Youth & Children

by Debbie King

Just a little note to let First Baptist know what is going on with Glow Kids. We enjoyed the children singing on Easter Sunday and hope to do this more often.

Glow Kids will be honoring their mothers with a dinner for Mother’s Day. It can be a mom, grandmother, aunt, guardian or if you are a solo parent we would love to have dad. Just whomever is being “mom” at the time we would love for the kids to be able to share this special day. We will be having the dinner on Wednesday, May 8th at 6:00 (our usual Wednesday Glow Kids hour.)

Also, please do not forget about Vacation Bible School. We are hoping to have it in June so we will need workers and lots of prayers.

Our “Glow Kids” are now meeting on Wednesday evening’s at 6:00 p.m. on the Third Floor for grades K-5th grade. Their leaders are Debbie King and Jim and Melissa Adkins. They are having a great time learning about Jesus.

Our Youth group, “Illuminate,” meets on Sunday evenings at 6:00 on the fourth floor. Tim Mitchem leads them in a time praise and worship along with a time of learning and fun. They also meet at the Chick Fil-A on Harper Road on Tuesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. for a great Bible Study.

by Pastor Tim Mitchem

Wow the first quarter of the year
has flown by!  In the past few months, we
have been trying to stabilize our youth ministry.  We have had some students return that had not
been faithfully attending as well as several visitors.  There is still an excitement in the air as we
are settling in.  Continue to pray for
our group, and the impact they can have on their friends, family and community.

One thing we have continued and
slightly changed is our weekly youth bible study.  We have called it Roasted and have met at the
Chocolate Moose and Chick-Fil-A on Harper Road. 
You may ask why I titled this article the way I did, but it is to
explain the name Roasted Bible Study. 
Roasting coffee transforms the chemical and physical properties of green
coffee beans into roasted coffee products. 
The roasting process is what produces the characteristic flavor of
coffee by causing the green coffee beans to change in taste.  Roasting brings out the aroma and flavor that
is locked inside, taking the high temperatures to reach peak perfection.

We started Roasted Bible Study
with a look at the book of James.  In
chapter one verses two through four we read this (New Living Translation) Dear
brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an
opportunity for great joy.  For you know
that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So, let it grow, for when your endurance is
fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.  In Zachariah 13:9, God says, I will bring
that group through the fire and make them pure. 
I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold.  My hope with Sunday School, 4^th
Floor worship and Roasted Bible Study is that our youth will be changed from
green to gold!  Taking the lives and
bringing from inside them the flavor and aroma that God has locked inside them
and see them transformed.

We have had great
fellowships.   In February we went to
Buffalo Wild Wings and enjoyed a meal and fun together.  This month we are going bowling at Pin Heads
in Oak Hill on March 15 or 16^th. 
More details to be announced.  So,
if you have a child or grandchild that is Illuminate age, tell them about our
bible study, our Sunday activities or even have them sign up for bowling and
encourage them to be a part of what God is doing in our lives.

This past Tuesday night at
Roasted, Tammy who cleans the dining area, was listening to our bible study, as
were others around us.  One of our teens
noticed even people behind us taking our picture.  They seemed amazed that others were paying
attention to us.  Not us, but Christ
being Illuminated through us!

by Pastor Jim Adkins

We are off to a great start with the GLOW KIDS meeting on Wednesday nights! Debbie King is our leader! She is doing a great job. One of the highlights in February was our “visitation night.” The kids made some nice get well cards and then, during the week of Valentine’s Day (Wednesday, February 13th) we made several visits to shut-ins and those who cannot get out! The kids went to Pine Lodge, we visited Edna Nasby and Roy Bazzaree. The folks we visited were thrilled that we stopped by. We shared a scripture and prayed with them. The kids were great!

Our goals on Wednesday nights are: 

1. To love the kids and build a relationship with
them. 

2. To model Jesus Christ to them. 

3. To teach them about the love of Christ through the
scriptures and activities that we do! 

Melissa and I are serving alongside of Debbie. We are picking
kids up EVERY week. We usually leave the church building around 5:15 PM and
pick up kids in the community. Will you please pray for us as we minister to
these children and their parents? If you know of any kids who would like to
attend and they need a ride, contact me (Pastor Jim) call/text:
209-890-5326. 

a note from Jim Adkins

Greetings Church Family!

