Volume 8
I
ssue 1
0 www.clarendonbaptist.org October 2014 The M
onthly N
ewsletter of Clarendon Baptist Church, Alcolu, SC A GREAT COMMISSION CHURCH THE WEIGHT OF YOUR WORDS…I have seen the power of words. Words are my calling. I always want to be careful to control what I say to others. I have learned that words have weight. We all have heard words that have changed the course of history like, “I have a dream.”, “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”, and most of all, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have heard words that negatively impact our lives. These words are daggers to the soul. They sear our spirit to the core. They mutilate our memory and stick to our hearts like glue. The person that said, “Words can never hurt me.” was living in a fantasy land. The Scripture clearly states, “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by Hell” (James 3:6). Did you notice the text says the tongue “sets the whole course of his life”? I do not care who you are, what you say matters. It can matter for evil or good. That is a choice that we will be held accountable for by God. Now, in our culture of texting and social media, it is imperative to understand the principal that words have weight. We must not go to a phone or computer to express our emotions; that can be dangerous to the sender and the recipient of any text or post. We must find someone we feel safe with and express our emotions in a healthy way. If not, we could be setting the course of our life (or someone else’s life) in a negative direction. The Bible is clear on how we are to use our words. In Ephesians 4:29 it says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but ONLY what is helpful for building others up…” Wow! We are to be construction workers with our words. We are to help build others and contribute to their lives and not take away with words that are like wrecking balls. Many times we react out of emotion, and we want to be vindicated or “tell them like it is”. When we act this way, it is undisciplined and makes us look foolish and petty. We also leave a trail of broken and hurt people in our wake. The bottom line is we must ask the Lord of love to give us His heart for people. He never demanded His rights (He was a servant), He gave up His rights, and He spoke words of life and not destruction. The fact is, when we hurl words like daggers, we never know where they will land. Will your words be fatal or fruitful? I, for one, will choose to take the role of construction worker and not wrecking ball with my words. Let us remember, words have weight. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you Lord.” Now those are words to live by. Just a Servant, Pastor Mike CBC News
CALENDAR of EVENTS 9
12
13
16
17
18
29
Sr. Adult Outing ~ Tail Race Canal Cruise
Children’s Committee 5 p.m.
Properties and Youth Committees
meet after evening worship
Deacons meet 7 p.m.
Ladies Night ~ 6 p.m.
Fifth Quarter ~ CBC FLC 9 pm – Midnight
Alcolu Reunion Speak w/Russell Harrelson
Trunk-r-Treat ~ 6:30 p.m.
Looking forward to November
(1) OCC Packing Shoeboxes (1-2) 30-hour Famine
(9) Children’s, Youth, Properties Comm. (11) Deacons
(11&13) Ladies Encounter (14-16) Camp Longridge Serv.
Proj. (25) DeCosta Hotdog Supper (26) NO AWANA (27)
THANKSGIVING (29) Carolina vs. Clemson (30) 5th
Sunday (Com. Serv./No Dinner)
Ladies
Encounter
Tues. 11/11 or
Thurs. 11/1 3
Guest Speaker from Proverbs 31 Ministries. Doors
open at 5:30 with dinner served at 6:30. See Denise
Jones or Adrienne McCabe for more information.
WORKERS for OCTOBER NURSERY Romans 15:13
10/5 Early: Amy Chappell, Erica Eaddy Late: LaRena & Sabrina Powers 10/12 Early: Allyson, Tori, & Hardy Goff Late: Heather & Lundee Olsen 10/19 Early: Kim, Lauren, & Jordan Gardner Late: Louise Bingham Doris Daniel 10/26 Early: Harriet & Katenell Locklair Late: Mary Lynn Lee Vassar Turner USHERS Johnny Baker, Donnie Briley, Sean Briley, Jamie Hodge, Gary Lee, Toey Lee, Tommy Lee, Steve Lowe TODDLER CHURCH 10/5 Tabitha Gardner 10/12 LaRena Powers 10/19 Allyson Goff 10/26 Nancy Mitchum BLDG. ATTENDANT David McCabe FLOWERS 10/5 Open 10/26 Open 10/12 Open 10/19 Mary Lynn Lee DEACON UPDATE Recently I had the opportunity to speak with the Awana children for my first counsel time of the New Year. The object I brought with me was a blueberry vine with several branches on it. As you might be able to guess, we talked about Jesus’ instructions, that He is the vine and we are the branches. As the vine, He is the source of all power, strength, and growth for His branches. Without the vine, branches simply cannot survive. We as the branches are called to tap into the vine, allowing the vine to enter us. Allowing Him in also brings with it all the goodness only the true vine can provide. The reason for all of this, just like the blueberry bush, is to produce fruit. The gardener (God) takes great delight in fruitful branches. Shouldn’t this be the goal of all of His children? To delight God in all we do? As we move back into our beautiful sanctuary, continue to do other improvements around the church grounds (upgrading the nursery, planning for the upgrades and expansion of the fellowship hall, etc.), begin M2M classes, attend youth functions, volunteer for AWANA, sing in the praise team/ choir, or participate in other exciting