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
June 2010
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Congrats! grads:
We plan to recognize our graduates on Sunday,
June 6, 8:30 &/or 11am.
Christopher
BIBEY
David & Wendy Bibey’s son
Cameron
FISHER
John Fisher & The late
Margie Fisher’s son/Patricia Culver’s grandson
Christopher
HACKMAN
Havre de
Angie Lotman’s son
Chrissy
HALL
Jim & Marsha Hall’s
daughter
Taylor
BUNNELL
Sociology Degree,
Mt. Saint Mary’s College
The late Margie Fisher’s
son/
Patricia Culver’s grandson
Joshua
Chuck Ewing & the late
Sarah Ewing’s son/
Edna Miller’s grandson
Wendy
WARGO
Master of Education
from
Richard & Nancy
Brasefield’s daughter/Josephine Brasefield’s granddaughter
Brad
GRANT
of Osteopathic Medicine
Duke & Joy Grant’s son
David
Brasefield
Josephine Brasefield’s
great grandson
Sun., June
20, Father’s Day
“A good father is one of the most unsung,
unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most
valuable assets in our society.”
—Billy Graham
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Brian Musser visits his roots
Brian Musser grew up; made a profession of faith;
was nurtured; and felt his call to the ministry here @ First
Baptist. Now he embarks on a
new phase in his life. On
Saturday, June 5, 3-6pm, an Ordination Council will question and drill
him about his spiritual beliefs and understanding of God’s Word.
Upon recommendation of the Ordination Council he’ll be ordained
here on Sunday, June 6 @ 11am.
Please pray for Brian as he prepares and undergoes questioning
from seasoned pastors and deacons.
We asked Brian for some thoughts of his years here; and, as you will soon
discover, his life crossed paths with many folk from our church.
Maybe it’ll be an encouragement to our leaders, Sunday School
teachers, and the not so ordinary yet extraordinary people.
Everyone has a role in edifying each other.
It may encourage our mothers (and fathers) to be better parents.
It may remind us to “keep on keepin’ on”.
Maybe it’ll show you how God, through His people, has been
grooming Brian from a tender young age to be where he is today.
Here’s Brian’s story in his own words of the many who influenced
him @ First Baptist as well as some of his thoughts about the ministry:
As I think back on my life at First Baptist Church, the list of names of
people that influenced me is enormous.
There are some obvious names that have had great influence.
Pastor Steve sat across the table from a very young boy and led
him through the sinner’s prayer.
Doug Hokuf and I processed so many things together, side by side,
thinking and living as we grew into Christian men.
Esther Hokuf, Bobby Hudler and Ralph and Judy Veasey in their
various roles in Sunday School and youth programs, Ray Sommers, Patricia
Culver, Kathy Gray and Patsy Delp as leaders of Children’s Worship
impacted my life consistently year after year, week after week.
Then there were others not quite so obvious:
Dale Lobertman, Harry Austin and Debbie Blankenship who for a
moment stepped in and led me in some way or some fashion.
Aaron Given was extremely significant in my life.
He was there as I really transitioned into being someone who was
responsible for my own faith in Christ.
But I also have to mention Matt Hamilton because he was my first
friend in Sunbeams, although I don’t exactly remember that.
But when I think about my years at FBC there is one person that sticks out
the most and that is my mother, Susan Musser.
I would like to tell a story about her and us and actually the
Marvels that has greatly determined how I look at ministry.
I grew up on Wheatley Road.
At the end of the road was the Hudler farm and as that farm was
being sold and developed our church reached out to the new families in
the new houses. Through that
point of contact we started bringing Adam and Vincent and eventually
Eden (Marvel) in our car to Sunday School.
Every Sunday my mom would stop by and pick them up.
I believe this started when they both were in my mom’s 1st
and 2nd grade Sunday School class.
Of course my mom taught 1st and 2nd grade
Sunday School here so long that there were very few of us who did not
have her. Week after week we
would bring them. This was
normal. This was never
treated as missions or outreach or some special program, it was just the
way we did life. Over the
years we would do the same for the Sawyers and the Foxwells.
