march 2015
TRANSCRIPT
Contact us
950 Self StreetFranklinton, LA 70438
Phone: (985) 839-3427Fax: (985) 839-3572
Prayer Line: (985) 839-3337
Office E-mail:[email protected]
Prayer E-mail:[email protected]
Website:www.fbcfranklinton.org
The Bridge March 2015Monthly Newsletter of First Baptist Church Franklinton
God is not calling us to go to church; He is calling us to
BE the CHURCH.
Paul Watts, Pastor
A Cup with Pastor Paul http://acupwiththepastor.blogspot.com
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Christian Living....Romans 12 is a beautiful chapter in a powerful book. Paul’s letter to the church at Rome has been a great resource to the church in defining church doctrine, and its verses have helped many find salvation through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Romans 12 changes the focus from theol-ogy to Christian living. Paul wrote in this section, urging the Christian to be wholly given to the work of the Lord and His good purposes. This is seen in our worship but is lived out daily through our relationships. The Christian life would be so much easier if we only had to be nice to Jesus! He is not hard to love when we meditate on His grace and mercy dem-onstrated in the everyday blessings of life, and overwhelm-ingly shown through the cross. He died in order to glorify His Father through complete obedience, opening the way for us to come to God through His perfect blood sacrifice. Through one perfectly good act of obedience, He overcame the evil of this world. Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. He is our example. This is the basis of Paul’s assertions regard-ing our love for our enemies and our relationships with a lost world. Jesus was not overcome by the sin of this world. He was not influenced to sin, to give into temptation or ever en-ticed to hate and take vengeance. He was not overcome by evil but instead completely overcame evil with good. This is the language Paul used to urge the Christian to extend love and kindness to his or her enemies: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21, HCSB)
I often long for the life of the monastery. Monastic life, even with its self-induced deprivation, holds some allure for those desiring to know and commune with Christ. Just imagine what it would be like to be behind the monastery walls, able to spend extended time alone every day in prayer and Bible study, only interacting with other monks who love Jesus and are there for the same purpose. It could not be too difficult to get along with others, after all, since many of those there would have taken a vow of silence. While there is great value in the disciplines of prayer, Bible study, meditation and soli-tude, Christ is glorified when we live for Him in the midst of, often in spite of, this evil world. It is through our faithfulness, patience and love that we overcome the evil of this world with the goodness of Jesus Christ. When you love the difficult person, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use and abuse you, they see something on display that is out of this world! They see the love of Christ.
This is why we minister to the sick and hurting through Be the Church Sunday/Week. This principle compels us to reach out to those overwhelmed by addiction and sin’s domi-nation through a ministry like Celebrate Recovery. This is why we would pick up a cross and carry it through the streets of Franklinton on Good Friday. We are following the example of our Lord as we seek to overcome the evil of this world with the goodness of the love of Christ. To God be the Glory!
This year on Sunday, March 22,
we will be engaging in a BE THE CHURCH SUNDAY.
We will be encouraging the entire church to look for ways
they can engage our community with the love of Christ.
We will not have our regularly scheduled worship activities. We
will worship our Savior by sharing His love. In order for this to truly be a church wide effort, we need
your help!
