Set Jesus apart from everything and everyone as the one who guides your life. Be willing to speak up gracefully in word and action. Our lives should be a hope others see. 1 Peter 3:15

RCFBC.ORG

First Baptist Church

707 St Patrick St

Rapid City, SD 57701

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Rapid City, SDRapid City, SDRapid City, SD

PERMIT NO. 307PERMIT NO. 307PERMIT NO. 307

Return Service Requested

9:00am 9:00am 9:00am --- Worship

WorshipWorship

10:15am 10:15am 10:15am --- Feasting on the Word

Feasting on the Word

Feasting on the Word Every Sunday!

Every Sunday!

Every Sunday!

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

NOTE FROM VONNIE 2

WORDS FROM NATE 5

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 6-7

MEN’S BIBLE STUDY 8

FUNNIES 8

GIRLFRIEND’S WINTER

RETREAT INFO

9

BIRTHDAY’S/

ANNIVERSARIES /

USHERS

10-11

WINTER 2016

For the past few months, the staff and I have been kicking around ideas for a theme verse for 2016. We spend time thinking, praying, and discussing where we think God is leading us to focus for the upcoming year.

We ended up with about four different verses a month or so ago. We read them in different translations and paraphrases, talked about them, and finally settled on 1st Peter 3:15. Then we began reading through the differ-ent translations. By the way, I think most of the modern transla-tions are very good when it comes to accuracy, so I don’t believe there’s any one “right” version of the Bible. I like the New Revised Standard Version, but know many of you use other versions. The translation you use may be be-cause of familiarity, or it may just “sound right” to you.

As we read through the different translations of 1st Peter 3:15, none of them really grabbed us. So I went back to look at the verse in Greek and began to think about a good paraphrase of this verse that communicates the es-sence of the verse, but may offer

clarity and simplicity that our modern translations don’t. As another side note, a translation will take words from one language (in this case Greek) and try to bring them into another language (in this case English). If you’ve ever done any translating, you know this can be quite a challenge because some words don’t cross into other languages easily. A paraphrase, on the other hand, will try to communicate thoughts and ideas from within a single lan-guage. The goal is to communicate the thought, not necessarily all the words.

Hopefully I’ve not muddied all the waters with this! After all this work, we came up with a paraphrase of 1st Peter 3:15 that I believe is true to the original language, but at the same time offers a simplicity of what the au-thor was saying. Here it is! “Set Jesus apart from everything and everyone as the one who guides your life. Be willing to speak up gracefully in word and ac-tion. Our lives should be a hope others see.” (1st Peter 3:15)

This is the version we’ll be mem-orizing and using this year! We’re work-ing on some banners and magnets for you as well. I’m looking forward to what God will teach all of us through the implementation of this verse in our lives!

Set Jesus apart from everything and everyone as the one who guides your life. Be willing to speak up gracefully in word and action. Our lives should be a hope others see. 1 Peter 3:15

First Baptist Church

January 2016

Message from Gregg

Go tell it on the mountain

Over the hills and everywhere

Go tell it on the mountain

Jesus Christ is born!

I grew up in Nebraska in an area that is nicknamed “Flatrock.” It truly has no change in elevation

anywhere in the town. I rode my bicycle all over it in high school and college. Imagine my surprise when I

moved to Rapid City as a poor college student in 1986. I unpacked all my things and I set out on my bicy-

cle to explore my new town. I had never ridden my bicycle up a hill before and I was quite shocked how

hard it was to barely get to the stop sign at the end of the block!

I have always loved Christmas and almost every piece of Christmas music I have encountered. But,

while I was growing up, I HATED the song Go Tell it on the Mountain. Was it because I had no understand-

ing of the effort and subsequent exultation of climbing a mountain?

Celebration and proclamation naturally occur at the birth of a long awaited child. Birth announce-

ments are sent, gifts are presented to parents, Facebook posts are updated daily, weekly and monthly to

share progress. Can you imagine the excitement of such an announcement in Bethlehem? The magnitude

of this announcement propelled angels to sing, shepherds to gather, and wise men to bring priceless gifts.

After centuries of waiting, Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus Christ, came into the world. What good

news! Such news we cannot hold in or keep from proclaiming. Not only are we propelled to proclaim such

news, but we are also commissioned to go and make disciples of all nations. Indeed, we must tell of God’s

gracious gift to the world in Jesus. The birth of one such as this we cannot hide.

At the end of the day, how much we truly treasure Jesus’ birth is revealed by how much we speak,

think, and indeed, sing of Him. We must feel compelled to go and tell it on the mountain….and every-

where, that Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer, our hope, and good shepherd has been born!

By the way—I now LOVE the song Go Tell it on the Mountain!

Please consider adding your voice to our choir!

