FBC University
The Truth Project Part 2
By Focus on the Family
Leader: Gary Williams
Room: B 202 | Cost: $0
The truth project is a DVD-based small group curriculum taught by Dr. Del Tackett, instructor of Christian Worldview at the Focus Leadership institute. This study is the starting point for looking at life from a biblical perspective. Each lesson discusses in great detail the relevance and importance of living the Christian worldview in daily life. “We believe this curriculum can be a catalyst for exponential change within the body of Christ as people are “transformed by the renewing of their mind” (Romans 12:2). God continues to call ordinary people to make an eternal difference in our world.
Expecting to See Jesus
By Ann Graham Lotz
Leader: Cheryl Shellabarger
Room: D 208-10 | Cost: $5.00
In this eight-session expanded edition of I Saw The LORD, Anne Graham Lotz calls Christians to wake up to the fact Jesus may come in their lifetime. She guides small groups in seeing the Lord in a fresh way, so that each participant can have a genuine experience of life-changing, fire-blazing personal revival. Accompanied by Dr. Crawford Loritts and Dr. Henry Blackaby, and using key biblical characters as examples, they share the revival lessons learned through examination of their lives as recorded in Scripture.
Living The Word
Leader: Ben Mitchell
Room:D 214 | Cost $14.00
We are blessed at First Baptist Church to hear the Word of God faithfully preached and taught. The difficulty I have sometimes is applying that Word to every aspect of my life. So, in our class we’ll work through two books that will help us do that. First, we’ll read Jonathan Leeman’s recent book, Reverberation: How God’s Word Brings Light, Freedom, and Action to His People. This book is on Pastor Justin’s list of recommended books and is a gold mine of ways the preached Word is to reverberate through our lives both individually and as a church. Next, we’ll read Norman Wirzba’s, Living the Sabbath: Discovering the Rhythms of Rest and Delight. We’ll think about the ways “sabbath living” can change the way we live, work, and rest.
Chewing the Cud: Meditation for Application
Leader: Justin Wainscott
Room D 200
Cud is that portion of food returning from the cow’s stomach to its mouth to be chewed for the second time. While it’s not the most pleasant of thoughts or images, it is a fitting analogy for the aim of this class, where the sermon text from that morning will be “chewed on” for the second time.
During each session, the sermon text and the truths brought out in the sermon from that Sunday morning will be discussed further amongst the group. The participants will have had much of the day to think and meditate on those truths and should, therefore, be easily prepared to discuss the implications and applications together.
We want the Word of God to move beyond just the pulpit and the pews; we want it to take root deep in our hearts and lives. We believe this class is a great way for that to begin happening.
Our Weekly Telecast is Moving
Beginning January 1, 2012, First Baptist Church will air its services on the following channels and during the following days/times:
JEA E+TV6 (Channel 6)
Charter (Channel 22)
You will also be able to view our services by watching online at www.eplustv6.com.
Thanks be to God
As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, let us all reflect on the many reasons we have to be thankful to God. And may these poetic lines from Fred Pratt Green be of help to us as we do.
FOR THE FRUIT OF ALL CREATION
by Fred Pratt Green
For the fruit of all creation,
Thanks be to God.
For His gifts to every nation,
Thanks be to God.
For the plowing, sowing, reaping,
Silent growth while we are sleeping,
Future needs in earth’s safe-keeping,
Thanks be to God.
For the harvests of the Spirit,
Thanks be to God.
For the good we all inherit,
Thanks be to God.
For the wonders that astound us,
For the truths that still confound us,
Most of all, that love has found us,
Thanks be to God.
Changing the World: Shoeboxes, Holidays, and Kids around the World
Believers worldwide recently observed Orphan Sunday—a day sponsored by the Christian Alliance for Orphans highlighting the plight of an estimated 163 million orphans. While statistics vary concerning types of orphans in different countries, the reality of this global crisis is staggering.
