200 S. Church St.

Rocky Mount, NC 27804

Church Office Hours: Monday—Thursday 8:00 am—5:00 pm Friday 8:00 am—2:30 pm

Church Office (252) 446-9113

Fax (252) 446-5025

Website www.fbcrm.org

Prayer Room (252) 446-5993

First Baptist Child Care Center (252) 446-7416

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Pastor’s

Article

2

Church

Staff

2

Children’s

Choirs

3

TeamKID & KOGS

MOPS

4

TLUSA & AHG

Men’s Conference

5

Women’s

Events

6

Calendar 7

First Baptist News S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4 R O C K Y M O U N T , N C

Knowing God, Making God Known, and Becoming like His Son, Jesus Christ, through Worship, Bible Study, and Ministry

First

Baptist

Church

Combined Worship Labor Day Sunday, August 31

& Sunday, September 21 (On September 21: Welcome New Members and celebrate with the ordinances of Baptism and Lord’s Supper)

Sunday School—9:00 am Worship—10:30 am

P A G E 2

Second only to Billy Graham . . .

Francis Schaeffer-cont’d

We’ve consider the life and leg-

acy of Francis Schaeffer over

the past few newsletters. Along

with other giants in the faith, we

are seeking to discover those

qualities that made his life so

impacting in the late twentieth

century. It is clear that Christ

had called him, anointed him,

and gifted him to address the

“spirit of the age” with both rig-

orous and compelling argu-

ments and a winsome tone.

This is not an easy combination

to accomplish. It is all too easy

to develop an air-tight, logical

case for the Christian faith, yet

fail to deliver it in a way that is

gracious. I’ve witnessed far too

many Christians succumb to an

argumentative posture and fail

to gain an audience. On the oth-

er side, tragically, it is often the

case that Christians greet their

ideological opponents with

kindness, yet fail in the content

and persuasiveness of their posi-

tions.

What Schaeffer taught us,

among many other things, was

that the Christian can engage his

surrounding culture with both a

cogent case for the Christian

faith and a winsome demeanor!

In 1 Peter 3: 15 we see this ap-

proach to communicating the

gospel held out as the ideal.

“…sanctify Christ as Lord in

your hearts, always being ready

to give a reason to everyone who

asks you to give an account for

the hope that is in you, yet with

gentleness and

reverence….”

Schaeffer was

a living embodi-

ment of this

text. He was

able to give a

“reason,” and

yet, he was able

to do it with

gentleness and

reverence. The

church stands to learn a great

deal from this twentieth-century

ambassador of the Christian faith.

How so? We must work tirelessly

to understand our surrounding

culture’s arguments against the

faith, develop sound and valid

responses to those arguments,

and then develop an approach

that is gentle and respectful.

J.I. Packer’s appraisal of Dr.

Schaeffer is telling in this regard.

He says about Francis, “…he felt,

F I R S T B A P T I S T N E W S

Church Staff

Dennis Darville

Lead Pastor

Larry Curtis

Pastor of Education & Admin.

Jim Alley

Pastor of Music & Worship

Mike Avery

Pastor of Families with Students

Tim Griffin

Pastor of Families with Children

Stephen Weeks

Pastor of College Students

Bob Britt

Homebound Visitation

Mary Helen Batten

Receptionist/ Admin. Assistant

Nina Daughtridge

Music Assistant

Kayla Dozier

Admin. Assistant

Jewell Pullen

Financial Secretary

Faye Strickland

Facilities Director

Beth Thompson

Office Manager

“...the Christian

can engage his

surrounding

culture with

both a cogent

case for the

Christian faith

and a winsome

demeanor!”

Francis Schaeffer Rev. Dennis Darville

P A G E 3

focused, and dwelt on the dignity and

tragedy of sinful human beings rather than

their grossness and nastiness.” What

Packer is pointing to, primarily, was

Schaeffer’s twin abilities to address his

opponents’ unbelief with sound

arguments while treating

them with deep and

lasting respect.

I’ve often wondered

how he was able to

do this over multi-

ple decades; espe-

cially the sixties

with all its venom

towards the Chris-

tian world and life

view. I am convinced it

was because he had worked

hard at developing his approach

to those outside the Christian faith from

the truths found in Scripture.

Dr. Schaeffer had developed an acute

awareness that mankind, yes, even fallen

humanity, was made in the image of God.

Consequently, he did not begin with their

“depraved state” but rather began by look-

ing at his opponents as “image bearers”

who were tarnished by sin and in need of

grace. In other words, he began with Gen-

esis 1 and not Genesis 3. That

is, he began with their dig-

nity as image bearers

without losing sight

of their plight as sin-

ners.

Hopefully, the

church will contin-

ue his legacy of

communicating the

gospel with these

“twin ideals.” Hope-

fully, a commitment to

precise arguments and polite

conversations will once again find its way

into the Church!

