First Baptist

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Pastor’s

Article 2

Church

Staff 2

December

Schedule 3

Lottie Moon

Offering 3

Ecuador Mission

Trip 4

The Bridge

College Ministry 4

KOGS, X-Change,

& High School Info 5

Calendar 6

200 S. Church St.

Rocky Mount, NC 27804

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

Church Office (252) 446-9113

Fax (252) 446-5025

Website www.fbcrm.org

24-Hour Prayer Request Line (252) 446-5993

First Baptist Child Care Center (252) 446-7416

First

Baptist

Church

Rocky Mount D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 N E W S

5pm

P A G E 2

Redemption Leads to Thanksgiving

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

Rev. Dennis Darville

MINISTRY TEAM

Dennis Darville

Preaching & Leadership

Tim Griffin

Education & Discipleship

Mike Avery

Family Ministries

Larry Curtis

Pastoral Care

Jack Heim

Music & Worship

Louis Griffin

Music & Worship

Jonathan Tyndall

College Ministries

Bob Britt

Homebound Visitation

OPERATIONS &

ADMIN TEAM

Beth Thompson

Operations Director

Jewell Pullen

Financial Administration

Faye Strickland

Facilities Administration

Mary Helen Batten

Receptionist/Admin. Assistant

Kayla Dozier

Administrative Assistant

Nina Daughtridge

Music Assistant

Jane Clark

Food Service Administration

By the time you read this article, Thanksgiving-2015 will have passed into recent history. And if you were in church on Sunday, the 22nd of No-vember, 2015, you would have heard a sermon-version (i.e., Psalm 107) of this article. Further-more, you will more than likely be reading this in December. That means, among other things, “that all-things-Thanksgiving” will have come and gone. Be that as it may, I strongly sense the importance of going over the biblical importance of thankfulness yet again.

Obviously, having a disposition of gratitude is not restricted to one day a year. As important as that day (i.e., Thanksgiving Day) is, it should simply serve as a reminder to all of us of the importance of maintaining a posture of profound appreciation 24/7/365 to our great, providential, sovereign, and generous, King!

Even more powerfully and accurately than our national holiday, Psalm 107 and its theme of redemption serves us toward that end. I find myself constantly fighting for a heart of grati-tude—perhaps you do as well. I earnestly desire to live from a heart of deep and abiding grateful-ness, yet I struggle to “feel it” on a consistent and frequent basis.

I have become convinced that a disposition of gratefulness can be cultivated into a highly in-tense, consistently experienced, and frequently enjoyed state of being. There are many motives that drive this, but none more important than when the Psalmist says, “…enter into his gates with thanksgiving.” In other words, cultivating thankfulness invites the real presence of the Maker of heaven and earth into our lives. Who wouldn’t want more of that?

There are moments, of course, when a sense of unsolicited and unbounded gratitude sweeps over my mind and heart. I take those moments to be acts of pure grace. God the Holy Spirit, in His kindness, simply washes over my soul with a supernatural awareness of my debt to mercy. The Holy Spirit reminds me, in those poignant moments, of the gift of his Son and His gift of redemption. I receive a fresh glimpse of the wonder of salvation. My heart swells with inex-pressible, yet deeply felt, emotions of thanksgiv-ing.

In short, becoming more aware of redemption produces higher levels of gratitude. As much as the theme of redemption should cause our hearts to burst in praise with thanksgiving, there is an-other truth connected to this reality—gratefulness should begin with the idea of Crea-tion. That is, all human beings should join the chorus of unending gratitude for the gift of life and bounty given to us by the providential hands of a good and generous God. However true this ought to be, we find a startling reality about our-

selves and the rest of mankind—we are, inher-ently, ingrates.

It’s certainly true that this obligation of grateful-ness strikes most, if not all, as one of the many deliveries of common-sense. At a purely human-to-human level, there is a bit of truth in that. Think of the child instructed by her mother to say “thanks” for a gift received. Yet, the Apostle Paul differs when it pertains to God. In the first chapter of Romans, he goes to great lengths to explain that the unconverted man is guilty of ingratitude towards our heavenly benefactor (Romans 1: 18-32).

Common grace teaches us that we should look to God in thankful dependence for everything. Common grace, as its name sug-gests, is the grace common to all—believer or non-b e l i ev er —y e t , what do we see? We see a world filled with com-plaining and grumbling people who fail to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving to this gracious, generous, and loving King (Psalm 107: 22)!

If the common grace of Creation and its many splendid benefits teaches us the need for grati-tude and we find ourselves (as we all do) guilty of ingratitude, then redemption in Christ should lead us to ever increasing growth in the develop-ment of a heart of thankfulness. That is, of the many things that redemption brings into our lives, receiving the ability to be and become more and more grateful is right at the top of the list.

