the church family, attending church, Bible study, Senior Saints’ luncheons and almost all of the fellowshipping events. Early June 15, 2013, Ruth Kerr pulled out of her Cal-verton driveway for the last time and headed west to Levittown, Pennsylvania (10 Patricia Lane, Levittown, PA 19057). That night she was settling into her new 2-bedroom apartment not far from two of her daughters, a few grandchildren as well as great grandchildren. She was so looking forward to holding the new baby of the family. She will be missed in her pew and as well as in our hearts.

Also attending the luncheon almost going unnoticed was Pastor Ray & Judy Cowan, members of the North Syracuse Baptist church, in North Syracuse, NY. As they were visiting friends on the Island, Mars Hill Network of Syracuse had the Cowans deliver a package to WRBC, ar-riving in time for the luncheon and to share some good Christian fellowship-ping. We found out that Pastor Ray Cowan runs the senior program at the N. Syracuse Baptist church and he shared some of their ongoing programs. A new friend was found.

On June 3, 2013, at 6 AM, a Monday morning, Katie Glass left for Indonesia for a month of teaching 3rd and 4th graders creative and critical writing. Ka-

tie met her traveling companions and fellow students in Washington as they headed out to Tokyo for an overnight layover before arriving in Indonesia. Don’t think her life will ever be the same with a month full of memories including the natural beauty of Indonesia, sharing the culture there and an opportunity to ride an elephant.

July 12-20, 2013, two more of WRBC’s young people, Sarah and Linea Piraino, will be heading out on a missions trip. They will be going to Arequipa, Peru assisting a medical, surgical and vision team of over 70 people at a clinic there. The team includes doctors, nurses, den-tists and others who want to help out. Sarah & Linea and several other students from Bob Jones University heard about the trip from one of their science profes-sors who is on this team that is developed through an organization called Medical Missions Outreach. The goal is to minis-ter both to the natives’ physical needs as well as their spiritual needs.

Just when we thought we had dis-

covered all the musical talent at WRBC, a new musician emerges to serve in the music worship on the Lord’s Day, June 9, 2013. 15-year-old Sarah Hart has studied violin for eight years, perfecting her skill to bring it before the Lord play-ing a most beautiful Jewish song of praise from Psalm 133, Hinei, Ma Tov. It is with great appreciation that she is wel-comed to the repertoire of outstanding musicians of the WRBC.

In lieu of the Bible Study that was discontinued for the summer, a prayer fellowship is now meeting at the parson-age a couple of times a month on Sunday evenings at 6 pm. As WRBC continues to seek ways of reaching out to the commu-nity and the unsaved, the emphasis on united prayer has become a growing pas-sion of the church with an encourage-ment for others to unite in prayer. Refer to the church bulletin or the church office

for the scheduling of these prayer meet-ings.

June 16, 2013 was Father’s Day

and the Lord’s Day Service acknowledged the fathers of WRBC. A special day it was for Peter Albrecht and for Alfredo Hof-mann (the grandfather) as they cele-brated Father’s Day for the very first time with Peter’s seven-month-old son, Elijah Moses. Special are the fathers of WRBC because they are not just fathers to be honored but godly fathers that are teach-ing their children of the love from their Father in heaven. May God bless them all?

We congratulate Vic & Reeva Bellard as they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 15, 2013. On June 16, 2013 at the Lord’s Day service, Vic & Reeva were acknowledged for their golden milestone. In return, Vic Bellard had an opportunity to respond by paying a very dear tribute to his wife, his friend and companion of 50 years. These days it is certainly a most precious and treasured accomplishment.

Looking ahead to next month in review is the Vacation Bible School, “SonWest Roundup.” It is scheduled for July 8-12 from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm at the WRBC. If interested, sign up at www.wrbc.us or call 929-3512. There is always a standing invitation to Sunday School at 9:45 am on the Lord’s Day; worship service at 11:00 am on the Lord’s Day and prayer/Bible study on Wednesday eve-ning at 7 pm. Open your heart to the Lord Jesus and your heart will be secure forever.

⎯ Joan Tyska

7

JJuullyy 22001133 The Lord’s Day Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2

3 4 8:30 AM

Ladies Prayer – Joan Tyska (727-5998)

5 6

7 9:45 AM Sunday

School (continuation of “Basic Bible Themes”)

11:00 AM Worship Business Mtg. to follow

6:00 PM Special Prayer Meeting at Parsonage

8 9 7:00 PM Board of Deacons

10 7:00 PM

Prayer Meeting 11 8:30 AM

Ladies Prayer

12 13

14 9:45 AM Sunday

School (D. Heuzey)

11:00 AM Worship (Jim Wroth)

15 16 17 7:00 PM

Prayer Meeting 18 8:30 AM

Ladies Prayer 19

20

21 9:45 AM Sunday

School (D. Heuzey)

11:00 AM Worship

22 23 24 7:00 PM

Prayer Meeting 25 8:30 AM

Ladies Prayer 26 27

28 9:45 AM Sunday

School (D. Heuzey)

11:00 AM Worship

29 30 31 7:00 PM

Prayer Meeting

JJuullyy//AAuugguusstt Bible Quiz Questions Where in the Bible are these familiar quotations?

1) “I know that my redeemer liveth.”

2) “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.”

3) “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Note: Jesus quoted the Old Testament from the cross. Provide both the Old and the New Testament references.

4) “Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

5) “A gentle answer turns away wrath.”

Bonus: The following quotations are found in the same book of the Bible, but in different places: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” “Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.”

⎯ Virginia Sylvester

JJuunnee Bible Quiz Answers

1) Isaiah (Luke 4:16-17).

2) Psalms (Psalm 133:1).

3) Deborah and Barak (Judges 5:1). Another valid answer is: Paul and Silas (Acts 16:25).

4) Hiram (1 Kings 5:8-10).

5) Antioch (Acts 11:26).

Bonus: Gideon (Judges 6:11-13).

Congratulations to Felix Acerra, Virginia Sylvester and Dennis Tyska for submitting all five correct answers plus the bonus to the June Bible Quiz written by Mike Pandolfini!

TThhee BBiirrtthhddaayy CCoorrnneerr July 5th – Mina Piraino August 6th – Ray Fitzgerald July 6th – William Kirchberger August 13th – Marlene Drummond July 13th – Warren Teufel August 18th – Felix Acerra July 17th – Barbara Williamson August 18th – Marcelle Ritzmann July 19th – Kara Hallstrom August 19th – Steve Valentine July 22nd – Dennis Tyska August 21st – Florence Acerra July 31st – Maureen Glass August 24th – Chris Glass July 31st – Susan Hart August 26th – Sarah Chapman

TThhee AAnnnniivveerrssaarryy CCoorrnneerr July 5th – Chris & Nanette Glass July 6th – Josh & Julie Brown August 6th – Steve & Vicki Valentine August 15th – Bob & Sue Hart August 24th – Kevin & Aneta Kenter

Vacation Bible School, “SonWest Roundup” 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM

8

PO Box 438 Wading River, NY 11792

Our Purpose 1. To glorify God through sharing the good news of salvation by God’s sovereign grace through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. To nurture believers through a strong program of Christian educa-tion, youth ministries, and expository Biblical preaching.

3. To provide an opportunity for Biblical worship, service, and fellow-ship.

4. To extend our ministry through-out America and around the world through participation in home and foreign missions.

WRBC is affiliated with the Conserva-tive Baptist Association of America and the Conservative Baptist Mission to the Northeast.

Wading River Baptist Church

• For the Exaltation of God in All Things

• For the Proclamation of Faith in Christ

• For the Transformation of God’s People