July 29, 2007

Well, did you survive the phenomenon last weekend? One of my favorite local talk show hosts was gushing last Tuesday about how J. K. Rowling is a better writer than William Shakespeare! What do you think of that? Reminds of a quote I just received: "To vacillate or not to vacillate - that is the question...or is it?" (apologies to Shakespeare)





We thank the Lord for some much needed rain in our area this past week. I hope your weather is balancing out wherever you live. We did have a beautiful weekend here for the beginning of our "Sports 4 Life" program last Sunday evening. All our coaches and workers were here and ready, we just couldn't figure out where all the kids were! A few did show up, so we have been calling and trying to get the word out even more this past week. We raised the age limit to those completing 8th grade to hopefully attract more. Do your part - invite! And continue to pray. It starts at 6:00 pm this Sunday (the second week for it.)





This Sunday morning in both our ABF time and worship service we will be hosting two couples from Baptist Mid Missions for their Candidate Sunday. Rev. David Washburn is the Eastern Region Director of Enlistment and will speak in our joint ABF time in the auditorium at 9:30 AM about missions related topics. He will also be preaching in our morning service at 10:45 AM. His wife, Bonnie, is the Women's Department Coordinator for BMM, so if you have questions about that area she would love to talk with you about it.





New missionary appointees to Argentina, Paul and Joanna Avery, will accompany them and will share in a combined class for all Jr. & Sr. High as well as any young adults out of high school at 9:30 am. They will share about their experience as to determining God's will for their lives in missions. They will also give a testimony in the morning service. This is an opportunity to "practice" on us before heading out to full time deputation ministries - thanks for being gracious and encouraging to them.





The following Sunday, August 5 we plan to have our monthly Communion time in the morning service followed by our continuing look into 2 Corinthians (chapter 10.) Prepare your heart before then, and plan to participate in our Benevolent Fund offering. And read the passage ahead of time to be ready to receive what God has for you.





Beth survived quite a scare yesterday (Weds) when, as she was in the process of having our oven clean itself, it caught on fire and she couldn't get it out! Six years ago we lost our whole kitchen to a grease fire, so this was quite alarming to her. She called 911, and by the time I got home from church the fire department was there and had it out with no major damage other than to the whole range/oven. It looks pretty well "gone" to me, but the Maytag repairman comes this Weds. to give the final verdict. So, it is "grill" cooking until then, which is OK with us. We thank the Lord this was not worse than it was and that He protected Beth and our home.





I hope you are and will continue to enjoy YOUR summer - I know one little boy who is: Nicholas had a fun time on the swing at the park with mommy and daddy.




Pray for ours and all other ministries this Sunday. Ours will be a time to encourage others in the Lord's work, and to consider if God has something new in store for us as a church or individually in the area of missions. For those of you in differnt churches, please comment and let us all know what God is doing where you worship, we would love to hear it.




For His glory,



Pastor Don Workman

July 22, 2007

Have you heard this one? : An older woman recently returned from her hometown in North Carolina and told a friend they'd spruced up the churchyard cemetery since her last visit several years past. "Lots of new greenery," she said. "And families are together now."
"All together?" her friend asked, puzzled.
"Well," the first replied, "years ago they never much worried where they buried someone because everyone was a neighbor anyhow. They'd just dig a grave wherever it seemed to balance things. But they've redone it so people are with their children and grandchildren, instead of scattered."
The friend was aghast. "You mean they exhumed all those people and reburied them?"
"Oh my, no," was the reply. "We just shifted the headstones.

That's OK - I reacted the same way as you.

This Sunday we look forward to the beginning of our "Sports 4 Life" ministry which starts at 6:00 PM and will go until about 7:20. We have said much about it, so please pray that the 1,000 + brochures we have distributed as well as personal invitations will bear fruit. It is for kids who have finished grades 1 - 5 and we hope their parents will stick around to watch. In that way we hope to make some good contacts with neighbors around us. Please pray with us about this ministry.

In the morning this Sunday our ABF's continue at 9:30 AM along with Sunday School for kids. In the "Homebuilders" ABF they have been discussing "Watercooler Topics" and this Sunday will address the question, "Are There Errors in the Bible?" (specifically the Old Testament). Other ABF's discuss equally relevant topics as they study the Scriptures. You can pick from four ABF's, so there should be one for you.

In our 10:45 AM Worship service we will learn a new song ("Break Our Hearts" by Passion) as well as sing some others that we know and honor God. We will continue our series in 2 Corinthians by looking quickly at chapters 8 & 9 to see the importance of the Grace of God as it pertains to our giving. I hope last week's introduction to chapter 8 helped you see how wonderful the Grace of God is, and now we will apply that to our lives of stewardship. Please come. And thank you to many who have faithfully supported our church through your giving this summer. This is often a lean time for churches in the financial area, and though we are not "fat" in it right now, neither are we "emmaciated" as in the past. Another month to go, so maintain your faithful attendance and giving to the glory of God.

