CHURCH INFORMATION CHURCH STAFF Ross Shelton, Pastor rshelton@fbc-brenham.org
Annette Guenther, Comptroller aguenther@fbc-brenham.org
Troy Sikes, Associate Pastor tsikes@fbc-brenham.org
Donella Peevler, Church Receptionist dpeevler@fbc-brenham.org
Charles Covin, Music Minister ccovin@fbc-brenham.org
Jodi Beckendorf, Graphic Designer jbeckendorf@fbc-brenham.org
Chad Marrs, Minister to Students cmarrs@fbc-brenham.org
Stephanie Sheffield, Custodian Manager ssheffield@fbc-brenham.org
Alex Morrison, Minister to Children amorrison@fbc-brenham.org
Nancy Jahns, School Administrator njahns@fbcsbrenham.org
Stacey Strickland, Preschool Ministry sstrickland@fbc-brenham.org
Kristie Mendoza, Mother’s Day Out Dir. mdo@fbc-brenham.org
Teresa McGlasson, Office Manager tmcglasson@fbc-brenham.org
CHURCH OFFICE HOURS: Mon - Thurs: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, Fri: 8:00 am - 3:00 pm. Brenham’s First Baptist Church Contact Info: Ph: (979) 836-2807 Fax: (979) 830-0122 info@fbc-brenham.org Mailing address: PO Box 600, Brenham, TX 77834
LINKS TO CHECK OUT ONLINE CHURCH WEBSITE: www.fbc-brenham.org CHURCH FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/BrenhamsFirstBaptistChurch SCHOOL FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/Brenhamfbcs 2
I N THI S I SSUE:
Special Announcements...................................................page Church-wide Calendar .....................................................page From the Pastor .................................................................page Music Ministry.....................................................................page Thank Yous, Sympathies & Piece Makers......................page Bible Studies and more ....................................................page Small Group, Big News & Encore Ministry....................page A Letter From Reba............................................................page Student Ministry ................................................................page Children’s Ministry ............................................................page Preschool Ministry ............................................................page FBC School & EEC ..............................................................page From Troy’s Heart & Mother’s Day Out..........................page
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
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CHURCH-WIDE CALENDAR
OCTOBER -
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FBCS - Book Fair 8:00am Pahl House Piece Makers Sewing Ministry 9:00am Student Center FBCS Grandparents Day Lunch 11:00am Gym Lord’s Supper - Both Services Handbells Play @ 8:30 Worship Service Budget Council Meeting 5:00pm Room 112 Relocation Committee Meeting 6:30pm Room 112 Independence Baptist Assoc Mtg 3:30pm Gym
For more information on any of the above events please visit the church website: www.fbc-brenham.org www.facebook.com/BrenhamsFirstBaptistChurch
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FROM PASTOR ROSS One of the things that excites me as a pastor is when we, as a church, step into faith with the vision that God has given us. A few years ago, we were led to our 2020 Vision: “To be a church of ordinary people used by God in extraordinary ways.” Out of this vision, we discerned our God Goals 2020. God has recently provided the opportunity to take steps of faith with two of these God Goals. The first has to do with the following God Goal: “Be a sponsoring church for a church start in North America (United States or Canada).” As I write this article in mid-September, I am in the process of providing information to our church about potentially partnering with a new church: Soundside Church in Tacoma, WA. If you did not have the opportunity to read the Q-and-A document I developed, please contact the church office. We can mail or email you a copy of this so that you can learn about this exciting development. The second God Goal has to do with facilitating more opportunities to serve Brenham ISD. One of our new members, Lori Gaddie, has helped take the lead on this. You will hear about an opportunity in October to help read to children at Alton Elementary. There are some other opportunities that we will have, but this is a great starting point. It will involve volunteering an hour a week or every-other week in the library at Alton to help kids with reading. We will have more information about this, and you will have an opportunity to sign-up to learn more about this on the first two Sundays in October. Please pray about this opportunity for us to show our community that we are “for Brenham!”
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MUSIC MINISTRY Christmas Choir
We had an incredible evening together at our Christmas Choir Kickoff Dinner! Thank you to all of you who worked hard behind the scenes to help it be such a great success! Christmas Choir rehearsals have gotten off to a great start, but it’s not too late for you to join us as we prepare to share a powerful presentation in December entitled, THE FIRST CHRISTMAS. Practices are each Wednesday evening at 6:30pm in the sanctuary. We’re always looking for more voices, so why not come and give it a shot?!
