Mainland Lighthouse Still Waters Still Waters Still Waters

"He leadeth me beside the still waters". - Psalm 23:2b

By Pastor Dean Bult

July 2014 Volume 14,

issue 7

Events Up-

7.4 Fourth of July Parade

in Smithville

7.6 Deacon Service PM

7.8 AC Rescue Mission

Pastor & Deacons Meeting

7.9 Absecon Manor

7.10 Academy of Arts Drama

7.20 - 24 Vacation Bible School

Arrow Island

7.29 - 31 Northeast Vision Summit

@ Solid Rock Baptist

Church

We are reminded that God created water and the importance of it. Water (H2O) comes as a liquid, solid, or gas. It is essential to life on earth. Who cannot appreciate water when we are thirsty and more so when we are really thirsty? It is so often taken for granted as one of the gifts God (not Mother Nature) has given us, and He is due our praise and thanksgiving for it always. Water can be a destructive powerful force or as beautiful as a snowflake. The Shepherd in Psalm 23 led the sheep to still water for their physical thirst to be satisfied. The Psalmist in Psalm 23 indicates that our Shepherd satisfies all our needs, mentally, physically, and spiritually if we have been born again and are His sheep. It is true that we are the sheep of God’s pasture (Psalm 100:3) and He is the good shepherd (John 10:11). Thus, it is good for us to follow the “... great shepherd of the sheep...” (Hebrews 13:20b). So often amidst the hurry and scurry of life, the believer in Christ finds himself being swept along in the busy rush of the world. As it says in Psalm 23:2a, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures...” Rarely does He impel us to do things, but occasionally He must. Rather than compulsion, His much-used principle seems to be attraction. “He leadeth me beside the still waters.” We must deliberately take and make time if we are to take advantage of the still waters. There is plenty of water in this world, but it is turbulent and disturbing, unable to quench the spiritual thirst of sinful hearts. To me, the “still waters” suggest God’s comforting and sustaining peace. He had to lead His dry and thirsty sheep to a water brook or cistern for much needed water. He well knew that, even though the sheep may be extremely thirsty, they will not drink from gurgling water. Turbid or ruffled streams frighten the sheep. They will only drink from “still waters,” surrounded by quietness and tranquility. Thus, it is not only the shepherd’s responsibility to lead his sheep to water, but he must provide the perfect peace they require to slack their thirst. The prayer from this month’s theme is that God will help us in this modern, technically challenged, distracted world to be wise enough to take time to be Holy. As it says in Psalm 42:1, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so pan-teth my soul after thee, O God.” We need to drink from His "still waters" to quench our thirst with that which only He can give us. This is accomplished among many ways by our worship of Him moment by moment, trusting, and obey-ing His Word. I encourage you this month to take time to be alone with God and listen to His voice.

Bible Lessons Bible Verses Bible Songs

Games

Prizes & Giveaways

5 Day Bible Clubs Please pray for these Bible Clubs that will be

taking place all summer long!

If you would be interested in hosting a week long Bible club in your backyard, please contact

Mike Leeds or Toyo Aboderin.

Week One Update - June 23-27: Club #1 - Pauline Camara’s Home, Atlantic City

Saved - 2 , Attendance - 26 Club #2 - Breedlove’s Home , Galloway

Saved - 4 , Attendance - 14

Vacation Bible School

July 20 - 24 6:30 - 8:30 pm

Classes for nursery - 6th grade

Summer is one of the best times for making memories and becoming more productive. The longer evening hours make for great family and ministry time, and the changes in our routines that happen around this time of year, are the perfect opportunity to take a fresh look at our goals and plan our priorities. Perhaps it’s the old school days mentality, but for many people, summer tends toward unproductivity—as in a break from responsibility and growth. For some, it even becomes a time of spiritual slippage.

How can you harness the energy of summer into creating an effective summer routine? Here are a few tips:

1. Determine Your Priorities and Goals Before you begin setting goals, you want to be sure that you are setting them in the right areas. Take a moment to list your God-given priorities including your spiritual growth, your family, and your church and ministry. Now, identify specific goals for these areas. Here are a few thoughts to trigger your mind as you plan:

Spiritual—Scripture memory, reading Christian biographies, or a soulwinning goal.

Personal—budgeting, beginning a hobby, learning a skill, losing weight.

Family—dates with your wife, family nights with your children, home repairs.

Ministry—administrative, teaching, correspondence, facilities, fellowship, discipleship.

2. Develop Your Schedule A good schedule helps to prevent slippage in priorities. Without a schedule, we naturally do what is either most pressing or most enjoyable at the moment. Maintaining a schedule, however, provides a measure of accountability to our priorities. This simple tool can be the difference in productivity or unproductivity in the summer months.

3. Discipline Your Schedule A schedule is a wonderful tool, but it is only helpful as it is used! Learn to develop effective lists, and practice aggressively completing your lists. Whether your system uses an iPad or 3×5 cards, be diligent in actually using it.

4. Deal with Interruptions The only thing you can plan about interruptions is that they are sure to come unexpectedly! Of course, even as we develop routines, we know that we don’t want our lives to be so tightly scheduled that we have no time for unplanned ministry opportunities. Yet, we also don’t want to spend our summer chasing interruptions. When interruptions come, begin by assessing the situation. Perhaps this can be dealt with later? Perhaps it should be directed toward someone else? Or perhaps it needs your immediate attention. If the interruption calls for your immediate attention, respond to the needs, and then return to your God-given priorities.