Wednesdays 6:00-6:40 pm

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gifts! 2 Corinthians 9:15

Vonnie Houchin

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

A NOTE FROM VONNIE:

PAGE 2

JANUARY USHERS January 3

John Boersma

Todd Carda

Bernie & Peg Christner

Diane Kirchhevel

Mike Munsch

For questions about worship, email questions4fbc@gmail.com

PAGE 11 WINTER 2016

Website…………………..………....www.rcfbc.org Gregg…………………..........fbcgregg@gmail.com Nate…………………...nateiswelcome@gmail.com Vonnie……………….…..…fbcvonnie@gmail.com Heidi………………………….fbcheidi@gmail.com Angela…………..……. .. firstbaptistrc@gmail.com

First Baptist

Church accepts

electronic

donations. If you

would like to

donate electronically, please go to

the church

website (www.rcfbc.org) and

follow the link!

If you have an event, announcement, or anything else that you would like

included in the February newsletter, please send it to Angela, by noon, on

January 15th! (firstbaptistrc@gmail.com)

January 10

Gary & Carol Misterek

JB Marks

Ruperto Reyes

Mike & Jeannene Woods

Nancy Brewer

January 17

Paul & Pat Barber

Lee Blanchard

Erik Olness

January 24

John & Margie Wrede

Jerry & Linda Ross

Jeanette Nilson

Mike Brewer

Tracy Koskan

January 31

Youth Group

Join us January 31 for

some food and

fellowship

after the service!

Bring a dish to share.

Bailey Flora Sheffer 1

Jess Lukens 2

William Shermer 2

Robert VanAntwerp 6

Joe Hoover 7

Grant Peterson 7

Jerry Stordahl 9

Matthew Bowman 9

Alvin Miller 10

Don Wiebers 12

Jodie Sheffer 13

Diane Hemmen 16

Sam Johnson 24

Betty Casey 25

Todd Warren 28

Eric Mayforth 29

Angela Bilbrey 30

January 8th

Cliff & Bev McNeil

January 13th

John and JoAnn Risdon

January 18th

Bob & Ruby Motes

January 23rd

Dennis & Linda Johnson

January 29th

John & Beth Boersma

JANUARY ANNIVERSARIES

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare

and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS

PAGE 10

Caption describing pic-

ture or graphic.

January 1January 1January 1

New Year’s DayNew Year’s DayNew Year’s Day

January 2January 2January 2 Men’s Bible Starts @ 7:30am Men’s Bible Starts @ 7:30am Men’s Bible Starts @ 7:30am

(every Saturday)(every Saturday)(every Saturday)

January 4January 4January 4 Christian Ed Meeting 4:30pmChristian Ed Meeting 4:30pmChristian Ed Meeting 4:30pm

January 5January 5January 5 Tuesday Morning Bible Study 10:00am Tuesday Morning Bible Study 10:00am Tuesday Morning Bible Study 10:00am

(every Tuesday)(every Tuesday)(every Tuesday) ABW Board Meeting 5:30pmABW Board Meeting 5:30pmABW Board Meeting 5:30pm

Physical Maintenance Meeting 6:30pmPhysical Maintenance Meeting 6:30pmPhysical Maintenance Meeting 6:30pm

January 6January 6January 6 WOW (every Wednesday)WOW (every Wednesday)WOW (every Wednesday)

January 11January 11January 11 Stewardship Meeting @ 6:00pmStewardship Meeting @ 6:00pmStewardship Meeting @ 6:00pm

January 12January 12January 12 Mary Martha Circle 6:00pmMary Martha Circle 6:00pmMary Martha Circle 6:00pm

January 13January 13January 13

Ann Judson Circle 1:30pmAnn Judson Circle 1:30pmAnn Judson Circle 1:30pm

January 15January 15January 15 Youth Group to Evans PlungeYouth Group to Evans PlungeYouth Group to Evans Plunge

January 18January 18January 18 Mission Meal @ 6:00pmMission Meal @ 6:00pmMission Meal @ 6:00pm

Church Council @ 7:00pmChurch Council @ 7:00pmChurch Council @ 7:00pm

January 22January 22January 22---232323 Girlfriend’s Winter RetreatGirlfriend’s Winter RetreatGirlfriend’s Winter Retreat

January 25January 25January 25 Deacons Meeting @ 5:30pmDeacons Meeting @ 5:30pmDeacons Meeting @ 5:30pm

January 31January 31January 31 5th Sunday Brunch5th Sunday Brunch5th Sunday Brunch

May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. Psalm 20:4

PAGE 3 WINTER 2016

JANUARY UPCOMING EVENTS

JANUARY CIRCLE MEETINGS

Mary Martha Circle

Tuesday, January 12, at 6:00 p.m.

