MESSENGER

1435 Highway 119 North Springfield, Georgia 31329 (912) 754-3443

VOL. XX July 5, 2015 No. 27

The “Messenger” can be viewed each week at www.fbc-springfield.org

A Publication of First Baptist Church of Springfield

Annual Homecoming Celebration August 9, 2015

Lunch and fellowship following one service at 10:45. Families, when you are considering what you will bring for the fellowship dinner,

please plan to bring enough food for your family and one other family.

Quarterly Prayer Meeting (Youth-led)

Wednesday, July 15, 7pm

A Message

Bill Bozeman: Interim Pastor

Keepin’ it Real

Dusty Carson: Associate Pastor

Seeking the Lord

Jeremiah 29:12-13, “Then you will call upon Me and go and

pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find

Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

The people of God were in captivity in Babylon when God sent

them this message via Jeremiah, the Old Testament prophet. They

were there, primarily, because of their idolatry. Instead of seeking

and worshiping the true and living God only, they were guilty of

worshiping multiple gods.

In this letter to those people, I believe the message that God was

trying to get across to His people is to seek the Lord. He is saying,

“Seek Me, and Me only!” As believers, that same message applies

to you and me today. There is no problem in the home or in your

career or in your business or in this church or even in this nation

that God cannot solve if we would earnestly seek Him with all our

heart.

What is God saying to us through this passage of Scripture?

We are to seek the Lord exclusively. We are to seek the Lord,

and Him only! Jesus is all we need. In Colossians 2:9, Paul said,

“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you

are complete in Him.” He said to the Philippians, “I can do all

things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) We

do not need to seek for anything else, because Jesus is all we need.

We are to seek the Lord earnestly. We are to seek Him with all

our heart. The Hebrew phrase means an intense, determined

longing and expectation. This search must be done with

determination which comes from desperation. A half-hearted search

for Jesus will never find Him. Hebrews 11:6 says, “For he who

comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarded of

those who diligently seek Him.” The psalmist said, “With my

whole heart I have sought You.” (Psalms 119:10) We must seek the

Lord earnestly.

We must seek the Lord expectantly. We never seek God in vain,

if we seek Him with all our heart. Psalm 130:5-6 says, “I wait for

the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits

for the Lord, more than those who watch for the morning—yes,

more than those who watch for the morning.” There are two things

we must remember about the sunrise: 1) You cannot rush the

sunrise; it comes when it is time for it to come. Neither can you

rush the Lord; He will come when He is ready, and He is never late.

2) The sun will rise if you wait long enough. The Lord will come as

He has promised if we will simply wait upon Him. Psalm 40:1: “I

waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my

cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry

clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.” Isaiah

64:4-5: “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard

nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides

You, who acts for the one who waits for Him. You meet him who

rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers You in Your

ways.”

God says to us, “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to

Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me,

when you search for Me with all your heart.” May we diligently

seek the Lord with all our hearts, that we may know His will and do

it.

I look forward to seeing you again this Sunday.

Jesus is Lord!

Brother Bill

We are so excited the Dominican Republic mission

trip is less than a week away. We will be flying out

of Miami next Saturday June 11th. We feel very

honored and blessed to be able to minister to the

people of the Dominican. We will be involved in

water purification, vacation bible school and sports

ministries. We want to thank everyone who

supported us and encouraged us as we prepared for

this awesome experience. We have ten people from

our church who will be headed to the Dominican.

This is the largest group to go on a foreign mission

trip from First Baptist Springfield. Please be in

prayer for every person going.

The other nine people going are: Brooke Brown-

ing, Gail Spradley, Stephanie Deal, Anna Kess-

ler, Renae Bracken, Saralyn Parks, Colby

Pearce, Allen Huber and Lee Wallace. Also

please pray for safe travel and for life’s to be

changed, ours and those we minister too.

Sharp Words

David Sharp: Minister to Students George Pabst: Crossroads Mission Pastor

News at the Crossroads

July 13–17

We have just returned from watching the movie “The War

Room”. This movie will be released by Sherwood Films in

August. We had the privilege of watching it before it hits

theaters! What an awesome movie, I would encourage every-

one to go and watch it when it hits theaters!

