The Rewarded Life

Christmas 

Life

Lessons

The Rewarded Life                                    December 6

Worship Wars                                            December 13

Fear to Passion                                         December 20

 

(Today’s Sermon Handout on the back of this sheet)

 

 

 

THE REWARDED LIFE      LUKE 2

REVELATION

⁸ Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. ¹⁰ Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"                                   Luke 2:8-14

RESPONSE

¹⁵ So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us." ¹⁶ And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. ¹⁷ Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. ¹⁸ And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.              Luke 2:15-18

REWARD

²⁰ Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.    Luke 2:20

 

REVELATION + RESPONSE = REWARD

 

The Divine Commodity

Just finished reading this book. I really love books that make me think and this one really stoked the grey matter. I have been a pastor for 34 years and I must admit I have followed many of the trends and fads of ministry. I have done the conferences and the how-to books. Skye Jethani made me stop and think why I have done many of things I have done in ministry. Here is info from the back cover:

From the back cover: A growing number of people are distrubed by the values exhibited by the contemporary church. Worship has become entertainment, the church has become a shopping mall, and God has become a consumable product. Through Scripture, history, engaging narrative, and the inspiring art of Vincent van Gogh, The Divine Commodity explores spiritual practices that liberate our imaginations to live as Christ’s people in a consumer culture opposed to the values of his kingdom. Each chapter will open your eyes to how consumerism has distorted our faith and equip you to live differently. The Divine Commodity articulates what so many have been feeling and offers hope for the future of a post-consumer Christianity.

I wish every pastor would read this book and every Christian who wonders about the future of the church in America. Be forewarned this book will make you think and question many of your assumptions.

And at no extra charge you will learn some neat things about the painter Vincent van Gogh.

Pastor's Update 07.03.09

Pastor’s update Faith Baptist Church 07.03.09

This Sunday

Jonathan Windle, our summer intern, will be finishing up his sermon series, "Strange", this weeks message is "Strange Ways". He will be speaking in both of our morning services. Jonathan is a student at Appalachian Bible College.

Teen Week begins this Sunday. The teens will be meeting at Faith on Sunday and Tuesday. The week will last through Thursday night. Please pray for this powerful outreach to our teens. This is a joint effort of the Covington Bible Church, Grace Brethren Church and Faith.

This Sunday night we will be meeting at the Covington Bible Church on South Carpenter Drive. The teens will be using our building for a special kick off concert. Our service will be at 6 PM and I will be speaking on "The King Who Prepared His Way Before the Lord" Please join us this Sunday night.

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SABBATH

Sometimes, when I look out on my congregation, I can't help but get the feeling that they are weary. Modern life is lived at such a frantic pace, most people find it a real challenge to find rest. It is very interesting to me that God decided to set aside a day for His people to rest and reflect upon Him. Why did God designate a special day for His people? What does it mean to Christians? Join us as we look at the Sabbath and principles that can impact our lives today.

Why a Special Day? July 12

Jesus and the Sabbath July 19

The Sabbath Principle July 26

Many people simply cannot believe there can be a large, leisurely center to life where God can be pondered. They doubt they can enter realms of spirit where wonder and adoration have a place to develop, and where play and delight have time to flourish. Is all this possible in our fast-paced lives? Eugene Peterson

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WORTHY OF HONOR

This past Sunday we honored two of our missionaries. Ken Jenkins has served the Lord for 33 years in New Guinea, Africa, Australia and here in the states. Don Ackerman went to the Philippines when he was 50 years old and has served the Lord there for 20 years. Both of these dear men have gone into semi-retirement and our church is helping them with partial support. Both of these men and their wives were so thankful for our church and our willingness to remember them. A laborer is worthy of his hire and these folks are worthy of the honor.

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Around Faith

• Aaron Seay left for Japan Thursday please pray, he is going to blog on MyChurch, why not follow his blog while he is in Japan?
• Sheryl Baker was baptized Sunday night, Sheryl was saved through the outreach here at Faith
• Thanks to Steve, Joe and Kevin for getting our monitors going in the lobby of the church, these will be used to scroll announcements during each service
• Pray for our missionaries of the week Eric and Lisa Simpson in England
• How to Lead a Child to Christ class Sunday July 19th at 4:30 here at church all people who work with children or who would like to are encouraged to come, it is taught by Ralph Green
• Ralph Green will be leading our VBS kick off Sunday night July 19th 6 PM, he will be presenting a unique presentation which will include a renactment of a famous sermon
• Crocodile Dock is our theme for VBS this year, can you help? please contact John Burnham (July 20-24)
• Praise the Lord we are almost to $50,000 on land fund!
• Pray for Teen Week this week! safety, souls saved, sweet spirit!

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Thanks for being a part of the Faith family. I hope to see you Sunday! Bro. Billy

Pastor’s update Faith Baptist Church 05.14.09

Faith Trail is now open. Yesterday one of our neighbors from Jackson Heights called and wanted to thank us for allowing the community to walk on the trail at our new property. She was walking Wednesday and said there were three other couples on the trail. The trail winds down for about ½ mile around the property providing beautiful views of the mountains. Please feel free to stop by anytime, park your car at the church and walk the trail and neighborhood; we have a great place to walk. Why not pray for the future of our property while you walk?

