Sunday, December 2, 2007

Not only are we "Looking Toward Sunday" but it is hard to think that this week we are also "Looking Toward DECEMBER!" Wow, time surely does fly! But before we head towards December, I hope your Thanksgiving holiday last week was a blessing. Ours certainly was with a houseful, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We thank the Lord He made it possible for our WHOLE family to be together.

Our Christmas season gets started this Saturday at Faith Baptist with our Adult Christmas Banquet. You can come between 5:00 and 6:00 PM to enjoy appetizers ( I couldn't spell "hors derves") and fellowship. The great catered meal begins at 6:00 PM, and it will be wonderful. Following that our special guests, Pastor Larry and Joanne Engle from our sister church at Graham Road Baptist in Cuyahoga Falls will sing and bring a short message from God's Word. Then we will enjoy dessert and the always popular "gift exchange." I hope you will attend.

Sunday morning begins with our Sunday school for kids and teens as well as ABF's at 9:30 AM. These are great learning opportunities for the whole family. These are also great ways to get to know one another and care for each other in prayer and other tangible ways.

In our 10:45 AM Worship service we will praise the Lord through some great songs that cause us to "look up" to Him. We will begin a short series of messages this month under the theme, "Gifts That Salvation Brings." Since this is the "gift giving season" it is appropriate for us to consider some special spiritual gifts we receive from God when we put our faith in Him as Savior. This Sunday we will consider the gift of "ADOPTION into God's Family." This is a very special gift that we don't speak about enough. Meditate on Romans 8:12 - 17 and there will be a few other passages we will also consider. I hope we will not only appreciate being brought into God's family, but that we will live accordingly as members of God's family.

Sunday at 6:00 PM will be our regular Communion Service. Prepare your heart beginning today for this time. Also consider the activity of the Living Lord Jesus in your life in recent weeks and share a bit about it with your Faith Family. We will receive our Benevolent Fund offering to help those in need among us, please participate in it.

Look over the postings of our proposed list of church officers and budget for 2008 in preparation for our annual meeting of elections and ratification of the budget to be held on Wednesday, December 5 at 7:00 PM. All members need to attend and vote, and all others are welcome to come and be informed.

All parents of kids please remember that there are two dress rehearsals for their Christmas program - one on Saturday, December 8 and the following Saturday December 15. Both will be held from 9:00 to 11:00 AM. This is an extremely important time to pull it all together, so PLEASE mark it on your calendar and have your kids here for BOTH practices.

As I close let me encourage you to pray for a few people:

- Sandi Heeter had surgery this past Thursday and expects to be in the hospital until Saturday.

- Lois Guy recently had surgery, then suffered symptoms of a heart attack a few weeks later, which was not confirmed. She is back at Kensington recuperating.

- Monica (Seliga) Stine, who is Mary Horley's daughter, will be performing her senior muscial recital in vocal performance as the culmination of her master's degree at the University of Akron this Sunday at 1:00 PM. Pray for good health and good voice.

And pray for yourself and each other to be in good health, and eager spirit to worship God and learn from His Word this Sunday. And if you haven't invited someone to come with you for awhile, why not do so this week? You may be pleasantly surprised!

God bless you this day!

Pastor Don Workman (and Beth with Nicholas last week; notice his little "church boy" hairdo as we call it!)

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Thanksgiving week is well underway, and many of us anticipate great blessings this week. One reason for our family is that our WHOLE FAMILY will be together this Thanksgiving! Jon and Hannah flew in last week, went with Beth and me to BBC for their season opening basketball tournament, then they stayed there with our van to see another game last evening and then bring Leah, Joshua, and his fiancee Emily home. They should be here shortly. Also arriving about the same time will be Sam, Sarah, and Nicholas - he took this picture to remind me he is coming! Papa didn't forget.

Beth and I were glad to see Joshua play in a couple of games last weekend in spite of his broken finger. He looked to me to be at about 80%, but that was good enough for 16 points on Friday night, including a game tying three pointer in the final 20 seconds. BBC won that game in overtime, but lost in the championship game on Saturday night. They also lost on Monday evening to Wilkes University, but I have confidence that the season will only get better as he heals and is at full strength, and as the talented younger guys on the team get more experience.

Last Sunday was a real blessing with Bill and Becky Petite here with us all day. I was again reminded and amazed that our church is their highest supporting church monthly for their ministry in Japan. We have had several work groups go to help in that ministry and have formed a good bond with the Living Hope Baptist Church there. We look forward to continued involvement with them in greater ways.

