The Proclaimer First Baptist Church of Pittsburg, Texas July 11, 2014 Volume 34, Issue 14

Worship and Education: World Changers 2014 Focus

by John Borum, Associate Pastor of Worship and Education

As I write this, it is almost lunchtime on Friday, the last day our 18 crews will be on-site to help out Pittsburg homeowners of 19 houses and 1 church. The experience has been full of blessings. As the project coordinator, I am dependent on hundreds of people in order to make this all work. We had 230 people come as participants to work on homes. We also had over 200 local volunteers (most from First Baptist) that drove materials to sites, prepared lunches, sold concessions and countless other responsibilities. It is virtually impossible for me to thank everyone, and I know I would unintentionally forget some. Here are some of the specific areas of leadership that some of our people filled: Lead Teams Community Night—Perry & Jerry Jones Concessions Stand—Chaynie Borum Construction Coordination—Bryan Berry Facility Logistics—Bill Gilbert First Aid Coordination—Nichole Green & Casey Mayben Hospitality Room—Sherry Minyard Lunches—Telly Hall Prayer—Kathy Wilcox Advertising—Mike Hall Security—Billy and Liz Taylor Welcome Bags—Rachel Miner Construction Volunteers Multi-Site Supervisors - Bob Attaway, Robert Barnwell Single-Site Crew Chiefs - Lane Garland, Bill Gilbert, Kassidy Harris, Adam Kimbro. Lonnie Pilgrim Material Runners - Ken Pilgrim, Wayne Marshall, Bob McGoldrick, Tyler Nugent, Jeff Bullock, Sundy Garland Sunday School Classes who provided meals to crews Cornerstone Class, Brenner Class, Arnwine Class, Gilbert Class, 212 Class Thank you so much to everyone who came, or gave, or prayed! We give God the glory and praise for it all. Mark your calendars for next year’s World Changers coming July 6th - 11th, 2015!

We housed over 200 at our

church this week as part of the

World Changers 2014 Pittsburg

Project.

Random Thoughts

by George Winegeart, Minister of Counseling

Our universe is truly a spectacular place. The heavens are enormous because God made them to reflect His character, beauty,

power, wisdom, and creativity. Psalm 19:1 tells us that “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His

hands.”

Consider what the heavens show us:

Nebulas: The Hourglass and Rosette are breathtaking clouds of hot gas and dust producing spectacular beauty. This

beauty proclaims God’s creativity.

Globular Star Clusters: There are tightly knit groups of hundreds of thousands to millions of stars. They appear as

fuzzy spots of light through a beginner’s telescope. The number of stars viewed in one spot is staggering. This shows God’s

power.

Elliptical and Spiral Galaxies: These are but two shapes of the hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe. Galaxies

can measure from a few thousand light years across to move than half a million light years. Light years are a form of distance

measurement, not a measure of time. This display of such great expanses declares God’s might and glory.

Saturn: The sixth planet in our solar system is recognized by its stunning rights of ice and dust. Saturn, with its rings,

displays God’s creativity and beauty.

The universe is a canvas upon which God declares His glory.

First Youth

by Kassidy Harris, Minister of Students and Recreation

First Youth has had a wonderful summer so far and youth camp is around the corner! Pray for me, our youth, our sponsors and the camp staff as we head to Extreme Camp in Lindale, Texas, July 21-25. This year’s theme is “Restless.” If you would like to write to a camper, the address is 22392 FM 16 W, Lindale, TX 75771. I’d suggest you get your letter in the mail on Monday, July 21.

We are wrapping up World Changers projects today and everyone heads home tomorrow, July 12. What an honor it has been to help shepherd young people not only from our own church but from several states as we work to fix homes and affect lives in our community. We are all hot and tired and some of us have paint in our hair, but it was worth it. Thanks to everyone who helped in any way with the project and to God for making it possible. Looking forward to World Changers 2015 here at FBC!

When our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, they envisioned “celebrations in every city with parades,

fireworks and political speeches from one end of this continent to the other.” Their dream has become reality. On every 4th of

July there are bursting sky-rockets and exploding firecrackers illuminating the skies over cities and towns from “sea to shining

sea”. Bands and parades will march in the streets of America. Politicians will address crowds and everywhere we look will be

red, white and blue in celebration of America’s birth.

And somewhere on the 4th , words penned by Thomas Jefferson, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are creat-

ed equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit

of happiness” will be read, reminding of the theological and philosophical foundation of our nation.

Throughout our history, sociologists have sought the secret of America’s success. After touring the United States in 1830, Alex-

is de Tocqueville concluded that democracy and freedom worked in America because of America’s faith. He wrote, “Liberty

cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith … despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.”

What Tocqueville observed is that America believes in equality because that is the way God made us. We are each made in

His image and every person is born with infinite worth. Billy Tinsley observed, “Through faith in God, we are taught to love our

neighbor as ourselves, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, that we are greatest when we are servant to others

and that service to God is measured by our actions toward the ‘least of these’.”

That means that without Christ, the pursuit of happiness can degenerate into self-absorbed and destructive pursuit of pleas-

ure. Without faith in Christ we are prone to become captive to addictions and sins that easily beset us. Freedom without Christ

is only temporary at best. Without Christ, liberty from oppressors is short-sighted. For a man to forsake God’s salvation through

His Son, and yet live in a free land, is to miss what sin’s enslavement really means. Jesus said, “Everyone who commits sin is

the slave of sin … if the Son makes you free you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:34-36).

Those “born-again” in Christ have a double celebration on the 4th of July: not only freedom of our land but also freedom from

sin. Real freedom comes when we are set free from sin.

Celebrating America’s Birth

by Steve Packer, Senior Pastor

Sing and Serve

by Steven Sullivan, Associate Pastor of Music and Senior Adults

THANK YOU, Sherry Hudnall for leading the blended worship service in my absence last Sunday and this Sunday.

SENIOR ADULT RETREAT is November 2-4 (Sunday night through Tuesday lunch). Our speaker is Dru Woods. Cost of the retreat is $100.00 per person. This will cover your hotel, meals, and fees. We are still in the planning stages of this event. It is going to be awesome!

GREEK ISLES 2015 is September 17-October 3 of next year. Ports of call include Athens, Santorini, Kusadasi, Rhodes, Crete, Naples, Rome, Sicily, Tunis, Florence, Genoa, Camnes, and Barcelona. Currently we have 14 making the trip and there is still room for YOU! Many senior adults have been asking for this trip and it is finally here. Call me for details about this amazing trip!