“…he (Schaffer) felt,

focused, and dwelt on the

dignity and tragedy

of sinful human beings

rather than their grossness

and nastiness.”

Children’s Choirs begin

Wednesday, September 3

We are looking forward to sharing God’s love through music

Cherub Choir (4 yrs.—Kindergarten)

Room E202

Music Makers (3rd Grade)

Room E300

Sonshine Choir (1st—2nd Grade)

Room E201A

Young Musicians (4th—5th Grade)

Room E300

P A G E 4

ON SUNDAYS 6-7:30 pm

Beginning September 7

ON WEDNESDAYS 6-7 pm

Beginning September 3

For children

4 yrs.—5th Grade See page 3 of this newsletter

for all the details

For Preschoolers

2-3 yrs.

FMC—M102

For children

3 yrs.—Kindergarten FMC—M102

For 1st—5th Graders FMC—3rd floor

(large activity room)

What is MOPS? MOPS, Mothers of Preschoolers is a grassroots movement that exists to

encourage the hearts of moms of children from birth to kindergarten.

Where & When? FBC Fellowship Hall from 7 –9 pm

Sept. 23, Oct. 14, 28, Nov. 11, 25 and Dec. 9

More Info & Registration? Registration forms will be available at FBC on Sunday morning or visit

www.rockymountmops.wordpress.com and check us out on FB at

MOPS: Rocky Mount

P A G E 5

Begins September 11 Helping you recover from the pain of separation and divorce.

This support group meets weekly on Thursdays at 7 pm. Please contact

Judy Hobbs or call the church office for registration information.

Men’s

Conference

Registration

is Extended.

P A G E 6

w w w . f b c r m . o r g

Sundays 8:00 am Televised Morning Worship

(WHIG Channel 17)

8:15 am Contemporary Worship Service

9:00 am Church Library open until 10:00 am

9:30 am Bible Study

11:00 am Worship Service

6:00 pm Orchestra Rehearsal

Mondays 10:45 am Inspiration Singers (Choir suite)

12:00 pm Community Basketball Outreach 7:00 pm Praise Team Rehearsal

Tuesdays 6:30 am Women’s Prayer Groups

9:00 am Staff meeting

Women’s Bible Study

10:00 am Women’s Prayer Group

1:00 pm Stephen Ministry (1st & 3rd Wks M103)

6:00 pm Handbell Rehearsal

6:30 pm Alpha at Fountain Correctional

Trail Life USA & American Heritage Girls

Wednesdays 10:00 am EQUIP for Interns (E200)

3:00 pm Church Library open until 6:00 pm

COOL Kids (FMC)

5:00 pm Fellowship Meal

6:00 pm Nursery for Birth—1 yr. (M105 & M101)

Mission Friends for 2 yrs.—3 yrs.

Cherub Choir for 4 yrs.—K (E202)

Sonshine Choir for Grades 1 &2 (E201a)

Music Makers for Grade 3 (E300)

Young Musicians for Grades 4-5 (E307)

Crossroads for Grades 6-12 (M301)

Prayer Meeting for adults (Fell. Hall)

7:10 pm Adult Choir Rehearsal

Women’s Bible Study (M203)

Thursdays 6:30 am Men’s Prayer Group (Choir room)

12:30 pm Prison Ministry

3:00 pm COOL Kids (FMC)

7:30 pm The Bridge (Wesleyan College)

REGULAR WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

31

Combined Schedule 9 am Sunday School 10:30 am Worship

1 Labor Day Church office closed

2 3

Children’s Choirs Resume @ 6 pm (see page 3)

4 5 6

7

Creation & Evolution (6 pm—Sanctuary)

8 Forever Young Lunch.

(11:30 am—Fell. Hall) Fountain Chaplaincy (6 pm—AT Room) Adult SS Ldr. Orientation (6 pm—Fell. Hall)

9

Sr. Adult Council (2 pm—AT Room)

10 Called church confer-ence @ 6pm Re: Sale of remaining Country Club Property.

11 12 13

14

Deacons’ Meeting (4 pm—M201) Creation & Evolution (6 pm—Sanctuary)

15 The Square - 6:30

pm AAA parking lot

Inspiration Singers Rehearsal (6:30 pm—Choir Room)

16

17

18

19 20

21Combined Sched.

9 am Sunday School 10:30 am Worship Creation & Evolution (6 pm—Sanctuary)

22 23

COOL Kids Open

House (5-7 pm—FMC)

MOPS for MOMS (7 pm—Fell. Hall)

24 COOL Kids Resumes (3 pm—FMC)

25 COOL Kids Resumes (3 pm—FMC)

26 27

28 Jeffrey Cranford

Links Player Intern’l (AM worship services) Creation & Evolution (6 pm—Sanctuary)

29 30 The Square - 6:30 pm AAA parking lot

September 2014

Operation Faithful Men—Camp Willow Run