If you needed a ride to church and were somewhere on our way we
would pick you up. Not a
problem. I don’t recall how
many times we gave the Marvels a ride but it was for an extended time.
I would say years but that might be a kid’s exaggerated memory.
As the years went by our need to bring Vince and Adam lessened.
Then eventually Vince and Adam were bringing themselves.
I learned that ministry is not about programs but about people.
Sometimes programs help you connect with people but it is the
personal part of it that really matters.
Then several years go by. I go
off to college and Mexico and come back and get plugged in to leading
the youth program. And two
of the faces of the youth program are Vince and Adam.
I remember clearly one lesson where we were reading about Jesus
picking the twelve Apostles and Vince breaks into a song that my mom had
taught him in second grade listing the twelve apostles.
That got us side tracked because we sang one about the Books of
the Bible and a couple others.
But it was really neat to be able to build on discipleship that
had been going on since the second grade.
It got me thinking about discipleship as a long, slow process
that happens over the period of a lifetime.
Then another year goes by, I’m not only still working with the youth group
but I’m also teaching at Elkton Christian Schools.
I’m chaperoning the senior trip.
We are at this youth conference somewhere in the south.
A really good evangelistic sermon is preached and an invitation
is given. I go to the back
to help with counseling anyone who has made a decision to receive Christ
and in the room is Adam. We
talk through some things and because of the years at FBC he already
knows everything he needs to make a significant commitment at that
moment. Ministry is about
investing in people and families over time.
And when I say over time it can mean decades and even
generations. We don’t want
people to change by tomorrow.
We want people to change forever.
Then a couple of
years go by I am now no longer part of FBC
but working in
the pull of God
to get back into the ministry.
I realized that it would be collegiate ministry.
As I reached out to my personal connections, two of my most
consistent supporters have been both Mike Marvel and Adam Marvel. I
still remember several times when Mike took me aside and gave me a few
brief words of strong encouragement that really got me through that day.
Ministry is never one direction.
I guess the special thing about that story is that it is
not all that special. I
could tell similar interwoven stories about the Hudlers and the Hokufs
and the Jacksons and the Veaseys and the Grays and countless others.
Those are just the things that happen when you are plugged into a
church family. And as I look
at the ministry(s) that I have been involved in since, that is what I
try to design: a community
of individuals that have come together as a Christian family where
ministry to others and each other happens in the midst of life.
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Musser’s biography
—God’s
plan unfolds
Brian
and Jennifer
met in
December of 1995 while attending Messiah College in Grantham,
Pennsylvania. Brian studied
both Biology and Bible and Jennifer studied Psychology.
A close friendship developed . . . which then turned into a
dating relationship. During
their courtship, Brian had expressed his desire to be involved in
missions and his heart for serving the Lord in that way.
Brian had
the opportunity
to go to
Brian and
Jennifer went
on to
graduate from
They were
married
on July 7th,
2001. Over the next few
years, Brian worked as a Lab Manager and Research Assistant at Drexel
University College of Medicine and Jennifer worked as a Group Counselor
and Drug and Alcohol Prevention Specialist in the
Brian and
Jennifer were blessed by their daughter Julianna’s birth
on February 17th,
2005. This was
also when their transition into becoming a missionary family began.
Shortly after Julianna was born, Brian and Jennifer were appointed to be
Mission Service Corps (MSC) missionaries, serving through the Southern
Baptist Convention (SBC).
A MSC
missionary is a long-term, self-funded missionary
who is appointed by the North American Mission Board
(NAMB) to carry out a specific ministry.
As MSC missionaries, Brian and Jennifer are responsible for
raising all of their financial support, which comes through the
generosity of individuals, churches and other Christian groups.
Each missionary is endorsed by his/her home church.
Brian and Jennifer chose to go to Drexel
specifically because of their relationship to it in the past and the
seemingly open door to the campus.
That open door turned out to be drastically overestimated and
instead took three years of negotiating with the Drexel administration
for privileges they assumed were already promised.
Today,
Brian and Jennifer receive unprecedented favor
among the faculty, staff, administration and students of the Drexel
community.
Brian
has had the privilege of being asked to give the opening prayer at
Drexel’s Convocation.
