First Word
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.John 1:1
First Baptist Church of Fulton,Missouri
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April 24 is Easter. In light of this special time of the year, I want to encourage you this month to spend some extra time reading about Jesus’ death and resurrection in the Gospels. Spend some extra time praising the Lord for his saving work and asking him how it should change your life. Make an effort to attend the different services of our church so you can grow in your relationship with Jesus. Come to the Easter Pageant to see the gospel story presented visually. Spend some time figuring out how the gospel really makes a difference to you – because it ought to affect every area of your life and every relationship you have. Then come to church on Easter Sunday (with your friends and family) ready to celebrate what our God has done in the giving of his Son.
Pastor Gary
From Murray’s Desk
Our presentation of the Easter pageant, “Jesus…More Than Just a Man”, is just weeks away. Production days are April 15, 16, 22, and 23 at 7:00 PM. This is a strong presentation of the Gospel that everyone needs to know Jesus in a personal way. I challenge you to be a missionary between now and then. Pick up a stack of invitations this Sunday, and give one to everyone you contact during the weeks ahead. The best means of advertising is a personal invitation.
S.A.L.T.(Senior Adults Living Triumphantly)
this month will be Thursday, April 21, at noon. The feature this month will be a presentation from CMCA (Central Missouri Community Action) about the Callaway Dental Initiative, which gives needy folks access to dental care. Bring a dish of food, a salad, or a dessert and we will have a good time of fellowship together.
Mission Trip to Ontario
I have been singing with a group of church music leaders from across the state called the Missouri Music Men. We give several concerts each year. May 10-20 we will be taking a mission trip to Western Ontario, Canada, with the goal of supporting new church plants in that area. This is an area where my family used to take summer vacations when I was a child, a long time ago!!! Canada is a needy mission field. The Gospel will be presented at all of our concerts with opportunities for counseling. I invite you to pray for our group of around 40 that God will use us to bring Canadians to a saving knowledge of Jesus.
It sure is a busy time for our church! Last week end twelve of us went to St. Louis and attended the Dare 2 Share Youth Evangelism conference. We joined with about 6,500 other youth from Missouri and all the surrounding states to be encouraged and trained to reach out to our friends with the Gospel message. It was a full and fun packed Friday Night and all day on Saturday.
Friday April first we went to a Christian concert in St Charles that featured several Christian Bands and Sunday night April 3rd we are going to HelpSouthsideBaptistChurch by providing childcare for them as they have an all church event.
Our youth have also been doing a great job leading worship for our 11:00 Sunday morning service about once a month. Last Sunday was great with seven youth participating and the oldest youth helping is in 9th grade! If you want to see how they did go to our website and click “Launch Media player and the youth worship team will be one of your choices.
Speaking of our church website; you can check the refrigerator reminder and the church calendar as well as watching any of the Sunday morning sermons since the start of the year. Also, if you missed the Children’s choir singing last Sunday or their presentation at Christmas time, you can watch them at
Martin
As spring comes, reminding us of new life and rebirth, Hands of Love Deaf Youth Ministry is keeping busy as always! Our weekly discipleship studies continue, as well as Deaf Club and various other regular events. This month we will be having our second service mission trip. Some of our students will be traveling to Minnesota over Easter weekend to help with the construction of a transitional housing home for victims of sex trafficking and women getting out of prostitution. We will also be able to participate in a Good Friday service in one of the most multi-cultural neighborhoods in the US. We are very excited about this opportunity, and covet your prayers. If you would like to make a donation specifically for this mission trip, contact the office. Thank you for your continued support!
Tessi
WITHOUT JESUS …
Without the risen Savior in our hearts, life is like:
- A chocolate Easter Bunny – empty on the inside;
- An Easter bonnet – easily blown off kilter;
- Last year’s Easter outfit – it doesn’t quite fit right;
- An Easter lily – it soon withers and dries up;
- A bag of jellybeans – sugary and sweet but lacking substance;
- An unfound Easter basket – full of gifts that spoil and go to waste;
- A colored Easter egg – looks great but cracks under pressure;
- The Easter bunny – always hopping here and there;
- Marshmallow Peeps – becomes hard when opened up;
- Easter parade – a long journey with no destination;
- An unopened Easter card – a message of love unclaimed.
--David Patterson
GOOD NEWS MINISTRY is getting ready for the celebration of Easter...and that means EASTER FOOD BAGS AND HAMS!You all have been so supportive in past years and we thank you for that! What is "EasterFood Bags and Ham?" The bags and hams are for all of the families that have participated in the Good News Ministry at ParkGardensActivityCenter in the Housing Authority neighborhoodfor the past year. This year we have servedsome 40 families—single individuals, families with up to four or five children.
Anyone who would like to help (individuals, classes, groups, families)can sign up on Sun. April 3, 2011 to fill a grocery bag with food to make a special Easter dinner or pay for a ham ($6.00) or do both. We will have a sign-up sheet in the Foyer and give you a bag to fill. Please sign up on the sheet so that we know how many of our families will be taken care of.To pay for a ham, simply put your $7.00 in an envelope marked"GoodNews Hams" and put it in the offering plate. We will take care of purchasing the hams.
Thebags should be brought back to the Church on Sunday, April 17, Palm Sunday.Pleaseput yourfilled bags in the Prayer Roomnear the front door.We don't want to interfere with the people that will be coming to see theEaster Pageant. Again, we willpick up all the hams ourselves to put in the bags. The bags will be delivered to each family on April 22,Good Friday. Each bag will also contain a New Testament and the plan ofSalvation for each family. If you want to be a part of delivering the bags, your help would be greatly appreciated. We will be meeting at ParkGardensActivityCenter, 300 Pioneer, at 9:00a.m.
Again, our thanks for your support in this ministry. Happy Easter to all, give praises and honor to theLordJesus Christ our Savior andKing!
Judy Vieth
Spring Fling
The Murphy Baptist Women hosted a Spring Fling on March 19th. There were 35 young-at-heart ladies in attendance. Everyone was asked to wear a hat and we had a good time hearing stories about all the hats. Prizes were given for the most unusual hats. The winner was Dorothy Hackmann who modeled her great-grandmother’s Hardshell Baptist bonnet that was over 100 years old. Mary Joyce Shively (David's mother) sang some hymns for us, and Jane Martin shared from the Word. A good time was had by all!
DearFirstBaptistChurch,
A plaque of flowery words could never adequately express our gratefulness for providing KCA a home for 15 years.
What a gift! May God continue to bless every seed you have sown into this ministry.
Ann Taylor, KCA Board of Directors & families
(At the March Business Meeting KCA presented the church with a plaque of appreciation)
Thank you everyone forthe prayers, meals, gifts and cards. You all have been such a blessing tous duringthe growth ofour family.May God bless you all!
The Carroll Family
FirstBaptistChurch,
Thanks very much for the beautiful flowers they brought to the house for my birthday.
Dorothy Jennings