Hostess: Jeannene Woods 721-7741

Ann Judson Circle

Wednesday, January 13, at 1:30 p.m.

Hostess: Doris Brodrick

Roll Call: Most interesting woman in the Bible

Worship on Wednesday

5:30pm - 6:00pm - Dinner

6:00pm-6:40pm - Adult Choir Practice

6:00pm-7:30pm - Children’s Classes

6:00pm-7:30pm—Youth Group

6:30pm-7:30pm - Adult Opportunities

6:45pm-7:30pm - Praise Team Practice

7:30pm-8:15pm - Bell Practice

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

We are coming up on a New Year and new resolutions. Most people have something they want to change whether it be weight loss, less TV, time maintenance or even a deeper issue….a spiritual change. Yes, we want our lives to be different but so does God. He doesn’t want us to be the same person a year from now that we are today. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says if we are in Christ, we are new, the old is gone! Praise God! During this last year I have been learning that the very heart of the Christian faith

revolves around change. I am learning change is also a process. If you are anything like me change can be a challenge. It pulls me out of my comfort zone, takes time, can be scary, and honestly it can hurt. I get relief in God’s Word when He says in Philippians that He who started a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Amen! God is going to carry out the changes that are put before me! So all we are asked to do is put the old away and grab hold of Jesus so He can make the changes needed to pull us closer to Him. Lastly, as God has been working in my everyday life He has also changed my desire on who I am in company with.

Abba has shown me through this church body how important it is to encourage others in our community and the importance of being supportive of a church body. Hebrews 10:25 says “encouraging each other and all the more as you see the day draw near.” I want to encourage you all as we go into 2016 to be open to the changes the Lord puts on your heart and continue to support each other in prayer and love:-) Happy New Year!!

Angela Bilbrey

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I

have loved you, so you must love one another. By

this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if

you love one another.

John 13:34-35

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

A MESSAGE FROM THE DESK OF ANGELA BILBREY

PAG

Wicksville Church Speaker Schedule:

Services begin at 10:30am.

JAN. 10, 2016 REV. BILL SHERMER

JAN. 17, 2016 TERRY PULSE

JAN. 24, 2016 DENNIS JOHNSON

JAN. 31, 2016 BOB HAYFORD

Communion will be held every

fourth Sunday.

The New Year is already

here. Happy New Year and blessings

to you all. On January 22 & 23 we

are planning to have a Girlfriend’s

Winter Retreat. This retreat will be

held at the Canyon Lake Chophouse

which is now a reunion cabin/hotel.

There are beds for 20 of us to stay

the night. We will play games, watch

DVD’s, eat lots of good food, and

have devotions. There will be a

guest speaker who will give her

testimony. There is a sign up sheet

at the back of the sanctuary. The

cost will be $40.00, and we are

asking that you not bring children

younger than 12 years old. Please

sign the sheet soon, as we will

need to cancel the retreat by

January 8 if there isn’t enough

interest. Please bring your favor-

ite game and food to share for

the evening meal and for brunch

the next morning. If you have any

questions, please call Karen at

390-3794 or Angela at 343-0342.

helping our little shoppers and

for wrapping gifts. That night

was a group effort. We’re sure

those gifts will bring many

smiles Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas from all of us.

A BIG THANK YOU!

Thanks from the Wednesday

night leaders for donating items,

helping with set up and tear

down, wrapping gifts and super-

vising children the night of the

children's shopping bazaar.

Thanks to the older youth for

Revelation 21:5 “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”

PAGE 9 WINTER 2016

GIRLFRIEND’S WINTER RETREAT

STAY CONNECTED BY E-MAIL Stay on top

of all the current events happening at First

Baptist Church with just a click! To be added

to our weekly MailChimp, fill in your email on

the welcome sheet or contact the office.

For daily inspiration and updates make sure

to like us on Facebook.

January’s Mission Meal

This month’s Mission meal will be on Monday, January 18th.

The following folks are signed up to serve:

Co-Chairs:

Todd and DeeDee Carda

Beau & Crista Boerman, Don and Cheryl Weibers, and Mike and Cindy Cole

For any questions, please contact one of the Mission Ministry members.

MEN’S BIBLE STUDY

Starting January 2, 2016 @ 7:30am. Troy Oldert will be taking the men through a

study from Family Life called Stepping Up. The study will meet at the church.

Light refreshments will be provided. For more information contact

Troy Oldert at 545-4798

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH JANUARY 2016

PAGE 8

Two crooks were arrested for stealing a calendar—-they each got six months!

If you get cold this winter, try standing near a corner—-they’re usually about 90 degrees!

It’s hard to explain puns to a kleptomaniac—-because they always take things literally!

“To catch the reader's attention, place an interesting sentence or quote from the story here.”

