Winn’s Messenger Published for Members and Friends of Winn’s Baptist Church 12320 Winn’s Church Road, Glen Allen, VA 23059 Phone: (804) 798.5512 ● Fax: (804) 752.2401 ● Web: www.winnsbc.org
October 2012
Dear Church Family and Friends, Fall is upon us and we are indeed “full speed ahead”! I want to thank our wonderful staff for all that they have done, and are doing, to keep things rolling so well. As we move into a new church year, we are like kids in a candy store; very excited about all the possibilities. I also want to thank each of you who have stepped up to accept responsibilities in the “family business”. When we had the list approved by you at the business meeting in September; I was delighted and grateful that there were so few empty slots on the list. One of the areas in which we want to improve is the esprit de corps of our Sunday School. We have many excellent classes. We will be working to build a greater sense of camaraderie and teamwork between all of the classes. It has been a long time since we have done things as an entire Sunday School. I hope we can learn from each other’s strengths, feed off of each other’s enthusiasm, and be inspired by each other’s successes. We know that class leaders are already very busy leading their classes, so we will be very respectful of your time. But we do want to get together from time-to-time as a unit, so that we can accomplish our goals of being a unit. As such, we hope to improve our capabilities as an essential dimension of our church’s overall mission of developing Christians and reaching those who have yet to become believers. God is at work, and I am more confident than ever that we are in the best position that we have been in, since I’ve been here, to reach the lost and advance the Kingdom. See you in our Father’s fields, Pastor Jeff
Dear Church Family, I have got to start out by saying I absolutely love the fall season! I get excited for weather changes in general anyway, but by far my favorite time of the year has to be mid-September through October. The reason is it cools off at night so you can open your windows, the humidity takes a break, it’s warm during the day, and the leaves are still on the trees! (I don’t care to see the trees without leaves except for when they are snow covered.) The difference between spring and fall is: in the fall you get blessed with a cool day here and there but almost everybody is comfortable, unlike the spring when you technically can get snow after being 80 degrees a few days before. I guess I like the gradual change instead of switching back and forth with the forecast so unpredictable. One thing is for sure – Church has its largest crowds in the fall and that’s always something worth getting excited about! As we get into the fall season something else is very much on my mind. We have a pivotal event that will take place on the Tuesday November 6th – Nationwide elections. They will determine the very fabric of our great nation going into the future. I pay very close attention to political issues year round, and I feel as proud Americans that we as God’s people must stand up and make our voice heard. We see clearly in the Word of God things that God values and that we are to value: including Traditional marriage being between 1 man and 1 woman for life, the sanctity of all human life, truthfulness, support for Israel, and most of all submission to and love for God. Although I am not going to name a party or candidate here, one recent nationally televised convention held a vote to add back into their platform - support for Israel and one mere passing reference to God after they initially removed it earlier this year. The ensuing vote revealed that a clear majority of those present opposed those additions. After three votes to gauge support, which was very little, they adopted the changes fraudulently anyway without the necessary 2/3 vote it required to modify a party’s platform. This was followed by continual, overwhelming booing. I don’t know how anyone who loves the Lord can stand with them in any way after witnessing that blatant display of distain for God! Research it for yourself and you will easily discover what group did that in Charlotte, NC. You must pray and search the Scriptures and vote for the Biblical values that you hold, or they make be taken away from you in the future. It is our patriotic duty to engage in the electoral process. Grace & Peace, Pastor Doug
My brothers and sisters in Christ,
