Sunday, May 3, 2009

Here is a story to start your month of May with a smile:

A zookeeper wanted to get some extra animals for his zoo, so he decided to compose a letter. The only problem was that he didn't know the plural of "mongoose."
He started the letter: "To whom it may concern, I need two mongeese."
No, that wouldn't work, so he tried again: "To whom it may concern, I need two mongooses." Is that right?
Finally, he got an idea: "To whom it may concern, I need a mongoose, and while you're at it, send me another one."

Maybe my two college English major daughters will comment below on which is the correct term!

We look forward to the month of May with all the promise of the Spring season. This Saturday it begins for us as a church with the wedding of our own Ben Cobb to Lauren McClellan. Their reception will be at our church hall from 3:00 to 6:00 PM. We rejoice with them in this day, please keep them and their families in prayer. And pray for some of us who have been around this church a long time and we can't believe Ben is old enough to get married!! But he is another in a long line of those we have felt this way about before. God bless them.

On Sunday we have our ABF's and Sunday School at 9:30 AM. I trust you have found your "place of belonging" during this time, it is a great way to become acclimated to our church. If not, let us know and we can help "plug you in."

At 10:45 AM we will worship together in song and the Word of God. Our ensemble will sing, and our worship team will lead. We will consider together from God's Word and our American history some thoughts on our "Convictions vs. Convenience." As I have often said, Convictions are costly and we probably really don't have many of them. But those we have should be important and stand for things we would die for. Convenience is much easier and costs little; yet too often Christians in the church take the easy way. Historically this has not always been the case. I dedicate this talk to a former professor, Dr. Rembert Carter who is now with the Lord, and who God used to shape mine and many other's thoughts along these lines. Some of the passages we will consider are Genesis 1 - 3 and 2 Corinthians 5.

At 6:00 PM this Sunday we will enter into our monthly Communion Service. It is a special time where we pointedly remember all that Jesus did for us and means to us. I hope you will prepare ahead and plan to share briefly something that God has done in your life recently. Remember to keep your testimonies: Audible, Brief, and Christ centered. And plan to give to our Benevolent Fund which helps some at unusual times of need.

Speaking of giving, we are grateful for how well you have been supporting our budget. We are over 22% ahead in our giving to budget in the General fund; but we are about 20% behind in our giving to our Faith Promise for Missions fund. I may be a bit off in the percentages, you can check the figures in this week's bulletin and correct anything.

And one other note on giving is that we are halfway through our goal for our Easter Offering of $1,000 for 50 new chairs. We will purchase 25 for now, and hopefully as we continue the opportunity to give to this offering for the next few weeks we can achieve the goal. Chairs are $20 each and will make a great addition and improvement to what we have currently.

Please pray for the Men's Retreat at Skyview Ranch on May 7 - 9 (click on link for details.) We have several men attending, and I am sure the camp will be full as this is a popular retreat in their schedule.

The Mother's Day Social is the evening of May 11, and if you have not paid your $5 to Debbie Mace, please do so this Sunday so that she can prepare.

If you plan to attend the Wedding Open House for Pete and Debbie Kendrick, please be sure to RSVP them if you have not already so they can plan accordingly. And pray for good weather for the day on May 9.

We want to remind you that on Tuesday, May 5 there will be voting here all day in Hammond Hall. We still plan to serve coffee, breads, etc. - even though they said this was "illegal." I spoke with the officials down at the board of elections and they have a desire to work with us on this matter, which we appreciate. Thank you for helping serve, please let Beth know on Sunday if you can help this Tuesday. This is a great way to serve our neighbors and show ourselves friendly with "no strings" attached.

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday. If you don't attend our church here but another in your area, you probably will have Communion there as well. Trust you leadership to take any necessary precautions regarding the elements and any exposure the the "swine flu" that we have heard so much about. Don't let these fears keep you from remembering all Jesus has done. Prepare your heart with these words from a familiar song to many of us:

"Once again I look upon the cross where You died,

I'm humbled by Your mercy and I'm broken inside;

Once again I thank you -

Once again I pour out my life." (1996 Kingsway's Thank You Music)

See you then, God bless,

Pastor Don Workman

http://www.faithbaptiststreetsboro.org/

PS - please keep Beth and I in prayer as we travel out to BBC on Friday and come back on Saturday to attend Leah's music concert with the Chamber Singers, Choir, and others. And pray for all college students as this school year winds down for them and all the tests, projects, etc. are due this week.