This Sunday should be another blessing with Nate and Cherith Logan here all day to minister. They are on their pre-field ministry with ABWE and are heading to a unique ministry in Brazil. Though we have some representation there over the years, we have made an exception by having this fine family here (including Grayden, 6 months.)

At 9:30 AM Nate will speak to our jr. and sr. high students for their Sunday School time. (all ABF's will meet as usual) Then he will preach in our 10:45 AM worship service. And in the 6:00 PM service they will both give their pre-field presentation, which should be informative and inspiring. Plan to attend and if you have questions, please ask them. We will receive an offering for them as we did last week for the Petite's, so please prepare and give generously - we all gave a tremendous offering to the Petite's, and I hope we can do something similar to encourage the Logans. And our AWANA kids are invited to join us for any pictures as they did last week.

Remember that there is no mid week service this week. Our numbers for this service have dwindled over the past few years in spite of trying to do some special things. We thought we would rest it, not retire it, for now.

You can help our planning by signing up and paying for the Adult Christmas Banquet this Sunday. The banquet will be held on Saturday, December 1st at 6:00 PM and the cost is $14.50 per person - which includes a full buffet featuring two different meats and many other great items. See the information in the lobby where you sign up to know what is involved with gift giving. Pastor Larry and Joanne Engle from our sister church, Graham Road Baptist in Cuyahoga Falls will be our special guests to sing and share from God's Word.

Thank you to all who donated to our AWANA program's Food Drive which ended last week and supplied some needed encouragement to a few families in our church.

Our annual church elections and budget approval meeting is coming up on Wednesday, December 5 at 7:00 PM, all members please mark it and make the effort to attend. We will discuss and vote on our proposed 2008 budget, as well as two deacons and other officers. The budget and officer list are both posted around the building for you to look over and pray about. If you have questions, see a deacon or myself and we will do our best to answer it for you.

I have just been notified that I need to run out and get a gallon of whole milk for Nicholas, so I will close. But I do hope your Thanksgiving Day will be filled with just that - much THANKSGIVING. I try to do this regularly by finding at least one thing daily for which to thank the Lord, but often I have much more. This promotes a healthy state of mind and contributes to positive spiritual well being. But on this Thursday we have a special time to honor the Lord for His continued goodness, so take part in that. And then I look forward to the blessing of seeing you this Sunday - prepare for it.

Pastor Don Workman

www.faithbaptiststreetsboro.org

http://fbcstreetsboro.podbean.com

Sunday, November 18, 2007

It is only Thursday, but it seems like Sunday is still a long way away. This is probably due to my going to Pittsburgh yesterday to pick up Jon and Hannah from Oregon (go Ducks!) and then we all leave tomorrow (Friday) to attend the opening basketball tournament for Baptist Bible College where our son, Joshua ( #55 back row) is captain on the team. (it will be fun, even though I will miss my regular Friday afternoon bball at The Chapel, Akron - it is always fun.) Please pray for safety for him, especially since he sent us a picture of the x-ray of his broken (in five places) left pinkie finger. It really does look bad, but he has a protective device for it and says he will play. We hope he will be effective. We would appreciate your prayers as we travel, then as Beth and I travel back to hopefully be here Sunday. Then pray for all college kids and families as they travel next week for the Thanksgiving holiday - some coming and some of you going.

And while I am on the subject of broken bones, please pray for our own Jared Cornett (9th grade) as he broke his foot in basketball practice a couple of weeks ago. I am thankful he is young and will heal quickly. At least he can still play his trombone, though his mother and others have to help lug it around for him (that's what I hear.) And Kevin McMichael (5th grade) has had about a 102 degree fever most of the week, pray he gets well very soon. His little sister Leah (4 yrs.) is healing very nicely from her palate and ear surgery. Pray for all our kids and many adults.

This Sunday we are privileged to host one of our long time supported missionary couples, Bill and Becky Petite. They have served for about 20 years in Japan with ABWE, and our church has gone to help with their efforts at Living Hope Baptist Church at least three times in the past five years. Bill will be teaching a combined ABF at 9:30 AM (our Ladies and Men's Fraternity ABF's still plan to meet) in the auditorium, and then he will speak in our 10:45 AM worship service. At 6:00 PM we plan to have he and Becky give their "formal" report about their work and a family update. Our AWANA program for kids still plans to meet at 6:00 PM. This will be a great day in the Lord, and a real blessing as an integral part of our Missions Emphasis this month. Don't miss it! And don't forget to plan to give toward a love gift for the Petite's - mark your giving envelope with their name on it to give to them. Please give above your regular church giving, we need to finish the year strong financially.