He is currently serving as the Interim Chair of the Interfaith Council
and has been collaborating with the Dean of Students regarding the
recent acquisition of a Multi-cultural/Interfaith center for Drexel.
He has also acquired donations from prominent publishers that
will help fill this library with books that speak specifically to faith
and religious life on campus at Drexel.
Brian
regularly has the opportunity to actively serve in the
Brian has
formed Bible studies
that speak
specifically to the needs of faculty and staff, male accountability and
the African-American, Christian experience on campus.
This ministry as a whole has
tremendous visibility, which gives Brian the ability to consistently get
more students actively involved in some way.
Submitted by:
Brian & Jennifer
Musser
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From the Pastor
Dear church family,
Greetings in the precious name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. I am so pleased to
tell you all that your deacons have recently implemented the deacon
family ministry plan. Every
member of our church is now assigned to one of our 7 deacons.
Each deacon has responsibility for about 20 individuals or
families. If you have a
pressing need or prayer request please feel free to contact your deacon.
You can always call one of your pastors and we encourage you to
do that, but now, in addition to that avenue of resource we add this
team of men.
Moses was directing and leading the children of
The benefits of his delegating these
responsibilities were many.
First, it was good for him to lighten his load.
Second, it was good for all of those who were entrusted with
those jobs to exercise their God-given abilities and to mature their
character. Third, and
perhaps best of all, the people being ministered to were satisfied
because their needs were more effectively being met in a timely manner.
It is our prayer that our church family would be
built up in love and unity to be a spiritual “dwelling in which God
lives by His Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22).
As we work together in this new way I pray all of you will be
blessed. Your 7 deacons and
their assigned members are as follows:
Duke GRANT (A-Co)
Bobby HUDLER (Cr-J Hall)
Eric JACKSON
(associate deacon)
(Th Hall-Ja)
Phil MEEKINS (Jo-Lot)
Ray SOMMERS (Lov-Na)
Gary VAN VOORHIS (Ol-Si)
Ralph VEASEY (Sp-Z)
If you are not a member of our church we encourage
you to make this important choice.
First of all, you need to trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your
Savior. Also, every member
of our church body needs to follow the Lord’s command to be baptized by
immersion. I would love to
talk with you if you are interested in making these important decisions.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Stephen D. Hokuf
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Preparing to Meet the Master
by Pastor Dan Mohler
In
a recent news article entitled, “Israel Begins Five Day Drill to Prepare
for War” I read how Israel is preparing for high numbers of casualties
from missiles and rockets armed with chemical warheads.
It goes on to say that plans are underway to prepare for hundreds
of thousands of civilian casualties.
The sanctions
against
Leaders in
Meanwhile the
U.S. Geological Society has found that there is 122 trillion cubic feet
of natural gas off
Now is the time
to share with your friends and neighbors the good news of eternal life
in Jesus Christ.
Excerpts from:
www.joelrosenberg.com
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What does it offer?
by
Pastor Dan Mohler, Director
I
am afraid to think what the consequences would be if Cecil County
Pregnancy Center (CCPC) and its sister agencies did not exist.
For years
I have held strong feelings about abortion and now I can do more than
just picket in front of state government houses and speak before state
government committees.
The CCPC
is a Christian nonprofit organization that strives to uphold the
sanctity of human life by supporting a pregnant woman’s choice to carry
her pregnancy to term. We
have provided vital and innovative services to thousands of women since
1982.
We offer
pregnancy tests, an Active Parents Program of one on one personal
education, the Sexual Integrity Program, Intensive Peer Counseling
programs and the Footprints On our Hearts program of support following a
miscarriage, stillbirth or early infant death.
Each
client is asked about her interest in spiritual matters and offered an
NIV New Testament as well as the opportunity to discover a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ.
May I
remind everyone of the Baby Bottle Bank Mission Project sponsored by our
Women on
Stay connected with our church by searching for
First Baptist Church of North East on Facebook @ www.facebook.com
&/or our website @
www.fbne.net.
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July
12—16
Evenings
(exact times forthcoming)
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Here’s a little tidbit:
Jesus Loves Me
Kat, The
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Mouse