I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
John 8:12
The
Lamplighter
Dec 09/Jan 10
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What is the Lottie Moon
Christmas Offering®?
Southern Baptist churches collect the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for
the sole purpose of supporting International missions.
Every penny of the offering goes to the International Mission
Board’s overseas budget, thus supporting our missionaries and their
work.
What
is the goal for this year’s offering?
The goal for the 2009 offering is $175 million.
What is
the 2009 theme?
The 2009
theme is “Who’s Missing?
Whose
CHURCH
GOAL:
$4,500
Hallelujah
GOAL:
$5,000!
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Dear church family,
Greetings in the precious name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Our 14th
annual Operation Christmas Child drive was another success.
We had 210 shoe boxes from our First Baptist church family and
2,785 altogether. We
estimated their value at about $100,000!
That is a tremendous missions project.
Now those shoe boxes, full of gifts and gospel literature, will
be sent all over the world to needy boys and girls.
“Thank you” to all of you who had a part.
A special thanks to Nancy and Bobby Hudler for organizing and
supervising the collection of all of those boxes.
Sunday, November 29 was our 53rd church
anniversary. We dedicated
our refinished and reupholstered church pews.
They are beautiful and much more comfortable than the old ones.
The committee entrusted with that responsibility has been working
this year to be sure we got a quality job and finished product for our
investment. The committee
was Faye Combs, Edith Corron, Pastor Steve Hokuf, Gerrit Hopman, Sandy
Jackson, Lib Lewis (Chairman), Iva Lewis, Edna Miller, Evelyn Moore,
Judy Veasey and Edith Watson.
We are grateful to all of you who donated money to make this
possible. We are especially
grateful for the $6,000 bequest from the late Jo Secora given to our
church and money (funds left over from the baptistry renovation)
given by Jenny McGhee in memory of her late husband, Archie McGhee.
We couldn’t have done it without their generosity.
As we approach Christmas my prayer is that you would know the blessing
of walking close with your Savior.
Please,
don’t be overwhelmed by the busyness of the season.
Let’s spend time each day reading and meditating on His Word.
Pray and talk with Him throughout the day.
Let’s all look for ways to show His love to someone every day.
Don’t be afraid to share your faith and witness to those Jesus
brings across your path.
The apostle John ends his first epistle with these
words, “We know that the Son of God has come and has given us
understanding, so that we may know Him who is true.
And, we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ.
He is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).
Jesus is the only hope for our sinful old world.
Let’s not keep Him to ourselves.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Stephen D. Hokuf
Women on
We ask each
member to bring a main dish, cookies or dessert.
We have a good time of fun, food and fellowship.
We have many wonderful memories of Christmas parties past.
We look forward to you coming and making this year’s party
another Christmas memory.
Secretary—Brenda
Sommers
P.S.
The Women on
The Women on
P.P.S.
The Women on
If you have a
non-specific gift that’s age/gender appropriate please just put a tag on
the gift AND mark the gift Family A, B, or C along with the age & gender
of the child. Here’s the
general breakdown of the children we’re adopting:
Family A
Boy age 17; boy age 9, boy age 7
Family B
Boy age 16; boy age 11
Family C
Baby girl age 7 mos.
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The Story of Telemachus
by Pastor Dan Mohler
While
teaching at the pastor’s conference in Alexandria, Egypt last month, I
was reminded of the story of Telemachus.
It reminds us of the courage of so many Christians throughout
church history. It occurred
around Christmas time in the first century.
The
first part of the entertainment was finished; the bodies of the dead
were dragged off with hooks and the reddened sand covered with a fresh
clean layer. After this was
done the gates in the wall of the coliseum were thrown open and a number
of strong young men came forward.
They marched once around the walls and stopped before the
emperor, held up their
weapons at arm’s length and with one voice sounded out their greeting
“Hail, Caesar, those about to die salute thee!”
The
combatants now began again; the gladiators mercilessly stabbed at their
antagonists. When one was
wounded the victor looked up at the eager faces of the spectators and
cried out for the pleasure of the audience and awaited their signal to
kill or spare his life. If
they showed thumbs up the defeated man was taken away to recover if
possible from his wounds; but, if they showed thumbs down, the conquered
was to be slain.
The
show went on. Many had been
slain and the people madly excited by the desperate bravery of those who
continued to fight shouted their applause.
But, suddenly there was an interruption.
A rudely clad, robed figure appeared for a moment among the
audience and then boldly leaped down into the arena.
He was seen to be a man of rough but imposing presence,
bareheaded and with sun-browned face.
Without hesitation he advanced upon two gladiators engaged in a
life and death struggle and laying his hand upon one of them sternly
reproved him for shedding innocent blood.
Then turning toward the thousands of angry faces ranged around
him, he called upon them in a deep toned voice which resounded through
the great enclosure. These
were his words: “This must
stop! Do not repay God’s
mercy in turning away the swords of your enemies by murdering each
other!”
Angry
shouts and cries at once drowned his voice:
“This is no place for preaching! . . . the old customs of Rome
must be observed! . . . . On gladiators!”
Thrusting aside the stranger, the gladiators would have again
attacked each other; but, the man stood between, holding them apart and
trying in vain to be heard.
“Down with him” was the cry.
And the gladiators, enraged at the interference of the outsider, at once
stabbed him to death.
His dress showed him to be one of the hermits who vowed themselves to a holy
life of prayer and self-denial and who were reverenced by even the
thoughtless and combat-loving Romans.
The few who knew him told how he had come from the wilds of Asia
on a pilgrimage, to visit a holy man that his name was Telemachus.
He died but not in vain.
His work was accomplished at the moment he was struck down, for
the shock of such a death before their eyes turned the hearts of the
people and from the day Telemachus fell in the Coliseum, no other fight
of gladiators was ever held there again.
After hearing this story, I thought of the quiet yet powerful faith of
pastors in Egypt and all over the 10-40 window.
They quietly serve the Lord in a sea of Islam and hatred on every
side. As it says in Hebrews
11:38 “the world was not worthy of them.
(Source: Foxe’s Book of Martyrs)
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Lottie Moon Offering
What will $1 provide?
Few contemporary Bibles would use a helicopter as a
metaphor to describe God lifting up a lost soul.
But that’s how Agus* dreamed it.
Michael Martin* hopes to blanket Agus’ remote location with
hundreds of Gospel cassette tapes @ $1 each.
What will $75 provide?
Missionary Judy Miller, serving in
What will $200 provide?
Will
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From your church staff:
May the miracle
of that first
Christmas renew
your heart with joy.
Dr. Stephen D. Hokuf
Pastor
Dan Mohler
Associate Pastor
Kathy Gray
Ministry Assistant
Lee-Ellen Van Voorhis
Treasurer
Lisa Sanders
Custodian
AND
Sandy Jackson
Director
Jesus
Loves Me
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