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—MAY, 2008

 

 Ladies—You’re invited

Mother~Daughter Banquet

Sat., May 17—6pm

I hope you can join us for our Mother~Daughter Banquet on May 17th at 6:00 pm. Our Theme is: "Old Things New."

I believe we are living in a time where the newer generations need to learn from the "older, wiser and seasoned" generation in our church.

 

The ladies of First Baptist Church need to join together and bridge the gaps that are between the older and younger generations. Our "seasoned" ladies of our church have so much to offer and we the middle and younger generation need their wisdom. We need to grow and learn from them like never before. God has instilled in them so much Godly love and they have a wealth of information.

Won't you join me in a time of celebration as we fellowship together on this special night that is set aside for our mothers and daughters?


You don't have a mom that lives near or is still living you say? Don't let that stop you. We have plenty of women who would love to be asked to escort you as their mother. Don't have a daughter you say? Don't let that stop you either.  There are plenty of ladies in our church that would love to be asked to come with you to the banquet.

 

Keep in mind that the ladies that you bring don't have to be members of First Baptist.

We will be having a special guest speaker and special music. We will be having games, Secret Sisters, food and lots of fun and fellowship.

Everyone is to bring a covered dish to share and a dessert to share. The punch fountain will be provided.  Plan now to attend and sign up on the board by the library. See you there!


Carol Singleton

 

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 A Word from Dr. Hokuf

 Dear church family,

 Greetings in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This month I will be concluding my series on the book of Ephesians.  We are in the very practical second half of the book (Ephesians 4-6) where Paul applies doctrinal truth to our daily lives.  He began by telling us “to walk worthy” (4:1) of all that we have in Christ.  In chapter five he commands us to “walk in love” (5:1), “to walk as children of light” (5:8), and “to walk circumspectly (5:15).  The New International Version translates the words “to walk” as “live.”  I like that.  Paul is telling us how to live!

Most of us agree that this is how we should live, but actually doing it is a different matter.  Paul deals with that, too.  In fact he had the same struggle in his life (see Romans 7).

 The key to being able to carry out these commands is to do them through the power of the Holy Spirit within us.  “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.  Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).  Dr. John MacArthur says:

 Outside of the command for unbelievers to trust Christ for salvation there is no more practical and necessary command in Scripture than the one for believers to be filled with the Spirit.

 This command is to let the Holy Spirit have complete control of every area of your life.  When He is in control He will empower you to do all that God requires.  I compare the spirit-filled Christian life to an eagle spreading his wings and gliding almost effortlessly on the wind.  The one who tries to live the Christian life without God’s help is like an eagle trying to fly without using his wings.  He will crash every time.

 The eagle’s wings enable it to overcome the downward pull of gravity.  In much the same way the Spirit enables us to overcome the constant and downward pull of sin in our lives.

 Paul says “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).  Isn’t that wonderful?

 Billy Graham puts it this way:

  The filling of the Holy Spirit should not be a once-for-all event, but a continuous reality every day of our lives.  It is a process.  We must surrender ourselves to Him daily, and every day we must choose to remain surrendered.

 Have you made this a part of our life?  My prayer is that every one of you will desire and choose to be filled (controlled) with the Holy Spirit’s power every day of your life.  I believe it will revolutionize your life and in turn our whole church.

 I wonder what God could do with a man or a woman totally surrendered to His will!?  By God’s grace I will be that one.  Will you?  Why not pray to Him right now and ask Him to take control of every area of your life? You will never be the same.

 We usually think of the Spirit’s fullness and power as being necessary for witnessing and preaching—and that’s true.  But in the next few weeks we will see that it’s also important in a marriage, in the home, at work, as well as in our stand against the devil.  I hope to see you all each Sunday.

 Your brother in the work of the Lord,

 

Dr. Stephen D. Hokuf

  

Cecil County Prison Ministries, Inc. 2007 report

 

Sunday Morning Services Attendance  629

Evening Services Attendance  4792

Daytime Bible Studies Attendance  1895

Counseling Sessions  540

Bibles distributed  243

Decisions for Christ  216

Rededications  113

Total Bible Services  538

Total volunteers from 13 churches  55

Total Inmates in Attendance (all services)  7316

 

 Report submitted by Sonny HAYES

 

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WHAT IS THE COOPERATIVE PROGRAM (CP)?

Editor’s Note:  With many new faces around our church we thought you’d be interested in knowing more about The Cooperative Program per:  Southern Baptist Convention’s website:  www.sbc.net  .


The Cooperative Program—How it came about

Since its inception in 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has always had one mission—the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). To fulfill its assigned part of this divine mandate, each SBC entity made special offering appeals to the churches. This method was referred to as the “societal” approach to missions and resulted in severe financial deficits, competition among entities, overlapping pledge campaigns, and frequent emergency appeals which greatly hampered the expanding ministry opportunities God was giving Southern Baptists. Some entities took out loans to cover operating costs until pledges or special offerings were received.

In 1919, the leaders of the SBC proposed the 75 Million Campaign, a five-year pledge campaign that, for the first time, included everything—the missions and ministries of all the state conventions as well as that of the Southern Baptist Convention. Though falling short of its goals, a God-given partnership of missions support was conceived—The Cooperative Program. Since its launch in 1925, the effectiveness of CP has been dependent upon individuals, churches, state conventions, and SBC entities cooperating, working toward a common goal of sharing the gospel with every person on the planet.

