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First Baptist
I N S I D E T H I S
I S S U E :
Pastor’s
Article 2
Church
Staff 2
December
Schedule 3
Lottie Moon
Offering 3
Ecuador Mission
Trip 4
The Bridge
College Ministry 4
KOGS, X-Change,
& High School Info 5
Calendar 6
200 S. Church St.
Rocky Mount, NC 27804
Church Office Hours: 8:00 am—5:00 pm Monday—Thursday 8:00 am –2:30 pm Friday
Church Office (252) 446-9113
Fax (252) 446-5025
Website www.fbcrm.org
24-Hour Prayer Request Line (252) 446-5993
First Baptist Child Care Center (252) 446-7416
First
Baptist
Church
Rocky Mount D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 N E W S
5pm
P A G E 2
Redemption Leads to Thanksgiving
F I R S T B A P T I S N E W S
Rev. Dennis Darville
MINISTRY TEAM
Dennis Darville
Preaching & Leadership
Tim Griffin
Education & Discipleship
Mike Avery
Family Ministries
Larry Curtis
Pastoral Care
Jack Heim
Music & Worship
Louis Griffin
Music & Worship
Jonathan Tyndall
College Ministries
Bob Britt
Homebound Visitation
OPERATIONS &
ADMIN TEAM
Beth Thompson
Operations Director
Jewell Pullen
Financial Administration
Faye Strickland
Facilities Administration
Mary Helen Batten
Receptionist/Admin. Assistant
Kayla Dozier
Administrative Assistant
Nina Daughtridge
Music Assistant
Jane Clark
Food Service Administration
By the time you read this article, Thanksgiving-2015 will have passed into recent history. And if you were in church on Sunday, the 22nd of No-vember, 2015, you would have heard a sermon-version (i.e., Psalm 107) of this article. Further-more, you will more than likely be reading this in December. That means, among other things, “that all-things-Thanksgiving” will have come and gone. Be that as it may, I strongly sense the importance of going over the biblical importance of thankfulness yet again.
Obviously, having a disposition of gratitude is not restricted to one day a year. As important as that day (i.e., Thanksgiving Day) is, it should simply serve as a reminder to all of us of the importance of maintaining a posture of profound appreciation 24/7/365 to our great, providential, sovereign, and generous, King!
Even more powerfully and accurately than our national holiday, Psalm 107 and its theme of redemption serves us toward that end. I find myself constantly fighting for a heart of grati-tude—perhaps you do as well. I earnestly desire to live from a heart of deep and abiding grateful-ness, yet I struggle to “feel it” on a consistent and frequent basis.
I have become convinced that a disposition of gratefulness can be cultivated into a highly in-tense, consistently experienced, and frequently enjoyed state of being. There are many motives that drive this, but none more important than when the Psalmist says, “…enter into his gates with thanksgiving.” In other words, cultivating thankfulness invites the real presence of the Maker of heaven and earth into our lives. Who wouldn’t want more of that?
There are moments, of course, when a sense of unsolicited and unbounded gratitude sweeps over my mind and heart. I take those moments to be acts of pure grace. God the Holy Spirit, in His kindness, simply washes over my soul with a supernatural awareness of my debt to mercy. The Holy Spirit reminds me, in those poignant moments, of the gift of his Son and His gift of redemption. I receive a fresh glimpse of the wonder of salvation. My heart swells with inex-pressible, yet deeply felt, emotions of thanksgiv-ing.
In short, becoming more aware of redemption produces higher levels of gratitude. As much as the theme of redemption should cause our hearts to burst in praise with thanksgiving, there is an-other truth connected to this reality—gratefulness should begin with the idea of Crea-tion. That is, all human beings should join the chorus of unending gratitude for the gift of life and bounty given to us by the providential hands of a good and generous God. However true this ought to be, we find a startling reality about our-
selves and the rest of mankind—we are, inher-ently, ingrates.
It’s certainly true that this obligation of grateful-ness strikes most, if not all, as one of the many deliveries of common-sense. At a purely human-to-human level, there is a bit of truth in that. Think of the child instructed by her mother to say “thanks” for a gift received. Yet, the Apostle Paul differs when it pertains to God. In the first chapter of Romans, he goes to great lengths to explain that the unconverted man is guilty of ingratitude towards our heavenly benefactor (Romans 1: 18-32).
Common grace teaches us that we should look to God in thankful dependence for everything. Common grace, as its name sug-gests, is the grace common to all—believer or non-b e l i ev er —y e t , what do we see? We see a world filled with com-plaining and grumbling people who fail to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving to this gracious, generous, and loving King (Psalm 107: 22)!
If the common grace of Creation and its many splendid benefits teaches us the need for grati-tude and we find ourselves (as we all do) guilty of ingratitude, then redemption in Christ should lead us to ever increasing growth in the develop-ment of a heart of thankfulness. That is, of the many things that redemption brings into our lives, receiving the ability to be and become more and more grateful is right at the top of the list.
All this to say, redemption in Christ grants us the ability to become what we should have been as created beings, but were not—thankful to the Father! Christ our Redeemer has caused our hearts to explode in never ending gratitude for all created things. Now, in particular, we are not only capable of giving thanks to Him for created things, we are able to erupt in thankfulness to Him who has redeemed us from aimlessness, bondage, sickness, and a stormed-tossed life (Psalm 107: 1-32).
