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
November 08
The Lamplighter
Pastors’ Appreciation Day—Sun., Nov. 2
We encourage everyone to express
appreciation to our pastors during the entire year; but, especially on
Nov. 2. We’ll have baskets
available for cards, notes, etc.
=========================================================
A
word from Dr. Hokuf
Dear church family,
Greetings
in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our church will be 52 years old this month, on Thanksgiving, in
fact. There’s a good cause
for thanksgiving. Our
heavenly Father has been so faithful to us in a thousand ways during
those years. It hasn’t all
been simple or easy, but God has brought us through.
G. A. Young has written a song that our choir has sung, called
God Leads Us Along. It
begins with an allusion to Psalm 23.
In shady green pastures,
So rich and so sweet
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water’s cool flow
Bathes the weary one’s feet
God leads His dear children along.
The chorus is based on Isaiah 43:
Some through the waters,
Some through the flood,
Some through the fire,
But all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow,
But God gives a song;
In the night season and all the day long.
I like the juxtaposition of those two points of view.
The verse paints a picture of walking along with Jesus in a
beautiful, calm and comfortable place.
The chorus, on the other hand, reminds us that the journey may
not always be so easy. Our
church and each of us in it could all say, “Amen.”
As we look back across 52 years of our history, both perspectives are
certainly true. Some months
and years were calm—others were like a flood or a fire.
I like the tranquil, peaceful path a lot better, don’t you?!
However, I suspect that the fire and the flood have tempered us
more than any of the easy times ever could.
As Job said, “He knoweth the way that I take; when He hath tested
me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).
That analogy speaks of a fire also.
The goldsmith’s fire burns off the dross and leaves behind a
purified ingot of gold.
God’s fire tests, proves, and purifies us.
We will come forth as gold.
Few enjoy the fire’s testing, but it does god’s perfect work as
few other things in life can.
I pray that you will have a heart of thanksgiving.
Even as you’re going through difficulties and trials—may God give
you a song. Hebrews 13:15
says, “let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is
the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.”
At times it really is a sacrifice to praise God, isn’t it?
We may not understand the why, but if we trust God and know He is
superintending every step of our way we can say “thank you.”
Some of you are facing a more difficult path on your journey this year.
Most of us are having to spend more and more of our income to pay
the bills. Everything seems
to cost more than it used to.
Some of you have had your work hours cut, or even your pay cut.
Many of us have seen our retirement investments shrink as the
stock market has tumbled.
God knows each of our situations.
In this month of thanksgiving, lets not focus on what we don’t have, or what
we’ve lost—let’s thank God for what we do have and how He has richly
blessed us in this great land.
It can be our sacrifice of praise to Him.
Your grateful pastor,
Dr.
Stephen D. Hokuf
=========================================================
A CALL TO
PRAYER
Several years ago I read a book that has made quite an impact on my life.
The book is called Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.
Jim Cymbala, of the Brooklyn Tabernacle relates how he, an
amateur, with no Bible college or seminary training became the reluctant
pastor of this church. At
the time the church was in pathetic shape.
Struggles and discouragement were his constant companions.
Then at his lowest point, crying out to God, choked up with
tears, God quietly spoke to his heart.
If he and his wife would focus on prayer and lead their people to
pray they would experience His blessings on their church.
God would act on their behalf.
That is exactly what He did.
The rest of the book relates some of the marvelous ways God
responded.
Our church as begun a renewed emphasis on prayer.
Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee and
show thee great and mighty things . . . .”
On the other hand, if we don’t call on Him, we cannot expect God
to do much for us.
Posted on the bulletin board in the educational
wing is a 24 hour prayer sheet.
What a joy it is to see all the time slots filled.
Please continue to pray earnestly and regularly for revival in
our church.
Also, we are holding a prayer vigil during both
morning services. You are
welcome to be a part of this ministry.
We are meeting in the choir room (this is a change from the
counseling room). Each one
attending prays silent. We
ask that the Holy Spirit will bless us with His presence, empower our
pastor and speak to the hearts of each person present.
Of course we also pray for whatever or whomever God lays on our
hearts. The purpose is to
encounter the God of the universe, not just each other; and to
experience the power of the Holy Spirit among us.
I would also like to encourage you to be a part of
our Wednesday night prayer meeting.
