Dear Church Family,
There is a geological phenomenon called “littoral drift”. When you are at the beach, if you are not careful, you will find that you drift from the spot where you entered the water. Part of this is due to the currents that are in the ocean. But, part of it is because of the rotation of the earth. In the northern hemisphere, the waves tend to cause you to drift in one direction while in the southern hemisphere the direction is reversed. The term for this is littoral drift. For the sake of the point I’m making here, there are forces at work to move you from where you want to be spiritually as well. In some sense, this is true in our personal lives and in church, especially spiritually. The press of our daily lives, the demands we have from work, family life, and everything else can quickly divert our attention away from our calling to walk with Jesus daily. And, when our passion for Jesus cools or is replaced with something else, the joy of worship and serving will dissipate. Hopefully, we recognize when our passion has cooled and our priorities have changed from what they should be. But, there are seasons where we need to be challenged to examine ourselves in light of our calling to keep Jesus first in our hearts and in our lives. On October 29, I am asking our church to pause and spend a day in revival. Bro. Rob Patterson will be with us for both services (we will have a morning and an evening service) on October 29th as we pause to hear what God is saying to us about our own personal walk with Him. I hope you will put this on your calendar and not let anything interfere with attending both services.
I am also concerned for me, you and all of us, that we not let our burden for souls to be replaced by anything else less important. We must embrace the priority of praying, sharing and inviting unchurched people to Jesus and to church. If you are in a Bible Fellowship group on Sunday Mornings here at church, I hope your class regularly pauses to speak of folks who do not know Jesus and to pray for them. We often spend a great deal of time praying for sick friends and family, and we should do this. But, we cannot neglect our obligation to be concerned for lost people. In Luke 19:10, we read, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Many commentators believe this is the key verse in Luke. And, Luke uses this verse to sum up and state succinctly the primary focus of Jesus’ ministry here on earth. Develop a personal list of people that you have a burden for their soul. Pray for them daily. Lead your class to do the same. We make our priorities the same as Jesus’.
Finally, please join with me in working to become a welcoming church. We are blessed with a tremendous number of guests each week. Most of our guests are looking to see if this is a place that genuinely cares for them and their family. If you meet someone that you do not know, introduce yourself and help them feel welcome, loved and at home. I am attaching an excerpt from a book by Thom Ranier called, Becoming a Welcoming Church. Some of the things we may think are important may not be to a guest. You may want to check out this excerpt to find out more. Excerpt.Becoming-a-Welcoming-Church.pdf (bhpublishinggroup.com)
EVENTS THIS WEEK
Sunday, Aug. 27th: 9:15 am Bible Fellowship Groups
10:30 am In-Person Service / Live
5:00 pm Adult Choir
6:00 pm Bible Study
Youth in the OFC
Wednesday, Aug.30h: 5:00 pm “The Midweek Update” – Live on FB
6:00 pm First Priority Club Regional Mtg. @ OFC
Morning Nursery Schedule
Aug. 27th: Birth – Walking Marilyn Woods, Shera Keeton
Lois Goldsberry
Walking – 24 mos. Marissa Fish, Lisa Fish
Sept. 3rd: Birth – Walking Margie Kanavel, Tina Hehman,
Makayla & Christopher Setters
Walking – 24 mos. Emily, Miley & Maelyn McBee
From the Treasurer: August 20th
General Receipts $4,050; Weekly General Need $10,245; General Average for 34 weeks$ 8,632; Designated Receipts $396
Bible Fellowship Groups 135
Morning Worship 192
1. Signup sheets are out this week at the front and rear welcome centers, if you would like to be a part of the Sunday night Bible study Experiencing God. Workbooks will be $20. If you are going to participate in the study, you will need a workbook. We will begin the second Sunday night in September at 6 pm. It is a 12 week study that involves 5 days a week of individual Bible Study and then a group meeting on Sunday nights. I want to stress that this study is like many things, you will get out of it what you put into it. We would not hire someone to go to the gym for us if we needed exercise and in the same sense, someone cannot tell us all that is in this study. You can find out more by clicking on this link, Experiencing God - Blackaby Ministries International, you will see a video that explains more about the study.
