Baptist Bugle

    We extend our Christian love and sympathy to the family of Mary Planeta. Mary is the mother of Jerry (Cathy) Planeta and she passed away on Saturday, January 14th. Might God’s love surround her family giving them comfort and peace.      
 
                         
Congratulations to Ethan and Becky Baker on the birth of their daughter, Emma Frances, born on Tuesday, January 24th. Proud grandparents are John and Mary Camp!           
 
The following notes were  received:

 Hello,
I know that this is a little late but I just wanted to take the time to say thank you so much for the care package that was sent before finals. That week was a very stressful week for me and it made my week so much better knowing that someone was thinking about and praying for me. Staying up late to study and being able to snack on Oreos and drink hot chocolate was the perfect combination!:)
Thanks again, Kayla Conrod
 
This is just a note to thank you for sending me your church newsletter. I enjoy reading about all of the church’s activities and your terrific community outreach!
Thanks again, Barbara Butz 
 
Dear Friends at First Baptist Church,
Thank you for your help with our Salvation Army Red Kettle campaign! This year was a record-breaker! We raised over $26,700, which represents an 18% increase over last year’s total and a 15% increase over our previous record of $23,149 set in 2008. We again received three gold coins that were donated on December 5th and contributed $2,700 to the total. First Baptist Church raised a total of $515.71. Thanks to all who donated their time ringing bells. I hope the experience was a positive one for all involved.  We look forward to working with you again next year!
Sincerely, Denise Gaska
Kettle Coordinator and WeCare Executive Director 
 
Dear Friends,             
Thank you for your recent gift to the ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. The Christmas season is a time when we remember the importance of giving in Jesus’ Name. With the help of friends like you, Samaritan’s Purse is giving gifts around the world, including shoe boxes through Operation Christmas Child, wells through our clean water programs, and life-saving medicine through World Medical Mission. The goal in everything we do is to tell people of the greatest gift of all – Jesus Christ. As the angel said to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of Davida Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10b-11, NIV).
May God bless you this Cristmas.

Sincerely, Franklin Graham


 
YEAR-END STATEMENTS OF  GIVING

Please stop by the table in the foyer and pick up your year-end statement of giving for the year 2011.
 
 
SOUPER BOWL OF CARING ~ Sunday, February 5th                 

 On Sunday, February 5th, following both services, our youth will be at the rear of the sanctuary with soup pots. Please support the youth of our church in this effort to “love our neighbors” by dropping your donation in the soup pots. All money collected will go to WeCare of Grundy County. WeCare works throughout Grundy Countyto provide food to thousands of GrundyCounty residents each year through mobile food pantries and office pantry visits.

 
 
KIDZ ZONE  (For all kids under 12)                          
 

When:       February  3rd

Time:        6:00-8:30 p.m.
           
Where:     First Baptist Church                         

What:       Stories, Music, Crafts, Activities, Snacks

Why:         Serve parents and connect kids to Christ and each other

Volunteers:  We need help with crafts, snacks, nursery, set-up/take down and activities

Please contact a member of the KidzZone Team

Jason and Michelle Aitkenhead

Mike Matuszewski and Shanon Dixon

Adam and Bonnie Glerup

Ramon Diaz and Kelli Larson


  
 
UPCOMING YOUTH EVENTS


Area I Winter Retreat – Friday, February 10th (doors open at 7:30pm)
through Sunday, February 12th (retreat concludes at 11:30 am)

First Baptist Church of Moline – 1901 29th Street, Moline, IL
 
Fun activities, great food, fellowship, excellent speaker, wonderful
worship and so much more! Flyers with all the details are located in the church foyer  Cost is $55; $50 if registered by January 29th


July 24-28 – IMMERSE, National Gathering of American Baptist Youth

 This national gathering is a 5-day event for high school and college-age youth that will feature high-energy and transformative worship coupled with hands-on mission experiences. The location in Washington, DC will provide youth with unique opportunities to do mission work in an urban environment and to experience the pulse and energy of our nation’s capital. The Area 1 Youth will be taking a bus to this event. If you are interested, see Colleen Miller for more details. 