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil with good. (Romans 12:21, HCSB)
Dale Parker,
Minister to Senior Adults& Discipleship
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You may not know this about me, but I knew former President Richard Nixon. When he was selling a home that he owned on Key Biscayne in Miami, he and a few of his Secret Service men came to the Coast Guard Air Sta-tion while I was stationed there, and I got to shake his hand. Now you’re probably shak-ing your head and thinking, “You didn’t know Richard Nixon. You may have shaken hands with him and lived in the same city that he had a house, but you didn’t know him.” And you’d be absolutely right. It’s true, I did shake hands with him once and told him that I admired him. He did have a home in the same city in which I lived. I knew a lot about him, but our families never visited each other or shared a meal together. We never vacationed together. We never called each other to say hello and find out how the other person was doing. Actually, my knowledge of him and admiration of him was based on what had been portrayed in the media and not a careful study of his life or his character. So do you see how absurd it is for me to say, “I knew Richard Nixon”? How much more absurd is it for a person to say that they know God when their knowl-edge is based on a one-time event at salvation or once a week at a church service or a daily devotional thought on a desk calendar. A. W. Tozer said in his book, “The Pursuit of God,” “What a person thinks of when he thinks of God is the most impor-tant thing about him.” What do we think of when we say the word “God”? Who is He? What is He really like? What would we say is His most defining characteristic? Is it love? Is it holiness? Is it grace? Is
it righteousness? How well do we really know Him? What does He have to say about us? What about our sin? What about the way we worship Him? What about the level of our love for Him and our knowledge of Him? To get to know God takes time, lots of time, but out of the 168 hours we have in each week, how much time do we really spend getting to know God? But God wants us to know Him. Jesus said in John 15:3, 6, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have manifested (made known) Your name to the men You have given Me out of this world.” The things that we pursue in this life, whether good or bad, are our gods. It takes great cour-age to put those kinds of things away or to put them in the proper perspective in order to pursue God. Yet that is the high calling of everyone who calls himself Chris-tian. Why not start today? Let’s ask ourselves how well we know this God we profess to believe. If we’re honest, we’ll recognize that there is an enormous gap between what we think and what is reality. But then we can begin to look deeply into His word and look deeply into His face. Let Him warm our hearts as we draw near to Him. Let’s pursue Him to get to know Him as if our very next breath depended on it. As always, love in Christ, Brother Dale
“My soul, never be satisfied with a shadowy Christ. I can-not know Christ through another person’s brains. I cannot love Him with another man’s heart, and I cannot see Him with another man’s eyes...I am so afraid of living in a sec-ond-hand religion. Lord save us from having borrowed com-munion. No, I must know Him myself. O God, let me not be deceived in this...I must know Him on my own account.” Charles H. Spurgeon
Memory Verses for the Month of March
March 1: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 March 8: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6 March 15: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 March 22: “And it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27 March 29: “So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” Hebrews 9:28
Cody Thomas, Student Minister
REACHING In & REACHING Out Reaching In . . . . . Reaching Out
Student Ministry Events
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Imagine for a moment that it’s the 1st century and you are a disciple of Christ. You start-ed following Jesus early on in His ministry. You sat by Him while He taught about righteousness. You heard Him call His followers to a lifestyle that surpassed the cultur-al understandings of the law. You listened as Peter told of the night the soldiers came to arrest Jesus. You saw Jesus on trial for crimes He did not commit. You saw Him beaten to near death all because the crowd thought He spoke blasphemy. You saw Him carry the cross through the streets; you wanted to help him but you were afraid. You didn’t know what to think. You had spent time with Christ before this, and you knew His heart. You knew that this man was different than any other man you ever met, but you were afraid. You saw Him crucified with thieves, and then you saw your Leader, your Messiah, your King dead. His body was pre-pared for burial, placed in a tomb, the entry sealed, and guards placed on the outside. Days went by, and then you heard the news … Your Leader, your Messiah, your King had been resurrected. Your fear of following Jesus at all cost changed into an unshak-able faith. You began to see Jesus for who He truly is, God in the flesh. Then Jesus gave you these words found in Matthew 28:18-20. He gave you a mission, “Go and make disciples …” The mission that Jesus gave His first disciples, we do
not need to imagine, because He gives the same mission to us to-day, “Go and make disciples …” He calls us to follow Him, and as we follow Him we are to make disciples. A disciple of Jesus is one who denies self, takes up their cross and follows Jesus daily. When Jesus calls us to make dis-ciples, He calls us to go out into the world and share with people His call to follow Him. The word, “Go” here is best translated from the Greek, “as you are going”, implying that Jesus desires for us to make disciples whereever we are; as we are going about our lives we are to make disciples. You and I are called by Christ to make disciples as we are going about our everyday normal lives. He calls us to REACH out to people in love and tell them of the good news of salvation. He calls us to help people all around the world “make disciples of all nations,” come to know this Jesus that we know. Our church exists so that we as a body of believers can REACH out to the people in our community and across the world and make disciples. We go to Honduras, India, and other mission trips with the intention of making disciples. The reason for “Be the Church Sunday” is so we can GO and make disciples within our community. We are called to make disciples; let us an-swer the call and make disciples as we are going so that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is glori-fied.