Every day my family has worship time together. We make a circle out of kitchen chairs and have a time of Bible study, singing, prayer, and more. For the last several weeks we have been going through the book of Psalms together. There is so much to learn from the Psalms, but one thing I continue to point out to the children is that David worships God through all sorts of circumstances. Sometimes we have to be intentional about our worship. When we find ourselves unwilling to worship God, it is time to step back and put things in perspective. David repeatedly noted that the enemy was surrounding him and he felt the extreme weight of persecution. This is when you often find him pointing out God’s power and sovereignty. Even in some of David’s darkest times, we see him lifting up joyful praise to God. There is nothing in our lives that should keep us from offering a sacrifice of praise. (Hebrews 13:15) Persecution purifies us. Difficult times cause us to press into God. We also know that sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5) If we are willing to come to God with the right attitude and praise Him in the good times and the bad, He will turn our weeping into dancing. My one year old, Sadie, is known to cry from time to time during family worship time. She isn’t fond of having to sit still for longer than a few minutes. I love watching the transformation that comes over her when we move into our time of singing. She immediately goes from crying to singing, from sadness to joy. In fact she is so overcome with joy that she often keeps singing right through prayer time too! Corey and Hailey can’t help but to laugh while they’re saying their prayers because little Sadie is still over there worshipping with everything she’s got. When I feel like everything is going as it should, I like to take the opportunity to thank God, and then ask that He would also give me the desire and ability to worship H im when I’m facing hard times. If things are going well for you in this season, praise God! If you are struggling and it seems like the enemy has you surrounded, make the choice to praise God through the storm. He who has the power to command the wind and the waves can calm the storm in your life. God is good! Laboring beside you, Caleb
Youth Group is back and better than ever! We kicked off Youth Group on September 12 th. We had pizza and spent time introducing our vision for the year. Our Wednesday night Youth Group is much more balanced this year than last, we altered the schedule to include more fellowship opportunities and interactive portions to our night. This year we are introducing an internal youth leadership initiative to train our youth to develop into peer leaders on a limited basis. We will give them the opportunity to help plan outings and fellowships as well as give them opportunities to share a devotional within their individual small groups. (Don’t worry parents I will still be teaching our main session each night and our small group leadership teams will be supervising the entire time as well.) I am very excited to see what God is going to accomplish in our church and Youth Group. If you have any questions, concerns, or comments please feel free to come see me – my door is always open.
AMERICAN HERITAGE GIRLS Building women of integrity through service to God, family, community and country. For girls age 5-18 or grades K-12 To learn more about AHG go to their website: ahgonline.org or contact Jamie Stapleton @ jstapleton@jstapleton.dns2go.com.
Our Preschool Department welcomes our two new additions.
Cricket Anna Clarke was born on 8-6-12. She weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz. and was 18� long. She is the daughter of Adams and Julia Clarke. Cricket was welcomed home by her big brother Elijah and big sister Juniper. Congratulations Adams and Julia on the birth of your beautiful baby daughter.
Ellanor (Ella) Margaret Allen was born on August 19. She weighed 8 lbs. 15 oz. and was 21� long. She is the daughter of David and Sarah Allen. Ella was welcomed home by her big sister Hannah and her big brother Noah. Congratulations David and Sarah on the birth of your beautiful baby daughter.
Sunday, September 23rd, (evening service). Please contact Mary Lutz @lumarcountry@comcast.net
Women’s Ministry
Cupcake Decorating Workshop Bible Study: Karen Caskey has just begun leading a new Bible Study. It's never too late to join in as she takes us verse by verse through the book of Exodus. Join us on Wednesday evenings at 6:30pm for sweet fellowship and study of God's precious word. Second Saturday Workshops: A big thank you to Karen Winston and Annette Reeder for leading our recent workshops - Cupcake Decorating and Bread Making. Be sure to sign up for our November workshop Fabric Gift Bags.
Extraordinary Women's Conference - Just around the corner is our road trip to Roanoke! There are still a few tickets left if you or a friend or relative would like to go. Tickets are $71 plus cost of hotel room. Please call the church office if you are interested in joining us. In His Service, The Women’s Ministry Team
Winn’s Baptist Church
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12320 Winn’s Church Road Glen Allen, VA 23059 Address Service Request
October: Individually wrapped hard candy
November: Scarves, hats, gloves…… SHOEBOX PARTY!
Masterpiece Kids & Little Lambs Choirs Begin Sunday, October 7th at 6pm