www.fbcbigspring.org October 1, 2017

THE PROCLAIMER

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, BIGSPRING, TEXAS The miss ion of F i r st Bapt ist Church is to evangel ize the unsaved, d isc ip le the saved

and nur ture a l l church members .

WOMEN’S MINISTRY

MUSIC MINISTRY

No matter what stage of life you’re in, you have something to offer a woman younger than you. Here are a few ways to make this part of your life on an ongoing basis: 1. Do what you can do. Maybe you don’t have time to commit to meeting with someone on a regular basis, but you can open up your home and kitchen table to her. It doesn’t have to be formal, but you can take her to run errands

with you or have a meal at your table. 2. Share what you know. You’ve been the younger woman, so it’s not

unfamiliar territory. Share your life experiences and what God has taught you in the process of growing up. She’s not looking for an expert, but she is looking for someone to share truth with her.

3. Make yourself available. Carve out time on your calendar for time with younger women. Be intentional.

4. Pray for opportunities. Don’t take this one lightly. Chances are, if you pray that God will send a younger woman into your life, He’ll do it because it matters. So don’t miss the opportunities that may be right in front of you.

5. Don’t make it complicated. It’s so easy to overthink things like this and make assumptions. Don’t assume that other women are too busy or that you don’t have anything to offer. Just take a chance by saying yes, and see what God does!

Copied from Lifeway.com

After Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples were all left with one burning

question, "Now What?" What did the resurrection mean for their beliefs, world view, and personal sense of mission and ministry? For three weeks this month we will begin to answer those questions and learn from Thomas, Peter, and the rest of

the disciples what the resurrection means for us today.

Every week we gather together in our sanctuary as the body of Christ to enter into a time of corporate worship before the Lord. A large portion of that time is spent engaging in the use of music as a means of worship. Have you ever thought about how unusual that is? What other meeting of a large group of people in the world engages in such an activity? For most of us we have been in church all of our lives and we never think about it but others who walk in our doors to experience Christian worship for the first time certainly find it unusual to say the least.

So here are a couple of questions for you: Why do we have music in the church and what in the world is its purpose?

I don’t think anyone would argue with me that there is a strong biblical mandate for music in the church. The Old Testament in particular is full of references to the use of music in everyday life as well as in worship. There is not as much evidence in the New Testament but it can still be found there as well.

The greater debate comes when we talk about how music is to function. So let me offer some suggestions that I hope will clarify and help you understand my thinking as I plan and lead our worship through music.

Functions of Music in the Church:

Expression of worship to God – songs that allow us to personally and corporately express our adoration of God.

Testimony – songs that allow us to express to God and others what He has done for us.

Ministry – songs that speak words of comfort, encouragement, etc… (remember David playing the harp to soothe King Saul?)

Evangelism – songs that invite non-believers to know the One to whom we sing.

Prophecy (this should be a small “p”) – songs that challenge believers to greater commitment.

(This is not an exhaustive list by any means but one that encompasses much of my thought process as your worship leader/planner.)

I think it was Martin Luther that said “Music is a fair and glorious gift from God.” Thank God for that wonderful gift – may we never cease to use it to bring Him honor and glory! Alan

Assorted Sizes Available In The Church Office

ACTS 1:8 OPPORTUNITIES

FROM THE PASTOR

October is proving to be a full month of ministry opportunities. With Thanksgiving and Christmas quickly approaching, October allows us to focus on the church and her mission before the hectic holiday season engulfs us. Beginning October 1, our Sunday night schedule will transition from a single option for adults to multiple opportunities to experience a deeper walk with Christ. You will be able to choose to take part in one of four eight-week studies. Elsewhere in the newsletter, you will find a detailed description of each course. I encourage you to take advantage of this discipleship opportunity. Upward Basketball is in full swing! Throughout this month, we will register and evaluate players as well as recruit coaches, referees, and other volunteers for the upcoming season. You can play a vital role in reaching families through Upward Basketball! Attend the game days and befriend those who come to support the players. You may be the only Christian he/she will know. Pray for all involved in Upward Basketball, asking the Lord to be magnified and made known to those who do not have a spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. During the first two weeks of October, Sherry and I will be in Kosovo along with Chase Pinkerton. As we continue our partnership with Simon and Christa Hoopes (International Mission Board missionaries to Kosovo), the Lord is allowing us to walk through new open doors of witness. During this visit, we will strengthen existing relationships with the Kosovar people, discover new paths of witness, and support the ministry through jalapeno farming. Pray for us as we see a greater acceptance among the people to allow us to speak of our faith. Continue to encourage one another, serve one another, pray for one another, and love one another! I look forward to worshipping our Lord with you this Sunday! Bro. Mark

“For we are to God the pleasing aroma of

Christ among those who are being saved and those who

are perishing.”

2 Corinthians 2:15

MARY HILL DAVIS OFFERING FOR TEXAS MISSIONS.

September is the month designated to give to mission work

throughout Texas. The acronym SALT is an easy way to remember the four focus areas.