Speaking of our property, we have now had $37,668.00 given to help retire the debt of $117,000. We just started a couple of months ago so we are excited about the progress we have already made. Please pray for your leaders that God will give us direction in how to proceed with this expansion.

Aaron Seay is heading to Japan this summer as a mission intern. Aaron has grown up in our church and is attending Appalachian Bible College to prepare for a vocational ministry as a missionary. Please pray for Aaron as he heads overseas for the first time. Aaron will speak this Sunday night. If you would like to have a part in Aaron’s mission trip we will be receiving a love offering this Sunday. Just use the provided offering envelopes this Sunday.

EZRA

This SUNDAY I will be starting a new sermon series. Ezra was a man who loved the Word of God and led the children of Israel back to their home land after the captivity. There was no temple, no altar, no wall and the city of Jerusalem was in a mess. Yet this book tells us how God found His people and led to rebuild the city and to rebuild their lives. No matter how dark your life may feel right now there is hope for you.

OBEY GOD MAY 17

CELEBRATE GOD MAY 24

FEAR GOD MAY 31

AROUND MY WORLD

• Jonathan and I visited the nursing homes this week, good time

• Found a neat web site in which artist does parables in a unique way, http://earnestillustrations.com/index.html

• The bus took its maiden voyage and everything did great

• Last membership class before the summer, May 24, call office 962-6335

• Great to see new faces on Wednesday night, plan to join us this week

• Hope to see you Sunday at Faith!

A Family Committed to Christ

Bethany

A Family Committed to Christ

1. Comfortable with Christ

Frequent guest

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. Luke 10:38 (NKJV)

Free to approach

Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. John 11:21 (NKJV)

Honest in His presence

Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. John 11:33 (NKJV)

2. Honor Christ

With service

But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." Luke 10:40 (NKJV)

With attention

And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. Luke 10:39 (NKJV)

With worship

It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. John 11:2 (NKJV)

3. Depend on Christ

Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." John 11:3 (NKJV)

"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." John 11:27 (NIV)

The greatest benefits God has conferred on human life, fatherhood, motherhood, childhood, home, become the greatest curse if Jesus Christ is not the head.--Oswald Chambers

Pastor's Update 05.07.09

A Heart for Missions


Our mission team is gearing up for Mexico. In a few weeks they will be headed to the mission field, a goal that they have worked for all year. Several years ago we made a conscious choice that missions would be a priority at Faith. This year we added two new mission families and the Lord has been blessing our mission giving at Faith.
We do our mission support differently than most churches, we actually give a percentage of our general fund giving to missions. So if God blesses our general fund we in turn are able to give more to our missionaries.
In the year 2008 we were able to give $111,000.00 to missions. This is so exciting to me as pastor because this is more than our entire budget used to be just a few years ago.
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Welcome Jonathan Windle

Jonathan (red shirt) will be joining our church staff starting this Sunday. He is a student at Appalachian Bible College.He will be serving as a summer intern at Faith.
Chris our former associate is heading to Texas and Aaron another student at ABC is going to Japan on a summer mission trip. (We will be receiving a special offering for Aaron on May 17 to help him on his way) Please pray for these young men as they endeavor to serve the Lord in the field He has chosen for them. Jonathan will be working with our youth, helping in the preaching responsibilities and helping in the pastoral work here at Faith.
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Mike Wade did a great job Sunday preaching on being a servant. I am so thankful for the many men in our church who can fill the pulpit and do a great job when they speak.

This Sunday I will be speaking on "A Family Committed to Christ"
this is the last in my series based on the town of Bethany in the Bible.
Because this is Mother's Day we won't have a Sunday night service.

Next Sunday I will be starting a new series based on the book of Ezra.

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• The bus is up and running . . .thanks Frank
• Our walking trail is open and being used
• The Victory Bible Class was awesome Wednesday, join us next week
• We recognized Sis. Staria Sunday for 25 years of service as our church secretary
• Church membership class 201 May 24
• Keep up with all our activites at our church web site www.faithbaptistcovington.net
• Graduate don't forget to contact the church office

Hope to see you at church this Sunday!

Ezra: New Sermon Series

Ezra was a religious leader who was found by God in a time of great spiritual darkness. In this series we want to examine how God worked in Ezra's life. Can we too experience God in a time when God seems so far away? Join us for this new series beginning Sunday May 17.

OBEY GOD MAY 17

CELEBRATE GOD MAY 24

FEAR GOD MAY 31

Pastor’s Update 04.24.09

LaNelle Griffith

LaNelle Griffith went to be with the Lord this week. LaNelle was a very special part of our church. For many years she headed up all of our church meals and directed them. She sang in our choir for many years and made sure there were beautiful flowers around our church. Many of those flowers survive to this day. LaNelle loved her Lord and tried to serve Him in any way she could. Lanelle taught school for over 40 years and impacted the lives of hundreds of children. Many of her grade school students attend our church today. She had been married 67 years to her husband, Carl. They had a lasting relationship with her husband and they were inseparable even in her final days she was living with her husband in the same room at the nursing home. I loved to visit Sis. Griffith she was a wealth of knowledge and experience. Even to the very end she was reading and growing. She loved her family very much and longed to see all of them become followers of Jesus Christ. We will miss you Sis. Griffith.

