Weekly Bible Studies begin with focus on Purpose Driven Life

On Sunday night we held the first of our Purpose Driven Bible Studies at church. Mark Rogers, Bonnie Ambruso, Lisa Lapointe and Oliver Bray joined the pastor as they walked through the first of six sessions. We watched a video lesson taught by Rick Warren and then discussed it and how it impacted our own lives.

We will be having two other sessions each week at different times. If you missed this one, you can catch the next one on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. at the home of Patricia and Steve ohlund or at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday at church. The same material will be covered at each one.

Cal

New life celebrated onSunday

We celebrated big time on Sunday as we baptized two individuals and welcomed them and two others into membership of the church. There was lots of special music and a message that reminded us of God's love for us.

Luis Pabon and Ashley Stewart met with the Deacons last month and shared their stories. They told how God had spoken to them and invited them to accept his love and to follow him.

On Sunday they put their faith into action by entering the waters of Christian baptism. The choir sang the chorus of "Come Be Baptized" as the candidates moved into place. As Luis and Ashley came into the baptistry, Rachel Lord sang a verse of a hymn for each of them.

Pastor Lord shared a bit of their story with the congregation and then asked each one if they accepted Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. After the profession of their faith, he baptized them by immersing them in the water.

The manner of baptism was the same as that used by John the Baptist in scriptures. The dunking symbolizes our repentance, the death and burial of our old sinful self and the resurrection of our new being.

After both Luis and Ashley were baptized, they were given a red rose as a symbol of God's love. They were also reminded that the thorns were there to remind them that life may not always be easy but God would be with them now.

Our Praise team shared a special song after the baptism that was written by Steve Contois. A little later our choir sang a bright anthem entitled, "Be Joyful and Sing to the Lord." Curt Brockway served as our worship assistant and he led the service while the Pastor was getting changed and then he came forward to officially welcome Pam and James Smith in to membership along with Ashley and Luis.


The sermon was entitled "You Are Not An Accident" and it was the first in a series of messages that we are doing based on Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life. In it we heard echoes of Psalm 139 as we looked at the call to Jeremiah that told us that God had appointed him to be a prophet before he was even born. We were reminded that God loves each of us and has a plan for us as well.

After the service we hosted a coffee hour in honor of our new members. It was a great morning.

Cal

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Spaghetti Dinner Raises over $750

On Saturday night members of our Mission team provided a spaghetti supper to raise funds for our trip next year. Rev. Michelle Madsen Bibeau organized the event and Amanda Duntz, George Rezendes and Lisa Lapointe gave up their Saturday to cook and prepare the bulk of the meal.

Amanda worked on the salad and Lisa made the meatballs. George helped get everything set up and worked on a little bit of everything. Michelle cooked the brownies and made sure the rest of us kept busy. Her hardest job was keeping me out of the kitchen so the others could work. So I went out and dressed the tables.

Mark Soloman was also on hand and he fired up the dishwasher and made sure everything was working properly and that all our dishes and serving equipment was clean and ready to go.

We were joined later in the day by Sharon Fishkin, Carol Calkins Mark Kane and Jake Shanks. They finished up the prep work and served the diner to the seventy to eight people who came out to support our cause.

When the donations were counted up, the event raised over $750 to wards the trip. It was a good day. Anyone wishing to make a donation can either put it in the offering plate at either of the churches or mail it to First Baptist and designate it to "Mission Trip 2009" in the memo line.

Here are a few photos to give you a glimpse into the fun we had.

Sunday School is for all!

On Friday nights the Lord Glory Methodist Church is meeting at our church for Christian Education this Fall. They hope to develop a Sunday School for their children down the road. Right now they are training the teachers and getting ready for the next step.

Last night I had the honor of addressing their teachers and sharing my thoughts on why Sunday School and Christian Education are important. I had to think about what I was going to say and it helped reinforce what I believe. It also reminded me why I push the Sunday School at our church. I think all of our children ought to be enrolled. I also think more adults ought to set an example and be in classes as well. It isn't only about learning the Bible and what it says. Sunday School also helps us integrate our faith into every day living.

So what do you say? Why not join us this week?

Here is a picture of the Lord Glory teachers and me to the right.