S = Serve Ministries

A = Advance Missions Equipping

L = Love the Least of These

T = Tell Ministries

Our church goal is $10,000.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD. Volunteers are needed to

wrap shoeboxes with Christmas paper for Operation Christmas

Child. If you are willing, see Sherry Lindsey or Sandra Hunt.

Upcoming Dates:

October 22, following the evening worship service OCC Packing

Party (6:30 p.m. in the Family Life Center)

October 29, during the morning worship OCC boxes distributed

November 12, during morning worship OCC boxes collected

REMINDER: This year NO toothpaste or candy will be

allowed in shoeboxes!

DISASTER RELIEF TRAINING. There is an emergency

Yellow Cap Disaster Relief Training that will be held Saturday,

September 16, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Area Association Office

in Plainview. Go to http://texasbaptistmen.org/Events/

ModuleID/995/ItemID/958/mctl/EventDetails to pre-register for

this event. If you will let us know you are interested in

attending, we will work to provide transportation to this event!

EXTENDED SESSION KID’S KORNER

Oct 1: Emily Womack & Brooke Schuelke

Oct 8: Charles & Selina Diaz

Oct 15: Chad & Tamara Averette

Oct 22: Chad & Charis Myers

Oct 29: Lori & Kaylee Morgan

Signups are happening NOW!

You can signup on the church website (fbcbigspring.org) or in the church office.

This is our seventh year of Upward Basketball. I am excited to continue to partner with our local schools to perform evaluations in Forsan, Coahoma and all four Big Spring Elementary schools. Look for flyers coming home with your children for information about those evaluations. Feel free to call Justin in the church office with any questions about evaluations.

Evaluations will be held at the following locations:

Marcy Elementary on October 5th from 5:30-7:30 PM

Forsan Elementary on October 10th at recreation

Moss Elementary on October 12th from 5:30-7:30 PM

Washington Elementary on October 19th from 5:30-7:30 PM

FBC Gym on October 21st from 8:00 AM to Noon

Coahoma Elementary on October 24th from 3:45-5:30 PM

Goliad Elementary on October 26th from 5:30-7:30 PM

As we have been granted permission to reach out to a much larger pool of children, we are excited about the potential for growth in participation. This program reaches tons of unchurched families and gives us a chance to impact people we may never otherwise interact with. This ministry requires a lot of people working as coaches, referees, greeters, scorekeepers, and in concessions. We will also be utilizing church members to adopt unchurched families. Be on the lookout for announcements and opportunities to sign up to be a part of this awesome ministry.

Oct 2: Jaci Stone Oct 13: Peighton Metcalf Oct 14: Savannah Butler

Oct 15: Bryar Samsel Oct 18: Isabella Diaz Oct 20: Chloe Rothell Oct 21: Ethan Buske Oct 27: Cooper Grigg

Oct 29: Christopher Cannady

Oct 1: Chisom & Jaclyn Connolly

Oct 8: Jim & Sandra Hunt

Oct 15: Kenzi Metcalf & Derek Reese

Oct 22: Kelby & Alayna Vise

Oct 29: Morgan Metcalf & Ashleigh Gromelski

THREE YEAR OLDS

BABIES THROUGH TWO YEAR OLDS

FALL FESTIVAL

Our annual Fall Festival will be Monday, October 31st from 6-8 p.m.

This exciting event is a fun way for our church to interact with Big Spring. The Fall Festival is a large event and re-quires a lot of volunteers and donations. Please be on the lookout for sign-up sheets in your Sunday School folders. In addition to serving at the event, I invite you to donate 2-liter bottles of soda and as much candy as you are willing to bring. Those can both be dropped off at the church office any time. As the Fall Festival gets closer, don’t forget about baked goods for the always popular cake walk. You are always so generous in helping with this event. Thank you for your support in advance.

UPWARD BASKETBALL

First Baptist Church of Big Spring

705 W. FM 700

Big Spring, TX 79720

Phone: 432-267-8223

fbcbigspring.org

ANNOUNCEMENTS Deacons of the Month

John Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263-7727

Bobby Sledge . . . . . . . . . . . . 263-8016

Phillip Welch . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267-9702

Lewis Boeker . . . . . . . . . . . . .264-6218

Phone Numbers & E-mails

If you have changed your home or cell phone or

email address please let the church office know so we can update our

records.

www.fbcbigspring.org

SUNDAY SCHEDULE

Sunday Bible Study 9:30 a.m. Morning Worship 10:50 a.m. Handbell Rehearsal 4:30 p.m. Men’s Ensemble 5:30 p.m. Kids’ Connection 5:30 p.m. Saturate Youth 6:00 p.m. Evening Worship 6:00 p.m.

WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE

Adult Bible Study 6:00 p.m. Adult Choir Practice 6:00 p.m. Real LYF 6:00 p.m. Saturate Youth 6:15 p.m.

MISSION CENTER/ FOOD PANTRY

Thursday, October 12th

9:00 a.m.—11:00 a.m.

