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First Baptist Church

Means of Grace at Christmas

Written by David Tyra

We didn’t get to celebrate Easter at church the way we wanted, because of the coronavirus pandemic. We probably won’t get to celebrate Christmas at church the way we would like to, either. But we still celebrated Easter, and we’ll celebrate Christmas, too. Those two holidays mark the “bookends” of the Christian faith. Christmas celebrates the Incarnation, when God became a man in the form of Jesus of Nazareth. And Easter celebrates Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, after He paid for our sins by dying on the cross (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Christmas is the beginning of the Easter story, and Easter completes the story begun at Christmas.

The word Christmas means literally “the Christ mass”.  It is the service at Christmastime in which liturgical churches celebrate The Eucharist, or what we call The Lord’s Supper. The word mass comes from the Latin word missa, which means “dismissal”. At the end of the service the priest would say “Ite, missa est” (or, “Go; it is the dismissal”). In time, that word came to mean the entire church service.

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Newsletter

Weekly Update for Sunday, November 29, 2020

Written by web admin

This Sunday is the first Sunday of the Advent season.

We have a special guest with us this Sunday: Beth Ann Wade, Director of Development with Pregnancy Choices, will be speaking to us for about 5 minutes in our morning service. At the close of the service there will be a special freewill offering taken for the work of Pregnancy Choices.

This Wednesday at 6:30 pm in our Bible Study series Getting to Know the Bible Better we will be looking at the book of Job. Our weekly prayer time will follow.

We will have our Annual Business Meeting on Sunday, Dec. 6. There will be a dinner following the morning service, and the meeting will take place after dinner.

Gifts intended specifically for our lighting project may be designated “Sanctuary Lights.”

Updates

Weekly Update for Sunday, November 22, 2020

Written by web admin

This Wednesday, November 25th, there will be no midweek service to allow for Thanksgiving preparations.

Sunday, November 29th will be the First Sunday of Advent. We will also have a special guest that morning: Beth Ann Wade, Director of Development with Pregnancy Choices, will be speaking to us for about 5 minutes in our morning service. At the close of the service there will be a special freewill offering taken for the work of Pregnancy Choices.

Gifts intended specifically for our lighting project may be designated “Sanctuary Lights”.

Updates

Weekly Update for Sunday, November 15, 2020

Written by web admin

There will be an Official Board Meeting this Sunday afternoon at 4:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall.

This Wednesday at 6:30 pm in our Bible Study series Getting to Know the Bible Better we will be looking at the book of Esther. Our weekly prayer time will follow.

OCC National Collection Week will take place here daily, Nov. 16-23. The process will be different this year due to Covid, and prayer would be appreciated for all those volunteering and participating during that time.

Sunday, November 29th will be the First Sunday of Advent. We will also have a special guest that morning: Beth Ann Wade, Director of Development with Pregnancy Choices, will be speaking to us for about 5 minutes in our Announcement time. At the close of the service there will be a special freewill offering taken for the work of Pregnancy Choices.

Gifts intended specifically for our lighting project may be designated “Sanctuary Lights.”

Updates

Weekly Update for Sunday, November 8, 2020

Written by web admin

James 2:18 says “…I will show you my faith by my works.” This Sunday at 6:00 pm in the Fellowship Hall we will have an opportunity to show our faith by helping to pack Shoebox Gifts for Operation: Christmas Child. Each box will touch a child and a family somewhere in the world with the Gospel of Jesus. Plus: It’s a lot of fun to pack Shoebox gifts! We have made allowances for social distancing. Come out and box with the Baptists!

This Wednesday at 6:30 pm in our Bible Study series Getting to Know the Bible Better we will be looking at the book of Nehemiah. Our weekly prayer time will follow.

There will be an Official Board Meeting next Sunday, November 15th at 4:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall.

Gifts intended specifically for our lighting project may be designated “Sanctuary Lights”.

Updates

Nothing Is Ever Simple

Written by David Tyra

There is a reason we have Deacons and other boards and committees. Proverbs 24:6 says “…for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.” A good idea can be made better by the input and perspective of others.  And what seems to be a good idea at first can be revealed to have some serious flaws when it is discussed and prayed over with others.

Back on June 28th of this year I said something in my Sunday morning message that seemed like a good idea at the time. Actually, it seemed like a great idea. It also was a good illustration for the passage I was preaching on, Luke 8:20-26, where Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. And blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.” We looked at the reality that being poor or hungry isn’t necessarily a guarantee of sainthood. Poor people can be mean old sinners, too, and the hunger Jesus was talking about was a spiritual hunger for righteousness. Nevertheless, people are poor, and hunger is an ongoing problem, even here in America. It’s hard to talk to people about Jesus when their stomachs are empty.

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Newsletter

Weekly Update for Sunday, November 1, 2020

Written by web admin

The evening of Sunday, November 1st, our church will host the 50th Annual Meeting of the West Central Baptist Association. There will be two sessions: the first at 4:00 pm, followed by a dinner in our Fellowship Hall; then the second session after we eat. The two main sessions will consist of: a time of worship music; the presentation of reports and items for the Association to vote on; more worship music; and then a message. Pastor David will be preaching in the first session. Pastor Scott Kallem of New Life Baptist in Greencastle will be preaching in the second session. We have plenty of room to spread out in our sanctuary and worship together with our brothers and sisters from churches all across West Central Indiana.

This Wednesday at 6:30 pm in our Bible Study series Getting to Know the Bible Better we will be looking at the book of Ezra. Our weekly prayer time will follow.

Any gifts intended specifically for our lighting project may be designated “Sanctuary Lights”.

OCC Packing Party: Sunday, November 8, 6:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall.

Official Board Meeting: Sunday, November 15, 4:30 PM.

Updates

Weekly Update for Sunday, October 25, 2020

Written by web admin

This Wednesday at 6:30 pm we will be watching Episode 7 of The Chosen, titled “Invitations”.

Any gifts intended specifically for our lighting project may be designated “Sanctuary Lights”.

Franklin Graham has called for a day of prayer and fasting for our nation today, Sunday, Oct. 25th. Next Sunday, Nov. 1st, we will have a special time of prayer for our country in our morning worship service, and in the combined worship services with the West Central Baptist Association that evening. However you choose to pray, please remember to pray for our troubled country.

Next Sunday, Nov. 1st, our church will host the 50th Annual Meeting of the West Central Baptist Association. There will be 2 sessions: the first at 4 pm, followed by a dinner in our Fellowship Hall; then the second session after we eat. The sessions will consist of a time of worship; the presentation of Association matters; and a message. Pastor David will preach in the first session. Pastor Scott Kallem of New Life Baptist in Greencastle will preach in the second session. We have plenty of room to spread out in our sanctuary and worship together with our brothers and sisters in the W.C.B.A.

OCC Packing Party: Sunday, November 8, 6:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall.

Updates