Sunday School opening

Lori Lord greeted everyone and welcomed them to the opening day of Sunday School. We call it "Rally Day" because we root and cheer everyone on and rally them to come back to join us. We had a good number show up for our kick off event. There were several more who promised to be here in the coming weeks as they wrap up the fair season and come back from family vacations and illness.

There were goodies for everyone to enjoy and some welcome back gifts for all those who registered. After everyone got settled in we began with a salute to the flags and a few fun songs. Then Noah and Chelsea helped by taking up the offering.

Lori then introduced this year's teaching staff.

Fran Rogers and Sandra Lucien were introduced as the Nursery Class teachers.
Rachelle Weimer, Janet LaFlamme and Zelda Earle were leading the K - 2nd grade class.
Pam Kane and Kelly Bolin welcomed grades 3 - 5.
Mary Brockway was announced as the new teacher for grades 6 -8.
I am working with the High School class again this year.
Curt Brockway was named as the Adult Sunday School Teacher.

We finished up our opening exercises by going out front to take our annual photograph. As we look back over the years it is fun to see who was there and how much everyone has grown up.

Classes will run from 9:15 am - 10:15 a.m. again this year and anyone is welcome to attend. You don't have to be members of the church. All you have to have is a willing heart.

Pam Kane is the Superintendent of Sunday School. You can contact her if any questions arise. Lori Lord will be co-ordinating the opening exercises again this year and she and Cynthia Strouse will be working on music for the Sunday School. Cheryl Dutrumble has also offered to help.

Mary Brockway will be directing this year's Christmas Play so stay tuned for news as we move toward through the Fall.

It was a good day and we got aff to a great start. It is going to be a fun year for all of us.

Cal

Rally Day: The first worship service of the Fall.

Rally Day. That's what they call it. It marks the beginning of another year of Christian education and religious programming at Church. I like it because everyone who was taking time away for the summer comes back. It is like a mini reunion.

Gary and Nancy Schuster were at the door welcoming everyone and we had a good turnout for the service. Our custodian, Will Calderon, had worked very hard to make sure everything looked good for the day.

The choir was back and singing again. They not only led us in singing the hymns, but they also sang the anthem, "Make a Joyful Noise." It was great. Of course I put in a plug for people to consider joining the choir. Right now we have 13 of us in the group. It is a good size but we have had as many as 21 in past years and I believe in the saying "the more, the merrier!"

Check out the video from Sunday and you'll see what I mean. We really enjoy singing God's praises.



I began a sermon series based upon the Sermon on the Mount. It is titled, "Walking with Jesus, Growing in Faith." The Beatitudes provide the jumping off point each week.

The title of my first message in the series was "GPS for Dummies." The first beatitude says that those who are poor in spirit, those who know they need God, will see the kingdom of God.

I talked about building a foundation upon which to grow our relationship with God. To do that we need to program our God Positioning System with four settings. First, we need to give God the first part of our day. Second, we need to give him the first part of our week. Third, we need to give him the first part of our finances. Finally we need to give him the first part of our relationships. By doing so we will receive all the blessings of God's kingdom.

Our text was from Matthew 7:24-27 which encourages us to build our house on the solid rock. I can't do this every week but here is the full sermon in three parts. I hope to be able to post them on our church web site in the future. If you like this then you can check them out

It was a great day of worship and it got us off to a good start this Fall. If you missed it, we hope you'll join us next week as we continue in worship and praise together.

Cal

Part 1



Part 2




Part 3

The sound man

Steve Contois is another of our unsung heroes here at First Baptist. Most of us see him in the choir loft playing the guitar and working with the Praise team. He does a great job there but he also works our sound system each week. That may be even more important to making worship go smoothly.

Steve does a sound check each week and makes sure there are fresh batteries in the lapel mikes. He sets up the microphone stands for special music and adjusts the volume for the different people who speak each week. He also makes audio tapes of the services for Adele and anyone else who wants one.

He is always looking for help but for now he is a one man show and the rest of us owe him a big "Thank you!"

Cal

A family dedication in church

WE had a great day in worship on Sunday. We marked Labor Day by talking about the work of the church to make disciples. We also welcomed the Dutrumble family, their relatives and friends as Dan and Cheryl brought Caleb James forward to ask God's blessing on him in a service of family dedication. Cheryl's father, Paul Johnson sang "I Was There To Hear Your Bourning Cry" with piano accompaniment by his wife. It was beautiful.

We closed out the service around the communion table and then formed a circle of fellowship around the sanctuary and sang "Bless Be the Tie Which Binds."

Cal

Unsung heroes at FBC

Bob Walker was at church today folding the weekly bulletins and getting things set up for worship on Sunday. He changes the numbers on the hymn board, replaces missing visitor cards in the pew racks and checks to see that everything else is in order in the sanctuary. On the first Saturday of the month he also prepares the communion table and gets it ready for the service.

Most people who walk into church on a Sunday morning don't think about all the little things that have to happen in order to make Sunday morning worship a spirit filled time. People like Bob quietly work behind the scenes so that you and I can connect with the Lord.

Over the next several days and weeks I am going to lift up a few of the people who make themselves available to the Lord so that we can enjoy the service. Bob Walker has been doing this job for several years now. He took over as the chair of the reception committee from Oliver Bray and he has gone over and above the call of duty.

Thank you Bob for your prayerful preparations.

Cal

It's choir time

I met with Adele and Cynthia this morning to talk about the music program this fall. They are ready to go and have several new pieces of music picked out that will delight the choir. Rehearsals begin next Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. and we never know who will show up. We have a great group of faithful members now. The following people have indicated they are coming back this year; Mary Brockway, Amy Rezendes, Susie Rothholz, Cindy Costa, Nancy Allen, Cynthia Strouse, Lori Lord, Rosie Rakowitz and Helen Walker as sopranos and altos. Oliver Bray, Shawn Rucker and I singing Baritone.

Several of the new anthems are variations of familiar hymns or praise songs that touch upon the idea of God's grace. We will mix in a few old favorites along the way too.

Adele picked out a very nice anthem for the Annual Choir Festival. It is always a lot of fun and is usually held on the second Sunday of November. It is also one of the highlights of our ecumenical life in the city of Norwich.

We will also be practicing advent and Christmas anthems before we know it. I have to confess that they are my favorite.

So if you like to sing and are looking for something fun to do this Fall, consider joining us on Tuesday nights. You don't have to be a member of the church. The only requirement is a desire to sing God's praises. While you are at it, invite a friend to come with you. They will thank you and it will only add to the fun.

Cal

He lifts us up

After a busy couple of days I had the opportunity to surf the web a little tonight. I was looking for some inspirational pieces I could for worship or in these blogs. I came across this video tonight and it spoke to me.



The truth is that this is the message of the church. We live in a broken world where dreams are unrealized and hopes are dashed. God sends us out to lift each other up and to help one another make it to the finish line. God himself often empowers us to to make it to the finish line.

A church that glorifies God is a church that carries his love out to the world to restore hope and make dreams become reality. I think our church is that kind of place.

Thank you Lord,

Cal