All this to say, redemption in Christ grants us the ability to become what we should have been as created beings, but were not—thankful to the Father! Christ our Redeemer has caused our hearts to explode in never ending gratitude for all created things. Now, in particular, we are not only capable of giving thanks to Him for created things, we are able to erupt in thankfulness to Him who has redeemed us from aimlessness, bondage, sickness, and a stormed-tossed life (Psalm 107: 1-32).

This holiday season, practice asking Christ to give you a deeper comprehension of His saving grace. As He does, you will discover ever-increasing and intensified levels of gratitude swelling in your heart. This sense of thankful-ness is a great way to begin “Advent” as well.

“...redemption in Christ should lead us to ever increasing growth in the development of a heart of thankfulness.”

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

P A G E 3

December Schedule

Combined Worship Schedule

December 6, 13, 20, 27* & January 3

With worship at 10:30am

and Sunday School* at 9am We will not have Sunday School December 27.

Sun., Dec. 13 Christmas Program & Fellowship (6pm)

Wed., Dec. 16 Christmas Meal & Deacon Ordination

Wed., Dec. 23 No Meal or regular PM activities

Wed., Dec. 24 Vesper service (5 pm—sanctuary)

Dec. 24 thru 25 Church office closed

Wed., Dec. 30 No Meal or regular PM activities

Fri., Jan. 1 Church office closed

Christmas Poinsettias Poinsettias will be used to help decorate our

sanctuary again this year. (Poinsettias may be picked up after the Christmas Eve Vesper service). Please use the forms provided on the table in the

Sanctuary narthex to place your order. Deadline to order is December 6.

P A G E 4

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

AMERICAN BELARUSSIAN RELIEF ORGANIZATION OF NASH COUNTY ABRO exists so children affected by the Chernobyl accident can receive clean water, breathe clean air and re-ceive free medical and dental care.

Our greatest desire as a church is to create an atmosphere where these post communist children can hear the sweet words of salvation in weekly exposure to God’s Word here and at other sister churches.

Pre-registration is now open to help Olga, Lena and Marina begin the pro-cess of inviting potential ABRO chil-dren to learn about Christianity and American home life.

For more information contact Amy Daniel 904-4009.

Ecuador Mission Trip March 4 - 12, 2016

Many exciting things will be happening in Ecuador during the month of March, one being

the ordination of Guillermo as a minister of the Gospel. During this trip we want to hold

training classes for husbands, wives, young men, and young women –we cannot do all of

this alone. Would you pray about going and serving these brothers and sisters to strength-

en them in their knowledge of and walk with Christ?

Applications are due by Sunday, January 30, 2016.

Information Meeting will be held on December 20 at 12:15 in room M203

Contact Guy Tutterow for more details 252-885-1890

With the leaves changing colors and the temperatures cooling down, it can only mean one thing: TURKEY BOWL!!!

The Bridge just held its 3rd annual Turkey Bowl and Feast out at the Schellenberg’s, where we had over 50 stu-

dents from NC Wesleyan come out. We started out the night playing football, (my team won) and then proceeded

to eat a big Thanksgiving meal together. All of that was followed up by a time around a bonfire where I shared the

gospel and other students shared what they are thankful for during this time of year. This time of fellowship was

a great opportunity for the church to reach out to the college campus and serve them and get to know them

better. We had several Sunday School classes participate by preparing dishes of food and coming out to serve

and eat with the students. Our prayer is that through this, students will see that there are people in the commu-

nity who love them and care for them. We can't wait to do it again next year!

P A G E 5

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

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

API Fundraiser

(4:30-6 & 7-8pm

A.T.)

3 4 5

6 Combined Service

Called Church Conf.

During Worship

Deacons’ Meeting

(12pm M201A)

7 8 9 10 11 12

13 Combined Service

Christmas Program

& Church-wide

Fellowship (6pm)

14

Forever Young

(11:45am F.H.)

15 16

Christmas Meal 5pm

Deacon Ordination

(6pm Sanct.)

17 18 19

20

Combined Service

No Evening Activities

21 22 23

No Meal or Evening

Activities

Meals on Wheels

24

Christmas Eve

Service 5pm

FBC Office Closed

25

Christmas Day

FBC Office Closed

26

27

NO Sunday School

10:30am Worship No Evening Activities

28 29 30

No Meal or Evening

Activities

31

December 2015

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 Life 5-1-5 Groups (multiple locations/times vary)

Mondays 10:45 am Inspiration Singers (Choir suite) 7:00 pm Praise Team Rehearsal

Tuesdays 6:30 am Women’s Prayer Groups

9:00 am Pastor’s 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 Trail Life USA & American Heritage Girls

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

COOL Kids (FMC)

5:00 pm Fellowship Meals

6:00 pm Nursery for Birth—2 yr. (M105)

Team KID for 3 yrs.—Kindergarten

KOGS for 1st—5th Grades

X-Change 6th—8th Grades

Prayer Meeting for adults (Fell. Hall)

7:10 pm Christmas Musical Rehearsal to 7:45pm

7:45 Adult Choir Rehearsal

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)