Speaking of that, on Wedsnesday, December 5, 2007 we will hold our annual elections and budget meeting. Check the bulletin board for a list of nominations for offices, as well as a proposed budget for 2008. These are the things we will discuss and vote upon at this important annual meeting. See me or one of the deacons if you have questions.

Next Sunday, November 25 we plan to host missionary appointees Nate and Cherith Logan, with their 5 month old son, Grayden. We will take an offering on their behalf as well, and next week I will tell you more about them and their visit here.

Please remember that our AWANA program is sponsoring a food drive for our local Christian Cupboard and possibly some families in need in our own church. Bring your items this Sunday if at all possible and place them on the lobby table.

Last Saturday was the "One Stop Shop" that Debbie Mace heads up, and we were glad to see many guests from around our area come to see the goods available. It looked like a 'success' and all had a good time. Again, we were able to make some good church contacts, and it is always good to be gracious hosts for our community. We continue to learn that serving is not only a blessing to others, but is fun for us, too!

Don't forget about our Wednesday evening services at 7:00 PM (except for this coming week, it is canceled.) When we resume we will continue to view some missions related videos that will inform and inspire us in missions generally. We always share and pray - give it a try if you haven't lately.

Sarah informed us that this year Nicholas can eat everything available at the Thanksgiving dinner. Though he doesn't speak in complete sentences yet, I hope his experience is not like this little boy:

I put some turnips, his least-favorite vegetable, on my eleven-year-old son's dinner plate and instructed him to eat everything. He cleaned his plate, except for the turnip.
I pointed out to him that if he'd eaten it earlier, he wouldn't have been left with its taste in his mouth at the end of the meal.
Thoughtfully, he replied, "I guess I was just trying to delay the inedible."

Since Nicholas has moved to solid food, there are not too many "inedible" things to him. He is a good eater!

May God bless you in the coming days as you prepare your heart for Sunday. Some of that will involve thinking and planning ahead in the mundane things of life so that Sunday morning is less hectic. If you do these things, this day will have great promise for blessing.

Pastor Don Workman

http://www.faithbaptiststreetsboro.org/

http://fbcstreetsboro.podbean.com/

PS - I can't believe I almost forgot: GO OHIO STATE BUCKEYES!!

BEAT MICHIGAN THIS SATURDAY AT HIGH NOON!!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

With my strange sense of humor, I can relate to the guy in this story:

Frequent hand washing in my job as a medical technologist and the harsh weather combined give me very dry skin.
One night as I prepared for bed, I rubbed my hands with petroleum jelly and covered them with an old pair of white gloves. As I sat in bed reading a book with my gloves on, my husband finished showering and came into the room wearing a towel.
Drying himself off, he went to the closet, selected a tie and put it on. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"Well" he replied, "if you are going to be formal. So am I."

Yes, sounds like something I would do to my poor wife!

We had a wonderful communion service this past Sunday evening, I hope you were part of it. We have a great line up of services this Sunday as well. Our ABF's and Sunday School at 9:30 AM continue to bless many. I think the ladies ABF studying the "Seeking Him" curriculum has helped all those who attend. It would be great if anyone in any ABF would leave a comment or drop me an email to tell us of your blessing and learning experience so that others may be encouraged to attend.

In our 10:45 AM worship service we will feature a brief presentation by Mr. Bruce Reese about the Compassion International ministry which deals with children in need worldwide. This is part of our current emphasis on Missions this month. I will also continue a study we began last Sunday from Matthew 9:35 - 38 and see "How Does My Giving Help?" Last week we primarily looked at v. 35 to see how the ministry Jesus had is much the same ministry our missionaries today have. And we saw how our giving contributes to our partnership with them. We will finish it this Sunday and I hope we will have a deeper sense of partnership in missions today.

Last Sunday was the target date to return your "Faith Promise for Missions" commitment cards, thank you to all who cooperated with us. It is still not too late if you didn't turn yours in, bring it this Sunday. Our total so far in the Faith Promise commitments is approximately $9,000 which meets about half our missions budget commitments. We are encouraged by this, but would still LOVE to have our Faith Promise meet 100% of our missions commitments.

