Family Movie Night “The Wizard of Oz”. Ryan Cummings, Classical

Family Movie Night “The Wizard of Oz”.
Sunday, September 11, at 4:30 p.m., in Morgan Hall.
Ryan Cummings, Classical Guitarist in Concert
Sunday, September 11, at 6:00 p.m., in the Bramblett Chapel
Enjoy an hour of classical guitar music in the intimacy and acoustical vibrancy of the
Bramblett Chapel. A love offering will be taken.
One Church is Coming October 2!
11:00 a.m. all services will be combined in the Sanctuary.
Worship at First Baptist
9/4/2016
Chapel: 8:45 a.m. Celebration: 11:00 a.m. Brian McCartney
Sermon: “Expectations and Evaluations” Luke 14:25-33
Connexion: 11:00 a.m. Hambric Brooks
Sermon: “Why Do I Fear Death?”
John 14”1-3
PAGE TWO
MUSIC MINISTRY
Classical Guitarist Ryan
Cummings in Concert
September 25
at 6:00 p.m.
Bramblett Chapel
Enjoy an hour of classical
guitar music in the
intimacy and acoustical vibrancy of the Bramblett
Chapel. A love offering will be taken.
The Holly and the Ivories
Piano Ensemble Concert
December 18 at 6:00 p.m.
Sanctuary
Ten First Baptist pianists join together to bring
holiday classics in a unique way with five grand
pianos.
STUDENT MINISTRY
This Week
What Makes You Happy 3- Reap Better, Sow Better
Scripture- Romans 8:31
Orange Leaders Weekend
September 9-10. Woodstock Community Church
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY
If you’re not following FBC Griffin Kids on Facebook
and Instagram, you should! We share all kinds of
updates about our weekly lessons and worship, as
well as details about upcoming events and how you
can help grow your child’s faith at home!
Facebook – First Baptist Church of Griffin Kids
Instagram – fbcgriffinkids
Family Movie Night I Sunday, September 11
4:30 p.m., Morgan Hall
“The Wizard of Oz”
Bring your favorite movie snacks and your blankets
and pillows. We’ll have popcorn and drinks! All are
welcome to enjoy this classic with us!
Sock Hop & Carnival I Sunday, October 2
4-7 p.m., Family Life Center
Morgan Hall and the Gym
ADULT MINISTRY
Adults Ministries team with the Library
ministry to provide and promote book
discussions on pertinent topics for
Christian believers. Our next
discussion, which is open to all adults,
will be Thursday, November 17, in the
church library. Discussion will revolve
around a book Dr. Hardee has
mentioned several times in recent
messages. It is Philip Yancey’s
Disappointment with God. Copies
will soon be available for check out or
purchase at the library desk. We only ask that participants
read the book before the discussion. We have previously
discussed another of Yancey’s books, The Jesus I Never
Knew. A number of Yancey’s books are available in your
church library. Library hours are: Sundays 9:15-10:55
a.m. and 12:00-12:30 p.m.; Tuesdays 1:00-3:00 p.m.; and
Wednesdays 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Bible Study Alert! The following Sunday morning
Bible study classes will soon begin a 13-session study of
the book of the Revelation: Chapel Class, Morgan Class,
Pathfinders Class, Construction Class , and Long
Class. Dr. Hardee is also taking a Pastoral Look at
Revelation on Wednesday nights in Morgan Hall, 6:006:50 p.m. Now is a great time to plug into a Sunday
morning or weekday small group.
PAGE THREE
Christian Sympathy is Expressed to:
Amber and Adam Head in the passing of their friend,
Chuck Mesic, on August 25.
Marian and Neal Sorenson in the passing of their greatneice on August 24.
Family and friends of James Massion Jinks, who passed
away August 4, 2016. He was the uncle of Elizabeth
Jinks, and youngest brother of Marcus and Lorraine C.
Jinks.
New Member
We would like to welcome our newest member, Matthew
McCartney. Matthew joined by letter on August 28.
Drawing for Meditation
First Baptist member and artist Laura Miller offers a twoday introductory class in Zen Drawing. Drawing is good
for both the brain and blood pressure. Students learn to
draw simple repetitive patterns and combine them in
various ways.
Visit www.fbcgriffin.org/drawing to register!
Ages 15 and up. No previous drawing experience or
talent is required. The cost for two classes is $15 (plus
supplies, approximately $10). Contact Laura Miller at:
678-346-6190 or goodmill28@gmail.com for more
information.
Daytime Women on Mission
Demarius Cabrara will be the guest speaker at the
Tuesday, September 6 meeting. We will begin at 11:00
a.m. in the FLC Hospitality Room. Demarius received an
Operation Christmas Child shoebox as a teenager living
in the Dominican Republic. Lunch will follow the program.
Please bring a sack lunch. Beverages and dessert will be
provided. No reservations required.