Our hearts were freshly gripped by the orphan dilemma not long ago. As a result, our family began travelling down an extravagantly grace-driven journey which forever changed—and continues to change—our lives. Several years ago, our eyes were opened to the reality of orphans in the world and to our responsibility to care. As our eyes began to open, we found our hearts opening, our minds opening, and ultimately our home opening.
At our wedding, we never would have dreamed about adoption. Now, Jack, William and Isaac have a brother who was born in Ethiopia. And we are in the process of getting another brother!
We travelled with grandparents to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2010 and returned home with Benjamin on May 2. Life hasn’t been the same since. We’re often asked about what it’s like with an adopted child from Ethiopia. Sure, we get lots of double-takes when the whole family is out, but things seem so normal to us. As a result of our adoption, we feel like we have a much deeper insight into the reality of the gospel.
As I’m sure you’re well aware, the holidays are coming quickly. Soon we’ll be carving turkey, decorating the Christmas tree, decking the halls and singing Christmas carols. This is also that time of year when many folks are packing shoeboxes to be delivered to children around the world as a part of Operation Christmas Child—a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. Having been overseas and witnessed children opening shoeboxes from believers in the United States, I am more diligent and prayerful about my own packing. How wonderful it is to work together with my boys to fill shoeboxes for other little boys around the world.
They say Christmas is for children. With four children under the age of seven, we sure do look forward to Christmas at our house. Having adopted, being in the process of adopting again, and packing our shoeboxes for other children cause our minds especially to be on children and Christmas these days.
Someone once said,
“One hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove. What kind of house I lived in. How much money I had in the bank. Nor what my clothes looked like. But the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of a child.”
At this point in our lives, those words pretty much sum up our thoughts.
As we consider the millions of orphaned children around the world and think about the many who will be receiving shoeboxes, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the incalculable needs among children on our planet.
Amy and I realize that we ourselves will never change the whole world. But we can change the life of one child.
So can you.
-Todd Brady
Todd, his wife Amy, and their 4 children are members here at First Baptist Church. Todd serves as the special assistant to the president for university relations at Union University.
Orphan Sunday
FAQ’s about Orphan Sunday
What is Orphan Sunday?
On Orphan Sunday, Christians across America and beyond celebrate the love of the God who “places the lonely in families” and calls us to do the same. Ultimately, Orphan Sunday seeks to makes the gospel visible as God’s people explore and respond to His heart for the orphan in adoption, foster care, and global orphan ministry.
Why Orphan Sunday?
God is vested, deeply and personally, in the plight of the orphan (i.e. Deut 10:18; Ps 68:5-6). He calls His people to share this passion and bring to each child the love of Jesus Christ in both word and deed (Is 1:17; James 1:27; Mt. 25:40). On Orphan Sunday, the Church is reminded of this truth and invited to act upon it.
Whom does Orphan Sunday impact?
As Christians respond to God’s call to care for orphans, lives are transformed. Certainly, orphans and foster youth are changed forever. But it doesn’t stop there. Individual Christians are drawn beyond a self-focused religion to vibrant, sacrificial discipleship. Their churches grow, too, as the community sees God’s heart and mirrors it. Finally, a watching world is changed as it sees the gospel made visible in Christian adoption, foster care and global orphan care.
Where can I learn more about caring for orphans and defending the fatherless?
The best one-stop place to find out more information about orphan care, foster care, adoption, agencies, and related ministries is the website of The Christian Alliance for Orphans (http://www.christianalliancefororphans.org), who sponsors Orphan Sunday.
Celebrating Our Reformation Heritage
History matters. It’s always mattered, regardless of whether we’ve given it the proper significance it’s due. And the fact that we Baptists have largely ignored our own history and heritage is simply a sad attestation that we have failed to grasp this truth.
