Hales Chapel Family,
Happy Thanksgiving! I thought we had a wonderful service yesterday as we expressed our thanks to the Lord. The choir started the service off with a beautiful song and we concluded the service with the opportunity for the members of the congregation to voice individual praises and thanksgiving. It was evident that we all have much to be thankful for each day. We had a wonderful Ingathering Meal after the service. Thanks for preparing the food and for staying for the time of fellowship
Here’s something to be thankful for: We have already collected the needed amount to purchase the new wheelchair for Thomas Simons! The Deacons had already recommended that if we collected more than the $4,500 needed for the wheelchair that we would give the family the additional amount to assist with other needs. We will be collecting this special offering through November 29th. Please, make checks payable to Hales Chapel Baptist Church with nothing in the memo line. Mark the envelope with Thomas or Wheelchair, so Dorothy will know how to process this.
Here’s something to be thankful for: We had approximately 40 people who assisted with the baking and packaging of 100 pies, which will be distributed through Building 323 as part of the Thanksgiving meal. Thanks to Joelle for heading up this ministry of service.
Food Drive for Building 323: Canned goods and other non-perishable food items will be collected in the bins in the hallway in the educational building through Sunday, December 13th. Let’s generously give to assist those in need in our own community.
We start our Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions emphasis this Sunday with John and Sarah Davenport, IMB missionaries, speaking in the service. We will be having our Manna for Missions lunch after the service and the money collected will be applied towards our Lottie Moon Offering goal. Our Hallelujah Goal is $9000. Let’s give sacrificially so our IMB missionaries can continue to share the Gospel around the world. Please, prepare food and plan to stay for the meal.
Bullet Point Announcements:
Community Thanksgiving Service — November 24nd at 7:00 PM at Watkins Baptist Church
November 29th Manna for Missions Meal after the service. Money will go towards the Lottie Moon Offering
December 12th and 13th, Christmas Play
December 13th, Kaitlyn and David Townsend providing an update in the worship service
December 20th, Corey Ickes preaching
December 24th, Christmas Eve Service at 5:00 PM
Devotional Thought: In Psalm 40 David is expressing Thanksgiving but he is also pleading for deliverance. This is a reminder that we can be thankful even when everything is not going exactly the way we would want it to be going. You can be thankful for past blessings and deliverance, which can encourage you as you face today’s difficulties. 1 I waited patiently for the Lord, and He turned to me and heard my cry for help. Sometimes I wait patiently but I know that sometimes patience is not part of my vocabulary, or it has eventually run out. Sometimes because of my lack of patience I have done something to “fix” the situation and the results have not been pretty. 2 He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure. David has experience deliverance at the hand of the Lord. He knows from past experience that he can count on the Lord. God does not abandon His children. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. When you have lost the song from your heart, a fresh touch from the Lord can place a new song in your heart. I am thankful for fresh touches from the Father. I am thankful when I can look back and acknowledge that I was in dark pit emotionally but He lifted me out and placed a new song in my heart. 4 How happy is the man who has put his trust in the Lord . . . Trust in self and others will leave us wanting, but trust in the Lord will never leave us wanting. True happiness comes from trust in the Lord. 5 Lord my God, You have done many things— Your wonderful works and Your plans for us; none can compare with You. If I were to report and speak of them, they are more than can be told. I am thankful for the Lord’s plans for my life. I am thankful for the privilege of serving Him through my service at both SEBTS and HCBC. I am thankful for His plans for both of those ministries. I am blessed. 8 I delight to do Your will, my God; Your instruction lives within me. It is easier to delight to do His will when I am letting His instruction live within me. 16 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let those who love Your salvation continually say, “The Lord is great!” May I join in that proclamation: The Lord is great! May I shout with my words, actions, and attitude. 17 I am afflicted and needy; the Lord thinks of me. You are my helper and my deliverer; my God, do not delay. Then the reality is expressed because David was going through another trying situation. He has celebrated the previous victories. He knows God is still worthy of his worship. Yet, David is once again in need of another deliverance. He is once again in need of a fresh touch. Note to self: there will be future times that I will once again need another deliverance, another fresh touch from the Lord in a trying time. I can count on the Lord then as I have been able to in the past.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Recent Comments