FBC Carthage E-News for September 21, 2009

FBC Carthage E-News
September 21, 2009

A good rainy morning to you,

It may be cloudy and rainy outside, but we can have joy and gladness on the inside. I hope you are having a great day as we begin an exciting week of living for Jesus Christ.

You may ask, what makes this an exciting week in Carthage? Here are five reasons I believe this will be an exciting week:

First, I remind you of the Crusade for Christ which began last night at the Ag Center. The Crusade will be tonight through Wednesday at 7:00 PM each evening and I encourage you to attend each evening. There will be special events each evening and I have the schedule posted in the news part of this E-News.

Second, the Personnel Committee has been working, you have been praying and the Lord has led us to introduce a candidate to you for the position of Minister to Youth and Music. His name is Rick Phipps. He and his wife, Kaye, have recently moved to Granville. He has served in several churches throughout the United States and around the world while he served in the U. S. Navy. Rick will be in the Youth Sunday School this next Sunday to meet the youth and then have lunch with all youth, parents and workers. The choir members are also invited to the luncheon after church and then asked to stay for choir rehearsal with Rick on Sunday afternoon. His official introduction to the church will be Sunday, October 4 when he will lead the worship and direct the choir. We will have a church-wide luncheon after church for everyone to meet and talk to Rick and Kay.

Third, I am excited about my friend, Pastor Elijah Wanje, being with us in the morning services. Pastor Wanje is the Senior Pastor of the Ridgeways Baptist Church in Nairobi, Kenya.

Fourth, it’s Homecoming Week at Smith County High School! There will be many festivities, the parade on Friday, and the Homecoming football game Friday night. I am most excited about the 5th Quarter and our special guest speaker, Kewon Foster. Kewon has spoken at the 5th Quarter in past years and is always we received by the students. Pass the word that 5th Quarter is the place to be Friday night after the football game.

Fifth, I am excited about Sunday School High Attendance Day this next Sunday, September 27. Teachers are asked to contact their class members and prospects and invite them to be in class. We will also begin a new class for adults which will be lead by Charlie and Penny Daigre. The sponsoring class for this new class is Brad and Melody Tackett’s class.

This is going to be an exciting week at FBC Carthage. Don’t miss it.

Bro. Tim


Here’s the news for the week:
1. Listed below is the schedule for the Crusade for Christ this week at the Ag Center. Jerry Chadwick is the guest evangelist and Gary Miller is leading the worship. Invite family and friends to attend with you.

Monday night, September 21 — Senior Adult night
6:00-7:00 PM Special Music Concert will perform.
7:00 PM Crusade Service

Tuesday night, September 22 — Children’s night
6:00-7:00 PM Special activities for children
7:00 PM Crusade Service

Wednesday night, September 23 — Family night
6:00-7:00 PM Gary Miller and family will give a concert.
Please bring canned goods for the Help Center.
7:00 PM Crusade Service


2. Rendezvous on the Square will be Saturday, October 3 in downtown Carthage. We have space reserved for a ministry booth during this event. You are needed to help in the booth as we make balloon animals, paint faces, and give out water and fans. E-mail me of call the church office to let us know you can help.

3. Ruth Denny’s daughter, Janie Kirby is recovering from a serious health need at St. Thomas Hospital. You can go to a special web site called Caring Bridge to keep up with her progress and send her a note. This site provides a great communication resource for those with serious medical issues. Check it out. Send Janie a note. Save the site for possible needs in your live or in the lives of friends and family. Words of encouragement are a great blessing in times of sickness, illness and injury. The emphasis is on the word encouragement. Log onto www.caringbridge.org. Enter her name JanieKirby with no space between the name. Click on Guest Book and send her a note.


4. On Sunday night, September 27 we will be studying the book of Galatians during the 5:30 PM service and exploring the blessing of grace. Take some time this week to read the six chapters of this book and join us for the study.

5. I remind you of the challenge from the message Sunday to spend time this week in prayer. Two simple models may be of help to you in your times of prayer. I shared with you the simple acrostic, ACTS, yesterday in the service as an example of the different types of prayer. ACTS stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. Another powerful model for prayer is found in the Lord’s Prayer. We have recently begun a study of this model on Wednesday nights at 6:30 PM. The article below shares how to use the Lord’s Prayer as a guide in your personal time of prayer.

Prayer: The Most Important Activity of the Day
What is the most important thing you will do today? Work? Family? Sports? Hobbies? Prayer?

We have many important activities in our lives that compete for our time and attention. The different people in our lives will say that their interest or activity is the most important and demand allegiance. What is the most important and how do you determine that importance?

