|
|
||||
November Pastor's ParagaphsDear Friends, Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Theologian Henri J. M. Nouwen once said,
Indeed, it is a real truth that we can Choose to be joyful, or not. I love the idea of gratitude as a Discipline. As something we make a conscious effort towards. God calls us to make a Decision to be thankful. As I look at my own life, there are certainly trials and difficulties that I can focus on. Some days, they are mighty tempting. But God has also given me enormous blessings, one of which is most certainly the honor of serving as pastor here at First Baptist. Does that mean that every day being a pastor is a breeze? No way. But every day is an amazing blessing when I approach the day with gratitude. This Thanksgiving season, may you too have your eyes opened to all you have been given, and may you live with an Attitude of Gratitude. With Thanks and Praise, Pastor Steph Neighbors Club & AuctionOn Saturday, November 18th at 5pm, the NEIGHBORS club will be holding their annual chicken supper and auction. The tickets may be purchased after church but there us a limit to how many people can be seated for the dinner. Therefore, get your tickets early. The cost of the tickets is $7.00 for adults and $4.50 for children. Clyde Folsom will once again be the auctioneer. Clyde is looking for good things to sell and is hoping that people who have yard sale type items will save them for our 3rd Annual church Yard Sale next summer. Pastor Stephanie has promised to "sell" 2 sermons on a subject to be determined by the high bidders. Remember Sam's sermon on Victoria's Secret? The auction can also be used as an excuse to invite people from outside our church to see our congregation in action having fun. For those of you who don't know about the NEIGHBORS, the are a group within the church who meet in the evening on the 3rd Tuesday of each month and everyone is invited. Besides a (very) loose organizational structure, they meet for fellowship, food and to help people in need. The needs may be financial, but can often be something else which they will try to take care of. The group tries to help people within the church and also people outside the church as well. They also sponsor the Annual Bus Trip in the fall which has become a Have-To-Attend event for many people. The next meeting for the NEIGHBORS will be a Hamilton's home in Hermon Hanging of the GreensOn Sunday, November 26th at 5 pm, we will have our annual Hanging of the Greens. Bring money for pizza and the Diaconate will supply cookies. This will be an informal time of decorating, food and fellowship. What a great way to kick off the Christmas Season here at FBC. Christian Ed, HappeningsWe have had a great start to a busy and successful fall season here at FBC. We started it off with an outing to Treworgy Farms on October 1st. Those who went had a wonderful time and great weather to boot! For the Christmas season we are planning a Children's Christmas Pageant to be held on Dec. 3rd during the morning worship. Hannah Tapley is the coordinator of this and she will be sending information home to families soon. Our Sunday school mission project for Christmas is similar to last year where we will be giving presents to some needy children in the Bangor area. Look for more information to be sent home on this in the near future also. Our annual Family Swim night has been scheduled. It will be held on March 3rd. Swim time will be from 5-6 pm and hopefully the PAL center will once again be available for us to use for pizza and fellowship following the swim. Mark your calendars now for a fun evening! We are still looking for one or two volunteers to head up next summer's VBS program! No experience necessary. It's a lot of fun and even more fun with 2 people. In anyone is interested in being a part of this busy but fun committee starting in January 2007 please see Hannah Tapley or any other member of Christian Ed. We will have 2 openings! Some thoughts on STEWARDSHIPIt is the time of year when the church boards are preparing their budget proposals for 2007 and you are asked to consider your commitment to First Baptist, both in what you can commit financially and what you can commit in time, energy and creativity. There is a prayer that goes something like this:
Seen on a church sign--"Tithe if you love Jesus! Anyone can honk!" FBC Youth Choir Working towards NJThe FBC Youth Choir has gone past the halfway point in fundraising for their Choir Tour in June of 2007. With a few more fundraisers planned, they are now working on reducing their own individual contributions. They have raised money from performances, a bake sale, the dessert concert/silent auction, bottle/can drive, candy sales, and the recent booth at the ABCOM annual session. In addition the Youth Choir has received several generous donations. Future activities include a fundraiser at Pizzeria Uno on Dec. 7 and the Oriental Jade Fundraiser. In addition, the choir has been busy singing at the ABCOM Annual Session and plans other performances at Westgate Nursing home during the holiday season and at local area churches in the Spring as they prepare their tour musical “Yes, I Believe.” However, you can hear them right here at FBC in the next few weeks. The Youth Choir wants to thank their FBC family for their love and support.
If You Donated A Storm Window For The Church . . .Many of those who purchased new storm windows for the church will have an opportunity to tag their Christmas trees after church on either November the 5th or November the 12th. This is being done early because it is not very easy to select trees covered with snow. Please contact Bob Frank at church to make arrangements. Remember it gets dark early in November. The place is at the Frank's home in Hampden. Strong Season for FBC XC RunnersSix of our FBC Youth participated in Cross-Country for Bangor High this fall. Stephen Salinas, Seth Livingstone, Juliet Cobb, Hillary Dubois, Jenny Smith & Sarah Livingstone all competed on the Varsity or Junior Varsity teams. Juliet, Hillary & Jenny competed on the JV squad, running in various invitational events. Stephen was a big factor in helping the boy’s varsity qualify for the State meet at the recent Eastern Regional XC Meet in Belfast. Although injuries ended their season early, Sarah & Seth still managed to compete at the Caribou and Wolverine Invitationals. You can check out all their results at: http://sub5.com/pvcxc/home.htm
Music CommitteeThe Music Committee is still trying to fill the Choir director/Organist position. This is a paid position. We have been blessed with two very good interim musicians who have temporarily stepped in to help out but we do need to find someone to do the job on a permanent basis. If you know of anyone who might be the person or even have any contacts within your circle of friends or business associates please let someone on the committee know.
Newsletter Contacts: Any submissions for the newsletter may be delivered to the church office or any member of the Publicity Committee: John Cheney, Pam Levesque or Ned Salinas or emailed to newsletter@fbcbangor.org. The deadline for the December Messenger is Sun., Nov. 19. |