2. Old Fashion Day - Old Fashion Day is on Saturday, Sept. 9th. The parade will start at 11:00 am. We will have a float in the parade and will need volunteers on Wednesday, Sept. 6th at 6:00 pm to help decorate the float. NOTE: On Saturday, Sept. 9th we will be handing out flyers & candy during the parade and need volunteers to walk alongside our float & pass it out. See Delores Cheesman or Paula Burden if you can help.
NOTE: We will be opening the OFC from 12:00 – 3:00 pm. We will need donations of water and cookies to pass out to people as they visit the OFC. These can be left in the fellowship hall. If you would like to volunteer to pass these out to people let Delores or Paula know so they can make sure they have enough help.
3. WE NEED YOU TO JOIN AN OUTREACH TEAM! Please consider becoming a part of our outreach ministry. WE will have an opportunity for you to find out more and to join one of our teams on Sunday, September 9th immediately following the morning service. We will meet in the chapel and it will only take about 20 minutes to share a few details and to get everyone who is interested signed up. Please consider becoming a part of this important ministry.
4. PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR STUDENT LEADERS AS THEY ENDEAVOR TO BEGIN A FIRST PRIORITY CLUB IN SCHOOL!
5. Attention Senior Adults!! Upcoming Keenager Trip - The Keenagers next trip will be going to King Fish Restaurant on Friday, Sept. 8th. They will leave the church at 9:30 am. Please sign up on the sheet at the Welcome Center in the main hallway so they know how many will be going. Also put your phone number so they can contact you if there is a cancellation or change of any kind.
6. Family Game Night - There will be a Family Game Night on Saturday, Sept. 9th from 4-7 pm in the Fellowship Hall. A meal is provided. Everyone is invited to join us and bring your family and friends for some fun and fellowship!
7. MEN’S MINISTRY UPDATE!!
· Our next Men’s outing will be at Ken Black's farm outside of Warsaw on Friday, September 22, 2023 from 5:00 pm to approx. 9:00 pm. The cost will be $5.00 per person and this covers drinks, chips and hotdogs/brats. Bring your fishing poles and bait for those who like to fish. Will have food, bonfire, music, and a devotion. Please bring a lawn chair. Come for a time of fellowship and praise! A sign-up sheet is at the Welcome Center in the main hallway. For questions, see Steve Powell.
· Our next Men’s breakfast will be on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 8:30 am. If you are willing to help as a cook or any other way, please see Tony Hawkins. We need volunteers!
8. You can give online now!! Just go to Donate | My Site (fbcwalton.org) and follow the easy instructions. It is easy, fast and a safe way to give!! Your gifts enable us to touch many lives!
"Mission Moments"
* Operation Christmas Child, Shoebox Ministry. The month of August we are looking for 24 count crayons, theme notebooks, and pencils
* Food Pantry: The needs for this month: Beef Bullion, Saltine Crackers, Onion Powder.
* Women on Mission: Thank you so much for every box of tissues that was brought in. We met our goal. YAY! Thank you to all the ladies who came to our
Associational Salad Super. We hope you enjoyed and will come be a part of our ministry.
* First Baptist Church Walton will be taking part in the Walton Old Fashion Day Parade. We will have a float in the parade and preparing that on Wednesday
evening, Sept. 6th @ 7:00 pm. We will need folks to walk along with the parade to pass out church info and candy. We will also have the OFC building open from
12:00 - 3:00 pm that day passing out water and cookies. We will need donations of both water and cookies. Those can be left in the kitchen down stairs. If you are
interested at all in participating in the outreach, please come join in the fun. Missions take the form of many avenues. We are each one called to serve.
Where is God calling you?
Sunday Service Information
You can go to the church website and click on this link -
https://fbcwalton.org/services
on Vimeo: search "FBC Walton, KY" or click on this link -
on Facebook: search "1st Baptist Church of Walton, KY"
or "@1stbaptistwalton" or click on this link -
https://www.facebook.com/1stbaptistwalton
on YouTube: you can search "FBC Walton, KY" or just click on this link -