things going on at Clarendon Baptist Church, let’s be reminded that all of these are done with an intentional purpose. That purpose is to spread the love of God, along with the saving power of the blood of Jesus, throughout our community. Yes, our freshly painted and carpeted sanctuary is a beautiful site, something we should all be proud of. Yes, we can be excited and enjoy the many activities our church has to offer. However if we don’t use it as an opportunity to lead others to Christ, we’ve missed the point. Let’s all do our part to be fruitful branches and invite others to visit and become a part of God’s family here at Clarendon Baptist Church. ~ Tommy Geddings “I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” ~ John 15:5 ENCOURAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES Please take time this month to pray for, call, email, visit, or write a note of encouragement to our college student, shut-‐in & Faith Promise missionaries. Alex & Jamie Pettett World Witness One Cleveland Street, Suite 220 Greenville, SC 29601 (972)624-‐5053 17 Shallowford Rd. Greenville, SC 29607 [email protected] [email protected] COLLEGE STUDENT SHUT-‐IN Evelyn Michelle Belt 112 University Village Drive Apartment F Central, SC 29630 Lila Sue Thompson 1356 Clemson Road Alcolu, SC 29001 803-‐473-‐2302 HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 1st Lauren Gardner 19th Erica Eaddy Autumn Russell Bobbie Pierce nd
2 Kyle Horton John Smith rd
nd
3 Andrew Mitchum 22 Colin Gaff 4th Savannah Ard Jay Gardner Juanita Hunter Marlana Lynn Lee th
rd
8 Mattie Boyce 23 Jewell Brown 9th Valorie Evans Gary Lee Dianne Floyd David McCabe th
th
11 Hank Thompson 24 Hardy Goff 12th Amy Chappell 25th Joy Joyner th
13 Ann Barwick 26th Wyatt Powell 14th Michael DeCosta 28th Jimmy Bryson Adriane Gaff 30th Jerry Bingham th
15 Kristen Hubbard 17th Curt Lee If we have missed birthday, your please call the church office so that we can add your name to our birthday list. October
Ladies Night ~ Thurs., Oct. 16th
Guest Speaker: Jenny Martin
Cost: $10 Bring a finger food and a
friend and get your couponing on!
PRAYER MINISTRY CBC MEMBERS: Ann & Otis Barwick Marie Davids Christian Hussey Kenny Powers Shaun Richburg Ruth H. Hill Turner Esther Blackmon Tami Blascak Mattie Boyce Ann Brown Ed Hinson Barbara Hussey Curtis & Mary Frances Lee Jessie McCabe VeLinda Reynolds Rodney Richburg Lila Sue Thompson Debbie Tucker David & Melva Young SEPTEMBER MONTHLY RECORDS Average Sunday School Attendance: Average Worship Attendance: Monthly Offering Total: Building Fund: 170 8:45 91 11:00 175 $27,312.99 $24,079.78 CONTACT INFORMATION Pastor: Michael DeCosta Secretary: Mrs. Shirley Gallagher Admin. Assist.: Mrs. Pam Scott OFFICE HOURS Mon-‐Thurs: 8:30-‐3:00 Fri: 8:30-‐Noon Clarendon Baptist Church 1780 Main St. PO BOX 307 Alcolu, SC 29001 (803) 473-‐2376 clarendonbap@ftc-‐i.net www.clarendonbaptist.org THIS AND THAT Don’t miss out! All youth (6th – 12th grade) are invited to join us from 9 p.m. -‐ midnight at the CBC Family Life Center after the football games on Fri., October 17th! Come on out and have a great time! Wed.,Oct. 29 6 – 8 p.m. CBC Family Life Center Lots o
f g ames and goodies for the whole family! No s cary costumes please! info to come! More th
OCC is coming to a close with our church-wide Shoebox Packing Party on Sat., Nov.
1st. Plastic shoeboxes are being collected this month as well as monies to help get
the boxes to a child. $7 covers the cost of the religious material added to each box in
Charlotte, NC and shipping. Checks: make out to Samaritan’s Purse, number of
boxes paying for in memo line. Cash: bring with you when you come to pack your
box(es). Or Pay online and then click to follow your box. (Kids love to see where
the box goes!) Begin praying for the child(ren) who will receive the box(es) you
pack. Those who have spoken with Mary Jo about special items you have, plan to
bring them to add to your box(es). Call Mary Jo any time with any questions you
may have. Thank you for giving to the Lord!!!!! Mary Jo
The Harvest Seeds ministry needs your help to sort, pack, and carry the collected
Sunday school literature and other materials to the Santee Baptist Associational office
in Sumter. If willing to help, contact Karen DeCosta.
Collecting items for shipment to Ukraine. Warm winter socks, band-aids, ace
bandages, warm winter clothing. Please contact Donald Morris with any questions.
SR. ADULT NEWS Tail Race Canal Cruise Thurs., October 9th Those who signed up leaving CBC on church bus promptly at 8:30 a.m. Be at the church by 8:15 a.m. Cost: $15 for boat tour + money for lunch at Gilligan’s Rest. Call Doris Daniel at (803) 478-‐3372 with any questions. More info in bulletin. WED. NIGHT MENUS & KITCHEN TEAMS 1st
8th
15th
22nd
29th
Menu: Spaghetti, Salad, Veggie, Garlic bread, Pound Cake
KT: Tommy & Donna Burgess, Cory & Aimee McWhite
Menu: Hamburgers, Potato salad, Chips, Ice cream sundaes
KT: Jonathan & Denise Jones, Justin & Nikki Woodard
Menu: Fried chicken, Mac-n-cheese, Corn, Roll, Peach
cobbler
KT: Chuck & Allyson Goff, Jamie & Erica Hodge
Menu: Baked potato bar w/fixings, (Chicken nuggets for
kids), Pineapple Dessert
KT: David & Frankie McCabe, Dan McInnis, Linda Pierce
Menu: “Trunk-r-Treat” – Hotdogs, Chips
KT: Carolyn Brewer, Stacey & Nancy McInnis,
Janice Richburg