You may determine importance of an activity by the importance of the person involved in the activity. The Lady Owls Soccer games are very important to me because my daughter plays on the team. Go Lady Owls!

You may determine importance by what you receive from the activity. Exercise produces good health. Family time produces stronger relationships. Work produces satisfaction and a pay check.

You may determine importance by the long-term difference the activity makes in your life. For example, eating a proper diet makes a difference in one’s long-term health.

By using these three criteria, I suggest that the time a person spends with God in prayer is the most important thing to do each day. Prayer is our communication with the true and living God of all creation. As we pray, God works in great and amazing ways in our lives and in the lives of others. There is power in prayer that makes a difference throughout eternity.

Don’t let the devil or anyone else convince you that prayer is not very important. Don’t let anyone discourage your commitment to pray by bringing to your mind all the things you have to do. There is nothing you have to do this week that will make the difference in you life as spending time in prayer with your loving Heavenly Father.

You may wonder what you would pray for and how you could spend time in prayer every day. The Lord Jesus Christ gave the perfect model for our prayer in the Lord’s Prayer which can be found in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. In Luke 11:1, Jesus was praying and His disciples came to Him and asked Him to teach them to pray. He gives them the model or Lord’s Prayer which can provide a great model for us in our prayers. It can be divided into six sections or types of prayer:

“Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your Name.”
Begin your prayer time with praise, adoration and worship. Thank the Lord for His goodness and love to you as your Father. Worship Him in awe and reverence as you consider His holiness, His majesty, His splendor. Name to the Father His different names and share with Him what each name means to you in your relationship to Him. For example, as shepherd (Psalm 23), the Lord cares for our needs, He walks with us through difficult places, and He prepares a place for us here and in the life to come. Use this beginning time to think of how much God, the Father loves you and express your love back to Him.

“Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
This time of prayer can reflect on God’s kingdom and His will to be done. Pray for your Pastor, Sunday School teacher, deacons and other church leaders. Pray for God to direct and have complete control of His church. Pray for other churches and ministries that they will follow God’s will and reach souls through faith in Jesus Christ. Pray for missionaries serving in countries throughout the world. You can even pray for different continents on different days of the week to help focus your prayers on more specific areas. This time is to pray kingdom prayers that pertain to the things of God. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus teaches the principle of seeking God’s kingdom first, before we seek things for ourselves. Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

“Give us this day our daily bread.”
After seeking God’s kingdom, begin to pray for the needs in your life. Pray for daily needs. Pray for family needs. Pray for the needs in the lives of others. This is the time to bring your petitions, your requests before the Lord. This is also the time to pray for others and the needs they are having in their lives. Too often, as we think of prayer, this is all we consider, praying for needs. This is an important part of prayer but it is not the only part of prayer. Prayer is more than a prayer list of needs recited before God. Learn to pray all prayers for the glory and praise of God.

“And forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who is indebted to us.”
Many models of prayer place confession of sins earlier in the time of prayer. The importance, however, is to confess your sins before the Lord and ask for His forgiveness. His forgiveness will help you keep a close and personal fellowship with the Lord. Also note, this is the time to forgive those who have wronged you. There is a connection in God’s dealings with us between our forgiveness of others and God’s forgiveness of us. Allow God to bring about a forgiving spirit within your heart and mind.

“And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
Spiritual warfare is real for the believer. We have an enemy who desires to steal our joy, kill our integrity, and destroy our testimony for Jesus Christ. God has provided us the spiritual armor to put on for the conflict. The armor is put on through prayer. We acknowledging that Jesus is our truth and we believe what He says in the Bible. Jesus is our righteousness before God and the righteous example by which we live. Jesus is the gospel which we share with others. Jesus is our salvation. Through faith in Him we have eternal life and are made right before a holy God. That faith in Jesus serves as a mighty shield of protection against the forces that would cast doubt on the sufficiency of Christ. Jesus is the living Word of God to whom the written word of God centers upon. In fact, as Jesus experienced temptations and spiritual attack from the devil, He overcame that temptation through the scriptures in the Bible.

“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 ends with a time of praise and thanksgiving to God. The conclusion of your time of prayer should once again focus God’s greatness, majesty, and might. You may want to read one of the Psalms as a prayer of praise to God. You may also want to sing to the Lord a song of praise. You will learn to become a great worshipper of your Heavenly Father as you express your praise and worship to Him.

Your prayer time with God will become the greatest joy of your day. As you sense God’s holy presence and realize that He desires to draw near to you; He will become more precious than silver, more costly than gold, and nothing you desire will compare with Him.

“Lord, You are more precious than silver,
Lord, You are more costly than gold.
Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds,
And nothing I desire compares with You.”