Kids’ Choir
Kids’ Choir is well underway at 5:30pm on Wednesday evenings and going great! We’ve got a really good number of singers already and would love for any / all 1st graders – 6th graders to come join us each week in the Choir Room for music, fun, and food! Also, don’t miss the Kids’ Choir singing in both morning worship services on Sunday, Oct. 20th!
For more details, contact Charles Covin. ccovin@fbc-brenham.org
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SYMPATHIES
SYMPATHIES: -Briley family in the loss of Pam Briley. -Howdy McCrackens and family in the loss of his mother. -Troy Gor and family in the loss of his mother.
Haskell and Betty Polson
PIECE MAKERS Piece Makers is supporting Ovarian Cancer Research by entering a quilt in the MD Anderson Online Quilt Auction. Our entry was made in memory of Aubrey Groover, daughter of Larry and Kathy Groover. You can be a part of the cure by bidding on Aubrey’s Stunning Stars or any of the featured quilts between October 23 and November 6, 2019. See the quilts and bid at www.ovarianquilt.com to help raise awareness and research funds for ovarian cancer. 7
BIBLE STUDIES & MORE
Men’s Prayer Breakfast Studying “Joshua” , Wednesdays, 6:00am Sycamore House
Sweet Hour of Prayer Thursdays, 10:00am Sycamore House Garage
Ladies Bible Study “Fingerprints of God” , Wednesdays, 6:30pm, Sycamore House
Prayers of the Bible Wednesdays, 6:30pm, Room 111
Pastor’s Bible Study, “How People Change: How Christ Changes Us by His Grace”, Wednesdays, 6:30pm, Room 112
Ladies In-depth Bible Study “1 Peter” , Tuesdays starting 9/10, 9:00am, Pahl House
HOME TEAM GROUPS ·Scott and Tricia Schroeder – 620 Country Place W., Meets 1st & 3rd Sunday at 5pm. (Call for details: 979-451-0915) ·Roger and Juanita Atkins – 9250 Lake Dr. Chappell Hill, Meeting one Sunday a month. Please call 281-389-2859 to confirm meeting time. ·Ronnie and Debbie Fathauer – 1607 Longhofer, Meets 2nd & 4th Wednesday at 6:00pm. ·Sean & Mindy Holster – 2291 Strangmeier, 1st & 3rd Sunday at 5pm ·Shane & Erin Nelson – 5000 Beckermann, 1st & 3rd Tuesday at 6pm ·Troy & Kirby Gor – Sycamore House (307 Sycamore), Meets 2nd Monday at 6:15pm.
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SMALL GROUP, BIG NEWS Our Home Teams are up and running! I am excited about what will happen over the course a year as the relationships in these groups deepen. Right now, we have six Home Teams and hope to have another one start in 2020. Please pray for the leaders of these groups: Scott & Tricia Schroeder, Roger & Juanita Atkins, Ronnie & Debbie Fathauer, Sean & Mindy Holster, Troy & Kirby Gor and Shane & Erin Nelson. We have also had some relocation of two of our Sunday Bible Studies. The Agape and Family Life classes merged to form the Agape Life class in room 214. This wonderful group of 25-35 adults is in the process of studying through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation systematically through The Gospel Project. In addition, our Young Married Couples class outgrew their room and have now moved into room 213. This larger room will give them more space to reach more young couples. Go get’em Vance, Kerri and gang.
ENCORE MINISTRY NEWS
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A LETTER FROM REBA Dear Friends , As I sit here today waiting to get off a cruise ship in Alaska I am reflecting back on everything we have seen this week. We have seen many beautiful things here. I have also been watching for wildlife.
