Pastoral E-pistles
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Weekly Update, 18 December 2008 |
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Written by Matthew M. Thomas
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Thursday, 18 December 2008 21:25 |
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Christmas is nearly upon us! For many people, this is a very busy time of the year. There are parties to go to, and shopping to do. There are end-of-the-year reports to file, and other things that get done only in December. But for many in our community, this is a very hard time. Many families are scattered across the country - and have trouble getting back together for holidays. Other families are close by, but have serious trouble when they get together. Others are realizing that the winter, which began early this year, has already reduced their finances and times are getting harder. This week, we have received a number of calls for food and other assistance. These hard economic times are causing people to turn to the church for help. This provides us with an amazing opportunity to bring the Good News to those who are in need. This Christmas Eve, we will provide an opportunity to help those in need by bringing non-perishable food items to the Christmas Eve service. As a part of our time at the Table, we will present these gifts to God for the relief of the poor and needy in our congregation and community. Our Christmas Eve service will be at 7:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall. Please invite your friends, neighbors and family to join us for this night of worship and of service to God. May God bless you this Christmas! + Pastor Matt Thomas |
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Weekly Update, 11 December 2008 |
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Written by Matthew M. Thomas
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Thursday, 11 December 2008 18:15 |
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God has truly blessed us this year as he has miraculously sustained the ministry here at First Baptist Church! This week, we will receive our 2009 envelopes for regular giving at FBC. I believe that God desires to do great things with us and through us in 2009. Those who give regularly will notice a change in the designations on the offering envelopes that I believe reflects our growth as a congregation, as we live out the values of the Kingdom of God. There will still be three choices on the envelopes. First, there will be Missions and Benevolences. This will be for money you choose to designate for the work of the Body of Christ outside of FBC, and also to the Deacons' Fellowship Fund, as a supplement to the monthly Communion Offering. This will allow us to become a conduit for the support of the Body of Christ beyond FBC. The second choice on the envelopes will be called Operating Funds. This will be for money you choose to designate for the regular operating budget, and the default category if you do not designate anything at all. Third, there will be a Reserve Funds category. This will be for Capital Maintenance, Roof Fund, for new ministries and for financial emergencies. These are funds that we hope to have available for growth, for unexpected expenses, and for troubled times. In order to meet our basic operating expenses this year, we hope to raise $82,000.00 for the Operating Funds for 2009. In faithfulness to Christ, we also hope to give $9,600.00 to Missions and Benevolences this year and contribute $4,800.00 to our Reserve Funds this year. That is a total of $96,400.00. We understand that in order to raise this kind of money, we will have to look beyond the 25 current families and individuals who give actively to FBC. We know that people are already giving sacrificially in finances, time and energy to keep the work of God going here, for which I am truly grateful. We ask that those who can give us an estimate of how much they believe God is leading them to give faithfully - whether little or much. This will help us to plan and seek out other sources where necessary. If you have been active in giving this year, we invite you to consider becoming active and involved in the ministry in this way. We understand that finances are tight for many these days, but we also know that God is faithful to provide for his people, both personally and as a congregation. It is not the intention of the leaders of this congregation to make anyone feel badly about their inability to give at whatever level; we speak to these issues as a way of being open and honest with you as to our financial picture. It is our intention to make a 2009 budget summary available as soon as possible, with an estimate of how much on average is necessary for us to bring in each month based on how many individuals, families, or outside sources are involved. Thank you for your continued prayers and support of the work God is doing with us here at First Baptist Church! In Christ, +Pastor Matt |
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Weekly Update, 27 November 2008 |
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Written by Matthew M. Thomas
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Monday, 24 November 2008 22:21 |
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Happy Thanksgiving! This week I have been spending time with my family in Illinois, and I will be back with you on Sunday. This week begins the season of Advent - the four weeks leading up to Christmas Eve. In Advent we anticipate the coming of Christ. We start by anticipating his Second Coming and finish the season by remembering his arrival at Bethlehem as an infant. This week, we'll be looking at Mark 13:24 - 37. Over the past few weeks, we've heard quite a bit about what God intends life to be like at the return of Christ. This Sunday, we will see how God intends to interrupt the way life is going to intervene in this world. There is a dual message in this passage - hope that God will make everything right, and a warning to pay attention to see what God is up to. Next Sunday, in the Second Sunday of Advent, we will be looking at 2 Peter 3:8 - 15. This passage describes to us how we should live in light of God's coming. It contains the famous "with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day." (verse 8) I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving and I look forward to worshipping with you on Sunday! |