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always,
to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20
Youth Committee Meeting
(Parents Welcome)March 8th at
7:00 p.m. in the Senior Adult
Center
Butch Reviere Minister of
Note from Brother Butch
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The Cross Changes Everything“A borrowed tomb now empty. A crucified Savior Risen. Once hal-lowed lives now filled by the prom-ise of life everlasting purchased by the blood of the Lamb that was shed for us. Christians everywhere have reason to rejoice! Our victori-ous Champion died on the cross, but now lives and reigns and offers forgiveness and redemption for all who will believe! The thought of the cross is no longer dark and frighten-ing, but is instead the symbol of our hope and freedom!”
“With narration from Peter’s per-spective, The Cross Changes Everything is a heart-stirring new musical for Easter that takes us on a journey from Peter’s call to leave his fishing nets behind, the trium-phal entry, the grueling walk down the Via Dolorosa, the crucifixion, and to Jesus’ ultimate victory over the grave!”
The above is your introduction to the Easter musical to be presented by our Sanctuary Choir on Sunday morning, March 29th, in both ser-vices. Brother Dale will be in cos-tume as the Apostle Peter and will provide narration as we walk with him through the unfolding of the Gospel story. The musical is just 42
minutes long, so Brother Paul will have ample time to present an in-vitation to those present who may not have yet committed their lives to Jesus. Please join us in praying for many to commit their lives to Jesus during this Easter season.
Also Coming Soon . . .
Our children’s choir will be singing and presenting a creative movement interpretation of the classic song, Arise, My Love. It is a stirring re-minder of the crucifixion and resur-rection of our Lord. Watch the bul-letin for the date; you will not want to miss it!
Another offering of worship mu-sic by the combined Sanctuary Choir, Senior Singers, and the Bell Choir will be tentatively presented, on March 15th. We appreciate Ben Fussell and Jimmy Wales (and oth-ers…you know who you are!!) for helping get the bells and tables from the choir room to the sanctuary and back!
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:16-17
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Kelly McElveen Director of Preschool/ Children’s [email protected]
Happy Birthday!Kailey Cosse - 6th
Rhett Schilling - 7thRebekah Singleton - 13th
Lola Robins 16thGrace Burris - 20th
June Westmoreland - 24thSammy Phelps - 26th
Belated Birthday Wishes toOwen Parent - Feb. 4th
Trenaty Bragg - Feb. 11thAre you in 6th grade or below?
Let me know so I can add you to my list!
Summer Camp Parent Meetings (CentriKid & Tall Timbers)...Please attend one of the two meetings. We will be discussing fundraising opportunities.Wednesday, March 4th at 7p.m. upstairs in the Children’s Dept. OR Sunday, March 8th at 5 p.m. upstairs in the Children’s Dept. $50 deposit for CentriKid is due at this meeting.
Preschool Committee MeetingSunday, March 8th at 7:00 p.m. in the Bears Room (Preschool Dept.)
Children’s Committee Meeting on Sunday, March 15th at 5 p.m. upstairs in the Children’s Department. Parents of 1st through 6th graders are also welcome to attend as we will be discussing our summer activities.
Be The Church Sunday is, Sunday March 22nd. Nursery will be available throughout the morning and afternoon for infants and toddlers whose parents are participating. Children ages 3 through 2nd grade will have other missions activities based here at the church. A more detailed letter of the activities we will be doing will be sent through the mail.
