This year’s America For Christ offering as in the past several years will be going to the Weirton Christian Center right here in West Virginia. The school has several programs for school aged children that are growing by leaps and bounds. Please keep the school in your prayers as they continue to reach out to the children. Our goal for this offering is $2,000. – This is a God-size goal. There are offering envelopes on the rear communion table for your donations.
The Lizzie Lewis Circle continues to meet the first Thursday of each month at 12:15 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. Our ladies have several mission projects that they are continuing to work on and would welcome any new members.
What a year 2022 was. The final count for shoeboxes collected worldwide was 10,599,907. Here in southern West Virginia, we exceeded our goal and for that we thank you. Countless numbers of children will be impacted by your commitment to this ministry. For the month of February we will be collecting bar soap and washcloths. Donations can be left in the dark blue container in the Welcome Center.
As the cold weather continues, our number of clients continues to grow each week. The need for food and clothing has never been more present in our community than now. Helping Hands is continuing to collect non-perishable food, winter clothing including coats and blankets, soap and toilet tissue. We covet your prayers as we serve the people of Beckley and Raleigh County. Your donations can be dropped off at Helping Hands Tuesday through Friday from 9AM to noon or left in the black container outside the church office.
February is here! That means all of the husbands and boyfriends will wait until the 13th to stand in the card aisle together and aimlessly look for that one special card that reminds those wonderful women in their lives of how lucky they are to have them. It’s that traditional Valentine’s Day message that shows those we love how much we actually love them. But, does that identify the love we have for our wives/husbands/girlfriends/boyfriends? I hope you don’t spend 365 days a year with your loved ones and only select one day to express your love for them.
See, in John 13:34-35, Jesus tells his disciples, “34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” This love that Jesus is talking about here isn’t that deep intimate love that we may feel or show with our spouses, but it is a deep respect or fondness of one another. In the Greek it’s ἀγαπάω/agapaō—of persons; to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly. It’s through respect and humility that we treat each other with love and kindness. All of these things we must learn to develop and show as Christians. It’s an attitude that we raise our kids with in the hopes that they also will show the same to those around them.
I wonder how many people are turned off from hearing the Gospel message based on their observations of how we treat one another? Can we challenge ourselves to show hospitality and encouragement to our church family? Can we do some introspection of our personal walk and devote some effort to build upon these wonderful qualities?
As your Pastor, I want to challenge you all to make a change this year. Within our church we have many areas of need and many more areas of opportunities to serve. Please don’t wait to be asked to be involved, see an area and feel a tug, then make a move to commit. Our church environment is only as healthy as your personal walk. Take time to ask yourself what you can do to show love within First Baptist Church. Blessings.
In Christ, Pastor Bryan W. Knight
Although we are small at the moment, we have many new things planned for 2023 and we need volunteers to teach during the morning worship service. Our children are the future of our church and they need to be taught and encouraged to follow the way Jesus lived and that he died for them. So please contact Megan Knight and let her know when you can help.
The Lizzie Lewis Circle continues to meet the first Thursday of each month h ere at the church at 12:15. We have several mission projects that we support and are looking forward to what God has in store for 2023. Ladies, come and join us.
The ministry of Helping Hands has been helping the people of Beckley and Raleigh County for many years and have helped countless families with both food and clothing. In these times of uncertainty, many, many familes are faced with the problem of providing the basic needs of life and that’s where you come in.
We continue to collect non-perishable food, clothing, toilet paper and bar soap but our biggest concern right now is blankets and coats. Many of our families struggle to keep warm in the winter and that’s where your support has been extremely generous so far this winter and for that we thank you. BUT the need still continues. Every family who comes into Helping Hands is given a blanket for every member of their family.
So let’s check the January sales and help keep Beckley and Raleigh County warm this winter. As always, we thank you for your continued support to this ministry.
With another year completed, it’s time to look ahead to what God has planned for our shoebox ministry for 2023. We’ve been successful these past 20 years and with your continued support we can go for another 20 years. Through this ministry, countless thousands of children have learned the name Jesus for the first time and many of those have given their hearts to Him through the power of a simple shoebox.
For the month of January, we will be collecting children’s gloves. So head to those dollar stores and get those January bargains. Please keep this ministry in your prayers as the name of Jesus continues to be spread to children around the world.
All of our shopping, wrapping and delivering Christmas gifts for our Backpack Children is over. Thanks to our wonderful volunteers we were able to provide clothing and toys for 24 children this year. We needed two trucks to get them all delivered to Beckley Elementary School. I am sure we made lots of happiness happen for our children on Christmas morning.
We will continue to provide food bags to the children starting January 5th.
Many thanks to everyone who volunteered their time. money and food for our Backpack Ministry. May God bless each one of you!
For the month of January please donate 12-ounce jars of peanut butter.