The Messenger F ir s t Bap t i s t Church

September 2019

Volume , Issue

Wednesdays Children’s Ministry: GPS: Grow. Play. Serve. We hope that your children will experience growth, fun and play, and service opportunities while engaging with us and each other this coming year. The program will follow the school calendar as usual and will officially begin on Wednesday, September 4th.

2:30 Pickup at school and Snack for Grades K-5 3:00 Play/Fun Time 3:30 GPS – Bible Buddies/Music 4:15 Groups switch in GPS 5:00 Homework Time 5:30 Supper

6:00 Children’s Choir for K-5; Mission Friends & Cherub Choir for Preschool Please contact the church office for more information or enrollment.

Wednesday Nights Resume! Our Wednesday night suppers will officially begin on September 4th! The cost of the dinner will be $4 for adults and $2 for children (other than covered dish meals). Please call the church office to place yourself on the permanent dinner list!

Our schedule will be:

5:30 p.m. Family Night Supper 6:00 p.m. Children’s Choirs (Grades K-5); Mission Friends & Cherub Choir for

Preschool 6:15 p.m. Adult Bible Study 7:30 p.m. Sanctuary Choir Rehearsal Please note that we will dismiss programs by 7 p.m. to help children and youth to be home at an earlier hour.

Scriptural Foundations and Pot Luck Lunch

September 22, 2019 - Immediately after Worship

The Building Team invites everyone to help ensure that Scripture is part of our foundation - literally! We will be writing Bible verses on the subfloors in the building that represent the ministries to go in that room. Sunday school classes may choose a verse that matters to them, the choir may choose a verse about music ministry, etc. We invite everyone to begin to think of appropriate verses for your ministry areas! Join us September 22nd and bring dishes for a pot luck lunch as we break bread together!

We hope our recent progress has you excited! Please join us on September 22nd to make sure we have the right foundations!

GROW.PLAY.SERVE.

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Tools for Scriptural Foundations…

The B-I-B-L-E, Yes, that’s the book for me, I stand alone on the Word of God, The B-I-B-L-E.

As I write this, I just was outside the sanctuary as the brick masons finished preparing the walls for the roof trusses. Over the next few weeks, a roof will be finally be ours again!

As I’ve watched, I’ve noticed the large variety of different tools they used. Jan and I learned a long time ago doing DIY home improvement projects that having the right tool for the right job is critical—and easier. It saves so much time to have the right tool! And, if you only have a hammer, lots of jobs will get really messy. As the old proverb says, if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

We have a unique event planned for September 22nd. As it states on the newsletter front page, we are holding an event called Scriptural Foundations. Along with a covered dish dinner and presentations about our building progress, we will spend some time literally writing Scriptures on the subfloors in the building. We will let members write on the floors maybe near their old seats or their Sunday school class or the nursery for their children or the choir room. Our Communications Team of the Building Team had this idea some time ago and gave it this beautiful title: Scriptural Foundations.

I love that title! It’s inspiring to think of our building having a literal foundation of Scripture. More importantly, I think of our lives having a foundation of Scripture. Jesus’ parable of the foolish and wise builders in the Sermon on the Mount comes to mind. (Matthew 7:24-27)

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

With this theme of Scriptural Foundations, I feel led to preach about the Bible—its makeup and structure.—because I want us to have the right tools. Sadly, too many people come to the Bible with only a hammer and make everything look like a nail. Just like the people building our building need a variety of tools to understand their work, we need a variety of tools to understand the depths of God’s Word.

Just like a good DIY project is made easier with the right tools, so too is understanding the Bible. Without the right tools, we can make some serious mistakes with the Bible. There are multiple tools to interpret the Bible. It starts with a good translation. Closely connected to that is what we call textual analysis to understand the words closest to the original. There is historical analysis where we ask what was happening then that impacted what they tell us.

Now lets be clear, you can do a ton of projects with a hammer. It’s an essential tool. But if it’s your only tool, you’re almost assuredly going to make a big mess. The same is true with the Bible. Please join us over the next few months as we gain some more tools to build our Scriptural Foundations.