The deadline to register and guarantee your seat on the bus is
February 25th!


SINGLE  MOMS

 Single Moms will meet on the following days at 6:00 p.m. for Bible study and
fellowship…..Monday, February 13thand 27th. If you are a single mom,
we invite you to join this group for encouragement, sharing, and fellowship. 
 
 
 
DINNER/MOVIE NIGHT

 Friday, February 10th
                              
Make plans to attend our dinner/movie night on Friday, February 10th. Dinner will be served promptly at 6:00 pm, followed by the movie “Courageous”at 6:30 pm! There is a sign-up sheet in the foyer. Cost of the evening will be just $5 a person, which includes dinner.
 

ADULT  SUNDAY SCHOOL 

The Adult Sunday School class, which meets at 9:30 a.m. each Sunday, in the sanctuary, has begun a new curriculum. Join us as we journey through the Holy Land. Ray Vander Laan’s DVD series will take us from Israel’sWalking with God in the Desert to Jesus’ life and The Path to the Cross. You’ll be challenged to rethink your own obedience to God’s commands! 
 
 
ANNUAL  MEETING

 The Annual Meeting took place on Tuesday, January
17th. If you were unable to attend, you may pick up a copy of the
Annual Report, located on the table in the foyer.  

Serving as church officers, Boards and Nominating Committee for
2012 are:
Moderator:                        Mark Conrod               
Church Clerk:                    Deb Gonnam
Church Treasurer:             Janet McCormack      
Financial Secretary:          Bonnie Joneson
Historian:                           Bill Needham              
SS Superintendent:           Colette Kirby                                                                  
Asst. SS Superintendent:  Denise Ellis
 
Board of Christian Education: Jason Aitkenhead (Chair), Jennifer
Goebel, Carol Adair, Mary Motter and Cindy Davids


Diaconate Board: Kay Hemmersbach (Chair),  Arnold Castanier, Mitzi Welch, Adam Glerup and Alicia Steffes


Trustee Board: Jack Anders (Chair), Ken Stulgis, Rich Allen, Marlene Burnside and Marty Davids


Nominating Committee: Mary Motter, Colette Kirby, Bryan Baker, 
Jason Aitkenhead, Cindy Davids (Christian Ed), ArnoldCastanier
(Diaconate) and Marlene Burnside(Trustees)


February  Board Meetings

All boards will meet on Tuesday, February 14th at 7:00 pm.


OPPORTUNITITES  FOR PRAYER 

All church prayer night takes place the first Tuesday of every month at 7:00 p.m.
     
Women’s prayer takes place every Tuesday at 2:00 p.m.at the church.
     
Men’s prayer takes place every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.at the church.
 
 
 
Read  Through the Bible in One Year

 Our church family is reading through the Bible in one year. We are reading straight through from Genesis to Revelation. We invite you to join us in this wonderful journey!  To obtain the daily readings, please go to our church website, www.fbmorris.org.
  
 
 
JEWEL-OSCO ‘FRESH  DONATION’
                    
Jewel-Osco continues to donate fresh food each Sunday morning.The donated fresh food is that which is dated and must be used. We feel this is a wonderful opportunity and ask that following late service you stop at the
table in the foyer and pick up what food you can use and/or pick up food for a family you know of who could use some assistance with their groceries. We have a list of volunteers who have agreed to pick the food up at 11:00 a.m. each Sunday morning and have it available following our late service. Our objective is to give all of it away each week as this will be an ongoing project. Let’s see how many we can reach through this blessed opportunity! 

There is a sign-up sheet in the foyer to volunteer for food pick-up


BAPTIST  YOUTH FELLOWSHIP

BYF, grades 6-12, meets on Sunday nights at 6:00 pm.
Invite your friends!!!

BYF will have a Lock-In here at the church on Friday, February 17th!
 
 
BIBLE  STUDIES

Currently we have 3 Bible Studies meeting weekly….

