Shoebox Christmas Child! Collection date is November 20. Be sure to read the instructions carefully as to what may be included. Plastic boxes are available in the narthex with all the information you need for a properly filled box. Only use rubber bands to close your boxes, please. The boxes are opened before shipping by Samaritan Purse workers to insure compliance with shipping regulations.

Thanksgiving Dinner on Wednesday, November 16 at 5 p.m. Reservations are a must, so please fill out the form in Sunday’s worship bulletin (11.13.16) or call the office by noon on Monday, November 14.

Decorate the church for Christmas! Sunday, November 20 immediately following morning worship! Office closed Monday, December 26. Office hours between December 27-30 are 9 a.m.-noon. The Community Choir of TCCS presents Celebrate the Season on December 2 at 7 pm and December 3 and 4 at 3 pm. The Sanctuary Choir presents Messiah on Saturday, December 10 at 6 pm and Sunday December 11 at 3 pm. The Children's Choirs will have their Christmas presentation on Wednesday, December 14 at 6 pm. We have a guest Missionary speaker on Sunday, December 18 at 11 am. Then our whole church will celebrate the music of

Christmas at 6 pm that same day. On Christmas Eve, we being our celebration of Christmas with the string quartet prelude at 4:45 pm and service following

at 5 pm. Christmas Day, is our worship service at 11 am and return to our homes to celebrate the day with family and friends. New Years Eve is our Lord's Supper service at 5 pm. New Years Day, is our worship service at 11 am.

The North Stuart News is published biweekly by

North Stuart Baptist Church

MAILING ADDRESS: 1950 NW Federal Highway

Stuart, FL 34994

office phone—772-692-1616 fax—772-692-0239

email—office@northstuart.org www.northstuart.org

Twitter: @NorthStuart

bobsearl@northstuart.org doug@northstuart.org

jacqueline@northstuart.org sally@northstuart.org

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED ————————————————

Dr. Bob Searl, Pastor Dr. Doug Jewett, Minister of Music

Rev. Jacqueline Smail, Minister to Students ————————————————

Deadline for copy: Tuesday of each week. Copy must be in writing. Email is preferred.

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Stuart, FL 34995 Permit No. 68

November 10, 2016

Happenings:

Meetings: Dawnings Grief Journey, TBA Men’s Fellowship Lunch, every Friday at noon at Key West Cafe Deacons’ Meeting, third Tuesday of each month Stewardship Committee, every third Thursday of the month Quarterly Business Meetings, third Sunday in January, April, July, October

For complete listing of weekly activities please visit our website:

www.northstuart.org

Wednesday Night Supper Volunteer schedule: Week 1—Berean Class Week 2—Seekers Class Week 3—Good News Class Week 4—Median Adult Class Week 5—Hayslip Class

...with humility and gentleness, we want to be a safe place for people to discover or rediscover faith in Christ.

Ephesians 4:2

November 10, 2016 Volume 42, Issue 23

The North Stuart News

Sunday sermons, scriptures and newsletters are on the church website so you can hear them and read them at your convenience.

Check it out at www.northstuart.org

Office hours: 9 a.m.—3 p.m. Ministers available after 3 p.m. by appointment only.

The Sanctuary Choir

presents

Handel’’s Messiah with orchestra

Saturday, December 10 at 6 p.m.

Sunday, December 11 at 3 p.m.

A love offering will be taken.

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Sometimes small things make a big impact. You probably know that the church is a polling place. You may also know that I get terribly irritated by the politicking that happens on the church property. I’m fiercely committed to the principles of religious freedom for all and the separation of church and state, so when I come to work on an election day and see active campaign-ing at the church and the property littered with campaign signs I slip dangerously close to a red-faced, vein-popping hissy fit. At a recent election I was whining about this to an election official when he said, “Would you like me to remove the people?” Imme-diately I knew that we aren’t that church and I didn’t want to be that pastor. What kind of church chooses to run people off the property? Since removing the folks was off the table my next thought was, “Why not make them feel welcome with a little Christian hospitality?” So that’s what we did on November 8. So I spent a good bit of election day wandering among the cam-paigners, chatting with them, inviting them to have a cookie and a bottle of water. I was surprised by how delighted most people were by the offer. I was struck by the reaction of one man in particular who was campaigning near US 1. I approached the group he was in and in-troduced myself. His response was defensive and apologetic. “Is everything okay, pastor? Are we in the wrong spot? Are we doing something we shouldn’t be doing?” I told them they were fine, and invited them to stop by the tent for a cookie. The man looked me in the eye and I could swear he teared up a little. Then he said, “That is incredibly kind. Can you imagine the kind of country this

