Sunday, May 31, 2009

With all the car company talks going on now, and with the offers they are making, I am thinking more and more about my options regarding my 2003 Chevy Impala with about 140,000 miles on it. Some of the new car deals are very tempting - which relates to this little story:

A husband, the owner of a new car, was somewhat reluctant to allow his wife to drive his prize possession, even to the grocery store, which was a few blocks from the house.
After she insisted, he finally relented, cautioning her as she departed, "Remember, if you have an accident, the newspaper will print your age."

This has nothing to do with Beth and me by the way.

And I almost hesitate bringing up the CAVS in the playoffs. I am writing this before the game on Thursday night, so I don't know the outcome yet. But I do know that the Orlando Magic have given the CAVS fits all season long. No matter the outcome, I am still rejoicing in the great year we have had. And that is in spite of whatever the sportscasters say, especially Charles Barkley. I saw this little pun and it reminded me of him:

"The biggest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference."

Now, I am not being mean toward "Sir Charles", especially since he was affectionately known in his college days as "the Round Mound of Rebound."

As for this Sunday, we have a full schedule of services:

9:30 AM = Sunday School for Kids and Adult Bible Fellowships studying: the book of Colossians, the book of Luke, and a study on Following Jesus - take your pick. If you already attend one, why not call and invite someone to attend with you? That could be a great ministry in their lives.

10:45 AM = Worship service which will consist of songs, a musical ensemble, and special message and testimonies centering on what Christ has been doing in lives recently. We almost always do this at our Communion Service and that is what we will do this Sunday. I will speak from John 19 about "Jesus Did All That For Me?" Read it ahead and be prepared.

6:00 PM = Evening Service and other ministries: AWANA for kids; Student Ministry; Adults song and Bible study. We will consider "God's Care for Us as Our Father."

Don't forget that on Sunday, June 7 at 6:00 PM we will have our AWANA Awards and Graduates Recognition night. This is always a special time for our church family. Many AWANA Awards will be given for accomplishments for the year. We have four graduates we would like to recognize and then we will all enjoy a cake and ice cream fellowship afterward. Don't miss it.

You have been hearing more and more regarding our "Summer Small Groups" ministry which will begin soon. Groups are forming and if you want to be part of this special ministry please indicate your interest by signing up on the sheets in the lobby. This will help in our planning. Even if you were a part of a group last summer, please sign up for this year. We want to continue to experiment with this format as we are considering adding it to our permanent ministries. More information will come, but if you have questions, please jot them to me - email is fine. Use this link to our church website to get the email link.

Please continue to pray for our Summer '09 Japan Missions Team. They have been in intense training for their ministry at Living Hope Baptist Church in Kagoshima working with missionaries Bill and Becky Petite (ABWE.) Their support total for the team is around $14,000 and as of this week they lack about $1,500 to complete it all! Wow, praise the Lord! But continue to give and pray that the remainder will come in soon. Their trip is scheduled for July 16 - 29, it is coming soon!

And Sunday is fast approaching as well, so prepare your heart and mind for it ahead of time. Remember that it is a Communion Service this Sunday morning, so plan accordingly to remember all that Jesus has done for you. I pray that it will be a blessing to us all together as we honor Him!

Pastor Don Workman

http://www.faithbaptiststreetsboro.org/

PS - pray for our little grandboys to stay safe, grow strong, and love Jesus. And as I mention children, don't forget to pray about and be involved in our Vacation Bible School coming June 28 - July 2 from 6:30 to 9:00 PM each night. There will be a planning meeting on Monday, June 8 at 7:00 PM at church, please put that on your calendar now.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Last Sunday my friend, Pastor Knute Larson of The Chapel in Akron/Green, finished over 25 years of pastoral ministry there and retired on Monday from over 40 years of pastoring in two churches. Though I don't think he was really "finished," he was "done" there. He moved to Michigan and will continue to minister by teaching as an adjunct professor at Moody Bible Institute, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. He will most likely also do some consulting work for churches and other ministries. Change is difficult, but he and Jeanine have prepared for this. Pray for them in this transition in life. Here is a picture of him with Joshua and myself a couple of years ago at a ministry event so you can put a face with your prayers.

I just got back from a whirlwind, less than 24 hour trip to pick up Leah from Baptist Bible College, PA. We brought back most of her "stuff" since next year she will spend half of it student teaching. She has done well all through her schooling, we are grateful for all her hard work. It will be nice to have her home this summer. And I am thankful that God gave us a good and quick trip, and we saw Joshua and Emily as well.