Women’s Bible Study – Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. at the home of Mitzi Welch, 311 Goold Park Drive, Morris 
 
Wednesday Afternoon Bible Study – Wednesday afternoons at 1:00 p.m. at the church 

Men’s Bible Study – Thursday evenings at 6:45 p.m. at the church

 
CHURCH  LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL

 Church League Volleyball began on Tuesday, January 17th at First Christian Church and will run through March 27th. Please contact Mark Conrod if you are interested in being on First Baptist’s team.
 
February 7                  
First Baptist vs FCC (Misek)                         
South Court    9 pm

 February 14      
First Baptist vs Helmar Lutheran                 
North Court    7 pm


February 21      
First Baptist vs Immaculate Conception    
South Court    9 pm


February 28
First Baptist vs Peace Lutheran                            
North Court    9 pm


   
Women in the Potter’s Hands is a faith-based women’s group of all ages, meeting for the purpose of providing encouragement during the daily struggle of life, nurturing camaraderie and equipping women to daily grow closer to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

 We want to invite each of you to join us for our monthly meetings. Each meeting begins at 6:30 pm at the church spending some time first with light refreshments and fellowship, followed by our program. We appreciate everyone’s time and will strive to end our time together each month at 8:00 pm. Monthly meetings are the fourth Monday of each month, September through April, with the exception of December. 
 

Listed below are the dates of upcoming events and meetings and
the speakers each month


February 27   Cindy Davids      
March 26        Carla O’Brien & Megan Mellen      
April 23          Cathy Planeta

                  
Julie Applegate shared her story with WITPH and below is a recap:
             
When the idea of telling our stories was first suggested by the WITPH
committee, I honestly didn’t think I had much of a story. I haven’t had a lot of drama in my life and I didn’t have a dramatic conversion. But as I heard the stories of others I began to think of the many ways the Lord has been working in my life through the years.
             
At the November WITPH meeting I told my story. Although I grew up in a
wonderful home with Christian foundation, as I got older I realized that I was missing a lot of fundamental Christian teaching and my personal relationship with Jesus wasn’t as strong as it should be. During my college years, my desire to learn more of Him through His Word increased significantly and I found real joy in learning more of His ways. And through God’s grace I continued to grow in faith and knowledge. In January 1999 while on a trip to Puerto Vallarta, I met Tim who I married in April 2000. We spent quite awhile looking for a church, but in some amazing ways the Lord led us to First Baptist.
             
Prior to our marriage my mother had some health problems, but she took a
turn for the worse in 2006 and was later diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Although this was a difficult time, the Lord answered many prayers, in  particular leading me to a wonderful part-time job that made it much easier for me to spend the needed time with my parents, as well as working out the details that led my parents to move to Morris! Sadly my mother passed away in December of 2008, but I am confident that she knew Jesus as her Savior and she spent her first Christmas in heaven that year.
             
I missed my mother terribly, but was happy to have my father nearby.
However, in March of 2010, my father became ill and they discovered that he had cancer – two aggressive brain tumors. Although my dad had always loved the old hymns – and especially the Gaithers – I was still not certain of his salvation. While he was in the hospital I had the opportunity to question him pretty pointedly. But unfortunately, I still did not have assurance that he had put his trust in Jesus. Several weeks later he brought up the subject!! He asked me if I remembered our past conversation (which of course I did!) and told me in a somewhat broken voice that he knew the song that said it all for him – the Gather’s “He Touched Me” – a song that speaks of the Lord lifting a heavy burden of sin. Further conversation gave me the assurance that he knew Jesus as his Savior. My dad passed away a few weeks later, but as the song says, he can now “praise Him as eternity rolls”! The Lord also worked out the details of my dad’s funeral in amazing ways and I was greatly encouraged by my brother’s appreciation of Pastor Steve’s strong gospel
message during the service!
             
The past few years have been pretty difficult for me, but the Lord brought great joy among the sorrow. No sorrow can compare with knowing that my
father (and mother) are spending eternity with Christ! And seeing my brother
grow in his desire for God is truly amazing.
             
I also must thank my sisters in Christ at First Baptist church for all their prayers and support. The Lord knew just where to place me when I would need love, support and encouragement. Thank you and God bless you all!