wiinter non profit org. first baptist church · -gregg, diane, ainslee, and eli hemmen. december...
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Trust in the Lord!
RCFBC.ORG
First Baptist Church
707 St Patrick St
Rapid City, SD 57701
Non Profit Org.Non Profit Org.Non Profit Org. U.S. PostageU.S. PostageU.S. Postage
PAIDPAIDPAID
Rapid City, SDRapid City, SDRapid City, SD
PERMIT NO. 307PERMIT NO. 307PERMIT NO. 307
Return Service Requested
9:00am 9:00am 9:00am --- WorshipWorshipWorship
10:15am 10:15am 10:15am --- Feasting on the WordFeasting on the WordFeasting on the Word
Every Sunday!Every Sunday!Every Sunday!
Worship on Wednesday
5:30pm - 6:00pm - Dinner
6:00pm-6:40pm - Adult Choir Practice
6:00pm-7:30pm - Children’s Classes
6:00pm-7:30pm - Youth Group
6:30pm-7:30pm - Adult Opportunities
6:45pm-7:30pm - Praise Team Practice
7:30pm-8:15pm - Bell Practice
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
NOTE FROM VONNIE 2
MUSINGS FROM OUR
MODERATOR
3
CHILDREN’S BAZAAR 4
CALENDAR OF EVENTS 6
CHURCH DIRECTORY 7
VANCO 8
BIRTHDAYS/
ANNIVERSARIES /
USHERS
10-11
WIINTER 2017
When you look at the picture, what’s one word that comes to mind? If you thought of the word, random, you’re not far from where my thoughts landed. The word random has penetrated pop-culture so recklessly and so thor-oughly that examples can be found in English-speaking markets all across the globe. Most likely you’ve heard someone say, “That’s so random!” Ken Ringle, from the Washington Post, declared we live in the age of random.
As an adjective, random is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as follows: “Having no definite aim or purpose; not sent or guided in a particular direction; made, done, occurring, etc., without method or conscious choice; haphazard.”
From some perspectives, the birth
of Jesus brought together a lot of ran-dom circumstances. Think about the people involved: Mary, Joseph, Eliza-beth, Zechariah, shepherds, Herod, and wise guys from a distant land. Are these all just a random collection of dis-connected lives woven into a unified story? Or is the seemingly random not so random at all?
This year during Advent, we are going to look at these characters and our own lives from this point: Perhaps the seem-ingly random circumstances of our lives are really not so random at all. While we may not have written our own life story in the way things are turning out, perhaps there’s more rhyme and rea-son to the events of our lives than we’ve seen.
I hope you’ll join us for this year’s Ad-vent series, “The Not So Random Christ-mas.”
Thank you for the privilege of serving among you!
First Baptist Church
December 2017
Message from Gregg
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Proverbs 3:5
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
A NOTE FROM VONNIE:
PAGE 2
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. (Matthew
2:10-11)
Christmas is not just about acknowledging Jesus, but adoring him. It is not first about witness, but about worship. So,
come, all ye faithful. Come, joyful and triumphant. Let us adore our Christ. But beware your standard of who can come
in worship. At Jesus' own birth, it wasn't the squeaky-clean, religious elites of biblical faith who bowed their knee in wor-
ship. Rather, they bowed their back, and it was the dirty pagans who streamed in to adore him.
All Ye Faithful We need look no further than the magi of Matthew 2 for our model of the "faithful". To call them "three
kings" is overstated. "Wise men" is a positive spin. These guys are more like sorcerers. They are star-gazing, pagan
astrologers, watching for who-knows-what in the skies, rather than the Scriptures, and God in His grace comes to them
through the very channel of their sin. Even here at Jesus' birth, he is making wizards into worshipers worldwide. Even
from the priestly class of pagan religion. Don't miss the message of the magi: If such sinners as these can approach
the Christ and fall down in worship, so may all, a stunning emblem announcing that all sinners may come.
Joyful and Triumphant Matthew piles up the joy language in the passage above so that we don't miss it. They didn't
just rejoice, but did so exceedingly. And added to that, they did so "with joy” and even more, "great joy". Perhaps we
would have thought of the shepherds in Luke 2 as the crazy emotional types, while these “wise men” keep calm and
collected. But the joy language explodes here in Matthew 2. Our wicked wizards, Matthew says, "rejoiced exceedingly
with great joy".
Come and Behold Him And such robust joy is not disconnected from their worship of the baby Jesus. Exceeding great
joy is the stuff of true adoration. The essence of worship is not physical actions and mere motions of homage. At its
heart, worship is in "spirit and truth.” But what does it mean here that the astrologers "worshiped" this child? Did they
know he was God in the flesh? It seems more is going on here. You see, "worship" is what is going on in their hearts as
they see this newborn king who will reign not only over Israel but the whole world.