Preschool Easter Luncheon & Egg Hunt is Sunday, March 29th following second service in the Family Life Center. Luncheon is for Nursery age children-Kindergarten and their families. Egg Hunt is for Nursery age children - Kindergarten. There will be someone to keep older siblings during the egg hunt. Please bring a basket with 12 filled plastic eggs.
Great Red Easter Egg Hunt (Grades 1-6) will be Wednes-day, April 1st at 6:30 p.m. We will need drivers and “co-pilots”. Please let me know if you are available to drive or assist. Each car must have two adults.
If your child is participating in any local Spring sports, please send me a copy of his/her schedule. I would love to come see them play!
Wishing you a Marchfilledwith Hisblessings, Kelly McElveen
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PlaySchool News
Registrationforthe2015-2016SchoolYearfor3&4yearoldsbeginsMarch16th
Offeringthreedifferentprogramsfrom8:00a.m.to11:00a.m.
Formoreinformation,callthechurchofficeat839-3427orcheckoutourwebsiteat
www.fbcfranklinton.org/Ministries/PreschoolChildrens/PlaySchool.aspx
“See that you don’t look down on one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually
view the face of My Father in heaven.” -Matthew 18:10 HCSB
Leslie Westmoreland WINGS Coordinator
WINGS Ministry
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Ladies Tea Planning Meeting Sunday, March 1st at 5:00 p.m.
in the Senior Adult Center.
Save the Date: Ladies Tea, Saturday April 18th, 2015
New Ladies Bible Study A Confident Heart - By Renee Swope
Offered two different daysWednesday nights at 6:00 p.m. - Starts March 4th
Sunday nights at 5:00 p.m. - Starts March 8th Both meet in the Senior Adult Center - Book Costs $12
New WINGS Shirts are coming soon! To get yours, sign-up on the WINGS Bulletin Board. Cost is $15 each.
March News
Women in God’s Service
New Ladies Sunday School Class to begin
Sunday, March 1st in the Annex, Room 502.
Children’s Church
Month of March
Kristi Crain (1st, 8th)Brittany Sherlin
(15th, 29th) for ages 3
to Kindergarten
We will be meeting in Mrs. Cindy’s Kindergarten Sunday school room in the
Preschool Department
Sunday Night Supper3/1Knight, Rester, Varnado, Branch, Wales, Kirby & Fortenberry
3/8 McVea, Knight, Phelps, Knight & Knight
3/15Kennedy, Stringfield, Driskill, Thomas, Tabor, Burris & Waskom
3/22No Supper, Be the Church Sunday
3/29Barber, Russell, Stringfield, Perez & Keaton
3/1 Stephen McElveen & Hunter Knight
3/8 Jeff Driskill & David Sylvest
3/15 Eric Barber & Robby Stringfield
3/22Jimmy Stafford & B. Burris
3/29Stuart Varnado & Warren Cooke
Sound Schedule(Please note schedule changes)
3/1 Mack McElveen
3/8Matt Westmoreland
3/15 Stephen McElveen
3/22Darren Schilling
3/29John Burris
Wednesday Night Supper
3/4Group D - Country Fried Steak
3/11 Men’s Group - Smoked Chicken
3/18Group E - Chicken Rotel
3/25Group A - Pulled Pork
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Our March VOLUNTEERS
Nursery Schedule
3/1 Mary Mobley & Stephanie Cavanagh
3/8 Brittany Sherlin & Renee Sandifer
3/15 Sally Foy & Angela McVea
3/22Jennifer Walle & Carolyn Knight
3/29Ann Hingle & Velma Crowe
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Be The Church Sunday, March 22nd
This year on Sunday, March 22nd, we will be engaging in a BE THE CHURCH SUNDAY. We will be encouraging the entire church to look for ways they can engage our community with the love of Christ. We will not have our regularly scheduled worship activities. We will worship our Savior by sharing His love. In order for this to truly be
a church wide effort, we need your help!
