In our prayers tonight:
Edith Robinson
Bob Booth
Bob Duntz
Barbra Beliecki.
The family of Michelle Stutzer, who died suddenly after complications from surgery.
Veronica
Cecile Meyer
Mark Ambruso's dad
Thanks,
Cal
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
A Stewardship Moment
This week we sent out our first Stewardship letter. Every fall we begin planning for the coming year and to do that we need your help. We ask every member and friend to guestimate how much they are able to contribute to the ongoing expenses of the ministry. This is called making a pledge.
The pledges are non binding in the fact that if your circumstances change, no one is going to come after you. But it is a promise that you will try to put aside a certain amount each week and give it to God to use through the church.
Everything that happens at church is a direct result of your response to this campaign. We depend 100 % on the members and friends of the church. There are no special grants or funds to pay for programs or to help with operating expenses. With your pledges, we can open the doors of the church, put the lights on and turn up the heat. We call a pastor, hire an organist, a secretary and a custodian. We provide Sunday School and youth group activities for the kids. We do outreach ministry through our sports programs and engage in all kinds of activities outside the church like our short term mission trip to Mexico and the Interfaith luncheons.
You make ministry happen. so that's why we ask you every year to reconsider and renew your pledge. If you have never pledged before, we hope you will consider do this year. Your gifts will be a blessing. The fact that we know we can count on you will insure that all of our ministries keep on going.
So when you get your pledge card, think about the ways in which God has blessed you and then make a decision to return that blessing and give something back to your church. Our theme this year in Unearthing Your Treasure - Growing Our Ministries at First Baptist Church. It is based upon the parable of the talents. God has given us all gifts. We are told to use them to build up his kingdom. Praise God we are doing that together at our church.
Cal
The pledges are non binding in the fact that if your circumstances change, no one is going to come after you. But it is a promise that you will try to put aside a certain amount each week and give it to God to use through the church.
Everything that happens at church is a direct result of your response to this campaign. We depend 100 % on the members and friends of the church. There are no special grants or funds to pay for programs or to help with operating expenses. With your pledges, we can open the doors of the church, put the lights on and turn up the heat. We call a pastor, hire an organist, a secretary and a custodian. We provide Sunday School and youth group activities for the kids. We do outreach ministry through our sports programs and engage in all kinds of activities outside the church like our short term mission trip to Mexico and the Interfaith luncheons.
You make ministry happen. so that's why we ask you every year to reconsider and renew your pledge. If you have never pledged before, we hope you will consider do this year. Your gifts will be a blessing. The fact that we know we can count on you will insure that all of our ministries keep on going.
So when you get your pledge card, think about the ways in which God has blessed you and then make a decision to return that blessing and give something back to your church. Our theme this year in Unearthing Your Treasure - Growing Our Ministries at First Baptist Church. It is based upon the parable of the talents. God has given us all gifts. We are told to use them to build up his kingdom. Praise God we are doing that together at our church.
Cal
Getting ready for the Choir Festival
On Tuesday night our choir had their final tune up for this week's Choir Festival. On Sunday night we will gather at United Congregational Church to sing our own anthem and then join with several other choirs in a combined piece led by Mr. Doug Green of the Cathedral of St. Patrick. The program is at 7:00 p.m. Come and be a part of an inspiration evening.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
From Talk to Action - Purpose Drive Series enters next stage
On Sunday I preached my last sermon on the Purpose Driven Life. You can find all six of the messages on this series on our web site. I will have Sandy post them tomorrow afternoon on the worship page.
This has been a great series and it emphasizes our new focus on becoming a Missional Church. We are not here to serve ourselves. God has called us to share his love with the people in our community. In the coming weeks we are going to be recognizing some of our members who have ministries within the church and also out in the community. Stay tuned and join us on Sunday mornings this fall and winter.
This has been a great series and it emphasizes our new focus on becoming a Missional Church. We are not here to serve ourselves. God has called us to share his love with the people in our community. In the coming weeks we are going to be recognizing some of our members who have ministries within the church and also out in the community. Stay tuned and join us on Sunday mornings this fall and winter.
Monday, November 3, 2008
The Enchanted Cottage
On Saturday night the Church took to the road and made a stop at the Spirit of Broadway theater. Shawn Rucker was starring in the production of "The Enchanted Cottage." Seventeen of us met at the theater and stepped back in time to post World War I England.The cast was bringing this new musical to life and getting it ready for its run that could ultimately lead to Broadway. The show told the story about a young couple who meet at this lovely cottage. Both of them both are facing disappointment and disillusionment with life but something magical happens and the two fall in love. Everything changes and joy fills their world.
It was a lot of fun and we had a good time. After the show Brett Bernardini allowed us to pose for a picture on the stage. For that one moment we all stepped back in time and became a guest at the Enchanted Cottage.
Cal
Sunday, November 2, 2008
A by-laws review.
On Thursday night our By-laws committee met for the first time. Our By-laws call for a review of our organizational rules every four years. The last major revision was done in 1994. At that time we did an overhaul on the whole document adding limited terms and getting rid of our Executive Council in favor of Quarterly Congregational Meetings.