“and though you have
not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”
We were able to see Salmon swimming upstream this time. Orca and Humpback whales in the same area, as well as American Bald Eagles. The most 1 Peter 1:8-9 majestic thing we have seen are the Glaciers! Every time I come to Alaska I think of the song Majesty. When I think of all the wonders I have seen, and know that my God created them all I am just in awe of all around me. As the song says Majesty, Worship His Majesty unto Jesus give all glory, honor and praise! How anyone can look at all the beauty this earth holds, and not believe in God is beyond me. Even all of these beautiful sights were nothing compared to the people God put in our path when our flight home was diverted to Denver on the way home because of the floods in Houston that day. We know of at least 4 large plane loads of people were diverted to Denver. The airport was overrun with people trying to find a way home. I don’t have enough room here to tell you of everything that happened here, but I can tell you that we saw Gods hand in every step of the way. We found a hotel after much searching, and , we also had our Saturday flight they had found moved up to a Friday flight. God just kept putting people in our path that were treating us like we were special for no reason, and for nothing we had done. We were as tired and grouchy as everyone else was. Our luggage went to Austin and we got a flight to Houston where our car was. As they were about to load us on to the Austin flight. they pulled us off but our luggage had already been loaded. We just kept looking at each other and saying wow what just happened. Saturday morning our luggage was on our front porch. On Sunday Bro. Ross’ sermon was on 1Peter 1:8-9. Please go back and read it again. .As we read along I thought this is what our week’s events were all about. As I close I just want to say that God showed His Majesty to us the whole time we were traveling, and we praise Him with our whole heart! Blessings, Reba
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STUDENT MINISTRY What a great start to the school year. We are off and running with a few new things going on and some new people helping out and others in different places. Lauren and Kevin Turnbill have moved from our 11th – 12th grade Sunday School class to lead our College and Career Class and they are doing a great job. Mindy and Sean Holster moved up to teach our 11th - 12th graders. Bobbye and I are teaching 9th - 10th graders and RaeLin and Jesse Ladd are doing an amazing job (as always!) with our Junior High students. We have started our midweek “ALL IN” Bible Study and man has it been fun to be a part of. Our student worship team has been leading our other students each week in worship and I could not be prouder of them and their leadership. I want to thank all the adults that have been such a big part of making things run on Wednesday night. Things would not go so smoothly without them Bobbye Marrs, Dianne Pritchett, Judy and Kelley Hyman, David Kuespert, Mindy and Sean Holster, and Jesse and RaeLin Ladd. I cannot say thank you enough to the adult leadership in helping out with cooking, cleaning up, and engaging each of our students. We’ve also kicked off SALT - our Serving And Leadership Team and I was blown away with the number of students that came out to be a part of it. Please be in prayer for them as they embark on this new journey in our ministry and have an impact on themselves, peers, and the world. I am looking for some adults that might be willing to join this team in the form of mentoring these students. I’ll be asking these students to mentor our younger students. If the Lord is moving your heart in this way please email me at cmarrs@fbc-brenham.org so we can talk about what I am asking these adults to do in being a big part of this ministry. I do believe that the Lord has BIG plans for our students this year through SALT. In Him, Bro. Chad
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CHILDREN’S MINISTRY Good Morning, I was part of an evacuation today. I thought it was just a run-of-the-mill fire drill, in which we are required to participate since we share space with the school. However, once standing outside, I hear whispers around me that this is a real fire alarm and not a routine drill. The whispers were substantiated with the sound of sirens and the soon arrival of the familiar red fire engine. The school secretary soon visited my pocket of people on the east side of the building to further confirm the validity of the fire alarm and provide explanation. You see on this particular day, the church is having a new a/c unit installed, and apparently this caused a good deal of smoke to fill a certain area in the education wing. However, as of this writing, I believe all is good. No person was harmed in the production of the fire alarm and the Brenham Fire department has everything under control. How appropriate is it that the Big Idea for this month is Courage — Being brave enough to do what you should do, even when you’re afraid? When the alarm began, there were some pre-school classes still eating lunch. Therefore, they joined me out on the grass across the street. It was neat to sit in the middle of all the little ones. I can tell you out of all the many little faces from 2 or 3 years to 7 year-olds, I only noticed one little girl who showed the tiniest despair with the statement, “I’m going to tell my mommy we had a drill today.” Otherwise, it was encouraging to see the children practicing last month’s Big Idea of Obedience (Trusting who’s in charge by doing what you’re asked to do) while showing courage to do what they needed even though they might have been afraid. I even saw an older class pair up with a younger class as each of the older students held the hands of the youngers and escorted them in a single file line to their designated evacuation place. Like me the kids only believed the alarm was another drill. It was something for which they practiced and when the time came, they were able to calmly respond without confusion or fear. What about you? I know that most of your places of employment probably do not conduct regular fire drills. Yet, what areas have the potential to catch fire in your life? Are you preparing for those days with pre-praying? Are you building up your faith with time spent in the Word? You never know when a tiny spark will ignite a huge forest and set it ablaze in your life. Spend the time now strengthening your core with the Scriptures and improving your communication skills with the Father through prayer. Then, when faced with a real fire in your life, may you be as calm and collected as those 5 year-olds were today.
