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

October, 2007

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 5th Annual

Harvest Time

Car Show

& Family Fall Festival

held on the grounds of First Baptist Church

 

Sat. Oct. 6, 2007, 11am-4pm

Raindate:  Sat., Oct. 13

  Games, Food, Live Entertainment, Kids Hot Wheels Competition, Moon Bounce &           More . . .

 

2 Classes of Cars/Truck—Traditional & Con- temporary—Pre-registration required.

          Up to 1980/1981 to present—Trophies Awarded in Both Classes!

  

Come to the 5th Annual Harvest Time Car Show & Family Fall Festival and get:  sunshine, blue skies, cool “temps,” hot dogs, smell of popcorn, cookies, soda, hot cider, coffee, balloons, straw, corn, mums, tents, Frisbees, hula hoops, rope rings, rubber ducks, bean bags, fishing poles, prizes, moon bounce, Hot Wheels, face painting, crafts, kids stories, shoe boxes, cakes, people walking,  people not walking, music, t-shirts, friends, family, hand shakes, smiling faces, laughter . . .

 

and not to mention:

 big blocks, small blocks, hard tops, convertibles, wide tires, mag wheels, tons of chrome and a color spectrum of shiny paint with a few flames thrown in.

 

Don’t miss a thing.  See ya at The Festival!—October 6th, 11am to 4 pm.

 Where you’ll find God’s people @ work!

 Dave Bibey

 

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A word from the Pastor

Dear church family,

Greetings in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  In September, I began a preaching series from the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians.  We have been exploring all of the riches we have been given in Christ.  As members of His family into which we have been placed, we are blessed indeed.  In the weeks to come we will work our way through this most wonderful book.  It is all the more amazing when you realize that Paul wrote this treatise from prison.

The book divides neatly into 2 sections.  Chapters 1-3 speak of our wealth in Christ, and chapters 4-6 describe our walk with Christ.  There are 4 pictures of the church in the book.  She is the body of Christ (1:22-23); His building (2:19-22); an army (6:11-18); and the bride of Christ (5:25-33).  An easy way to remember those 4 is to think of a body building army bride!  We hope to have fun as we learn.  Don’t miss a service.

Your brother in Christ,

Dr. Stephen D. Hokuf

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We have GOOD NEWS!

TeamKid Club

We had a very enthusiastic welcome back for those in the TeamKid Club last week and on September 19, 2007, we started our first full year for The Club.  We are part of the Family Night festivities each Wednesday evening from 6:30-8:30pm.  The Club is open to kids in grades 1-5.  This year we have several helpers including Dave Bibey, Kate Galyen, Tim and Kathy Glace, Ruby Perry, Esther Porch, Rick and Lisa Sanders, and Esther Watson.  Dave Bibey would be happy to welcome any adult who would like to be a kid again to join the fun each Wednesday evening.  We are planning a hay ride and bonfire for October.  We have a need for a van driver to pick up TeamKids.

 

Dave Jackson/Sunday School

The teachers, Christian Education Committee, and the church family are thankful for Dave Jackson and the enthusiasm and ideas he is bringing to the Sunday School.  Dave is our new Sunday School Director and has already held a teachers’ meeting.  We broke 100 (101) in attendance in Sunday School on September 16 and look to continue to grow.  Special activities are planned in the coming months.  Esther Porch is a key part in our attendance growth by taking responsibility for picking up kids with our van.  Ben Hokuf is her assistant.

 

New Ushers

You will be seeing some “strange faces” welcoming you to the service and serving you as our new ushers.  We welcome Tom Beman, Richard Brasefield, Darrell Hamilton, and Ken Parsons as part of our ushers team.

Pastor Dan Mohler

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Agape Players¢—get ready to practice your lines

Once again we have an opportunity to stretch a little and become involved in a new ministry of the church.  Drama is a great way to teach spiritual truths with stories.  Sometimes drama can stick with you longer than a message.

Our dramas are presented to compliment the worship services.  We hope to present something each month (or every two weeks).