We are excited to begin ministering again to the children in our communities. Debbie King, Melissa and myself will begin the GLOW Kids ministry on Wednesday night, February 6th! We are now making contacts with kids and their parents. I will be driving the BIG WHITE VAN and picking kids up every Wednesday night! Will you join with us and begin praying for this ministry outreach? And would you pray about more workers – we know, the more kids we reach, the more adult workers are needed. Debbie King, Melissa, Pastor Doc and several others have been working on the THIRD floor, getting the rooms set up and prepared for kids, ages Kindergarten to 5th grade! We are so blessed with a great building to serve the community and minister to our children.

Here are the details:

• Ages K-5th Grade.
• 6 PM every Wednesday night.
• VAN pick up available for transportation.
• Our passion is to love these kids, share God’s Word with them, have fun and create a safe place for them!

If you know any kids that need picked up, please call/text, Jim Adkins (209) 890-5326 (or you can also call the church office).

by Rev Tim Mitchem

2019 has brought change to our student ministries. But we serve a God of change, that makes all things new. With Ryan’s resignation and call to another ministry, God worked on my heart to step back into a passion I have, youth ministry. Since coming in June, I have enjoyed being a part of the family at First Baptist, and have slowly begun to use the gifts given to me. I enjoy being with my best friend Doc and supporting his ministry, but I believe one reason I came to Beckley First was for this time!

I am so excited to see what this year brings to the students of Illuminate. We are continuing with Sunday school each week, we have a lesson and plan some time to talk and fellowship as well. Sunday night is being branded as 4th Floor Worship; we have live student led worship, and a sermon that I am working on each week for the students. We also will have fellowship time and allow them to express their relationship with God, and encourage each other. We also meet for a Tuesday night bible study. Currently we have been at the Chocolate Moose, but may also go to a few other places including the New Chick-Fil-A on Harper Road. This bible study is currently going through the book of James and discussing growing our faith and accepting the challenges that the book holds.

We are also planning some activities such an escape room, bowling, skating, movies, lock ins, scavenger hunts, and lots of social and fun things. I want to help our youth see that God cares about every side of them; physical, spiritual, emotional, social, and mental. I also want to help them see they are a part of the body of Christ and the Beckley First Baptist Church. I hope to plan some things where different generations can share with each other and that you can get to know the awesome people with in our group. I will have events planned better for March to put in next month as well.

We also want to get parents and grandparents involved! We will be having a meeting to lay out a vision for our group and get some feedback. We also would love any help and volunteers to help carry out what God wants us to do. We will have a schedule in next month’s Beam to let you know of more events, until then, pray for our students, us, and that God is glorified.

by Pastor Ryan Haddox

It’s not easy being queen. So it should come as no surprise that monarchs like Queen Elizabeth like to escape from London sometimes. On one such occasion, the queen asked her chauffeur to take her for a ride in the country. Then she asked him to pull over so she could just take a little walk by herself. No crown, no gown – dressed down. So for those golden moments, the queen was just an ordinary lady, taking a walk in the country. She had gone about a mile down the road when this sudden rain shower opened up. The queen knocked on the door of a small hut that was nearby and she asked the lady if she had an umbrella. The lady actually had two umbrellas – a tattered, battered old umbrella and a brand new one. She gave her beat up umbrella to the queen. The queen promised it would be returned the next day. Well, you’ve got to imagine the scene as a uniformed chauffeur pulls up in this royal limousine. He goes to the door of the hut and he announces, “I’m returning this for the queen.” Needless to say, the woman was in shock. All she could say was, “If I had known it was for the queen, I would have given her my best!”

It’s amazing how many people give their least, not their best – to the King, that is. The King. The one an ancient hymn calls the “High King of Heaven.” The one the Bible calls the “King of kings and Lord of lords.” Oh, we’ll stand when they sing that in the “Hallelujah Chorus.” We’ll really get into singing praise songs to Him, but when it comes to the stuff that really matters in our life, we hold onto the best and give what’s left to the King of all kings.

