Oct 9th, 2022

The Power of Gratefulness

(I want to share this article from the Book “We Are Grateful” by Keith Wagner)

The Seeds of Discouragement:

“An old legend tells how a man once stumbled upon a great red barn after wandering for days in a forest in the dark.  He was seeking refuge from the howling winds of a storm.  He entered the barn, and his eyes grew accustomed to the dark.  To his astonishment, he discovered that this was the barn where the Devil kept his storehouse of seeds.  They were the seeds that were sown in the hearts of humans.  The man became curious and lit a match.  He began exploring the piles of bins of seeds round him.  He could not help but notice that the greatest majority of them said, “Seeds of Discouragement.” About that time one of the devil’s helpers arrived to pick up a load of seeds.  The man asked him, “Why the abundance of discouragement seeds?” The helper laughed and replied, “Because they are so effective, and they take root so quickly.” “Do they grow everywhere?” the man asked.  At that moment, the devil’s helper became very sullen.  He glared at the man and in disgust he said, “No. They never seem to grow in the heart of a grateful person.”

I am so grateful for the Country Church Family and all their work.  They have spent hours and hours rearranging, repairing, and cleaning the buildings.  George Eustace, the Building & Grounds Team, plus others have done an outstanding job.  Have you seen the west exterior wall of the Education Building?  It looks great.

October and November are considered Harvest Months.  I am praying for a great harvest of people.  “Pray that the Lord of Harvest will send forth laborers into the field” Luke 10:2; This month is exciting.  On October 30th we will have a joint worship service with Iglesia Baptista Elohim.  The church will join us in worship, there will be special music, and their pastor, Edward, will preach.  After Worship service, we will have a Fall Festival.  There will be hot dogs, popcorn, and drinks.  We will have games for the children, a cakewalk, and drawings for prizes.  We will need volunteers to help organize, set up, cook, and work the Fall Festival.  We could have one hundred in attendance on that day.

We need volunteers for the 2023 Teams.  Please complete the sign-up form and return it to the designated box by October 23rd.  There are changes in the organization of the Teams.   A comparison of 2022 to 2023 is on the back of this page.  On November 6th we will have a vote on the Teams.  Each Team should have at least 3 members with no more than 7 members.  Please remember the teams will need helpers, too.

This month the 2022 teams will meet to put plans in place for the rest of the year.   They will also work with the 2023 members to submit their budget requests to the Finance Team.  Pray for all of them as we get ready to plan for 2023.

This morning, I am preaching at Central Baptist Church of Ingleside.  They are having special revival Sunday services this month and they wanted me to be one of the speakers.  Pray for us this morning.  In my absence, our own Colton Crane will be preaching for us today.  It does not seem possible, but Colton has now been interning with us for two years.  He has blessed our hearts and has been a faithful servant.  Please pray for him as he preaches to us today.

Gratefulness will always Overcome Discouragement!

Great Is Thy Faithfulness!

Pastor Charles

 

Upcoming Events

Oct 11th                                      6:00pm                     Missions/Outreach, Churchwide Meeting                                                    Office conference area

Oct 14th                                      9:00am                     Bible Study                                                                   Office conference area

 

Oct 21st                                       9:00am                     Bible Study                                                                   Office conference area

 

Oct 28th                                      9:00am                     Bible Study                                                                   Office conference area

 

Oct 30th                                      10:15am                   Joint service with Iglesia Baptista Elohim                                                                                                                                                        11:30am                   Fall Festival

2022 Teams                                                                              2023 Teams

  1. Building/Grounds 1. Leadership
  2. Policies/Procedures 2. Administrative
  3. Commercial Property A. Building/Grounds
  4. Finance B. Policies/Procedures
  5. Culinary C. Finance
  6. In-reach D. HR/Personnel
  7. Missions/Outreach E. Commercial Property
  8. Music 3. Ministry
  9. Prayer A. Missions/Outreach
  10. Audio Visual B. Benevolence
  11. Benevolence C. Culinary
  12. Children/Youth D. Discipleship/Education
  13. Decorating E. Hospitality/Welcome
  14. HR/Personnel F. Worship Arts
  15. Welcome G. Prayer
  16. Discipleship