We find in Acts, chapter two, that the church began in a prayer
meeting. It is sad that
today the prayer meeting in many churches is non-existent, obsolete, or
very poorly attended.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a wonderful servant of God, said in one of his
sermons:
The
condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer
meetings. So is the prayer
meeting a grace-ometer, and from it we may judge of the amount of divine
working among a people. If
God be near a church, it must pray.
And if he be not there, one of the first tokens of His absence
will be a slothfulness in prayer.
Perhaps you are unable to attend on Wednesday
night; but, you have a burden to pray.
Ask God to lead you to a prayer partner with whom you can pray at
a time good for you.
When we sincerely turn to God in prayer we will
find our church moving forward and making an impact on our community.
We can accomplish the impossible.
Nancy Hudler
=========================================================
Women on
In memory of
Judy BIBEY
GREETINGS FROM W.O.M.
(Women on
It's been a while since you’ve heard from us, but we
want you to know our organization is still going strong. We would
like to give you an update on what we’re about and what we do.
W.O.M. is the adult ladies group of our Womens
Missionary Union (WMU) of Southern Baptists. We meet on the third
(3rd) Monday of March, May, July, September, October and December in a
lady’s home. We have a missions program, special prayer time for
our missionaries who have a birthday on that particular day, as well as
other missionaries serving around the world. We have a business
meeting following and then enjoy a time of refreshment and fellowship.
If you have never been to a meeting or would like to join us, we’d love
to see more of our ladies coming. It's a great time to get to know
one another.
Some of the projects we have sponsored are:
Collecting money for the
Collecting Health Kits for the Men's Shelter in Elkton
Collecting items for our troops
Collecting money to buy Thanksgiving Dinners for needy families
Having an Angel Tree at Christmas for needy families
Supporting one of our missionaries, Tina Wright, in Covenant Players
And other needs as they arrive
We’re pleased to announce that we’ve recently
purchased T-Shirts for the staff of Team Kids identifying them as
"STAFF". They were purchased
in memory of Judy BIBEY who was a faithful member W.O.M. and served as
secretary for many years.
Our next upcoming event is our Christmas Party,
December 15th, 6:00 pm at the home of Jane Hopman. If this date
changes for any reason, we will publish it in the bulletin.
In September we elected new officers for the coming
year. They are:
Facilitator—Carol Singleton
Ass't. Facilitator—Betty Jackson
Program Chairpersons—Brenda Sommers and Carolyn Yonts
Prayer Chairperson—Nancy Hudler
Secretary— (we need one)
Treasurer—Jane Hopman
We’re looking forward to a blessed year and more of
our ladies to come and join us.
Till next time and may God bless you all, Betty Jackson
Lamplighter
Cont’d
=========================================================
Who is this man?
Kat knows!
I’ve been seeing a man that hangs out in the church during
the week. He hasn’t spotted
me yet; but, I’ve been enjoying his “clean” jokes. (Hee. Hee.)
If he starts a sentence with “Have you heard . . . ” look out.
Maybe you haven’t seen him or heard of him.
Mrs. Kathy Gray calls him “Dad.”
Others call him Mark or Mr. Miller.
It turns out he’s Mrs. Gray’s father, Mark Miller.
He’s been coming to the church one day a week (sometimes two) to
volunteer. He keeps the pew
racks filled with tracts, pencils, and offering envelopes.
He picks up all the bulletins, etc. that are left in the pews.
He helps in the church office by dating & opening mail, folding
bulletin inserts and others things Mrs. Gray asks him to do.
He also packs the food for the needy and keeps an inventory of
the same. Since, April, 2008
he’s volunteered 135 hours (valued @ $2,025) doing the Lord’s work.
Mrs. Gray sure likes to have him around.
Just
another tidbit—Mrs. Gray is not happy with Brother Mouse.
It seems as though he’s been feasting on gospel tracts.
Kat, the
=========================================================
09 budget proposal will be topic
of business—Nov. 12
The proposed 2009 church budget will be available for review on Sunday,
November 9. It will be
discussed at the November business meeting, Wednesday, November 12.
Any changes to the proposed budget will be finalized at that
meeting. The final 2009
budget will be voted on by the church membership on Sunday, December 7
at a special business meeting after the 8:30 am AND 11 am worship
services.
=========================================================
We hope to have
200
shoe boxes
Have
you filled a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child?
They are due Sunday,
November 16
for
Dedication Day.
We hope to have 200 boxes from our church family.
Our relay center will be open:
November 17-23
Mon-Sat : 10am-4pm
Sun: 1-6pm
If you’d like to volunteer in The Center please let Nancy Hudler know.