But one of the most important dates in our history is quickly approaching, and I don’t want us to miss it. The date is October 31; and while the first thing that may come to your mind about this date is Halloween, my hope is that you will come to realize that it is the anniversary of a much more significant occasion. It is the anniversary of the birth of Protestantism. And because we Baptists are Protestants (and not Roman Catholics or Eastern Orthodox), this date marks (in many ways) our own theological and ecclesiastical beginnings.
On October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther tacked his ninety-five theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, officially initiating what we know today as the Protestant Reformation. Luther’s questioning of the Roman Catholic practice of buying and selling indulgences resulted in a battle over the gospel itself (which is why this historical event is so significant). The clarity and purity of the gospel were at stake. As Stephen Nichols reminds us, “In studying the Reformation, we remember what the church is all about, and we remember how easy it is for the church to lose its grip on the gospel.” The Reformation is worth celebrating because it is an example of God raising up men and women to re-establish the church’s grip on the gospel (and we are the heirs of those men and women).
Besides recovering the gospel, the Reformation impacted us in numerous other ways. It formed the theological convictions that we Baptists still hold dear (the five solas of the Reformation – sola Scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia, solo Christo, soli Deo Gloria). It recognized the need for translating the Bible into the common languages of the people (including English). It returned the primacy of preaching (and the centrality of the pulpit) to the corporate worship of God’s people. It restored congregational singing as a standard practice for the church’s worship gatherings. It taught us the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. It revolutionized daily work outside the church. And on and on I could go. There is so much we owe to the path that has been paved for us by our Reformation heritage – and we would do well to honor that heritage and give thanks to God for it.
One way we will honor this particular heritage is by celebrating Reformation Sunday during our morning service on October 30. We will sing congregationally Martin Luther’s wonderful hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” we will hear God’s Word read and preached (in our own language), and we will give thanks for the way God has preserved the purity of his gospel for us through the Reformation.
Another very simple way we can honor that heritage is to learn more about it. So, here are a few very accessible books I would recommend if you desire to increase your knowledge of this heritage – two on the Reformation in general and two that are biographies of Luther.
Blessings,
Justin Wainscott
The Church and the Home
The last several decades of American Christianity (regardless of tradition or denomination) have seen an increasing disconnect between the church and the home. Not surprisingly, it has had less than favorable consequences for both. As parents abdicated their God-given responsibility of being the primary disciple-makers of their children and as churches began splitting the family apart for every activity, an enormous fault line began to develop. The inevitable earthquake that followed has left its mark on both our homes and our churches. And we are still feeling the aftershocks today.
We are now seeing what happens when a child grows up in a home and a church where there is no obvious connection – where parents are not taking the lead in teaching their children the truths of the faith and where churches are not equipping and encouraging families in this way. We are now seeing the effects of a generation of children who were faithfully taken to church but never had what they learned there reinforced at home by their parents. And we are now seeing the results of teenagers who never heard Dad or Mom talk about the Lord or His Word outside of church. Is it really any wonder why such a high number of young people walk away from the church once they leave home?
But simply recognizing the problem is not enough; we must seek to correct it. This is why we are taking efforts at First Baptist Church to re-connect the church and the home – to equip parents to recognize and carry out their God-given responsibilities and to strengthen our families – for the good of both the home and the church.
This is why Robbie Armstrong leads our students and their families the way he does – because he realizes the significant role parents play in the lives of their teenagers. And this is why he is leading an FBC University class on the book, ApParent Privilege, by Steve Wright and Chris Graves. Thank you, Robbie, for your leadership.
This is why we are in the process of searching for and calling a Minister to Children and Families – because we see the value of having someone in that role who will do more than just oversee children’s programs. We need someone who will also help train and equip young parents to do what God has called them to do (see Deut. 6:4-9, 20-25; 11:18-21). So please continue to pray for our search committee and the person God has to lead us in this area.
And this is why we will continually recommend and provide helpful resources to parents. We know that parenting, though it is a high and holy calling, is also extremely difficult. So we want to help you in every way we can. Therefore, we are providing every family in our church (with a child still at home) with a copy of the new little book, Gospel-Centered Family: Becoming the Parents God Wants You to Be, by Ed Moll and Tim Chester. Copies of the book will be available at church on Sunday morning, September 25 (only one per family please).