Summer can be a great time of intentional growth! The simple key is the word intentional. Plan for growth this summer by developing an effective routine. Come August, you’ll be glad you did!

5 Tips for Developing an 5 Tips for Developing an 5 Tips for Developing an Effective Summer RoutineEffective Summer RoutineEffective Summer Routine

By Paul Chappell

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Friday, July 4

Staging - 8:30 am

Parade begins - 9:00 am

You can participate in the parade with your decorated bikes, wagons, strollers or

simply walking the parade route.

Fourth of July Parade In Smithville

Enrollment is underway for the

2014-2015 school year.

If you are interested or further questions please see Don Cross or call the office at 609-652.7507.

Academy of Arts

Thursday, July 10 @ 7:00 pm

July 29-31

Spirit-filled services, helpful morning and evening sessions, sincere Christian fellowship, and a “family

friendly” atmosphere are the main components of The Summit.

For more information or to register visit northeastvision.org

@ Solid Rock Baptist Church

End of the year field trip for 3rd-6th to the Battleship New Jersey in Camden.

This moving drama, contains a series of stories focusing on the lives of several different hymn writers and dramatically portrays each story.

*There will be no Wednesday service that week.

Awards day for 1st & 2nd

7.1 Javier Vega 7.3 Lori Ruiz 7.5 Phil & Debbie Mynes 7.8 Larry Michael 7.9 Joaquin Sanchez Alim Parks 7.10 Leigh Peterson Kuerstan Leeds 7.14 Augie Renna

7.17 Sean Borden 7.18 Tom & Judy Starkey 7.19 Mike Bult 7.21 Ed & Marilyn Cartlidge 7.22 Toro Aboderin 7.23 Nancy Clayton Robert Crugnale 7.26 Lois Guion Shannon Breedlove

7.28 Al Watson Delia Harris 7.31 Ignacio Sanchez

Baptists We Should Know Isaac Backus 1724-1806 We cannot be thankful enough for the influence of Isaac Backus among Baptists and upon our nation. He was born in 1724 to a Congregationalist family. He followed in that tradition and became a member of the congregational church during a time of controversy. The Half-Way Covenant, which

allowed people to become members of the church without a salvation testimony, had split the Congregationalists into two factions. Backus’ family became convinced of the need for saved membership and joined the “New Light” faction.

Because of this controversy, Backus began to study the issue of baptism more in depth, and eventually became convinced that baptism by immersion after salvation was the biblical model. Backus was baptized in 1751, and as Backus studied the convictions of the Baptists, such as spiritual liberty and the local church authority, he identified himself with their teachings fully in 1756.

As pastor of the First Baptist church of Middlebourough, MA, Backus fought for religious liberty in that colony. He advocated obedience to government authority, but also argued that it should not intrude on spiritual authority. He said, “those who blend church and state together usually violate Christ’s commands to both.” Isaac Backus understood the need of government , the role of the church, and the individual liberty of the believer. God used Backus in a mighty way to lay the spiritual foundation of our nation’s freedoms. (taken from the Baptist Voice)

512 S. Pitney Road ~ Galloway, NJ 08205 ~ 609.652.7507 ~ www.mainlandbc.com

Meet our Members Meet our Members Meet our Members ...at MBC

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Evolution vs. God DVD $4.00

Bible Songs for Kids By Bible Truth Music CD $12.00

The Defined King James Bible $35

A Faithful Marriage By Pastor Paul Chappell Paperback $4.95

Navy veteran Dennis Perna met his wife Sharon at Mainland Baptist in 2007. One Sunday evening after the 6 PM service, they had their first date at Dunkin Donuts! The couple was engaged August 14, 2008, and married the following November 15. Egg Harbor City native Dennis had attended a Methodist church with his late wife Barbara and their children, Dennis Jr., Darrell, and Debbie, but had never heard the gospel until after the death of his wife Barbara in 2007. Mainland Baptist Church Pastor Bult, accompanied by Tom Guion and Lou Champion, visited Dennis a day after Barbara’s funeral to see how he was doing. During this visit, on March 8, 2007, Dennis, whose favorite Bible verse is John 3:16, heard the glorious Gospel and trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior! He followed the Biblical pattern in the book of Acts by being scripturally baptized by immersion on June 24, 2007, and became a member of Mainland Baptist on August 5, 2007. Sharon, born in Atlantic City and raised in Somers Point, attended a Lutheran church most of her life, but was never told the plan of salvation until she moved to Pennsylvania, where she trusted Jesus as her personal Savior at a neighborhood Bible study in October, 1977. Sharon, along with her late husband Jeff and her daughters Leia and Donna (her son Eric was only three at the time), was also scripturally baptized by immersion on May 10, 1981. Jeff went home to Heav-en to be with the Lord in 1986. Sharon and Dennis are active members of the Mainland Baptist Church Keen-agers ministry under the direction of Assistant Pastor Donn Middleton. Dennis is also one of the faithful “chefs” at the monthly Men’s Breakfast and helps straighten up the pews before the Sunday services. Sharon, whose favorite Bible verses are John 3:16-17, helps set up for the monthly communion service and is always a big help setting up decorations for Keenager parties as well as other church functions. This faithful couple has truly been a blessing as they serve the Lord here at Mainland Baptist Church.