Grace and peace, Kendell Cameron

Gifts Given to the Building Fund

• In memory of Bunnie Sawyer by Charlie Sawyer (She would have celebrated her 100th birthday this year)

• In memory of Max Beckham by Verna Jo Ellis, Martha McClure • In memory of Helen Lowe by Martha McClure, Verna Jo Ellis, Aubrey & Brenda Horton • In memory of Barbara Craig by Dickie & Lou Ann Thomas • In memory of Walter Batchelor by Dickie & Lou Ann Thomas • In memory of Becky Thompson by Carlton & Cecelia Broome • In memory of Elizabeth Friday Broome by Frederic & Betty Marble

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• Pat Collier & Family in the death of her Brother • The Family of Helen Lowe • The Family of Frances Craig • The Family of Peggy Gray

1 - Josh & Celeste Orr 3 - Bill & Anne Gary, David & Diane Helton, Lanny Ray & Lancy Rhyne 15 - Leslie & Mary Lou Davis 21 - Bob & Cindi Laughlin 25 - Phillip & Brooke Elting 26 - David & Shandi Botsko 28 - Bill & Linda Piercy

2- Randy McLean 3-Jonathan Hawkins, Ella Hilderbran, Ethan Hilderbran 6-Jerry Causby 7-Meredith Gaddis 8-Anna Czekaj, Tyler Helton, Scott Poole, Lanny Ray 9-Mary Collier, Mattie Hough, Jimmy Little, Brenda Orren 11-Spencer Childers

12-Beth Brooks, Keith McQuarrie 14-Stephen Morton 15-Elaine Lindsey, Mandy Missak, Sheri Ratliff, Corey Rhyne, Ted Sellers 20-Stella Weeks 22-Linda Medley, Ava Sisk 23-Wade McLain 25-Charles Blair, Caroline Czekaj, Mary Lou Harkey 26-Chandler Burleson, Pam Burleson, Beverly Caldwell, Peter Haley, Diane Helton 27-Becky Hodges, Evelyn Rodden 28-Leslie Burleson

Homebound Ministry

Please remember in prayer our homebound members. List of addresses are available in the church office if you feel led to connect with them.

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FBC,

Thank you so much for granting me a generous scholarship! Since I was in 7th grade, y’all have welcomed me into this church and treated me like family. I very much plan to apply all the faith and wisdom this church has instilled in me as I enter this next chapter of my life. Jessica Medlin

Dear Church Family,

I would like to personally say thank you for gifting me with such an amazing scholarship. I couldn't imagine where I would be without y’all and your constant love and support! Once again thank you for everything! It means more than you will ever know! Love, Blake Harrison

FBC Mt. Holly,

Thank you all for the church scholarship I was given for school! I also want to thank you all for being so welcoming and loving towards me over the years and allowing me to be a part of this wonderful church family. Love you all, meant it! Zach Green

College Student Addresses Please help us to make sure we have an up to date list of addresses for all our college students. Please send those addresses to Paige Sisk at alto2lady@gmail.com so we can

continue to minister to our students while they are away!

News from Jubilant Seniors

9/12 thru 9/15/2019

"The Story of Jesus," Tour of Amish Farmland, Museum of the Bible

and so much more!

Watch for news of our Spring 2020 extended trip. Having you along would make our trips even more fun!

Grace and Peace, Pam Surratt, Jubilant Seniors Leader

A big Thank You to everyone who volunteered this summer to make our Terrific Tuesdays a

success and a special Thank You to Beverly Wrenn for stepping up and offering a program for

our youngest children.

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Sing a New Song to the Lord!

This past March, our congregation welcomed hymnologist, Dr. Michael Hawn, for a weekend retreat that

explored hymns and congregational song from a variety of traditions. Besides the embarrassing stories he told

of his former student (your Minister of Music), and the inspiring demonstration of accordion performance, we

learned about the Seven Streams of hymnody — a metaphor for sorting different genres of Christian music —

so that we can better understand what we sing, why we continue to sing our songs, and discover the songs of

others.

On Sunday, September 15th, we will revisit the Seven Streams idea through a hymn festival in worship entitled:

Sing a New Song to the Lord! The title here is an allusion to Psalm 96:

O sing to the Lord a new song;

sing to the Lord, all the earth.

2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;

tell of his salvation from day to day.

3 Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous works among all the peoples.

Does the psalmist intend that we are to only sing songs that have been written in the most recent 5–10 years? I

don’t think so. Perhaps what is new to me, is old to someone else. Maybe something new is from another place

in the world or another tradition that’s just down the street.

It is also important to recognize the diversity in our own congregation. We all meet together at the First Baptist

Church of Mount Holly now, but for many, this hasn’t been our only place of Christian community. Some of us

(myself included) have been a part of Methodist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, or other

denominational bodies that all have valuable songs to sing.

Our congregation’s diversity in generations, denominational heritage, and musical expression is a beautiful

tapestry of people that only God could weave together. I hope you’ll join me in celebrating our own song, as

well as the songs of others on September 15th.

In Christ,

Taylor Vancil

Welcome to our newest members

Ricky & Lou Ann Russell

Join our Music Ministry at First Baptist!

