Church family,
Thank you for your faithful participation and generous giving. At the Member Meeting on May 17, we referenced a number of additional new members and highlighted upcoming ministry events. Keep our Student Ministry and Wkids Ministry in your prayers this summer, with a busy calendar ahead of us.
We celebrated a 50-year anniversary. Rhetta Christmas has served as the church organist/accompanist for 50 years! Each of the past four music ministers shared compliments about Rhetta's capabilities, professionalism, and teamwork attitude. Rhetta, we are blessed to have you at WBC. Also, we approved the following motion regarding church fostering: "The Elders at Wilkesboro Baptist explore opportunities to foster and/or replant local congregations. The scope, sequence, and responsibilities of fostering relationships would be under the oversight of the elders."
We are hopeful in the months and years ahead to be able to help other churches become healthy and faithful. The approval of this motion is one way that WBC can be kingdom-minded. This upcoming Wednesday night (May 20), I will give a "State of the Church Address" highlighting where we've been, where we are, and where we're going. I hope you are able to join us this week. If not, we will record the address and post to our podcast channel.
Grace and Peace,
Dr. Hefner
Church family, Sunday, October 4, is our Mission Offering Sunday. Everything you give this Sunday will go to missions: 25% to the International Mission Board; 25% to the North American Mission Board; 10% to the Wilkes Pregnancy Care Center; 10% to the Honduras Mission Trip led by Dr. Joe Pinkerton; 10% to David Easler with Greater Europe Mission; 10% to local benevolence; 10% to Samaritan's Kitchen of Wilkes. Also, on October 4 at 6:30 PM we will have our first "extra" teaching session from the book of Revelation. To complement our series "Word and Witness: Vision of the King from the Book of Revelation," Pastor Chris will be teaching through Revelation 6-22. This is the first of 4 sessions to complete the book (Oct. 25, Nov. 8, and TBA). Here is an encouraging thought: God wants to speak to you today. He wants to have a conversation with you. It is our obligation to pause long enough to listen.
Introducing Elder Candidate Landon House
Church family, Thank you for your participation in our Member Meeting on September 20. You are a big part of how we're growing numerically and spiritually and how we're caring for one another. At the Member Meeting, we approved two motions. The first changes Tad Craig's title to Pastor of Administration and elevates Josh Pinkerton to the Minister of Students role. The second approved a new, part-time, position of Connections Director. We had a great Sunday of worship on September 20 and heard a fantastic message about "The Missionary Heart" from professor and missionary, Dr. Will Brooks. Each Sunday when we gather for worship, we have the privilege of engaging intentionally in worship. Here is a post about how we can worship faithfully . Grace and peace, Pastor Chris
Church family, This Sunday (September 20), we welcome Dr. Will Brooks as a guest speaker. Will shared at our church some ten years ago, as he and his family headed to serve with the International Mission Board. We've prayed for Will and his family as a regular mission partner annually at WBC. He’s now serving as a professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. As you listen to Dr. Brooks this Sunday, be prayerful about what God would have you give to our mission offering on Sunday, October 4. We have a Member Meeting at 5:30 PM on September 20 and will be sharing two staffing motions from our Personnel Committee as well as church fostering and church growth updates. As we think about the tensions in the world and remember 9/11 some twenty-five years ago , let's remember our obligation to hold and share the truth of the gospel. Grace and peace, Pastor Chris
Introducing Elder Candidate Steven Mercer
Church family, God is exceedingly good, and we should praise him. With church family suffering and struggling, God is answering prayers-we should praise him. With sinners believing in Christ and being baptized, we should praise him. With God working in our midst, giving us opportunities to trust him-we should praise him. Mark your calendars for the September 20 Member Meeting at 5:30 PM and Sunday, October 4, as our annual mission offering Sunday. For more on praising God, here is a post about saying or singing praise daily .
Church family, We celebrated baptism at 9:30 this past Sunday! It is such a joy to see believers declare publicly their allegiance to Christ through baptism. We return to fall programming on Wednesdays this week (September 2) with Awana (children) and Squads (Middle School) at 5:45. Adult Bible study meets at 6:15pm where we will begin a study through the book of Romans: the Gospel Defined and the Gospel Applied. Sunday, September 6 begins a new sermon series: Word and Witness: Vision of the King from the Book of Revelation. Remember to park as far away as you can and sit in the middle of the sections when you attend each week. Invite a friend to worship with you this Sunday! For more information about following Jesus through discipleship groups, here is an invitation for you.
Church family, we're glad to be returning to fall programming in the coming days. As folks return to worship, we are experiencing consistently high attendance each week. Please park as far away as you are able, and when you arrive for worship at 9:30 or 11:00 move to sit toward the middle of the aisle. Check out the parking map below to see available parking options and help us make space for others. As we conclude our series "More Grace: How God's Interventions Make it Possible to Follow Him," we do need more grace for our daily journey. Grace and peace, Pastor Chris
The Church We Aspire to Be?
Church family, Thank you for your prayers and support for our student mission trip to El Salvador! At worship yesterday, our students shared their experiences about how God worked in and through them. Josh challenged us to adopt Paul's mindset of embracing our identity in Christ, our responsibility to lead others to Christ, and the people to whom God has sent us. Do you realize God is sending you? Wherever you are (work, home, leisure, hobby), there are people who need to know the love of God and the goodness of his gospel. Will you look around you? Who is someone you can pause to pray for right now? Who do you need to set an appointment with to share the gospel? We should be deeply thankful that God sent someone to us with his gospel so we could experience his grace and redemption. Grace and peace, Pastor Chris God alone is worthy of our worship and adoration. For more, check out The Cure for an Idolatrous Heart