Prayer Request
We all have prayer requests. It is good for us to share with
one another and with God our requests. The Prayer
Ministry Team now has a prayer request! Each Sunday
during the Chapel, Celebration and Connexion worship
services there is a person interceding for the worship
experiences. We are in need of volunteers who would be
willing to pray once every month or two during either the
early service (8:45-9:30) or 11:00 services in the prayer
room. Please pray about this request and if you are willing
to volunteer please call Ann Fisher at:
770-227-0489. Leave a message and she will return your
call. Another praying opportunity occurs every Monday
morning from 10:30 to 11:30 as a group meets to pray
specifically for our church, the staff, and our members. We
meet in the prayer room except on 4th Monday of each
month when we meet in a member’s home. Please pray
about and consider coming to pray along with us. If you are
interested or have any questions please contact Joyce
McCartney at: 404-513-9426.
Finance Committee Meeting
The September meeting of the FBC Finance Committee will
take place Monday, September 19, at 5:45 p.m., in the
Heritage Room.
Helping in Louisiana
In response to the disaster occurring in Louisiana the First
Baptist Mission Council encourages individuals to send
monetary support to the work that the Cooperative Baptist
Fellowship (CBF) is assisting with in a variety areas
following the devastating flooding in southern Louisiana.
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia (CBF/GA) is
also working to provide assistance. You may give to
CBF and/or CBF/GA as listed below. To provide monetary
support for CBF’s relief efforts in Louisiana, give online
here, or you may mail a check payable to “CBF” with Acct.
17006 in the memo line to:
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, P.O. Box 102972, Atlanta,
GA 30368-2972
To provide monetary support through CBF/GA please send
a contribution to:
CBF/GA, BOX 4343, Macon, GA 31208, marked for
Louisiana disaster response.
Wednesday Night Menu
August 31 –Chicken Pot Pie, Yellow Rice, Salad, Biscuits, Banana Pudding
September 7 –Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Salad, Biscuits Dessert
September 14 –Egg Casserole, Grits, Hashbrowns, Cinnamon Rolls, Biscuits
September 21 –Fried and Baked Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Biscuit, Salad, Dessert
From the Prayer Team:
“Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.”
James 3:18
PAGE FIVE
The Christian Dilemma
Dr. Bill Hardee
O
ur religious teachings give us a moral compass. While the primary focus of religion is to connect people to God,
the other major goal is to teach us how to live. In important ways, both of these things are intensely personal.
While teachers and preachers may offer to us the truths of Scripture packaged in ways they believe do justice to the
Bible, no one can relieve us from the responsibility to apply or not apply those ideas to our own lives.
While doctrine is important, in Christianity, the role of doctrine is to connect us to God who in turn offers His Spirit to use
to help us individually grow under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit. The Bible informs; the Spirit applies. If religious
doctrine fills our mind with ideas but does not connect us we God, we are stillborn.
Christians are often too naïve about the way we are molded by our world. We believe that we can create a Church
totally in line with the ideals of God. History ought to teach us differently. Was there ever an age when people did not
argue about what God said? Was there every an age when the interpretation of Scripture didn’t generate more heat
than light? History also records too many moments where brother persecuted brother; moments when brother killed
brother in the name of doctrine. Jonathan Swift said it poignantly, “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but
not enough to make us love.” Our religion can draw lines or it can enlarge the circles of welcome, but it cannot do both.
Throughout my life, I have found it mysteriously wonderful that “sinners” loved Jesus. The religiously serious were
offended by Jesus’ sharing of bread and life with the outcasts. John the Baptist would have laid into those people with
words of rebuke, even as the Pharisees did, but not Jesus. The religiously serious thought Jesus weak on sin. Strange,
Jesus found them to be hypocrites who professed an ideal that none could measure up to. I don’t find that “sinners”
today particularly love being with Christians, particularly those who seem to possess x-ray vision to see the faults of
others. Therein lies our dilemma.
How do Christians confess the truth of the Bible with humility? How do Christians hold a moral center without drifting
into the mentality of an Old Testament Prophet, thundering rebuke and rejection? In a world where there seems to be so
much wrong, how to we balance law and grace, requirement and mercy, judgment and forgiveness?
Weeks ago after the wanton killing of 49 good people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, national news carried
the report of one preacher who proclaimed that this event was the judgment of God on LGBT community and that he
wished more had died. That event reminds me of an alleged conflict from the 19th century. According to the story, a
controversy arose between the 2 prominent preachers, Newman Smith & Robert Hall. Newman Smith wrote a bitter
pamphlet denouncing Robert Hall and what he believed to be his faulty doctrine. Having finished the pamphlet, Smith
was having trouble coming up with what he thought was a proper title. So he sent the book to a good friend for a
suggestion. Some time earlier Pastor Smith had written a widely read and helpful pamphlet entitled, “Come to Jesus.”