We as a church are trying to do our part to better connect the church and the home. Parents – your children and your church need you to do your part; we need you to accept your God-given role and responsibility. And fathers – it’s time for us to step up and take the lead.
What else can we do to help you connect the church and the home?
KJV400: LEGACY AND IMPACT
As some of you may remember, we spent a few Sunday nights together back in the Spring considering the subject of “The Enduring Legacy of the King James Bible: Celebrating 400 Years.” And instead of me taking that subject up again, I want to encourage you to take advantage of an opportunity to learn more about it from some first-rate scholars at an upcoming event at Union University on September 15-17 titled “KJV400: Legacy and Impact.”
There, you will have the opportunity to hear plenary lectures from three prominent scholars – Leland Ryken of Wheaton College, John Woodbridge of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Timothy George of Beeson Divinity School, who will be preaching here at First Baptist Church on Sunday morning, September 18. In addition, there will be sessions led by Union faculty from a variety of disciplines.
Here is a brief description of the event:
The 400th anniversary of the King James Version is a significant milestone in the history of the English language and the English speaking church. It is widely agreed that this translation of the Bible is the greatest work in English literature with wide-ranging impact on culture over the past 400 years. This festival is not a call for everyone to use only the KJV or an exercise in mere dusty history. It is not reactionary or mere nostalgia. Rather, it is an opportunity to consider an amazing work of God which occurred 400 years ago this year, a significant chapter in the ongoing struggle to bring the Word of God to people, a powerful moment which continues to shape the world through the English speaking church. The production of the King James Bible is a moment when the church led the culture instead of the other way around as we often see today. It was a crowning moment of the effort begun many years before of bringing God’s Word to English-speaking people producing a Bible which was taken to the ends of the earth shaping world history in its path. Because the gospel engages all of life we will have not only lectures and addresses, but also theater, music, dramatic readings, film, art and an amazing Bible exhibit (we have been told that this exhibit rivals any other on display in North America this year). This will be a wonderful opportunity to marvel at how God has worked to bring us His Word.
If you would like more information about this event (schedule, cost, registration, etc.), there are some promotional brochures located at the Welcome Center, or you can go to http://www.uu.edu/events/kjvlegacy
Brief Reflections from Brazil
As you know, our team of twenty-five recently returned from Brazil (or “Buh-zee-ul” as my daughter calls it). We spent seven days in the city of Campos, specifically in the small village of Tapera, helping a mission church located there. We built a chapel, gave out several hundred pairs of reading glasses, and hosted a Vacation Bible School for the children in the area. We had an extraordinary team, and we had a wonderful week. And praise be to God, we saw numerous people profess faith in Jesus Christ.
While our team will have the opportunity to share a report from the trip on Sunday evening, July 31, I wanted to offer a few brief reflections here (since I won’t be present that evening due to being in Louisville for class). There are plenty of things I could share with you from this trip, but I’ll limit myself to five things we could learn from the example of Brazilian Christians (at least, the ones we had fellowship with this past week).
1) Singing
Brazilian Christians sing to God like they truly believe the words they’re singing. There’s no half-hearted offer of praise, there’s no mindless mumbling, and there’s no lack of participation. They sing like they mean it. And they sing like their mouths are just expressing the overflow of their hearts, which is the way every Christian ought to sing.
2) Love and Hospitality
The love we felt and the hospitality we were shown by the Christians in Brazil was evident from the moment we stepped off our bus (they were lined up outside the church waiting on us, and they greeted us with hugs and smiles). It didn’t matter that we couldn’t speak one another’s language; the language of love is universal, and they were fluent in it. These believers were models of loving your neighbor as yourself, and every one on our team will attest to this. Such is the way God’s people ought to treat one another.