WALKING TRAIL

We have established a walking trail on our new property. It is approximately ½ mile long and loops in front of the beautiful mountains across from our church. Feel free to come by and walk anytime, you can park at the church and walk the lot and the neighborhood around the church. We will be getting signs up soon and mark the entrance, just look for the mowed path through the land and enjoy. Here's a thought; why not pray for the future work of God that will be built there and ask God to provide the funds we need to finish the project. Please get the word out to our neighbors; we want to share God's blessings with them.

THIS AND THAT

• The church voted Sunday night to purchase a 25 passenger bus to use in our ministry
  
• We had a great Wednesday night class this week, great attendance and great spirit, why not get back in the Wednesday night groove?
  
• I will be preaching on the compassion of Christ in the second sermon in my Bethany series
  
• We found out after our last update that a lady had been saved at our local jail, thank God for our jail ministry that is reaching the lost
  
• Thank you for the generous Mission Team offering Sunday, over $1300.00 came in
  
• Every Sunday we have several first time visitors, please help us make our guests welcome, reach out and let them know they are welcome
  
• Jonathan Windle will be coming on staff in a few weeks please pray for him as he serves as a summer intern at Faith
  
• We had our planning meeting this week and we have some great services coming up at Faith, from drama to music to prophecy stay tuned!
  

  
  

  Hope to see you Sunday at Faith.
  

  We continue in our mission of Connecting people to God, others and service. Are you connected?
  

  Do you know Christ as your personal savior?
  

  Have you found a small group that fits?
  

  God has a place of service for every one of His children, what is yours?
  

A Life of Obedience

Jotham's strength was rooted in his steady and determined life of obedience to God. 2 Chronicles 27:6 (MSG)

I had a man in my church die a couple of days ago. His name was Frank Law. If you met Frank on the street there would be nothing in his appearance that would indicate he was special. But Frank was an ordinary man who lived a life of faith and obedience to his God. Frank touched many lives with his acts of kindness and generosity. He was like King Jotham. How much value is there to just showing up, just being there? In my opinion a lot, Frank was there for his family, his church and his friends.

• He often did mechanical work on vehicles for preachers, missionaries and churches at little or no cost
  
• He would arrive early on Sunday morning to unlock the church
  
• He would handout bulletins on Sunday morning and lessons on Sunday night
  
• He would line up ushers on Sunday night
  
• He made sure his pastor had a bottle of water every Sunday morning
  
• He greeted everyone with a warm smile and shared his laughter freely
  

  
  

I often would visit Frank at his garage and find an open Bible, you could tell it wasn't just a display; it was worn and dirty from much use by the hands of a mechanic. Frank is gone and his life of steady and determined obedience will continue to impact people. As a pastor I realize the church has lost a real jewel and I wonder who will take his place? How we need more Frank Laws. He was a man of strength because of his steady and determined life of obedience to God.

May his tribe increase!

Pastor’s Update 04.16.09

Bro. Frank Law went to be with the Lord yesterday. He will be missed. Frank ran a garage in our area for over 30 years and helped many people. He often helped pastors, missionaries and churches. I know because I was one of those people he helped. Every Sunday he would arrive early to unlock the church for Bro. John; he would then take his post in the McAllister Addition to give out bulletins. Frank would cut the church lawn every year. Every week he made sure his preacher had a bottle of water before he went into the pulpit. When I would go by Frank's service station I would often see an open Bible, he would try to read between customers. Frank was a godly man and he will be missed at Faith. This photo was taken last Sunday by Larry Woodward. Please pray for Amelia and Allen as they work through their grief.

Sis. Nancy Seabolt underwent surgery for cancer yesterday and she is doing well. Please pray for Ron and Nancy as they await the lab results in about a week. Pray the tests will reveal all the cancer was removed through the surgery.

EASTER 09

The Lord blessed Easter Sunday as we had almost 400 for our morning services. There was a great spirit in both of the services and we saw many new faces at Faith. Thanks to all of you who came to the early service to make room in the second service. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the music and every part of the service run so well.

• We have been able to pay 1/3 of the debt on our land
  
• I will be starting my new series, "Bethany" this Sunday
  
• The Mexico Mission Team offering is this Sunday
  
• Guest speaker Sunday night, Gideon Representive
  
• Business meeting following Sunday night service (Bus and Quarterly report)
  
• We had a lady become a follower of Christ this week (PTL)
  
• There were 22 preschoolers in the second service Sunday!
  
• Johnny Fox had surgery today on his shoulder
  
• Jonathan Windle will be coming on staff in a few weeks as an intern