March 22nd Schedule
8:30 a.m. - Meet in the Family Life Center for Devotion and send-off. Lunch - will be provided at ministry locations2:00 P.M. - Return to Family life Center for a time of Praise, Report and Testimony
Please help by praying for this Sunday of outreach and signing up to participate through your Sunday School class.
Be The Church Week March 22-27, 2015Monday – Friday: Teams will meet each day at 7:30 a.m. at
Hillcrest Baptist Church and head out to job sites.
Missions
The Lashey family has made Middletown, Del., their home where
they helped launch LifeHouse Church. Mark and Tammy are parents
of Abby-Jane, 14, Hudson, 12, and Sophia, 9. Mark Lashey is a 2015
Week of Prayer missionary for Send North America.
NAMB photo by Colby Ware
Our Goal is $10,000
Missions Opportunity: Mission India 2015
October 17th-30th, a group from our church will be heading to India to share the Gospel with Darzi Muslims. The Darzi are an unreached, unengaged people group. Please pray the Lord will burden those He would have take part in this trip. Prayerfully consider whether the Lord may want you to step out in this way.
Please contact Brother Paul if you have any questions or would like to sign up for the trip.
Local Missions
North American Missions
International Missions
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Welcome to Our Church Family
Peyton Jason Russell Proud Parents: Elizabeth & Jason Russell
Born January 8th at 3:43 p.m., he weighed 6 lbs. 6 oz. and was 19 inches longGrandparents are Mr. Gary & Mrs. Kay Haynes of Franklinton, LA
and Rev. Larry and Mrs. Belinda Russell of Summit, MSBig Sister is Hallie Elizabeth Garner
Paul Ashton CarpenterProud Grandparents: Cathy & James Milner
Born on January 18th, he weighed 9 lbs. and 7.2 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long.Parents are David and Miranda Carpenter
Big Brother is Judah Carpenter
Evelyn James CrainProud Grandparents: Linda & Robert Crain
Born on January 29th, she weighed 8 lbs. and was 20 inches long.Parents are Matt and Heather Crain
Siblings are Hannah Grace and Wilson CrainMaternal Grandparents are Suzanne & Jimmy Still
Truett Edward MorganProud Grandparents: Sandy & Jim Morgan
Born on February 2nd, he weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and was 20 inches long.Parents are Justin and Cacy Morgan of Alexandria, La
Birth Announcements
Operation Christmas Child
March Items to Collect: - Plastic cups, bowls and
Metal Spoons
Hunter Chapman
Brent Graham with Daughter, Newman
New Members
Seven-Fourteen Prayer Ministry
In preparation for the National Day of Prayer on May 5th, you are encouraged to be a part of the “Seven-Fourteen Prayer Ministry from March 4th to May 4th, simply by praying for at least 21 minutes each day.
When you pray, focus in two directions. First: Praise and Thanksgiving for What He is Doing. Spend about 7 minutes.
Second:Intercessory Prayers, Prayers for our church, our school, our community, our nation and leaders, and oth-ers that God brings to your mind and heart. Spend about 14 minutes.
You may find that designating either 7:14 a.m. or 7:14 p.m. as your prayer time helps you to be faithful to pray. Select the best time of day for you to
spend in prayer with God and commit those 21 minutes to prayer.
Can you imagine what God can do in our hearts and lives, in our church and schools, in our commuity and nation, if we obey 2nd Chronicles 7:14?
Let’s Pray.
“If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and
will forgive their sin and will heal their land. - 2nd Chronicles 7:14
PRSRT STDNONPROFIT
ORGANIZATIONUS POSTAGE
PAIDPERMIT NO. 27
March 2015
950 Self StreetFranklinton, LA 70438www.fbcfranklinton.org
First Baptist Church Franklinton