Hanging onto our best – giving the King less than our best is not a new thing. In our word for today from the Word of God in Malachi 1:13-14, God rejects the offerings that His people have been bringing. He had commanded them from the beginning to bring the best of their flocks to Him as an expression of their love for Him. He says: “‘When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?’ says the Lord. ‘Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and My name is to be feared among the nations.’”

Later in this same book, God poses this shocking question, “Will a man rob God?” Then He gives the answer. “Yet you rob Me.” When God’s people ask how they have robbed Him, He says, “In tithes and offerings.” That’s one example of withholding your best from the King – by giving Him the money you have left over after you’ve spent what you really want to spend on yourself. But there are many ways to rob our King. By giving Him your leftover time; by making Him Lord of the things that don’t matter that much to you and holding onto the things that you really care about – that relationship, that child, that dream, that favorite thing – that sin. You can rob God by taking on a work for Him and just doing it halfheartedly, by being lazy or irresponsible in getting it done.

This is heavy on my heart in this season of mine and Anna’s life. We are so grateful for the ministry of this church and the opportunity to share Jesus with these young students and children, but also the whole church and the community! God is moving in big ways in this community and state and I’m excited to see where He can take this church!

Grace and Peace,

Ryan

by Pastor Ryan Haddox

Tere’s a story that goes like this:

Many years ago in a textile factory there was a sign on the wall which read: “If your threads get tangled, send for the foreman.” One woman who was fairly new was a diligent worker, but her threads got tangled one day. She tried to disentangle them, but her efforts only made matters worse. Finally, she gave up and called the foreman. He came and looked for a few moments and then asked: “You have been trying to untangle them yourself, haven’t you?” “Yes,” she replied. “Why didn’t you send for me, according to the instruction?” She shrugged her shoulders and said, “I did my best.” With much tact, yet, with great insight, he quietly said, “Remember that doing your best is sending for me.”

How often in life have we tried to straighten out our own messes, only to make things worse, and certainly not to solve things? We think that a little more human effort, a bit more human wisdom, and a touch of human ingenuity are the solution. But mankind in general and individuals in particular tend to make the same mistakes over and over again. Bad habits remain in place. Errors are repeated. We may even excuse our conduct by saying: “I did my best.” Then God gently, yet firmly, reminds us: “Doing your best is calling for me.”

Paul did the best that he could do, but it was not good enough. He mused: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate….I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do….Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:15-24). But Paul had learned that to call on the name of Jesus was the best he could do and the solution to his problem (Rom. 10:9-13)

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Ryan

by Ryan Haddox

At the risk of appearing snobbish or ungrateful, I’ve got a confession to make: I don’t like leftovers, i.e. cold food that is in need of being reheated. I always have the best of intentions to pull last night’s meal out of the refrigerator, throw it in the microwave, nuke it, and consume it, but I fail to do so time and time again. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’ve eaten my fair share of leftovers, but I can’t honestly say that I enjoy eating leftovers. The food never seems to taste or look the same. It lacks something.

With respect to your Christian walk, do you realize that God is not interested in your leftovers? In fact, Jesus says that we are to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33, emphasis added). Among other things, this means that God should come first in every aspect of our lives. Indeed, we should NOT give God our leftover love (Matt. 22:37-38), time (Eph. 5:18), thoughts (Phil. 4:8), service (Gal. 5:13-14), or money (Prov. 3:9; 1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 8-9). In the mind of God, such leftovers lack something.

Being content with giving God the leftovers reveals something about the person who has this attitude. John said, ”We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:9, emphasis added). God loved us all so much in the midst of our sin that He took the initiative by sending His Son into the world to die in our place (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8). God gave us His very best; in return, He expects the same. Indeed, contentment in giving God the leftovers exposes an ungrateful, selfish attitude.

Leftovers are fine when it comes to nourishing our physical bodies. At times, leftovers are unavoidable, even necessary. However, with respect to God and our spirituality, life of leftovers is unacceptable, especially when we take into account the example of His Son (cf. Phil. 2:5-11).

Grace and Peace,

Ryan Haddox