Sunday evening at 6:00 PM will be our full range of family ministries. The Adults will watch the final part of our video series, "The Best Question Ever" with Andy Stanley. This addresses the 'Best Decision Ever' and will help us see the principles, boundaries, and rules that govern the process to wise decision making. This has been a great study, don't miss this final installment.

Our Student Ministry will meet for fun and food, as well as a time of Biblical learning. Don't forget that there is a Bonfire activity on Friday, November 9 (tomorrow night.)

And our AWANA program for those age 4 through grade 6 will continue at 6:00 PM and in addition to the games and learning time this night will feature "Military Appreciation Night" - write a note of appreciation to a soldier and bring it with you. Our AWANA kids and leaders are sponsoring a "food drive" this month for those in need. Everyone can help them by dropping off your items on the table in the lobby. Canned and boxed goods are always safe to bring (non - perishable.)

Ladies, don't forget that this Monday evening at 7:00 PM will be the "Women's Ministry" meeting. See Debbie Mace for details.

Speaking of Debbie Mace, please pray for her as she heads up this Saturday's "One Stop Shop" here in our gym (10:00 AM - 3:00 PM.) Many, many vendors of home based businesses will be there with the opportunity for all to do some holiday shopping. This is not intended to be a fund raiser of any sort for our church - rather it is meant to facilitate having people in our building and for many of us to have the chance to meet them. Any extra proceeds from the day will go toward a women's shelter ministry.

We had a great day last Tuesday during election day by hosting four voting precincts for our city in our gym. There were at least 1,000 neighbors who came to vote, and we ministered to them by providing the free "quick" breads, coffee, hot chocolate, and other snacks to them for free. It was great to do this, and to meet many of our neighbors. There were several good contacts, and we hope to see them here to worship with us sometime. Thanks go to Beth Workman for heading this up, and special thanks to Tim Cobb for manning the kitchen ALL DAY (5:30 AM - 7:45 PM.) Thanks also to many others who helped out during the day as they were available.

These special events (Trunk or Treat, Election "bread", One Stop Shop, etc.) have proved to be a new way to do "visitation" in this day when it is difficult to get with people. We have had some attend or join our church due to this informal contact. Praise the Lord, and may He continue to bless these endeavors as we strive to creatively minister on His behalf.

Last evening was a blessing at our midweek Wednesday meeting at 7:00 PM. We shared and prayed, then viewed a video about the ministry of the Baptist Childrens Home worldwide. This is a great ministry to many orphaned children in the U.S. and the world. It not only added to our Missions emphasis, but challenged us to pray for this good ministry in a deeper way. Plan to attend this Weds. meeting in the weeks ahead as we pray together and feature other ministries through video.

Many folks have behind the scenes ministry here at Faith, and we want to thank them for that. One of the very faithful couples we have is Ray and Cherie Long who serve as our key janitorial staff. They do a conscientious and wonderful job of keeping our facilities clean and Christ honoring, and they do it without pay or fanfare. We all want to thank this dear couple and help them as we can. See me or Ray if you would like to pitch in and help.

Well, our brand new 24 hour Wal Mart Supercenter opened this past Wednesday - how did we ever do without it? Beth and I made our initial visit on Weds. after prayer meeting and were handed a map to the store at the door - wow! It is suppose to be the 3rd largest in Ohio, or the world, or something like that. I was going to insert a picture of it, but it is so new I couldn't find one, and well, you pretty much know what a Wal Mart looks like anyway. I don't know what will happen to the "old" store a mile down the road (not far from our house) - I hope another 'megachurch' doesn't move in, unless it is US!

Your attendance, prayers, ministry, and giving is important to us this Sunday - please don't miss on any part of it. You are needed, and what we have to offer is really needed by you. Prepare your heart for God's Word and ministry and get the most out of church this Sunday.

See you there -

Pastor Don Workman

http://www.faithbaptiststreetsboro.org/

http://fbcstreetsboro.podbean.com/ to hear recent messages.

Nicholas going "pumpkin hunting" a few weeks ago.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

November already! They are forecasting for a small snow "showing" overnight tonight, I vote for a longer fall season. Speaking of that, be sure to notice the beautiful red and orange maple tree in the front lawn of the church. It probably won't last long, so try to see it. If I had a decent digital camera that WORKED I would include a picture here, but . . . now if everyone reading this would send one dollar to the "digital camera fund" . . . . .