We Worship All the More Since we Christians now know more, we adore Him all the more, and come to Christmas
with no less joy than these emotionally enthused magi. Our Advent worship is more like that of these star-gazing wise
men than it is that of the scrupulous Jerusalem religious elite, who know their Scriptures, but won't bow their knee. We
come as sinners, struggling, unclean, unimpressive.
But it doesn't mean we come joyless. Sinners come, even in star-gazing rebellion so great as ours, and we adore
Christ the Lord with joy rejoicing exceedingly with great joy.
Come, let us adore him.
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gifts! 2 Corinthians 9:15
Vonnie Houchin
*Excerpt from Worship Initiative
DECEMBER USHERS December 3
John Boersma
Todd Carda
Bernie & Peg Christner
Diane Kirchhevel
For questions about worship, email questions4fbc@gmail.com
PAGE 11 WIINTER 2017
Website…………………..………....www.rcfbc.org Gregg…………………..........fbcgregg@gmail.com Nate…………………...nateiswelcome@gmail.com Vonnie……………….…..…fbcvonnie@gmail.com Heidi………………………….fbcheidi@gmail.com Angela…………..……. .. firstbaptistrc@gmail.com
First Baptist
Church accepts
electronic
donations. If you
would like to
donate electronically, please
go to the church
website (www.rcfbc.org) and
follow the link!
If you have an event, announce-
ment, or anything else that you
would like included in the
January newsletter,
please send it to
Angela by 10am on
December 15th!
firstbaptistrc@gmail.com
December 10
Gary & Carol Misterek
JB Marks
Ruperto Reyes
Mike & Jeannene Woods
Mike Brewer
December 17
Lee Blanchard
Erik Olness
Cyndy Strand
December 24
John & Margie Wrede
Jerry & Linda Ross
Jeanette Nilson
Tracy Koskan
STAY CONNECTED BY E-MAIL Stay on top of
all the current events happening at First Baptist
Church with just a click! To be added to our
weekly MailChimp, fill in your email on the
welcome sheet or contact the office.
For daily inspiration and updates, make sure to
like us on Facebook.
December 31– Youth Group
Thatcher Koskan 1
Pat Shermer 2
Faith Larson 2
Tatiana Collins 3
Danielle Wiebers 4
Carly Fallat 4
Ricarte Nuno 4
Chris Bilbrey 7
Alan Johanssen 7
Lloyd Farber 8
Beau Boerman 8
Monte Hartl 8
Dennis Johnson 9
Nathan Sales 9
Jerry Ross 10
Carol Carpenter 15
Macario Sales 17
Reba Eichler 22
Ken Carpenter 23
Harold Fromm 24
John Boersma 29
John Osburn 29
Bernie Christner 31
December 17
Jerry & Linda Ross
December 29 Doug & Helen Pelton
December 30
Tim & Donna Skinner
DECEMBER ANNIVERSARIES
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare
and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS
PAGE 10
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” This quote is attributed to Mother Teresa and it came to mind as I was strolling the isles of a local department store perus-ing the toy section and won-dering what Barbie was wear-ing this year since I have a couple of young great-granddaughters. I considered the time that would be spent on the quest for gifts. I let my mind wander as I continued my journey around the store for ordinary stuff like paper towels and mittens. I thought about the gift of time--the do-ing of small things with great
love. I thought of the projects on my sewing table that will be sewn for other grand-kids. And then, I thought of our church. My mind will make connec-tions like that sometimes, as it follows a thread of thought that often has a spirit-filled ending. What came to me as I thought of our church, was a hope. A hope that while we gather around the manger as a church family during advent, we commit to giving our devo-tion to Christ. Not all of us can do great things but, because
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. Psalm 20:4
PAGE 3 WIINTER 2017
MUSINGS FROM OUR MODERATOR
Worship on Wednesday
5:30pm - 6:00pm - Dinner
6:00pm-6:40pm - Adult Choir Practice
6:00pm-7:30pm - Children’s Classes
6:00pm-7:30pm - Youth Group
6:30pm-7:30pm - Adult Opportunities
6:45pm-7:30pm - Praise Team Practice
7:30pm-8:15pm - Bell Practice
He came into the world, we can do small things with great love! Our church fam-ily needs you! We need each other; doing small things with great love for each other, our church, and our neighbors. Blessings to you this Christ-mas season, Sally
My family and I would like to thank the congregation for your generosity during Pastor Appreciation Month. We are hum-bled and grateful for your generosity. We continue to learn from you and are blessed to be among you. Thank you so much.