Most of our skits are short and to the point.  Some are funny.  Some are serious.  All of them have been published in Christian drama ministry magazines.

If you want to try your hand at this new way of presenting the Gospel please let me know.  We will plan together our practice dates.

The fall is a great time for a change—something new.   May I count on you?

We’ll have a sign up sheet in the education wing.  Please plan to meet in the library for a few minutes after the 11am worship service on September 23, 2007, around 12:15pm.

“Show up; then let God take over.”

Patricia Culver,

Drama Ministry Leader

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SNL arrives

at First Baptist!

by Chris Moyer

 No, Saturday Night Live did not uproot from New York City to relocate in the ever-growing metropolis of North East, MD; but a new Sunday School class for young adults has just sprung up here in our church.  SNL stands for Salt ’N Light, a name we found to be fitting for this new class because our Savior calls His followers to be the “salt and light of the earth” (Matthew 5:13-16).

 Our desire is that our gathering together will help us to grow a stronger relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, to grow closer together as fellow believers, and to reach the young adults in our community.   We have begun working toward these purposes by examining how the early church functioned as described in Acts 2:42-47 and discussing how we as a group of young adults can function in a similar way.  The believers in the early church devoted themselves daily to the teaching of the Word of God, to fellowshipping together, to breaking bread together, and to praying together.  It is our hope to follow this model in a modern and relevant way by getting to know each other on a deeper level, by interacting together in discussing Scriptural topics/passages and by praying together.

 If this sounds like the kind of group you would like to join, please join us during the Sunday School hour in Pastor Steve’s office to fellowship with us while drinking coffee, hot chocolate or tea and eating freshly baked pastries. 

You are invited to join us whether you have just graduated from high school, have been in college for a while or are establishing yourself in your career and are between 18 years old and the early 30s.

 If you are already committed to either attending or teaching another Sunday School class but still are interested in fellowshipping with other young adults, please join us for our regular gatherings outside of the Sunday School hour.  Our first gathering will be on the evening of October, 13^th for a cookout and bonfire at Pastor Steve and Janet Hokuf’s house at 5:00PM.   We look forward to fellowshipping with you!

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 Children’s Worship

—It’s fall fun time

September/October is a special time of year.  Days are growing shorter.  The air is crisp.  The children are back in school for another busy year.  Fall gets us thinking about all those leaves for raking, football games, hay rides and pumpkins.  Fall feels like a new start.  It’s a good time to look at how we are growing spiritually.  Are we hearers of the Word or doers?  In Children’s Worship we try to encourage both hearing and doing. 

 The Children’s Worship group took part in preparing 21 bears to send to Africa through the “Kids to Kids” Ministry.  The bears along with Bibles will be distributed to boys and girls  who have very little or nothing to play with.  The boys and girls enjoyed stuffing these bears and filled them with prayer and love.

 Every year we are reminded again just how important our Children’s Worship ministry is.  It has been reported that 60% of Christians come to Christ as a child; 32% comes to Christ as a teen; and 6% come to Christ as an adult.  We have a great responsibility not only to the boys and girls that come each week but to all those out there waiting to hear.

 I’m so thankful for our new van driver, Esther Porch.  She has already turned it into a fast growing ministry—not just transportation.  When was the last time we had to make two van trips to/from church?

 I’m so thankful for our returning team members:  Tim and Kathy Glace and David and Wendy Bibey.  We’re hoping to add Nathan and Esther Porch to the team.  Each team takes one assigned Sunday a month and the 5^th Sundays are for celebrations.

 Our September celebration will be a cook out—closing out our summer western theme—Knowing God.  Date/time will be announced.

 On Saturday, October 6, 2007, the children will help with the 5th Annual Harvest Time Car Show & Family Fall Festival’s Children’s Worship booth where there will be games, prizes and stories.

 In November we will be busy with our Christmas program practice each week.  In December we’ll present a Christmas play and have holiday activities.

 Continue to pray for us as we keep growing every week.  We praise God for each young person He sends our way and pray that we will be faithful to the job He has given us.

 In Christ’s Service,

 Patricia Culver,

Children’s Worship Leader

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 Think INSIDE the Box!