Let’s get a group together

Women of Faith conference coming September 12 & 13

 Women of Faith Conference will be at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA, again.  The dates are September 12 and 13.  We are trying to take a group for an overnight stay. 

 Some of the speakers include Sandi Patty, Nicole Johnson Max Lucado, and Luci Swindoll. For more information on these speakers as well as others and for general information go to the website: womenoffaith.com.  Or, contact Chrissy Jackson.   PLEASE SIGN UP A.S.A.P. and/or by June so we can purchase our tickets.

 

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 Calling all grads

 

 Please notify the church office if you have a graduating senior— high school

and/or college.

  

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Way to go!

I hear that …

Morgan NAGGIE leaves notes on her neighbor’s porch inviting her to church.  Way to go MORGAN!

Now that’s a great idea.

 

Kat, the Resident Church Mouse

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Vacation Bible School—teachers, leaders, helpers needed

 Outrigger Island:  Living God’s Unshakeable Truth 

 July 14-18--6-8:30pm

 

Contact:  Jenny HOKUF

 

 Your offering envelope—are your wishes clear?

 ALL offering envelopes need to have the following CLEARLY noted on the front:

 Offering amount.

Designated Fund/s Specified and separate amounts noted with each.

Total amount of all offerings/designations in the one envelope.

 AND . . . IF you wish to receive a financial statement for tax purposes or for your own reference we prefer donors use numbered envelopes. 

 Those who use numbered envelopes do NOT need to put their name on the envelope.

 Those who do NOT use numbered envelopes and wish to receive a financial statement MUST include their first and last name  (initials and last names only are not sufficient).

 First time donors need to give us their full name AND address if they’d like to have a financial statement.

RE:  Donations of $250 or more—the church is legally required to issue a financial statement.  We MUST have enough information from the donor to do so.

  

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Hello from Children’s Worship,

 The boys and girls are not only learning how they can serve they are also busy planning a little skit for the congregation in a few weeks.  They all did such a wonderful job at Christmas time.  I thought they would enjoy a spring skit.  The title is “I Am a Promise.”  We pray the boys and girls are learning to hear God’s voice and are trying to make good choices.  If we are not doing what God says then we are not growing.  So look forward to our spring skit.  Don’t forget to volunteer to help out in our “Outrigger Island Vacation Bible School, July14-18.

 I want to thank Tina Gibson for helping us in Children’s Worship.  We are always looking for workers.

 Until next month, keep us in your prayers.

 In Christ’s Service,

Patricia Culver

 

Try these websites?

Lee-Ellen Van Voorhis recommends the following websites:

 www.biblegateway.com

This is an online Bible with many translations that you can search.  If you want to find a scripture that mentions mustard seed (for example), you can search for “mustard” and it will give you all verses with that word in it. (We use this site in the office, as well, for our Powerpoint scripture reading presentations for Sunday worship.)

 www.blueletterbible.com

This is another online Bible—Lee-Ellen says, “I like this one because you can look up a verse—then see it in many different translations (side by side).  And, you can look up the original Greek/Hebrew for that verse, and commentaries for that verse, as well.

 Here’s a few others we recommend:

www.fbne.net

First Baptist Church of North East  (NOTE:  OOPS!  Our website was listed incorrectly in last month’s newsletter.)

www.sbc.net

Southern Baptist Convention

 www.bcmd.org

Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware site

 

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Congratulations! To Sunday School classes Preschool through grade 5. 

They were the winners of the “Bring Your Bible” to Sunday School contest.  They celebrated with a pizza party on Sun., April 20.

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Cooperative Program (CP) Missions

—How it works

Simply put, it begins with you. You give yourself first to God (2 Cor. 5:8). Next, out of gratitude and obedience to God for what He has done for you, you commit to give back to Him, through your church, a portion of what He provides. This is commonly called a tithe and represents ten percent of your income (Lev. 27:30, Mal. 3:10).

Your church decides the next step. Every year your church prayerfully decides how much of its undesignated gifts will be committed to reaching people in your state and around the world through Cooperative Program (CP) Missions. This amount is then forwarded to your state Baptist convention.  [Our church gives 10% of our general tithes and offerings.]

During the annual meeting of your state convention, messengers from your church and other churches across the state decide what percentage of CP Missions gifts contributed by local congregations stays in your state to support local missions and ministries. The percentage to be forwarded to the SBC for North American and international missions and ministries is also determined at this time.

At the SBC Annual Meeting, messengers from across the country decide how the gifts received from the states will be distributed among SBC entities. These gifts are used by Southern Baptist entities to send and support missionaries, train pastors, and other ministry leaders; provide relief for retired ministers and widows; and address social, moral, and ethical concerns relating to our faith and families.

TThe bottom line – people around the world hear the gospel and receive Christ.

 Note: Our local Susquehanna Baptist Association does not receive CP gifts directly. It ministers through gifts received directly from churches (we give 1% of our general tithes and offerings).  It  receives CP gifts indirectly in the form of support from state conventions and the North American Mission Board.

 

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The birth of Mother's Day:
Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948) loved her mother dearly. It was Miss Jarvis who first suggested a national day to honor all mothers. At a memorial service for her mother on May 10, 1908, Anna gave a carnation, her mother’s favorite flower, to each person in attendance. Within a few years, the idea to honor mothers gained popularity, and Mother’s Day was soon observed annually in many large cities of the United States.

On May 9, 1914, by an act of congress, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day. He established the day as a time for “public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” By then, it had become customary to wear white carnations in honor of departed mothers and red carnations to honor the living. The custom continues to this day.