We are serving approximately 55 families each month. We will also be handing out school supplies for the beginning of

school. Volunteers are always needed. If you would like to volunteer, come at 8:30 a.m. and be blessed

by this amazing ministry.

MISSION OPPORTUNITIES

Packing Party: Sunday October 22nd in the

Family Life Center at 6:30 pm

Distribution of OCC Boxes: Sunday October 29th

(Morning Worship Service)

Ingathering of OCC Boxes: Sunday November 12th

(Morning Worship Service)

YOUTH NEWS

Highlights of the October Youth Calendar

Oct 11: Fields of Faith, Memorial Stadium, Big Spring

Oct 13: 5th Quarter: First Baptist, Coahoma

Oct 15: Youth Camp Fundraiser Luncheon

Football game 5th quarters are once again being jointly sponsored by area churches. Other dates may be added in the future, look for flyers and/or posters at your school and at church.

October 13th - Coahoma hosted by First Baptist Coahama

November 3rd - Big Spring and Forsan - hosted by First Baptist Big Spring

October 11th is Fields of Faith. Fields of Faith is an annual event put on by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) This year's event will once again be held at Memorial Stadium in Big Spring. The event starts at 7pm and will be over at 8:15pm. The bus will leave First Baptist at 6:30 or you can meet us there. Bus will return to First Baptist appx. 8:30pm. There is no cost for this event, but you need to eat before you come. This is always a great night as we get together with other youth groups in our area. There will be a speaker and we'll also enjoy a time of worship.

Our annual fundraiser luncheon is Sunday October 15th. This is our major fundraiser for youth camp and the mission trip for next summer. Each student that is there will be given credit as outlined in the camp letter. We need each of you there at 9:30am to help prepare for that meal and setup. We will serve the church wide meal after the morning worship service and we need all the youth to be there for that as well. We will not have Sunday School that day as we'll be in the kitchen and gym preparing for that.

Tuesday October 31st is our church's Fall Festival. This is one our church's largest outreach activities to families this year and we need help. Sign up sheets will be available soon.

MARK YOUR 2018 CALENDAR

Also, I am pleased to announce 2 big dates for the 2018 year. The first is our annual DNOW weekend. This year's will be February 9-11th again in cooperation with FBC Stanton. We'll start signing up for that around Thanksgiving, with early signups receiving a discounted rate.

The 2nd big event is Youth Camp 2018. We will once again attend Fuge Camp at Glorieta, NM. The dates for that are June 27—July 1. The total cost of camp will be $300 and we will once again be offering scholarship opportunities through church attendance, fundraiser luncheons, as well as serving in our Upward Basketball league. Camp Scholarship tracking has now begun!

DNOW

YOUTH CAMP

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8

9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19

20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30

31

Sunday Schedule 8:00 a.m. V.A. Ministry 9:15 a.m. Media Center Opens 9:30 a.m. Sunday School 10:50 a.m. Morning Worship 4:30 p.m. Handbell Rehearsal 5:30 p.m. Kids’ Connection 5:30 p.m. Sunday Night Studies 5:30 p.m. Youth

Wednesday Schedule 6:00 p.m.—Adult Bible Study —Adult Choir —Real LYF 6:15 p.m.—Saturate Youth

Extended Session

Babies to Two Year Olds: Three Year Olds: Oct 1: Emily Womack & Brooke Schuelke Chisom & Jaclyn Connolly Oct 8: Charles & Selina Diaz Jim & Sandra Hunt Oct 15: Chad & Tamara Averette Kenzi Metcalf & Derek Reese Oct 22: Chad & Charis Myers Kelby & Alayna Vise Oct 29: Lori & Kaylee Morgan Morgan Metcalf & Ashleigh Gromelski If you are unable to work your scheduled day, you will need to contact another volunteer and switch days.

MDO MDO

MDO-Fiddlesticks Farms

MDO

MDO

MDO

MDO

Mission Center:

Food Pantry

MDO

Youth Camp Fundraiser Spaghetti Luncheon

In the FLC at Noon

Quarterly Business

Meeting at Noon

LLL

Deacon’s Meeting 4:30 pm

Distribution of Operation

Christmas Child Boxes During Morning Worship

Service

Youth—Fields of Faith 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Upward Online

Registration Closes at

Midnight

“Good Grief” Seminar in the

FLC 10:00 am to

2:00 pm

MDO

Fall Festival 6:00 to 8:00 pm In the FLC

Upward Evaluations @ Marcy 5:30-7:00

Upward Evaluations @ Forsan During PE

Upward Evaluations @ Moss 5:30-7:00

Upward Evaluations @ Washington 5:30-7:00

Upward Evaluations @ FBC Gym 8:00 am to Noon

Upward Evaluations @ Coahoma 3:45 to 5:15

Upward Evaluations @ Goliad 5:30-7:00

Operation Christmas Child Packing Party 6:30 pm

October is Pastor Appreciation Month!

Youth– 5th Quarter, First Baptist, Coahoma