Happy New Year,

Most of us will begin this New Year with fresh expectations of what the future will bring. Most of the time we do this by making New Year’s Resolutions. We say things like “I’m going to eat more healthy”, “I am going to start exercising” etc. We think this is the time to make promises to ourselves about breaking bad habits, starting better ones, or acting like the person we dream about being. The dangerous thing about this is that we are putting a “law” over us. “I will not eat that doughnut!” Paul wrote about this in Romans 7:7-12 where he said:

What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not cov-et.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very com-mandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the com-mandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the command-ment is holy, righteous and good.

This verse can be very confusing in its wording but it has a very powerful mes-sage. You see what he is trying to say is, the law reveled to him what sin is but also made him want to sin. You see when we are told not to do something it be-comes a temptation to do it. I once worked at an office that had a giant red button like in the ones in the movies that sends the missiles. Everyone in the office wanted to push this button because it

said above it “Do Not Push”. To make it more tempting was that no one knew what it did. We would follow the wires as far back into the boiler room as we could but could not see where they led. Because someone said “don’t” we all now won-dered “why not?” When we set New Year’s Resolutions for ourselves, we are creating a set of laws to live by. Don’t eat that…stop doing this…make yourself do this, and it becomes something we have to live by. At some point the opposite becomes a temptation, trying to get us to break. God gave us hope and freedom from the law in the way of His son Jesus Christ. Paul later says this in Romans 8:1-4: Therefore, there is now no condemna-tion for those who are in Christ Jesus, be-cause through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weak-ened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous re-quirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. In this he is stating that the law of God is indeed perfect, but as humans we are not able to uphold it. Because of this God sent his Son to fulfill the law so that we are free, no longer a slave to it. You see, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. At the end of this passage it states that we are to live according to the Spirit, and that the law is fulfilled in us because of God’s spirit in us. This is the beautiful thing about grace, we do not deserve the perfection of Christ’s life but yet He gives it to us as a gift. Forgiveness is ours once we accept Him. God tells us we will not sin if we walk in his Spirit, but due to our flesh, we do not always follow His

Spirit. But when we do we are still for-given. This New Year I pray that you do not put yourself under any new law but remember a phrase I use in counseling quite often, rules you break but choices you make. Look as everything as a choice, I can eat that doughnut now if I want but I choose not to. Now it does not become a temptation, the same way that your relationship with Jesus Christ should be; making a choice to walk in the Spirit not following rules and procedures, which makes sin a tempta-tion. Once you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have been set free from law. You can choose to walk in His Spirit every movement of every-day, and be covered with forgiveness when we do not! From the world of Next Generation Ministries,

Nate Sales

PAGE 5 WINTER 2016

WORDS FROM NATE:

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH PAGE 6

NOTES:______________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

Happy New Year!

2

Men’s Bible Study

7:30am

3

Communion

4

Christian Ed Meeting

4:30pm

5

Morning Bible Study

10am

ABW Board Meeting 5:30pm

Physical Maintenance Meeting

6:30pm

6

WOW

7 8 9

Men’s Bible Study

7:30am

10

11

Stewardship Meeting

6pm

12

Morning Bible Study

10am

Mary Martha Circle

6pm

13

WOW

Ann Judson Circle

1:30pm

14 15

Youth Group to Evans

Plunge

16

Men’s Bible Study

7:30am

17 18

Cornerstone Mission Meal

6pm

Church Council

7pm

19

Morning Bible Study

10am

20

WOW

21

22

23

Men’s Bible Study

7:30am

24

25

Deacons Meeting

5:30pm

26

Morning Bible Study

10am

27

WOW

28 29 30

Men’s Bible Study

7:30am 31

5th Sunday

Brunch

PAGE 7 WINTER 2016

NOTES:______________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Christmas Eve Service

5:30pm

Happy Birthday

Jesus!

New Year’s Eve

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

Happy New Year!

2

Men’s Bible Study

7:30am

3

Communion

4

Christian Ed Meeting

4:30pm

5

Morning Bible Study

10am

ABW Board Meeting 5:30pm

Physical Maintenance Meeting

6:30pm

6

WOW

7 8 9

Men’s Bible Study

7:30am

10

11

Stewardship Meeting

6pm

12

Morning Bible Study

10am

Mary Martha Circle

6pm

13

WOW

Ann Judson Circle

1:30pm

14 15

Youth Group to Evans

Plunge

16

Men’s Bible Study

7:30am

17 18

Cornerstone Mission Meal

6pm

Church Council

7pm

19

Morning Bible Study

10am

20

WOW

21

22

23

Men’s Bible Study

7:30am

24

25

Deacons Meeting

5:30pm

26

Morning Bible Study

10am

27

WOW

28 29 30

Men’s Bible Study

7:30am

Girlfriend’s Winter Retreat!