Those changes stood for ten years without much modification. Then in 1994 we added a group of Counters and changed the name of our Collector to Financial Secretary. They weren't major changes but they reflected the way we were doing business at church.
In 1995 we adopted the "leap year" changes of 1994 and added provisions for a Church Historian and Trustee and Deacon Emeritus positions. These were basically confirming things that we were already doing.
I like to joke that we look at the by-laws as a "guide" rather than the law akin to Johnny Depp's line from the Pirates of the Caribbean. We use the by-laws to help us remember how to do the business of the church. They are also there in the event we get into some conflict. They give us the parameters of what we can and should do at any given time.
Now I understand that our BY-laws is a legal document. That is why they need to be reviewed regularly and changed so that we don't fall to far from compliance at any given time. This allows us some flexibility. We are also very aware that it is the spirit of the by-laws that is most important. The by-laws protect us from unscrupulous behavior by a Pastor or a member of the church who wants to push a particular agenda.
We always follow the by-laws to a tee when a major decision is going to be made. That way no one can dispute it and question the motives of those promoting the issue. It is always better to err on the side of caution and full disclosure than risk the accusation that things were voted on improperly.
Anyway, the committee met and is looking at what the document says and comparing it to our practice. You will hear more in the coming weeks.
Cal
Those changes stood for ten years without much modification. Then in 1994 we added a group of Counters and changed the name of our Collector to Financial Secretary. They weren't major changes but they reflected the way we were doing business at church.
In 1995 we adopted the "leap year" changes of 1994 and added provisions for a Church Historian and Trustee and Deacon Emeritus positions. These were basically confirming things that we were already doing.
I like to joke that we look at the by-laws as a "guide" rather than the law akin to Johnny Depp's line from the Pirates of the Caribbean. We use the by-laws to help us remember how to do the business of the church. They are also there in the event we get into some conflict. They give us the parameters of what we can and should do at any given time.
Now I understand that our BY-laws is a legal document. That is why they need to be reviewed regularly and changed so that we don't fall to far from compliance at any given time. This allows us some flexibility. We are also very aware that it is the spirit of the by-laws that is most important. The by-laws protect us from unscrupulous behavior by a Pastor or a member of the church who wants to push a particular agenda.
We always follow the by-laws to a tee when a major decision is going to be made. That way no one can dispute it and question the motives of those promoting the issue. It is always better to err on the side of caution and full disclosure than risk the accusation that things were voted on improperly.
Anyway, the committee met and is looking at what the document says and comparing it to our practice. You will hear more in the coming weeks.
Cal
Purpose Driven Nights
On Wednesday night we held our weekly Bible Study and talked about Rick Warren's SHAPE concept from the Purpose Driven Life. He suggested that we were shaped for serving God in that we have been given one or more spiritual gifts, a heart or passion fro doing certain things, several natural abilities that can be channeled to use for God, and numerous experiences that can be used as well to minister to others.
The discussion got lively when we began to talk about the Calvinistic idea of predestination. Warren tends to suggest that everything in life is pre-ordained. He talks about our life experiences as though god sent them to us. Some in our group really didn't buy into that. It makes God look awfully mean. Who would want to have cancer or go through a tragedy to learn something you can pass on to someone else? Why would a loving God do that?
I suggested that we need to filter some of these thoughts and check them out as we were doing. Warren is very careful to say "God allows" things to happen and not "God sends this difficulty." Although I believe that Warren does tend to believe some stuff is God sent, he really wants to simply make the point that God can and often does turn these tragic events around to bring hope and encouragement into others lives.
Anyway, you never know what is going to come up when you stop in for a Bible study. We may not have all the answers but we just keep going back to God's Word to see if we can learn something each week.
We have two more sessions this time around. We meet tonight, Sunday, November 2 at 6:00 p.m. and on Wednesday November 5 at 7:00 p.m. to close out the six week study. The good news is that we are going to run it again on Monday nights starting November 17th at 7:00 p.m. Come and join us. I still have copies of the book available for those who want to read along.
Cal
The discussion got lively when we began to talk about the Calvinistic idea of predestination. Warren tends to suggest that everything in life is pre-ordained. He talks about our life experiences as though god sent them to us. Some in our group really didn't buy into that. It makes God look awfully mean. Who would want to have cancer or go through a tragedy to learn something you can pass on to someone else? Why would a loving God do that?
I suggested that we need to filter some of these thoughts and check them out as we were doing. Warren is very careful to say "God allows" things to happen and not "God sends this difficulty." Although I believe that Warren does tend to believe some stuff is God sent, he really wants to simply make the point that God can and often does turn these tragic events around to bring hope and encouragement into others lives.
Anyway, you never know what is going to come up when you stop in for a Bible study. We may not have all the answers but we just keep going back to God's Word to see if we can learn something each week.
We have two more sessions this time around. We meet tonight, Sunday, November 2 at 6:00 p.m. and on Wednesday November 5 at 7:00 p.m. to close out the six week study. The good news is that we are going to run it again on Monday nights starting November 17th at 7:00 p.m. Come and join us. I still have copies of the book available for those who want to read along.
Cal
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