This holiday season, practice asking Christ to give you a deeper comprehension of His saving grace. As He does, you will discover ever-increasing and intensified levels of gratitude swelling in your heart. This sense of thankful-ness is a great way to begin “Advent” as well.
“...redemption in Christ should lead us to ever increasing growth in the development of a heart of thankfulness.”
F I R S T B A P T I S N E W S
P A G E 3
December Schedule
Combined Worship Schedule
December 6, 13, 20, 27* & January 3
With worship at 10:30am
and Sunday School* at 9am We will not have Sunday School December 27.
Sun., Dec. 13 Christmas Program & Fellowship (6pm)
Wed., Dec. 16 Christmas Meal & Deacon Ordination
Wed., Dec. 23 No Meal or regular PM activities
Wed., Dec. 24 Vesper service (5 pm—sanctuary)
Dec. 24 thru 25 Church office closed
Wed., Dec. 30 No Meal or regular PM activities
Fri., Jan. 1 Church office closed
Christmas Poinsettias Poinsettias will be used to help decorate our
sanctuary again this year. (Poinsettias may be picked up after the Christmas Eve Vesper service). Please use the forms provided on the table in the
Sanctuary narthex to place your order. Deadline to order is December 6.
P A G E 4
F I R S T B A P T I S N E W S
AMERICAN BELARUSSIAN RELIEF ORGANIZATION OF NASH COUNTY ABRO exists so children affected by the Chernobyl accident can receive clean water, breathe clean air and re-ceive free medical and dental care.
Our greatest desire as a church is to create an atmosphere where these post communist children can hear the sweet words of salvation in weekly exposure to God’s Word here and at other sister churches.
Pre-registration is now open to help Olga, Lena and Marina begin the pro-cess of inviting potential ABRO chil-dren to learn about Christianity and American home life.
For more information contact Amy Daniel 904-4009.
Ecuador Mission Trip March 4 - 12, 2016
Many exciting things will be happening in Ecuador during the month of March, one being
the ordination of Guillermo as a minister of the Gospel. During this trip we want to hold
training classes for husbands, wives, young men, and young women –we cannot do all of
this alone. Would you pray about going and serving these brothers and sisters to strength-
en them in their knowledge of and walk with Christ?
Applications are due by Sunday, January 30, 2016.
Information Meeting will be held on December 20 at 12:15 in room M203
Contact Guy Tutterow for more details 252-885-1890
With the leaves changing colors and the temperatures cooling down, it can only mean one thing: TURKEY BOWL!!!
The Bridge just held its 3rd annual Turkey Bowl and Feast out at the Schellenberg’s, where we had over 50 stu-
dents from NC Wesleyan come out. We started out the night playing football, (my team won) and then proceeded
to eat a big Thanksgiving meal together. All of that was followed up by a time around a bonfire where I shared the
gospel and other students shared what they are thankful for during this time of year. This time of fellowship was
a great opportunity for the church to reach out to the college campus and serve them and get to know them
better. We had several Sunday School classes participate by preparing dishes of food and coming out to serve
and eat with the students. Our prayer is that through this, students will see that there are people in the commu-
nity who love them and care for them. We can't wait to do it again next year!
P A G E 5
F I R S T B A P T I S N E W S
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2
API Fundraiser
(4:30-6 & 7-8pm
A.T.)
3 4 5
6 Combined Service
Called Church Conf.
During Worship
Deacons’ Meeting
(12pm M201A)
7 8 9 10 11 12
13 Combined Service
Christmas Program
& Church-wide
Fellowship (6pm)
14
Forever Young
(11:45am F.H.)
15 16
Christmas Meal 5pm
Deacon Ordination
(6pm Sanct.)
17 18 19
20
Combined Service
No Evening Activities
21 22 23
No Meal or Evening
Activities
Meals on Wheels
24
Christmas Eve
Service 5pm
FBC Office Closed
25
Christmas Day
FBC Office Closed
26
27
NO Sunday School
10:30am Worship No Evening Activities
28 29 30
No Meal or Evening
Activities
31
December 2015
w w w . f b c r m . o r g
Sundays 8:00 am Televised Morning Worship
(WHIG Channel 17)
8:15 am Contemporary Worship Service
9:00 am Church Library open until 10:00 am
9:30 am Bible Study
11:00 am Worship Service
6:00 pm Life 5-1-5 Groups (multiple locations/times vary)
Mondays 10:45 am Inspiration Singers (Choir suite) 7:00 pm Praise Team Rehearsal
Tuesdays 6:30 am Women’s Prayer Groups
9:00 am Pastor’s meeting
Women’s Bible Study
10:00 am Women’s Prayer Group
1:00 pm Stephen Ministry (1st & 3rd Wks M103)
6:00 pm Handbell Rehearsal
6:30 pm Trail Life USA & American Heritage Girls
Wednesdays 3:00 pm Church Library open until 6:00 pm
COOL Kids (FMC)
5:00 pm Fellowship Meals
6:00 pm Nursery for Birth—2 yr. (M105)
Team KID for 3 yrs.—Kindergarten
KOGS for 1st—5th Grades
X-Change 6th—8th Grades
Prayer Meeting for adults (Fell. Hall)
7:10 pm Christmas Musical Rehearsal to 7:45pm
7:45 Adult Choir Rehearsal
Thursdays 6:30 am Men’s Prayer Group (Choir room)
12:30 pm Prison Ministry
3:00 pm COOL Kids (FMC)
7:30 pm The Bridge (@ Wesleyan College)
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