             It’s that time again—locate your empty shoe boxes and begin thinking and praying about what you will put in your shoe boxes for some precious boy and or girl who needs to know the love of Jesus.  Our dedication Sunday will be November 11^th, 2007.

            We have some good news for those of you who attend our church.  An Operation Christmas Child Fund has been set up at First Baptist Church of North East.  As a result, you will not be asked to enclose the $7.00 shipping cost for each box you fill.  Instead, the cost will be covered by the church’s Operation Christmas Child Fund.  However, if you wish to enclose the $7.00 per box to help defray shipping cost for Samaritan’s Purse, by all means do so, preferably by check.

            Also, if you wish to use plastic shoe boxes we will have some available in the education wing for $1.25 each.  If you buy your own shoe boxes just be sure, the plastic is flexible, such as Sterilite of Rubbermaid.  There have been problems with some of the more rigid plastic shoe boxes cracking.

             We encourage you to write a personal note to enclose in your shoe box.  We have a printed letter available for the children to complete.  You will be able to pick up copies in the educational wing in the Children’s Worship room.

            The Relay Center will be operating from Monday, November 12^th-Sat., November 17^th, 2007, from 10:00am-4:00pm and Sunday, November 18^th, 2007, from 1:00-6:00pm. We will be located in the Children’s Worship room.

             This past June, my husband, Bobby, and I attended an Operation Christmas Child Seminar in State College, Pennsylvania.  While we were there, we were blessed to hear the testimony of a young woman named Leyla who lives in the State College area.  She was originally from Bosnia and shared how in 1993, as a child, she experienced the horrors of war.  She wept as she described the fear, the hunger, the bitter cold, and the utter hopelessness she felt.  Although her family was Muslim, she instinctively knelt and cried out to God, pleading for Him to help them.

            One day, she reluctantly went to school as there were several feet of snow on the ground and the only shoes she had to wear were a pair of her brother’s ugly, old shoes, about three sizes too big with gaping holes in the toes.  When she arrived at school several children stood outside holding brightly decorated shoe boxes.  Her first thought was that they must have been given an assignment and she forgot to do it.  Then the children told her to go inside, that a man from America was giving out shoe boxes.  Leyla couldn’t imagine what she would do with a shoe box.  It wasn’t until one was placed in her hands that she understood that there was something inside the box.  She removed the lid and there was a pair of shoes, just her size!  Stunned, Lela asked the American where the shoes had come from.  “These are from Jesus,” he answered.

             Thrilled, Leyla ran home and showed them to her astonished mother.  “These are from a man in America named Jesus!” she told her mother.

             It wasn’t long before she found out who Jesus really was.  Leyla joyfully asked Him into her heart.

             This was the first year Samaritan’s Purse collected shoe boxes.  There were 28,000 collected that year specifically for the Bosnian children.

            Last year, over 7.6 million children were given shoeboxes in over 100 countries.  Many of the children, like Leyla, are hurting and need the touch of Jesus’ love in their lives.  As you consider what you will put in your box, would you ask the Lord if there is a special item He wants you to place in it?.  Perhaps He wants to use you to meet a need or answer a prayer for a hurting child somewhere, just as He did for Leyla.

 Nancy Hudler,

Operation Christmas Child

Coordinator

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Drawing Contest winners announced

We are very pleased to announce the winning contestants for the Kat, the Resident Church Mouse and Brother Mouse Drawing Contest.  Melanie Glace and Erica Mueller are the winners.  Melanie is the winner for the Kat drawing and Erica is the winner for the Brother Mouse drawing.

Drawings were submitted by Bronwyn Bare, Melanie Glace, Morgan Naggie, Erica Mueller and Shawn Smythe.  Everyone who participated will receive a prize and the winners will receive a grand prize. (Thanks go to ALL of you for participating!)

 

We gave the honor of judging the drawings to our Jesus Loves Me Childcare Center’s before/after school children.  They chose the drawings (Artists names were not given.) they “liked the best.” Winning drawings were chosen by majority vote.