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Weekly Update, 4 December 2008 |
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Written by Matthew M. Thomas
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Thursday, 04 December 2008 21:02 |
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Welcome to Advent! This last Sunday, we celebrated the first Sunday of Advent, where we focus on God's coming to earth. This Sunday, we have a special event coming up - we will be welcoming three new members into the church through the renewal of baptismal commitments. Worship will be followed by a potluck dinner together. Praise God for the good things he is doing! I look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday! +Pastor Matt |
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Weekly Update, 20 November 2008 |
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Written by Matthew M. Thomas
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Thursday, 20 November 2008 10:29 |
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Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! This week, we developed a booklet to hand out to newcomers and those interested in getting to know more about FBC. It repeats much of our basic information that is available on the website in printed format. We've titled it Going Deeper: Information and Orientation for Newcomers, and it contains useful information about our ministry outlook, membership at FBC, opportunities to serve at FBC, and basic contact information for our church community. We'll make copies available to anyone who wants them! This week marks the end of what is known in the greater church as the Season after Pentecost. Sunday, November 30 marks the beginning of the season of Advent - the four weeks anticipating the coming of Jesus Christ that makes its climax with the celebration of Christ's birth. This Sunday, we will explore Ezekiel 34:11 - 16, 20 - 24 as the last of this season's readings. In it, God promises to become the shepherd of his people and to judge between them to set everything right. Next Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent, we will hear from Mark 13:24 - 37. This passage speaks about the return of Christ and our need to be watchful as God interrupts the normal order of things to show up and set things right. In this season of new beginnings, we will start implementing a change in the way we talk about our leadership structures here at FBC. Back in July, the FBC Executive Board accepted the constitutional team's proposal of a Missional Constitution - a set of structures and policies that will help us live out the life of discipleship together more effectively than our original congregational structure. In July, the Board's acceptance of the constitution was provisional: it did not formally change the existing structures. Only a vote of the membership can do that. What it did do, though, was accept the new Missional Constitution as board policy. This has allowed the Board to begin to explore how to implement the new structures and to get used to a new way of operating among themselves so as to work out glitches and problems in the new structures before making the changes permanent through a formal affirmation by the congregation. One of the benefits of this is that it allows the changes to take place organically - that is, to grow at a healthy pace into their full implications - rather than to be implemented suddenly and surprisingly. And one of those organic changes is related to how we talk about our structures. The Missional Constitution calls for some new names for some of our basic structures that we already have, as a way of tying together Biblical concepts with our way of operating. It also introduces some concepts that are basically Biblical, but which have not been implemented formally in FBC life before now. Beginning with Advent, let's start to use these terms amongst ourselves and in public, so that we can begin to get used to them and begin to learn how they all relate to our life of discipleship to Jesus Christ. To start with, the group currently known as Executive Board will become known as The Council of Elders. "Elder" is a Biblical concept I will go into at another time, but suffice it to say that this group will be, as it already is, responsible for keeping FBC all going in the same direction together. For ease of use, we will likely just call this group The Council or The Church Council in common practice. This is what it is called commonly in other churches we are connected with through the Trumbull Baptist Association and ABC/Ohio. For instance, Alliance FBC and Western Reserve Baptist in Boardman both use this designation. Second, the position currently known as Moderator will be renamed to be called the Chair of the Council. Once again, this is primarily a change in name rather than a change in responsibility. As we become accustomed to the new names, we will continue to teach and explain how the new structures work. Yes, there will be more new names down the road. There will be a few new concepts. And there will be ways in which our current structures will change in the way they relate to one another. Once we have grown to the point where we generally understand the new way of operating and have gotten used to it, we can begin to explore what still needs change or adjustment. After that, we can choose to continue with these structures through a formal congregational affirmation, or develop something else entirely that can work better. If you are new to FBC life, please bear with us as we get used to this new way of operating. We've been doing things in the old way for quite some time. We assure you that we will be as courteous as possible to you and to one another as we learn how to work together in this new way. I look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday! |
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