Don't forget that a week from this Sunday (July 29) we will be hosting the annual Baptist Mid Missions Candidate day in our ABF's and Morning service. We will again have Rev. and Mrs. David Washburn, administrator here as well as Paul and Joanna Avery, who are newly appointed missionaries going to Argentina. This is the time where they "get their feet wet" in front of churches in preparation for their deputation time, and we are privileged to help them hone their presentation skills. We have always been gracious and understanding to these new appointees, and God has always blest us in return. Look forward to encouraging all these fine folks.

You will be hearing more in the coming weeks regarding our annual "Dinner On the Grounds" day when we often celebrate our church anniversary and enjoy an informal day of worship, food, fun, and music. This year it will be on Sunday, August 26 - save the date. The Michael Banks family will be with us; they are new missionaries to China with ABWE, but are veterans in the Lord's service as he has been a pastor in Michigan for many years. They have also adopted a child from China, so Leah McMichael will have some special company!

Thank you for being interested in and praying for Nicholas; he has developed a very sweet spirit and we trust will come to love Jesus and serve Him. Joshua and Leah were able to visit him earlier this past week and experienced with him a trip to the park (picture 1 below.) On that trip he had his first taste of ice cream, which at first he wasn't sure about the coldness, but in the end it was GREAT, and he was looking for more! (picture 2) Feel free to send me pictures of your grandchildren as well. And if you don't have any (yet), Beth and I invite you to enjoy ours!!

God bless you as you pray and prepare for this Sunday, to meet with God and His people. May He have a great work in all our lives.

Pastor Don Workman

www.faithbaptiststreetsboro.org

July 15, 2007

If you did not receive this note last week, that was because I ran out of days of the week with too much work to finish. My week consisted of a funeral on Monday, July 4 holiday on Wednesday, and another funeral (for my own aunt) on Friday - hence the reason there was no note last week. Thank you for your prayers and understanding.

Our "Summer of Service '07" is well underway and has been a blessing! On July 4th the Mace's and Workman's represented our church at the "Freedom Celebration" sponsored by the Chapel in Akron. Bill Mace worked the children's mini-golf game, and Debbie Mace handed out the prizes. Beth, Joshua, and I gave out water and lemonade, and Leah was recruited to "face paint" even though she never did it before! But the kids didn't care. This was a great way to celebrate freedom - by serving others. Join in next year. Here are some pictures of us in action:

This week has been the Baptist Mid Missions Annual Conference held in our area - another opportunity to serve. I appreciate Beth and Leah representing our church (and Denise Gentile, but they sent her home because of not enough kids to watch.) Here are some of those pictures:

It was a huge blessing to attend a couple of the meetings and mingle with the over 300 missionaries who attended. We were glad to see Mark and Becki Lounsbrough and their family - we support their work in Brazil.

This Sunday, July 15 we will enjoy learning and worship together in the Lord. Our ABF's continue to meet at 9:30 AM and in our 10:45 AM Worship service we will sing and then consider "God's Grace and Our Giving" from 2 Corinthians 8 as we continue our study through this book. Looking at this passage will show us not only about the how's and why's of giving, but some deeper issues involving Christian love. And I hope that we will see that we are not just giving, but mainly investing in lives for Christ's sake.

Remember that we continue this Sunday evening "suspension" of our regular evening service format, but Jeff Sheldon will still be here for a Bible study with any interested. We will be holding a meeting at 4:30 PM for everyone involved and interested in our "Sports 4 Life" program beginning July 22 at 6:00 PM. The meeting will last about an hour and will further explain responsibilities and how it will run. If you signed up, or plan to, you need to be there. If you still need a ministry area, we will assign you then. After this meeting we hope you will help out by distributing flyers for the program in the remaining neighborhoods not covered at last Sunday's distribution time.

For our board members please remember our meeting this Thursday, July 19 at 5:30 PM at the Workman's home. Let me know of your agenda items this Sunday. And for everyone, please keep us in your prayers as we meet - we desire God's best for our church.

Thanks to Deanna (Riddle) Edwards and her husband, Sam for a good explanation of what the "atom" sign up at the bottom of this page means. Refer to their comments from the last post to explain it, and I hope you will sign up for it. And be sure to leave your own comments or greetings, all of us enjoy hearing from you.

Before I go, here is a picture of Nicholas from this past week as he attended his first county fair. We found out that he just LOVES dogs, so they "face painted" him like one:

Sarah said he also came away with two balloons, a light necklace, several toys and some other things, all given to him for being so "cute." Sounds like he made a haul! And this past week he had some "firsts" - chicken (that baby kind, like a paste which made him gag) and sugar free ice cream (he cried when there was no more.)

It has been good to have Jessica Goodrich home for a week or so and to sing last Sunday. A lot of our people are "coming and going" at this time of year, please keep all in your prayers.

And pray that our services this Sunday will touch lives deeply for the Lord, and that what we offer Him will be acceptable and pleasing. We pray some might come to trust Him as Saviour, we know that causes rejoicing all around.

God bless you - Pastor Don Workman