When his friend read the new pamphlet against Hall, he sent the pamphlet back with this suggestion, “The title I suggest
for your pamphlet is this, ‘Go to Hell,’ by the author of ‘Come to Jesus!’” It is said that Pastor Smith destroyed the
pamphlet. Sounds like someone may have come to Jesus.
So, how do we hold to our moral center but not slip over into judgment, cynicism, and a critical spirit?
First, remember that personal and spiritual growth takes a lifetime. Salvation does not imply perfection. It is simply a
description of someone who is beginning down a new road where they are remolded and refined over the course of a
life. Only as we live and grow do we see other frailties in our lives which need to be overcome. Sinlessness is not the
objective; wholeness is. During my teenage years, I had a bumper sticker that read, “Christians are not perfect, just
forgiven.” Strange, even being flawed, we are forgiven, find peace, and discover a new source of joy. The teachings
of Scripture are not given to make us better judges, but to make us better followers of Jesus.
It is intriguing that the gospels tell us that in dealing with the ordinary people in Israel, Jesus taught only using parables.
In other words, so many of the texts where we find more in-depth guidance seems to have been directed to the 12
disciples and those other followers who believed. He gave just a taste of the kingdom to the masses and waited for
people to seek more. He wasn’t a moralistic prophet. He was a compassionate healer, a fascinating storyteller, a
welcoming friend to the struggling, a defender of anyone weak, and a thorn in the hide of the judgmental. From time to
time, I still see him in his people.
PAGE SIX
VITAL SIGNS | August 28, 2016
ATTENDANCE
SERVING SUNDAY, September 4
If you’ve traded dates to serve, please remind the
individual with whom you traded.
Worship Attendance
473
CONTRIBUTIONS
Budget
$ 1,370,000.00
Linda Chappell, Ronnie Hopkins
Needed Weekly
$
26,346.15
Intercessors: Jeanne Lesser, Chuck Prothro
Common Grounds: Andrea’s Team– Becky & Moe Brooks,
Received Budget (8/28/16)
$
17,727.35
Needed in 35 Weeks
$
922,115.25
April English, Andrea & Charles Woodroof
Received in 35 Weeks
$
839,118.86
Below Requirement to date $
82,996.39
Deacons: Pete Baldwin, Nicholas Bland, Len Bythewood,
Extended Teaching Care 11:00 a.m.:
Babies:
Walkers: Ginger Clark, Carol Potter
Twos: Brittany & Bryce Howell
Threes: Jessica & Patrick McEwen
Greeters:
8:45 a.m. Chapel Service: Brenda & Ed Bistany,
Rudolph Bullard, Butch Sutton
11:00 a.m. Celebration Service: Martha Donehoo,
Gail Gardner, Belinda Shaw
11:00 a.m. Connexion Service: Nicholas Bland,
Hope Brooks, Teresa Brooks, Laura Cantrell, Becky Owen
Library: Evans Millican
Security Team: Shane Bean, Kim Willis
Transportation: Call Kim Willis at 678-873-7295
First Baptist Church of Griffin
106 West Taylor Street
Griffin, Georgia 30223-3025
www.fbcgriffin.org
A Stephen Ministry Congregation
Church Numbers
Church Office ......................................... 770-227-5517
Fax number ............................................ 770-412-7873
Pastor’s Study/Pastoral Care ............... 770-227-1096
Weekday Office ...................................... 770-228-7880
Dr. Bill Hardee, Senior Pastor...………………..……………..………………ext. 120
Dr. Hambric Brooks, Associate Pastor……………………………………...ext. 123
Rev. Kyle Boyer, Minister to Students……………………………………….ext. 111
Rev. Sarah Murray, Minister to Families with Children…………………...ext. 122
Rev. Brian McCartney, Minister of Education………………………....……ext. 124
Rev. Marty Watts, Minister of Music and GSA Director…………………...ext. 121
Mrs. Diane Lamb, Weekday Director and Director of Food Service…….ext. 128
Dr. Bruce Morgan, Pastor Emeritus
FAITH FORMATION THIS WEEK
Wednesday,
August 24
Sunday,
August 28
Children
80
64
Students
74
34
129
255
283
353
Adults
MINISTERS ON CALL
Brian McCartney
September 2-4
Marty Watts
September 9-11
If you have an emergency after hours, on these
weekends, and need to contact a minister, please call
678-572-3962.
Worship Broadcasts can be found each Sunday on
Comcast Cable Channel 25
(11:00 am and 10:00 pm) and at
WKEU 88.9 FM (11:00 am)
Live Streaming is now available on our website.
For a detailed listing of calendar events, please visit the
church website at www.fbcgriffin.org
If you want information to appear in the E-Vision,
please have all info to Publications by FRIDAY
at 5:00 P.M. each week. All information for The
Page should be in by WEDNESDAY at 12:00
P.M. each week. Information should be
emailed to publications@fbcgriffin.org.