Upcoming Events:
Kids Klub at Krause Elementary for Core Essentials – October 2nd Kids Klub at Brenham’s First Baptist Church School for Core Essentials – October 3rd Kids Klub at Alton Elementary for Core Essentials – October 4th Kids Klub at Brenham Elementary for Core Essentials – October 4th Kids Klub Family Fall Fun – October 20th, 4:30-7:30pm @ the Morrisons
PRESCHOOL MINISTRIES THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I am so proud of our preschoolers. Our preschoolers were able to participate this past September in their very own mission project. They baked yummy treats and gathered donations for a great organization. With God’s help and yours our preschoolers were able to raise around $1,467.63 for Here I Am Orphan Ministries. Thank you for your help in teaching our little ones how to help others in need.
“The Lord … is patient with you, …wanting … all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
KINCAID MESSICK TIBERIUS PHILLIPS MOLLY EBERLY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 10/5 10/21 10/26
NOLAN YELDERMAN WYATT CLARK JEDD GESSNER PRESTON ALLEN
10/10 10/23 10/27 10/29
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FBC SCHOOL & EEC God is so good and gracious to us! We are thankful for the many ways FBCS supports their school ministry. It is not something taken for granted. Last month, we had the joy of presenting Bibles to all the first graders and to elementary students new to the FBCS family. May God bless these children, and may they hide His word in their hearts! That is our number one goal: to give opportunities for our students and families to come to know sweet Jesus.
"But Godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6
Our annual book fair is September 30 – October 4. It is being held in the Pahl Street House. Please feel free to come by and shop for your family. All proceeds go towards our library. Thank you to Rita Homeier, our librarian, for her hard work! We appreciate our many volunteers who worked along-side her to make this week a success, too!
OCTOBER
Our mission focus in September was on Adam’s Angels Ministry. We are making plans to help with Operation Christmas Child for our next mission. Blessings, Nancy Jahns 1-4 1 2 3 7 10 11 14 22-24 24 25 30 31
Book Fair – Pahl House Ms. LouLou – preschool chapel “Grand” day @ book fair/lunch Ms. LouLou – for elementary Core Essentials – elementary only Volleyball here vs. St. Paul’s @ 4:00 Football vs. St. Paul’s @ Hohlt Park @ 5:30 PTO @ 5:30 Volleyball here vs. Thorndale @ 4:00 Football here vs. Thorndale @ 5:30 – Hohlt Parks Kinder trip downtown Mile Run Student holiday/EEC open/teacher work day Student pictures Volleyball vs. FBCS Grace Lutheran here 4:00 Football @ 5:30 - Hohlt Park Noah’s Ark Day – preschool 3’s-K School Committee @ 4:00 Donor Luncheon
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FROM TROY’S HEART Recently, I have joined with some church members to go on Saturday bicycle rides. There are five of us who pedal the country roads and enjoy exercise and conversation as we watch the miles go by. The other day as I zoomed down a large hill adrenaline pumped through my body as I approached a speed that was dangerous for a “more mature” man my age. Two feelings were present at that time: excitement and fear! •Excitement in the rush of speed, wind and pull of gravity. •Fear in the question of “what if….?” After I safely made it down the hill and continued on my journey, the thought occurred to me, “I need to do that a little more often.” What I mean is that I need to experience a little more risk. Instead of always trying to insure predictable outcomes, maybe I should allow for chance in my life? Instead of managing toward the safe, open up to a little more excitement & fear. In church work, many times we want to steer toward the consistent and predictable so that all are calm in the pews. In so doing, we can become so routine, we get stuck in behavioral and faithless ruts. You know what I mean, don’t you? Of course you do because we sit in the same pew Sunday after Sunday. Haha Over the course of the next year, I am excited because things are going to start moving more quickly in our relocation. With the growth of giving to the Faith Building Fund, I can start to feel the speed and pull toward Phase One. In the middle of that gain of traction, I also know fear can set it. Let’s don’t let it! Keep pedaling along in the adventure. I love you, Troy
MOTHER’S DAY OUT We are celebrating October with a Harvest Theme. We can’t wait to learn about pumpkins, farm life and on October 31, we will have a costume parade for the church staff and a little pumpkin party at school. This month, we will be learning about Creation and Adam and Eve and our monthly Bible verse is “God created the Heavens and the Earth.” Genesis 1:1 Thank you for those who have donated money to sponsor books each month. We could use more sponsors. Remember, its only $32.00 and this will buy each child in our MDO program a book for a month. Kids have to be introduced to books to grow their love for reading! If you are interested, email me at mdo@fbc-brenham.org or drop off a check at the church office. Kristie Mendoza, MDO Director 15
Brenham’s First Baptist Church P. O. Box 600 Brenham, TX 77834-0600
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