-Gregg, Diane, Ainslee, and Eli Hemmen
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH PAGE 4
The Safeway grocery store chain offers a program to non-profit
organizations like churches where we (the church) can receive
5% of our grocery and gas purchases back in cash! The leader-
ship here at First Baptist wants to encourage you to take part in
this program with us. Contact Angela at 343-0342 for more in-
formation or to purchase a gift card.
JOIN US FOR 5TH SUNDAY
BRUNCH AFTER SERVICE ON
December 31st.
NO FEASTING ON THE WORD.
PLEASE BRING A DISH
TO SHARE!
Our children's annual Christmas bazaar will be December 6th.
Our church has been very generous in donating items for this event
each year. Once again we ask for your help.
The children can shop at no charge for their family. It is a time when
children learn the importance of giving.
We are in need of items you have at home. We need toys, knick-knacks,
gifts for men, kitchen items and anything that would appeal to our little
shoppers as a gift for a family member.
We also need scotch tape, gift bags, gift boxes, wrapping paper and
name tags. We also need many helping hands that night to wrap gifts, so
please consider helping us out that night.
All donations can be left in the craft room downstairs. We would like any items dropped off no earlier
than DECEMBER 1st.
Thank you for supporting this fun night for our youth.
No Sunday
School or
Feasting on
The Word
December
24 and 31.
New Year's Ball Holiday Past The original ball lowered in Times Square on New Year's Eve back in 1907 was made of iron and wood and deco-rated with 100 light bulbs.
Holiday Present The modern New Year's ball is made of Waterford crystal, covered with 696 light bulbs, 96 strobe lights, and 90 rotating pyramid mirrors. A Tree of Lights Holiday Past In 1949, the tree at Rockefeller Center was strung with 7,500 bulbs.
Holiday Present Now more than 25,000 bulbs are strung on the tree - that's more than 5 miles of lights! Artificial Trees Holiday Past Artificial Christmas trees were on the market by 1900. They were available by mail from Sears, Roebuck and Company, and cost 50 cents for 33 limbs or a dollar for 55 limbs.
Holiday Present Most artificial trees are now man-ufactured in Korea, Taiwan, or Hong Kong and contain non-biodegradable plastics and met-als. They usually range in price from $200 to $2,000.
The Origins of Rudolph Holiday Past In 1939, an advertising employee at the department store Montgom-ery Ward wrote the story of Ru-dolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for a store promotion. That year the store gave away 2.4 million copies of the story.
Holiday Present Ten years later, Gene Autry rec-orded the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Since then it has sold over 80 million copies. Ru-dolph has definitely gone down in our holiday history!
The Eyes of a Child
The eyes of a child reflect to me...all that
is good and true...aglow with loving ten-
derness...that’s wonderful to view… the
eyes of a child are filled with faith...and
hope in things to be...possessing magic
that can bring… the saddest heart some
glee… the eyes of a child are dreamer’s
eyes...ever searching for something
strange… to childish eyes the moon and
stars… are never out of range… the eyes
of a child can paint a smile… upon the
face of life… a single glance from youth-
ful eyes… dispels all worldly strife… the
eyes of a child are godly eyes… so pure,
warm and sincere… each time I’m
blessed to look at them… I feel that
heaven’s near.
By Ben Burroughs
1Corinthians 12:27 “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it”
PAGE 9 WIINTER 2017
TRADITIONS: HOLIDAY PAST VS HOLIDAY PRESENT
DECEMBER CIRCLE MEETINGS
Mary Martha Circle
Tuesday, December 12, at 6:00 p.m.
Hostess: Linda Johnson
Ann Judson Circle
Wednesday, December 13, at 1:30 p.m.
Hostess: Deloris Millar
Roll Call: Bring a recipe
December’s Mission Meal This month’s Mission meal will be on Monday, December 18.
The following folks are signed up to serve:
Chairs: Gregg & Diane Hemmen
Ken and Carol Carpenter, Deloris Millar, Bev Horner, Jerry & Linda Ross, Al and Paula Johannson
For any questions, please contact one of the Mission
Ministry members.
ISI GIFT BAGS
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH PAGE 8
VANCO ONLINE GIVING
A growing number of individuals and families in our congregation now give their tithes and offerings through the VANCO online giving options – direct withdrawal from a checking account or an authorized credit card transaction. In both cases there are fees charged for each transaction. Although small, these fees do add up and the cost is borne by the church.
Please be aware that using your credit card, rather than an “Automated Clearing House” (ACH) or direct withdrawal transaction from your checking account, nearly triples the cost of each transaction. For exam-ple, if your family gives $250 monthly via credit card, the expense to the church would be (2.75% times $250 plus $0.45/transaction) or $7.28. The same giving using a direct or ACH withdrawal from your check-ing account would be (1.00% times $250 plus $0.45/transaction) or $2.95. A savings of $4.33.