And speaking of voting, remember that this Tuesday, November 6 is the day for that. We will be hosting four precincts and we plan to give away "quick" breads and coffee, hot chocolate, etc. that day (this is now our reputation in the community - they like it.) Last I heard we have enough bread, but need more volunteers to help that day. See Beth if you can help out. And don't forget to bring your cans of coffee, hot chocolate, etc. if you said you would.

Last weekend was a quick trip up to New York State for the installation service of Bruce and Kim Havens and family in the Calvary Baptist Church in Brewerton, NY. It was a privilege to participate and to see where they are. God has blest them with a great place, wonderful people, and a combined enthusiasm to make a difference for Christ there. Pray for them to do just that.

Our "Trunk or Treat" last Sunday afternoon and evening went well, except we hoped there would be more "treaters" who would visit. Though we had somewhere between 180 and 200, we expected many more. But I have heard from several people that the overall treating time in town was down in their participation as well, and no one seems to know why. I want to commend Bill and Debbie Mace for going out of their way in the preparations for all this - we were ready for many more. And we appreciate all of you who volunteered in many ways to help or contribute. We will utilize some of the excess candy, hot dogs, etc. for the voting day and the upcoming "One Stop Shop" event here on November 10. Thanks, again to all who helped!

This Sunday, November 4 will have a full slate of classes and services all day. ABF's and Sunday School at 9:30 AM, our Morning Worship service at 10:45 AM, and our Communion service at 6:00 PM for Teens and Adults combined. Our children's AWANA ministry will continue as usual at 6:00 PM.

At 10:45 AM we will sing and fellowship, and will begin to turn our thoughts toward a Missions theme this whole month. Remember that your "Faith Promise for Missions" commitment cards are due this Sunday, please remember to turn them in if you haven't already. We will look at Matthew 9:35 - 38 and consider "How Does My Faith Promise to Missions Giving Help?" We will see how it helps us Plan our missions program as it reveals our Pulse for missions. The Plight of missions is desperate in our day, that is why we need to Pray with the heart of Jesus about missions and how we fit into it today. This all ties Faith Promise and Missions together for us all to participate.

In our Communion service we will plan to have testimonies from you as we often do, so please think about how God has worked in your life in the past month and plan to tell us about it ( A-udible B-rief C-hrist centered.) We will also consider the Necessity of our Self Examination from Matthew 26:20 - 25, look it over and do just that to prepare properly for this time.

On Wednesday evenings during our midweek meeting at 7:00 PM in November we plan to pray together, as well as view various missions related video material from some agencies, ministries, and appointees to various fields. I have accumulated several of these cd's and dvd's and felt this would be a good time for us all to view them. They are not only helpful in our understanding, but will help move our hearts to the great work that is out there for us. These are not long, so it won't make these night long. Please consider attending if you have not been in the habit lately. And if you arrive a little late, that is fine. Come in your work clothes, bring your dessert and coffee, and be uplifted in a time of blessing together.

And speaking of prayer, remember little Leah McMichael as she recuperates from another surgery on her palate and her right ear this past Wednesday. Both are painful for her now, but yesterday she seemed to handle it a little better. This is a hard thing for a little four year old, and her parents, too. Hopefully she will be home in the next day or two.

Another item of prayer: our son, Joshua, broke his little finger on his left (non - shooting) hand this past Monday in basketball practice at BBC. We are still not sure how this will affect his involvement in the opening games for the next 4 - 6 weeks, but he will see the doctor again on Tuesday to evaluate it all. Pray for his healing and wisdom as to how much he can and should do. And pray for dad to not tell him any more stories of "the old Cleveland Browns, and how when their finger was broke, sticking out, and bleeding that they just wrapped it up and went right back out there . . ." Oh, I almost forgot - pray that it doesn't interfere with his studies (thanks for the reminder, mom.)

More items are upcoming in the next few weeks, but we will speak of them later. For now plan to prepare your heart and spirit for what the Lord has in store this Sunday. As we plan our clothing, maybe our breakfast, and our giving (we need this bolstered) on Saturday evening, we will be ready for God's blessing on Sunday. Do your part, He is sure to do His!

Pastor Don Workman

http://www.faithbaptiststreetsboro.org/

http://fbcstreetsboro.podbean.com/

Nicholas with his pumpkin making his new "oooh!" face.

The "itsy, bitsy spider" of Kokomo!