This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend as you know, plan to honor God for the freedoms He has given us by being sure to attend worship with us on Sunday. We will have all our ABF's and Sunday School at 9:30 AM. This will be followed by our 10:45 AM Worship Service featuring good songs, a special musical piece, and some thoughts regarding "Are You A True Hero for Christ?" from several Biblical passages. You can meditate on 2 Corinthians 12:10 to set your mind on the right things leading up to Sunday.

Remeber that we DO NOT have any evening service or programming this Sunday at 6:00 PM due to the holiday weekend. Please safely enjoy the day with family and friends.

We will have our regular prayer and Bible study times on Weds. at 7:00 PM and Thursday at 11:00 AM. Please come to either (or both) if you can, you will be blest and built up by attending.

Next Sunday, May 31 in the AM service we will participate in our Communion service. Please prepare your hearts and minds for this special time together as a church family as we remember Christ's sacrifice for us together.

June is a full month of special services, activities, and opportunities to grow spiritually. A calendar for June will be in the bulletin soon, please look it over and plan to take part. Also, there are several sign up sheets on the lobby tables (VBS, Father's Day desserts, Small Group ministry, etc.) please look them over, as well as our bulletin boards. Many good opportunities are available, and we will need your help in some of them.

Speaking of help, we have been telling you of a problem we have with a water main leak somewhere on our property. We have a pretty good idea of where they are, but we need some help digging some holes to uncover them. If you are able, or know someone willing, please see Ron Sterner as he is heading up this area. And pray that it will not be an expensive fix for us.

Some have been asking how my grandson, Nicholas, has been doing with his broken leg. From the pictures you can see that he has a nice blue cast which has not hindered him a whole lot from getting around. In three weeks they will put a shorter one on just below his knee, which will stay on for another three weeks. Thanks for your prayers on his behalf, they are working!

I got out the other night for a short while to get some yard work done, and in trying to clean up an area in my lawn I started to pick up what I thought was a loose root. From these pictures you can see that it was much more than that. As I pulled and dug it up, I was amazed as I followed the "root system" that was just below the surface. My pastoral heart would not fail me, because I immediately thought "this is how sin is in our lives; give it a little place to plant in our hearts, and it goes all over the place!" A good lesson for us all, and I do feel a full length sermon coming from this experience!

Guard your heart, mind, and will as we together look toward Sunday. It is easy to get off track, or lose our determination for God. Don't allow anything to swerve you off track from being there this week! See you then!

Pastor Don Workman

www.faithbaptiststreetsboro.org

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Next time you are in a hurry shopping and this happens to you, try this response and see how it goes:

It was a Saturday afternoon, and Ray had rushed down to the local supermarket to hurriedly pick up some hamburger rolls, chips and a few condiments. The big college game was going to be on, so he was having a few friends over to watch it.
The store was loaded with shoppers and as he headed for the six item express lane, the only one that didn't have a long line, a woman completely ignoring the overhead sign slipped into the check-out line just in front of him pushing a cart piled high with groceries.
Ray was quietly fuming at the anticipated delay. But the elderly cashier beckoned the woman to come forward, looked into the cart and asked ever so sweetly, "So Dearie, which six items would you like to buy?"

That goes along with the Proverb about a "soft answer turning away wrath."

I hope you have had a good week. As some of you know, I was able to attend the "Basics" Conference at Parkside Church just north of our church. Over 1200 pastors from around the world gathered to worship and be refreshed through the ministries of Pastor John Piper Pastor Alistair Begg and Dr. John Lennox (a professor from Great Britain who debates the leading atheists of our day.) We were also blest by the music ministry of Keith and Kristen Getty and the band. Seeing many friends, most of whom I only see once a year at this conference, is always encouraging. And the meals and snacks are always excellent! Thank you for giving me the time to do this.

This Sunday we have all our regular services and ministries going on: 9:30 AM Sunday School and ABF's. 10:45 AM Worship service with songs, giving, and hearing from God's Word as I explore the subject of "Compromises" in our lives that will weaken or destroy any Convictions we have if we allow it. This is kind of a follow up to the message a few weeks ago about Convictions vs. Convenience. At 6:00 PM our AWANA for Kids, Student Ministries, and Adult service will be going on as usual. Only a few more weeks for AWANA, so work hard. The AWANA Awards and Graduates' Recognition night is June 7 at 6:00 PM, plan to attend.

We achieved our goal of being able to purchase 50 new chairs from our Easter Offering last month. Thanks for making this possible. I hope to get the other 25 chairs next week; it was a blessing for our ladies to use the 25 I got for their mother/daughter get together last Monday.

For the men on our church board, remember our bi-monthly meeting is this next Thursday, May 21 at 5:30 pm. We usually eat supper together as we meet, and if anyone (and that is, ANYONE) would like to help provide a supper for about eight guys, that would be welcome. See me about it. In this way it will save them from more pizza or chicken from the local KFC or pizza places. (though I am a fan of the new KFC grilled chicken, and as always, BW3 wings.)