This has been a great week as I have watched God move in

our Middle School students lives. Several have strengthened

there walk with God and have asked that I hold them

accountable. I had the privilege of leading two of our students

to personal relationship with Christ. I will be baptizing them

shortly. Praise God for the friends of our students who can

come and for lives to be changed.

As you read this I am on the road with 61 youth & adults

from FBC Springfield and eleven students from Virginia (who

will be meeting us in Cleveland) for our summer mission

trip. Please keep us in your prayers as we do the sports camps,

drama, and music this week. I am excited to see what God is

able to do through us. It is going to be great.

We will be traveling back next Sunday.

July 15th we will be doing a church wide prayer time. If

you have not been able to attend previous times I would en-

courage you to try and participate. If everything goes as

planed we will be praying for our church and preparing stu-

dents as they get ready to go back to school. Yes, it will be

just a matter of weeks and summer will have come to an end.

Independence Day! I love that movie. The alien invasion defeated by a rag tag air

force made from a group of misfits’ led by the President.

They use a stolen alien ship to insert a virus into the shield

system of the alien armada so that the earth weapons can be

effective. Another alien invasion movie War of the Worlds

ended with the defeat of the alien force not because of any

weapon system earth had to offer but because of a virus

killing the aliens. In both instances it is the little unaccounted

for entities that seal the victory.

July 4 is on the calendar in every country in the world yet we

celebrate it because of the declaration of a principle of

government that had never been tried. It worked and is still

working. This country was founded on principles in the word

of God. Principles of equality for all men, freedom from

government religious oppression, representative legislatures

and a fair judicial system to balance the power of the

executive and legislative branches. We have taken great pride

and comfort in that system and I might say justifiably so.

However, recent events may have shaken some of that

confidence.

It has been easy to live in a culture where Christianity is

dominate. We have become so accustomed to it that we have

begun to believe it is our right. If I’m an American I am a

Christian. Many would disagree with me there from other

belief systems but they are aware of the dominance. That

assumption is like a virus. It has crept into our thinking so

easily after all it is inherent in our nature.

Our nature is to want to be God. It started in the Garden of

Eden and continues today. We know what’s right (remember

high school). We know where we are going (plans of mice

and men) We are in charge and control after all we are

“Master of my fate: The captain of my soul” wrote William

Earnest Henley at age 25 in his poem Invictus. With this

foundation we often allow others or entities to take charge.

We allow them authority over us. Israel to keep up with

surrounding nations wanted a king other than God. God

protested through Samuel and yet allowed them to choose

Saul. Jesus addressed the danger of such an action 14

generations later.

You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates.

Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell

you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you

what to do. No one else should carry the title of ‘Father’; you

have only one Father, and he’s in heaven. And don’t let

people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is

only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ. Matthew

23:8-10 The Message

We are so funny. We rail against authority. We war against

control yet allow the virus of complacency to infect us so that

others rule and reign in our lives. All the while we have it

good. Independence is only found in dependence upon God.

True independence was paid for at the cross by Christ alone

for the whole world for all time. We have no other King but

Jesus and He brings independence through dependence on

him. He alone is the only effective antibiotic to the virus of

sin that infects us all. This Independence Day let’s celebrate

our dependence on Him!

In HIS Service and Yours! Bro G

Notice To All Men Of The Church Please let the office know if you want your name added or removed from the list

of eligible men for Deacon Election.

THE OFFICE NEEDS TO KNOW BY JULY 8th.

List will be available in the Messenger

Sunday, July 12th .

Eligibility To Be Nominated For Deacon In Our Church

The eligibility qualifications for deacons are: have been a Christian for at least 4

years, have been members of our church for at least two years and are

21 years of age or older.

