FirstUpdate | November 4, 2020

A weekly update from First Baptist Church of Strafford

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NOW CANCELED TONIGHT

Due to a damaged fire hydrant at Dell St and Bumgarner, the church's water is turned off and the City of Strafford has alerted us that we are under a Boil Water Advisory until further notice. Due to the challenges this would create, NOW will NOT meet tonight, Wednesday, November 4. We hope to see everyone for worship on Sunday morning and for NOW next Wednesday night!

We are pleased to welcome two new staff members to First Baptist Church of Strafford as of November 1:

Brianna Conyers, Interim Student Ministry Director
Garett Bowles, Interim Assistant Student Ministry Director

Please pray for and encourage Brianna and Garett as they assume their new responsibilities!

ACTS: Confession

<<First Name>>,

I want to continue writing this week by encouraging believers to develop a routine pattern in their prayer life. One of the best patterns that has been used for many years in Christian circles involving prayer is the ACTS pattern. It is a balanced approach, and easy to use. The first letter in the ACTS acrostic represents Adoration. May we always marvel and give praise to God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.

Today, I want to focus on the letter C or Confession. Confession is probably the most neglected area in personal prayer. We often hear people pray publicly, “Lord, forgive us for our many sins.” A lot of us carry that approach into our private prayer. We throw all sins onto a pile without so much as looking at them, and then we say, “God, please cover the whole dirty heap.” This approach to confession, unfortunately, is a colossal cop out. When we lump all our sins together and confess them in mass, it is not nearly as painful or embarrassing. But if I take those sins out of the pile one by one and call them by name, it changes the ball game.

In my personal life, I have decided during my prayers I would deal with sin specifically. For example, “I told so-and-so there were nine hundred cars in the parking lot when really there were only six hundred. That was a lie, and so that makes me a liar.” I would need ask for forgiveness for being a liar.

What are the benefits of confession? There are three things that happen when we have the courage to call our sins by their true names:

First, your conscience will be cleansed. When we finally say it, we will think, “I’m finally getting honest with God. I’m not playing games anymore, and it feels good.”

Second, you will be flooded with relief that God has a forgiving nature. In Psalms 103:12, it says, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

Third, you will feel free to pray, for example, “Please give me your strength to abandon that sin from here on out.” With the power of the Holy Spirit, you can make a commitment to give up the sin and to live for Christ.

I don’t think many of us who are Christians take confession seriously enough. I believe if we did, our lives would be radically different. When we are totally honest about our sins, something happens. We will realize our need in the power of God to root out established sin. As God goes to work on your sins, you begin to see Paul’s words being fulfilled in your life: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Confess your sin to the Lord,

Pastor Rick

Worship With Us This Sunday!

Join us for worship this Sunday, November 8, as our Minister of Music & Education, Josh Erisman, brings a special message titled "Worship Matters" from Genesis 2-4 and Romans 12:1-2. You can preview the service plan HERE and download the sermon outline HERE once it is available (most likely Friday).

We hope to see you and your family for Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. and worship at 10:45. We are also continuing to post our services online for those who can't join us in person. The worship service video will be posted no later than Monday to our Facebook page. It will also be available at FreeChurchOnline if you do not have a Facebook account. Be sure to comment and let us know that you're watching with us! If you need any technical assistance, email Josh Erisman.

Operation Christmas Child

Through the month of November, we are packing shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse's Operation Christmas Child! These boxes, filled with toys and gifts, are delivered to children in need around the world. Each box is an opportunity for a boy or girl to experience the love of God in a tangible way and hear the Gospel.

You can pick up an empty shoebox, along with a packing guide, at the table in the lobby. More information can also be found on the Operation Christmas Child website. Please bring your filled shoebox, along with a $9 donation, back to the church by Sunday, November 22. If you have any questions, talk with missions coordinator Shannon Peelor or children's minister Brittany Erisman.

Christmas Decorating

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...at least outside (brrrrrr...)! Throughout the month of November, we will be making the inside of the church building look that way as well. If you would like to help decorate the church, join us Tuesday, November 10 or Tuesday, November 17 at 9:30 a.m., as well as Sunday, November 22 at 5:00 p.m. Contact decor team leader Jane Love for details.

SBC Missionary Highlight

This week, let’s pray for two of our missionaries serving in Southeast Asia. We’ll call them Kevin and Lisa Brown. That’s not their real names.

Listen to this part: They serve in a place where it is illegal – I said illegal – to tell someone about Jesus. So planting new churches is difficult and dangerous. Also, the land is so rough that travel is hard. Still, they have begun to line up local believers to help start churches, and many people have become Christians.

Ask yourself: How does a missionary learn to start churches? Most of our missionaries study church planting in one of our six Southern Baptist seminaries. Kevin and Lisa studied at Southeastern Seminary – that’s in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Southeastern has a special “2+3” program that let them start taking classes on campus, but then finish their studies while serving overseas.

Our church supports Southeastern and the other seminaries – and Kevin and Lisa – through our Cooperative Program giving.

Let’s pray for our missionaries this week and ask God to keep them safe and bless their work with many new believers – and many churches! Let’s also thank God for our seminaries that faithfully train our missionaries year after year.

In every edition of the FirstUpdate, we are highlighting the efforts of the International Mission Board (IMB), the North American Mission Board (NAMB), the six Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) seminaries, and the various Baptist state conventions. Each month, our church and the other 47,000+ churches in the SBC contribute a portion of our undesignated offerings to these important Cooperative Program (CP) ministries. For more information about CP, click HERE.

Giving Options

Even if you aren't joining us for in-person worship on Sunday, please continue to remember your tithes and offerings. The church’s ministries and operational expenses go on in spite of the current situation. We want to be a blessing to our community and it takes resources to do that. Your faithful giving makes it possible!

In addition to dropping cash or checks in the offering box on Sunday morning, there are multiple ways to give your tithes and offerings:

Online through Tithe.ly or the Tithe.ly app
Mail a check to First Baptist Church, PO Box 367, Strafford, MO 65757
Several of our members have begun using online bill pay through their bank to send in their offering. This is a free service that some banks provide. All you have to do is add the church’s name and address as a vendor, just like you would the electric company or any other business.
You can also drop your offering by the church office, but please call ahead to make sure that someone will be in the office.

Thank you again, church family, for your generous and faithful giving! If you need help setting up online giving or have any questions, contact Josh Erisman.

Website

Facebook

Instagram

FB Group

Give Now

Tithe.ly App

This Week @ FBC Strafford

Wednesday, November 4
No NOW due to Boil Water Advisory

Thursday, November 5
12:00 noon | Painting Class

Sunday, November 8
9:30 a.m. | Sunday School
10:45 a.m. | Worship Service
3:30 p.m. | Choir Rehearsal
5:00 p.m. | Pastor Support Team

Tuesday, November 10
9:30 a.m. | Christmas Decorating

CLICK HERE to view full calendar.

This Sunday, November 8

ECM | Chandra C. & Kirsten T.
Greeters | Sandy S.
Audio | Wayne S.
Video | Jeff P.
Security | Mike B. & Steve I.
Counters | Ryan F. & Kenny W.

If you cannot serve on your assigned Sunday, please arrange a substitute and let the church office know by calling 736-2148 or emailing church@fbcstrafford.org.

Thank you to all those who serve our church in these important roles each Sunday morning!