We have a very active month of June coming up with special speakers and meetings - but more on that later, let's get through May first! Keep an eye on the weekly bulletins and calendar. But because we do need to plan ahead, I will make mention of Vacation Bible School which we will hold on the evenings of June 28 - July 2. This is earlier than normal for us, but with our teens going to Japan on a missions trip, and other folks schedules, this proved to be the ONLY week we could do it. So, please sign up to help if you have not already. And if you have questions about it, see Sandi Goodrich.

Please continue to pray for Nancy Cobb who had an emergency appendectomy last week, she is home now. Other items for prayer are on the sheets available on the lobby tables. We would also appreciate your prayers for our grandson, Nicholas, who fractured his left leg this past Tuesday evening playing soccer with daddy. He is now in a cast, and thankfully not in a lot of pain. Probably prayers for Sarah to care for him as well as his seven week old little brother at the same time are even more needed.

Take care in these wonderful days we have. Yard work and activities beckon, which could result in injury if we are not careful. Pray for one another, and prepare your heart for Sunday as we gather to worship and honor the Lord God.

Pastor Don Workman

http://www.faithbaptiststreetsboro.org/

Mother's Day, May 10, 2009

This Sunday we look forward to Mother's Day and honoring the mothers and grandmothers in our lives. I am so thankful for those in my life personally: Each of them are loved and honored in unique ways. I hope you will express your love to those special ones in your life this weekend, too.

We will have something special for mothers to remember this day. We will also sing together and consider "Lessons For Us From Ladies in the Line of Jesus." It is interesting that in Matthew's account of the lineage of Christ (1:1 - 16) that men are primarily mentioned; but sprinkled through this passage are the names of five particular mothers connected with the line of Christ. Each of them as a story as well as personal application from which we can benefit. Read it over and meditate on those names, remembering what you can about them. You will be well prepared for worshipping Christ on this Mother's Day at 10:45 AM.

I will admit that I know some mothers who need a break from their kids. The best way to accomplish this is to have the whole family attend at 9:30 AM where the kids can go to their Sunday School classes and the moms (and other adults) can choose from three Adult Bible Fellowships. This is a great time for moms to interact with live adults! Practice your "big talk" before coming!

Please note that there will be NO evening services or programming at 6:00 PM this Sunday only. We want you to be able to enjoy your mothers and grandmothers all day by taking them to a restaurant, or taking them fishing, or watching the CAVS finish off the Hawks together as a family (no wait, that is Monday night), etc.

One final Mother's note: please remember the "Mother/Daughter Historical Banquet" on Monday evening at 6:30 PM. It will feature All American type food for $5.00 each (please be sure to pay Debbie Mace no later than Sunday.) There will be some special activities including a brief test on American history. It has been pointed out that ALL FEMALES are welcome to attend this event, so everyone please come.

Our weekly small group prayer times continue on Weds. at 7:00 PM and Thurs. at 11:00 AM. Anyone is encouraged to attend whichever group works for you. A brief Bible study and a lot of fellowship is included.

And now a word for our men: remember that there is a bowling night planned for next Thursday from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at Twin Star Lanes on Rt. 59 in Ravenna. We have had a fun time together at these events in the past. There are no awards, no pros, no cussing, but a lot of fun and good fellowship. The cost is about $6.00 each. See Ron Sterner if you have questions. Also see Ron for other Men's Ministry meetings and activities; it has been good to have this group more active lately.

We will be holding another new membership class/orientation soon, please let me know if you would like to attend. It most likely will be held on a Saturday morning for several hours to accomplish the whole thing in one morning. Date will be determine among us, please let me know of your interest.

And thank you for the great response to our Easter Offering for new chairs. We reached our goal last week of purchasing 50 new chairs. The offering totaled $985, which without tax made it possible for us to get 50 chairs. We can still use more, so if you would like to buy a chair or more, they are at Sam's Club. If you want us to get them, you can put your money in a marked giving envelope and place in the offering. Thanks for "rising to the occasion" at the time when we remember the "Rising of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead."

A couple of weeks ago in our evening service I referenced a two volume set of books by Puritan Stephen Charnock on "The Existence and Attributes of God." Though not directly related to Mother's Day, let me give you one of Charnock's quotes on which to meditate as you prepare for Sunday:

How unreasonable is it for any man to hazard himself at this rate in the denial of a God! The atheist saith he knows not that there is a God; but may he not reasonably think there maybe one for aught he knows? And if there be, what a desperate confusion will he be in, when all his bravadoes shall prove false! (vol. 1, Discourse 1, p. 88)

Pastor Don Workman

http://www.faithbaptiststreetsboro.org/