Sanctuary Choir — Adult choir meets on Wednesday evenings for rehearsal at 7:15 p.m. Sing’s 24 Sunday’s per year. Fall and Spring retreats (on and off campus) and a variety of social gatherings outside of rehearsal.

Adult Handbells — Meet on Sunday afternoons at 5:00 p.m.. Play in worship 4-6 times per year. Some experience in ringing or in reading music required.

Youth Choir — Any youth from 6th-12th grade — rehearses Sundays from 6:30-7:30p.m.. Several retreats during the year. Summer trip to St. Louis in 2020!

Youth Handbells — Any youth from 6th-12th grade — rehearses Sunday’s from 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.. Play in worship 4 times per year. No requisite experience needed.

Children’s Choir — Kindergarten through 5th grade — rehearses Wednesdays from 6:00-6:45 p.m. Sing in worship monthly. Spring musical in 2020!

Children’s after school instrumental class — Join us at GPS on Wednesdays from 3:00-5:30 p.m. to learn a variety of instruments including ukulele, handbells, drumming, and much more!

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The Personnel Team is excited to announce that Gina Hough has agreed to serve as our Interim Minister of Children. Gina comes to us with years of experience as a classroom teacher and children's ministry leader in multiple capacities.

Gina will start in our GPS program after Labor Day. Her compensation will be that of the Minister of Children’s salary in the budget.

With Gina in place, the Personnel Team can start a deliberate search for our next long term candidate. We also are still searching for one more nursery worker. The team can also report that we have completed our annual staff evaluations.

Thank you to Bill Gary who has served as our chair for several years and also to Julia Benfield for her service. We look forward to moving forward with new team members as we serve together.

September Assistants

September 1 - Children stay in church

September 8 - Nancy Wrenn

September 15 - Leah Allen

September 22 - Volunteer Needed

September 29 - Volunteer Needed

Worship At A Glance September 1 - Dr. Kendell Cameron preaching Acts 22-23, Paul: Boldness of the Truth September 8 - Dr. Kendell Cameron preaching Luke 7:11-13, The Bible: It’s All Greek to Me September 15 - Hymn Festival September 22 - Dr. Kendell Cameron preaching 2 Timothy 3:16-17, The Bible: I Have the Right Bible, Right? September 29 - Dr. Kendell Cameron preaching Mark 16, The Bible: Which Came First?

July 2019 Record Totals Total Receipts $44,792 Bldg. Fund $3,115 Bldg. Fund YTD $23,731 Other Designated $13,799 Other Designated YTD $50,279 2019 Budget $446,761 Avg. Needs – 7/31 $260,611 Budget Receipts YTD $221,311

First Baptist Church PO Box 385 Mount Holly, NC 28120

704-827-2481 Staff: Kendell Cameron, Senior Pastor, 704-214-1022

kendell@fbcmtholly.org Cathy Holland, Music Associate Kim Payne, Administrative Assistant,

kim@fbcmtholly.org Taylor Vancil, Minister of Music, 336-549-0832

taylor@fbcmtholly.org

Church Office Hours 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday

8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday

Closed for Lunch from 12:00-1:00 p.m.

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Service Opportunities

September Nursery Volunteers Sunday School (Infants) September John & Kasey Petersen Sunday Morning Worship (Infants) Sept. 1 – Volunteers Needed Sept. 8 – Meredith Gaddis Sept. 15 – Sydney Sisk Sept. 22 – Volunteers Needed Sept. 29– Volunteers Needed Sunday Morning Worship (Toddlers) Sept. 1 – Amanda Choren Sept. 8 – Melissa Green Sept. 16 – Volunteers Needed

Sept. 22 – Ann Little Sept. 29 - Volunteers Needed

Church Security Sept. 2-8: Ken Fortsch Sept. 9-15: Jim Benfield Sept. 16-22: Gary Farmer Sept. 23-29: Corey Rhyne Sept. 30 - Oct. 6: Richard Flowers

September Adult Class Teaching Schedule Sept. 1 – A Centered Life, Matthew 6:25-34, Aubrey Horton Sept. 8 – A Daily Pursuit, Philippians 4:4-9, Aubrey Horton Sept. 15 – The Key to Contentment, Philippians 4:10-20, David Helton

Sept. 22 – Godly Contentment, 1 Timothy 6:6-11; 17-19, David Helton Sept. 29 –A Slower Pace, Exodus 20:8-11; 31:12-17, Pam Miller

Wednesday Night Suppers Sept. 4 - Pizza Sept. 11 - Sandwiches Sept. 18 - Chick-Fil-A Sept. 25 - Ham