Our VANCO online giving program has grown in popularity and is a significant part of our stewardship effort. If using your credit card for your tithes and offerings works better for you, then by all means, con-tinue to give as God leads – but if switching to a direct withdrawal is easily managed, know that you would be contributing in another way to the overall financial health of our church.
Only By His Grace,
Ken Wrede
If you are interested in purchasing items for the ISI gift bags, please see Peg Christner or Cyndy Strand for more information. All bags will be delivered by December 10.
Merry Christmas! So many times we hear those words and we get excited. Trees, presents, family, all the things that remind us of this time of year. I love Christmas and everything that goes along with it, so I am not a Scrooge. I hear quite often this time of year the words “Keep Christ in Christmas”. I do agree with this but at times I don’t think we know what all this would take! For some of us, the tree is a hurdle to get past, “Its not Christmas without a tree!” Maybe its lights, gifts, wrapping paper, dinners parties, or something else we “need” for Christ-mas. When we say keep Christ in Christmas these are the things we tell ourselves that we need to get past. Not to focus on these things but remember the true meaning is the birth of our Savior! All of this is true, but what if it is not enough? This birth of a Savior was for the ENTIRE world, anyone who is willing to listen. One thing I think of is who all God used in this story. Think of the wise men: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethle-hem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." When Herod the king
heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and as-sembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, "In Bethle-hem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:” “'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Isra-el.'"” -Matthew 2:1-6 ESV Now we often hear them called magi, but the only people to go by this in those days were Persians associated with Zoroastrianism. An ancient religion that used as-tronomy to look at the past, the future, and everything of the world. It would be the modern day equivalent of scientists. They were against all things that had to do with sorcery so they weren't doing anything against God, but they didn't necessarily believe in God. And yet this is who God chose to use to be led to the birth of Christ and kneel at His feet! So keeping Christ in Christmas, how are we reaching out, as God did, to those who do not know Him this Christ-mas? Another thing to think of is the innocent lives that were lost for Christ to be born? Herod, thinking that his power was being threat-ened, had children killed! “Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Beth-lehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, ac-
cording to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” -Matthew 2:16 ESV This Christmas season let take a few minutes to remember these lives that were taken so we could have a Savior. We know God has taken care of these children and that they rest at the right hand of the Father. So take comfort in that but let us not forget what it took to be saved! This Christmas I will be lis-tening to Christmas music, dec-orating a tree, hanging lights, buying and wrapping presents. I'm not a Scrooge! But as I do so I will remember to keep Christ in Christmas. That it was messy at times, that it was for all, and that it took a sacrifice on a deeper level than what we see on the surface! Nate Sales
PAGE 5 WIINTER 2017
WORDS FROM NATE
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH DECEMBER 2017
PAGE 6
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1
ABW Exec
11:30am
2
3
4
Christian Ed
Meeting
4:00pm
5
WOW
Christmas
Baazar
7 8 9
10
Stewardship
Meeting
6pm
Tech Meeting
6:00pm
12
Morning
Bible
Study10am
Mary Martha
6:00pm
13
Ann Judson
1:30pm
WOW
14
15
Cornerstone
Mission Meal
6pm
Deacons
Meeting
4:00pm
Morning
Bible
Study10am
NO WOW
21
22
Christmas
Eve Service
5:30pm
31 Potluck
Happy
Birthday
Jesus!
No
Morning
Bible
Study10am
27
NO
WOW
28
2
9
30
6
17
16
19 18 20
11
25 24
23
Morning Bible
Study10am
Physical
Maintenance
6:30pm
26
Be a hope others see!
Wicksville Church Speaker Schedule:
Services begin at 10:30am.
DEC. 10, 2017 BOB HAYFORD
DEC. 17, 2017 TERRY PULSE
DEC. 24, 2017 CONGREGATION
DEC. 31, 2017 REV. BILL SHERMER
Communion will be held every
fourth Sunday.
If you would like to be involved with others and be praying for our church family and nation, please feel free to join the Mighty Warriors here at the church on Thursday mornings at 8:15.
PAGE 7 WIINTER 2017
CHURCH DIRECTORY UPDATES
Updated Church Directories will be available January 1st. If you are interested in having an updated one call Angela at the office 343-0342 or email her at firstbaptistrc@gmail.com. If you are wanting your information added please contact her as well with that information. The information will be used to post birthdays and anniversaries in the bulletin as well as address and phone information for other church family members. We have had a new system the past year so if you are not seeing your birthday or anniversary in the bulletin or newsletter it is because Angela has not been given the okay for your information to go public.
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