Cal

Feeding the hungry families in our community

This morning I was blessed to be present at the Wildwood Christian School's chapel service. This Fall we were chosen as the recipient of their Annual Mission project emphasis. The kids will be raising money for our food Pantry and working with us in the Interfaith Luncheon.

At the Chapel service I received a check for $400 from one of the students and then helped give out awards to those participated in last week's walk-a-thon. The kids raised over $1400 for the pantry. An overwhelming percentage of the kids participated in the walk last Thursday and they were excited to be putting their faith in action.

One little girl donated the proceeds from her piggy bank. She had been saving for two years and the total amounted to about $50. Her parents asked her if she was sure she wanted to use it for this and she said absolutely, without any reservations.

This is good news for us. Last Spring we reached a crisis point when our pantry started costing more money than we were bringing in through our Deacon's offerings and food donations. It appeared we were going to have to shut it down and send the 7 - 10 families elsewhere that we support each month. We prayed about it and talked about it and this has come as the answer to prayer.

In a totally unrelated conversation with the folks involved in the Missional Church project, we discussed developing partnerships to do ministry in our community. Then this happens. I think God is trying to tell us something. We don't have to do it alone.

The other good news concerning our pantry is the fact that Jeannine Pestey is getting excited about a fund raiser for it as well. She has organized a day of scrap booking to raise funds for it. On October 18 we will open up our Fellowship Hall for a group of hobbyists who will spend the day working and sharing in their interests. All the proceeds from this event will go to support the food pantry.

So it is true. "Ask and it will be given."


Cal

Getting ready for a special day

This morning I met Adele to talk about this week end's worship service. Every once in a while we collaborate on which hymns to pick and how the order of service should flow. Because we have a baptism planned, there will be some special elements in the service. The choir will sing "Come Be Baptized" as Luis and Ashley come forward. The Praise team will also share a special song written by our own Steve Contois.

We chose three hymns that go along with everything happening. One of Adele's favorites is "To God Be The Glory" and that will be one of them. (See! I do let her get her way sometimes :-).

I think it will be a nice service. We are also beginning our 40 Days of Purpose theme and I'll be preaching on subjects highlighted in Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life. My sermon is entitled, "You Were Not An Accident" and it will be the first in a series of six on the theme.

We will also have books available for those who want to read more on the subject and special Bible studies for those folks that want to go even deeper. The Bible Studies will be held on Sunday nights at 6:00 p.m., Wednesday nights at 7:00 p.m. and on Thursday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. for the next six weeks beginning on Sunday. Each session will begin with a reflection by Rick Warren and then jump off to a discussion on the themes of that week.

You might want to get to church a little early this week because each of our new members (Ashley, Luis, Pam and James Smith) will be inviting a few friends so we will probably have a pretty good number of people present.

Karen Barber is organizing coffee, cider and light refreshments after the service. Give her a call if you want to help or bring along a little snack to share.

Cal

Good times: Music at FBC

Music at First Baptist is fun. Last night we had our weekly choir rehearsal and there were lots of laughs and lots of good feeling as we practiced the anthems we will be singing in the coming weeks. I don't know if every choir has as much fun as we do, but they should.

The group works hard every week but they also enjoy getting together with each other. That's good because being part of the choir demands a commitment. It means rehearsing regularly and being available on Sunday mornings from September through June. Last night we celebrated the birthdays of Nancy Allen, Helen Walker and Lori Lord during our break. Yeah, we take breaks too so we can have a hot or cold drink and a snack.

This year we have two new members so far. Shawn Rucker and Cindy Costa have jumped on board. We can use more help too if anyone reading this is interested. You don't need to be a member of the church to join. You just have ot enjoy singing God's praises.

Tonight our Praise team was practicing at the church. Thwey are going to sing on Sunday and they were working on a special song. The group usually plays on the fourth Sunday of the month and brings a little different flavor to the service. We have two guitars, Steve Contois and Cheryl Dutrumble, a bass guitar, Fred Green Sr., two vocalists, Gwyn Green and June Deptulski and a drummer, Penny Sargent. We are looking for a key board player and some more vocalists. If you are interested, please let us know. We don't pay anyone, but the Praise team has the appreciation of the whole congregation.

Cal