3) Cooperation
The cooperation between the Baptist churches in the area was something that makes our competition amongst one another look not only petty, but disgusting. Most of us went the entire week not knowing which of the Brazilian Christians were members of the mission church, which were members of the mother church, and which were members of other Baptist churches in the city. They just all worked together and they all had the same goal. To illustrate what I mean, one day a man on a motorcycle stopped me on the street a few blocks from where we were working to ask me for directions, saying, “I’m a Baptist from a neighboring area and I heard about the work you all were doing, so I just wanted to come and help.” That’s the kind of cooperation that was present there.
4) Gratitude
It was amazing to see how visibly our Brazilian brothers and sisters expressed their gratitude for anything and everything we did. Our culture is marked so often by entitlement and expectation that it was extremely refreshing to see how grateful people were for the least little thing. This is the way we ought to be, recognizing that every good gift is evidence of God’s grace.
5) Trust in the Sufficiency of the Gospel
In most of Brazil, they do not have the resources to “dress up” the gospel or utilize some sort of baptized gimmick like we do in the States. They simply rely on the power and sufficiency of the gospel itself. And it was remarkable to see and be reminded just how powerful the simple yet profound message of Christ crucified and risen for sinners really is. Grown men wept openly as they heard about the cross and understood God’s love for them. Let us learn from their example and trust in the sufficiency of the saving power of the gospel.
There’s much more that I could say, but I’ll stop there and allow the rest of the team to share their own reflections with you in the coming days. Again, it was a great trip, and I appreciate the church allowing me the time away so I could go. Most of all, thank you for your prayers. God was faithful in more ways than I could ever express.
Brazil Trip 2011
Campos, Rio de Janeiro
When I returned to the United States last year after my first trip to Brazil, I left my heart in the hands of the Brazilian people…and my stomach in their kitchens. As we traveled to Campos, Brazil this year to build the chapel in Tapera, I thought I was ready for what I would encounter in Brazil; however, I could not have imagined the blessings that God had waiting for us as we got off the plane in Rio.
One of the most humbling and encouraging aspects of this year’s trip was the character of the church in Campos. The mother church was the most loving and joyful church I have ever encountered. It was truly a blessing to worship with them. However, it was their faithfulness in prayer that left the biggest impression on me. On the first Sunday we were there, we visited the mother church for the morning service. At the beginning of the service, we were called up, one by one, and introduced to the member of the church who had been praying for us for months. We were showered with gifts and hugs from these generous and warm Christians. The mission church was covered in the prayers of these church members. From the ladies who cooked for us all week to the men who came to help build the chapel, the members of the mother church were completely faithful to God’s work in Tapera.
Not only did members of the mother church turn out all week to help at the job site, but members from several Baptist churches in Campos came together joyfully to help build this mission church. Many of these Christians were my age or a few years older, students who spoke English and translated for us all week. They were some of the most Godly, passionate, and fun young people I have ever met. It was so hard to leave them!
Another great thing about this year’s trip was the set-up of the job site. Unlike many years, all of the projects and activities for the week were in the same compound. Thus, I was able to teach a Bible school lesson, give out reading glasses, and climb scaffolding to paint the trusses all in the same day. I also had the opportunity to prayer walk and make home and school visits. 
As for the dedication on Saturday night…well, “you just had to be there.”
From trying to find reading glasses for people who insisted that strengths 1.00 to 3.00 all looked “a mesma” [the same]… to getting stuck—and I mean STUCK—in a bus bathroom…to finding a store called “Nashville Country” …to playing cards at all hours…to missing the one flight that wasn’t delayed…to being fed and “loved on” and hugged and kissed more than the rest of the year put together…to worshiping side by side with joyful Brazilian believers…I wouldn’t have missed these ten days for the world. First Baptist, thank you so much for your prayers and support for the Brazil mission trip! I cherish the time I have been able to spend with our amazing team serving in Brazil.
Janie will be a Freshman at Union University this fall here in Jackson. She and her family are members here at First Baptist.