To sign up for our church-wide text alert group,

simply text @fbcsp to 81010. Or visit FBC-Springfield.org/news

You will then receive a daily Bible verse, and information on key church events. There are several other text alerts groups you may join – simply text each of

the following keywords to 81010 (one at a time). @fbcant – The youth ministry | @fbcschoir—Adult Choir

@fbcgara – The GAs and RAs ministries

@fbcymlt – The youth ministry lead team

@fbcchilds – The children’s ministry (leadership)

Nursery Worker’s Needed

Please Contact Heidi Carson if you are in-

terested in helping out in the nursery.

Children’s Sunday School We will have 5 positions open in the children's Sunday School department

starting with the new SS year in August. We have openings in both hours.

If you do not want to commit to every Sunday you can see Molly Marchese.

This is a CRITICAL ministry within our church.

Communion

Sunday, July 12

Dear Church Family, Thank you all so much for your prayers and

participation during VBS. It was such a blessing to

serve with many of you who gave of your time and God-

given talents. The investment and love you poured into

His precious children was absolutely amazing. As we

shared who Jesus is, the Gospel, the plan of salvation, and

the overall truths of the VBS scripture, motto, and lessons,

we grew in our own faith and focus on Christ.

It was such an important reminder to follow, trust, and obey our true guide,

Jesus, and to keep persever ing through life’s circumstances with the

knowledge that He is in control, knows the right path for us and has the perfect

plan. The opportunity to work together for the glory of God and to serve and love

others was met with unwavering dedication, commitment, and unified ef-

forts. What a wonderful, spirit-filled week! God has been glorified!

In His service,

Molly

FBC Information & Opportunities

This Week at FBC: July 5– July 12

Thank You for Volunteering!

July 8 Supper: Young Adult Mission/Included

July 8 Security: Johnny Tiller, Wendel Wilson

July 12 Flowers: Lona Webb

July 12 Office: Rachel Kight

July 15 Supper: Soul Survivors

July 15 Security: Joseph Ratchford George Watts

July 16 Grounds: John Blewett Buzzy Zittrouer

July 19 Flowers: M Coombe J Lee T Sapp B Morgan

July 19 Office: Sherry Brito

Wednesday Evening Suppers are served at 6PM. Take-out meals available for sick & shut-in at 6:45 pm.

Suggested donation is $5 per person or $15 per family .

July 5

SUNDAY:

8:00 AM Early Worship

9:15 AM Sunday School Contemporary Service

10:45 AM Sunday School

Traditional Service 6:00 PM Evening Worship

MONDAY:

10:00 AM Prayer Time

7:00 PM Celebrate Recovery

TUESDAY

10:00 AM Women on Mission Meeting 6:15 PM Tae Kwon Do

WEDNESDAY:

6:00 PM Family Night Dinner 6:30 PM Discipleship Class

Mission Friends(0-6)

Girls-in-Action (ages 6-12) RA (Boys ages 6-12)

Bravehearts (ages 18-up)

Adult Study Groups Prayer Meeting

Choir Practices

THURSDAY:

7:00 PM AA

July12

SUNDAY:

8:00 am Early Worship

9:15 AM Sunday School Contemporary Service

10:45 AM Sunday School Traditional Service

5:00 PM Deacons Meeting

6:00pm Evening Worship

The beautiful flowers that grace

our sanctuary are placed for

in memory of Mrs. Bonnie

Hilton by her loving husband

Mr. Jesse Hilton

Serving in the Nursery July 5:

9:15 AM: Keith & Kim Hall

10:45 AM: Carol Oglesby Brandy Oglesby

Mike & Debby Rogers

9:15 Managers: Melanie Walsh

Lisa Coursey

10:45 Manager: Heidi Carson

Amanda Almond If you are unable to be there on your assigned

Sunday, please Contact Dusty Carson or the

manager, notifying them of this change.

American Red Cross Blood Drive

“ Donor Appreciation Drive”

Wednesday, July 15th 2-7pm

In the side room of the Fellowship Hall.

Make your appointments at

www.redcrossblood.org

Sponsor code: FBCSpringfield

Or call the church office to make your appointment .

SPRINGFIELD COMMUNTIY

Senior Adult Luncheon

Tuesday, July 14

12pm

In the fellowship hall

Special Guest: Phillip’s Family