would be, what kind of world we’ve have if we just treated each other with simple kindness like this.” Perhaps his reaction was prompted by a sense of relief that this ugly election was almost over, and our hospitality stood in sharp contrast to it. The next time I saw him he was choosing a cookie. Now the election is over and I wonder what kind of effect the vitri-ol and vulgarity will have on hearts, minds, and relationships going forward. As a Christian pastor, I wonder what kind of effect an election like this will have on the church (especially our children, for heaven’s sake) and how should we respond as the people of God? My prayer is that we will double-down on our commitment to fulfill the command to love God wholeheartedly and to love one another, and our neighbors, whoever our neighbors might be, as ourselves. My prayer is that we will prayerfully and vigorously seek to embody the character qualities of Christ such as love, re-spect, sacrifice, decency, and even hospitality expressed through small, but potent, acts of kindness. May this benediction form our lives today: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord - Creator, Redeemer, and Giver of Life - and to live your life so that those to whom love is a stranger will find in you a generous friend.

Dr. Bob Searl

I'm proud of our church! There are several things that make me proud. Among them was our response to politicians and voters in the recent election. We set up a tent in the parking lot and provid-ed water, coffee and cookies for anyone who wanted them. It was staffed by our church members. I visited the hospitality tent sever-al times during the day. Each time it felt like a respectful, and al-most festive, place to be. Being the body of Christ to the voting world was an expression of joy! Thank you to each of you who provided cookies and/or your time to greet these citizens. I'm also proud of the way we welcome the community to our facil-ities throughout the year. As I sit in my office, I know there are over 200 women in Bible study in our sanctuary. Last night, while voting was going on, we had a community choir in our sanctuary, language classes and another choir in our education space. The community band using our education space on Monday nights along with two other community choirs. I am thankful that many people come to our property regularly for other than church. However, many of these same people have come TO church here because of the familiarity they have with our buildings. They feel at home here. I prayed as the election closed that some of those citizens who voted here and felt the friendly hospitality of our members, would want to come and experience worship with us. I guess I see this as planting seeds. May God bless us as we have the possibility of wel-coming worshippers to our church on Sunday. It is concert time. This weekend the TCCS Classical Choir will pre-sent Beethoven's Mass in C and Mark Hayes' Requiem. They are contrasting works in that one was written just before Beethoven

wrote the Fifth Symphony and has classical elements from that era of musical development. Mark Hayes is one of my contemporaries and I, along with several others from our choir, have had the privi-lege of singing this work with Mark directing it. The Hayes Requi-em was written 5 years ago and has an emotional depth that hon-ors the memory of Mark's parents. I hope you will come to sup-port this effort. On Thursday, November 17 at 7 pm, we will host the Concert Choir from IRSC in our sanctuary. This is another opportunity for us to welcome guests to our church. The concert is a free concert. There will be opportunity to make a contribution to the choral department of our local community college. As you have read many times in this article, Christmas is just around the corner. You can see a list of musical activities else-where in this Newsletter. May God bless you each time you touch someone in the name of Jesus.

Another Note Dr. Doug Jewett

Saturday, November 19 Red Notebook Project seminar from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Please call the church office for more information or to reserve your spot.

Please call 772-232-2565 or email therednotebookproject@gmail.com

to make your reservation or schedule a seminar. Visit www.rednotebookproject.com to see what this is all

about. This would be the perfect seminar

Page 3

Children & Family

Rev. Jacqueline Smail Student Ministry

Theme Nights! Nov. 16 Neon/Glow sticks Nov. 23 THANKSGIVING BREAK Nov. 30 Time capsule—dress from the past or the future! Dec. 7 Red and green night Dec. 14 Caroling Christmas Party Dec. 21 & 28 CHRISTMAS BREAK

See you January 4, 2017!

Youth and parents, here’s what’s happening...

Missions Day November 11 9:30 am-Leave NSBC 10 am—Veterans Day parade 11 am-1 pm—Assist with the Angel Tree Salvation Army

Interested in the joining

the youth on the Church Mission Trip in March? If you are interested in assisting, please contact Brian Connelly or Jacquel-ine as soon as possible!

Decorating the Youth room for Christmas Wednesday, November 16 5:30 pm

Samaritan Center for Boys Christmas party Wednesday, December 7 Thank you Church family for your continued sup-port and assistance with purchasing Christmas gifts for the boys. Please return your gift wrapped with your name and address (for a thank you note) on the outside by Sunday, December 4.

The Great Sixty

in 60 Challenge

Update!

The goal is to give $60,000 in sixty days and

retire the debt on our line of credit. We’re

off to a great start. In the first eight days of

the Great Sixty in 60 challenge you have

given $12,140! Please pray about how you

can help us reach our goal and eliminate

this debt.