TECHY…LEADERS…TEAM PLAYERS…LEARNERS

TECHY…LEADERS…TEAM PLAYERS…LEARNERS

We are currently enlisting a new ministry here at James Island Baptist.  We are putting together an A/V Team (audio/visual).  In the past, the worship leader has basically been responsible to run the whole show…production, lights, audio, sound, equipment, graphics…the whole production.  Now that we have moved to a part time worship position, we need to make some much needed adjustments.  Fred Hudson is currently serving as our interim worship leader.  Thankfully, he has been able to be a “one man show” and has the skills to do it all.  What he cannot do is be in two places at once.  So, we are making the decision to have the worship leader and musicians focus on worship and music and not all the details of equipment and details.  It is kind of a left brain vs right brain situation.  We want the worship leader’s creativity to be focused on leading worship…not feedback loops, lighting, blend in monitors, etc.   Believe it or not, this will be a new adventure for us, so there will be a little learning curve.  Thank you in advance for your patient understanding.

We are hiring a local company to come in to help us get things up and running.  Then he will help train our all volunteer A/V team.  His services will continue to be available to the team leader and church staff whenever needed.  Interested?  You do not have to be a “techy” person to serve on this team.  We need some who are leaders…who can schedule people and manage a team.  If you would like to know more, this is the time to jump in.  Our consultant, Chip Cooley, will be able to teach and train you according to the amount of knowledge you would like to know.  Even our church staff will be involved in this training… and I assure I am among the least tech savvy people you know.  Chip says he can teach me to operate the system to whatever level I want to learn.  Sounds like my kind of guy.

Susan Warren is our staff member in charge of enlisting this team.  If you are interested in joining or knowing more, give us a call at 762-0244.

Testing, one, two, three…testing

Pastor Tom

Believe Right + Love Right = Live the Life you always wanted

Summer Sermon Series: 

Believe Right + Love Right = Live the Life you always wanted

I will be teaching from the New Testament book of 1 John this summer.  This little book was inspired by the Holy Spirit of God and written by the Apostle John.  It is only 5 short chapters, but they are five powerful chapters filled with practical guidance on the Christian life.  At the same time, it is very theologically deep.  Most of us could easily read 1 John in less than 30 minutes.  I suggest we spend time reading, re-reading, meditating, memorizing, studying and applying it.  It will be well worth our time and effort.  The stated goal of the book is that your joy may increase and you would have a rock solid assurance of your relationship with Jesus Christ.

My working title for the series captures it well:  Believe Right + Love Right = Living the Life You Always Wanted!  This week we will be on 1 John 1:5-10.  If you have not memorized 1 John 1:9, I would encourage you to do so.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  1 John 1:9 (KJV)  To paraphrase what the Apostle John said:  “These things I teach to you that our joy may be full” (1:4).  That is my prayer…your joy may be full and you live in a victorious assurance of your relationship with our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.

Vacation Bible School: 
Colossal Coaster World,  Sunday June 22-28

In 2010, 25,000 Southern Baptist Church families reported holding Vacation Bible Schools.  Those churches reported 82,000 professions of faith…men, women, boys and girls that began their spiritual journey of following Jesus.  In 2005 there were 3 million enrolled in VBS and over 92,000 professions of faith in Jesus.  It is amazing to think that 26% of all baptisms in the Southern Baptist Convention result from the week of VBS.

So what can you do?  First, pray for the workers and for the children.  Ask God for changed lives.  Seek God’s blessing of protection and blessing on the large number of volunteers.  Second, invite those you know to attend.  Even unchurched and under churched people will agree to send their kids to Vacation Bible School.  It’s summer time and the kids will be ready for a new challenge.  Let’s provide one that has eternal benefits. Third, attend with joy.  Help out before or after, be a greeter, a helper, a leader.  Felecia Hebert and her team will be delighted to find you a place of service.  You might want to be hands-on or behind the scenes.  It takes all hands on deck to make this an awesome experience!

See you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom

VBS, Rock the Block, and Southern Baptist Convention

A GREAT TRADITION

Vacation Bible School is one of the great traditions of the church.  And I have particularly come to love the way our church family does VBS.  It is truly a family event reaching preschoolers, children, youth and adults.  For our newer members it may seem strange having a week of VBS for adults.  Think about it this way: a week of studying God’s Word, being with church members you would like to know, having family together for a week!  What’s not to love?  By the way, our VBS Team will even provide a lite meal each night.

There is a lot competing for our hearts these days.  Here is a way of making an effort to reach our kids before we have to rescue them.  Be in prayer for our volunteers.  They work all day and then come and volunteer 3 hours a night for the week.  They do it because they love Jesus and love our kids!  Let’s pray for the spiritual harvest this week.

ROCK THE BLOCK

Pastor Sean and his team will launch a brand new mission this Saturday called “Rock the Block”.  It is literally taking it to the streets.  Their first area to bless will be the park on Medway, the street directly behind the back parking lot of the church campus.  They will cook out, have a jump castle, plays some games and share the sweet love of our Lord Jesus.  I love Sean’s heart on this mission.  The Great Commission says “go” and so here he goes!  Love it.

FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME

This past Monday I left for Houston, Texas to attend the Southern Baptist Convention.  I cannot remember the last time I attended the Southern Baptist Convention.   Certainly it has been over ten years since I have attended and maybe as many as 15 years ago.  I am certain a few blue moons have passed.  What makes this one interesting is the chance for my Friday Pastor’s group to go and visit one of our guys that moved to Texas.  I have been meeting every Friday for the last 20 years with a small group of Pastor’s.  Our current group consist of  Marshall Blalock of First Baptist Charleston, Curt Bradford at Riverbluff in North Charleston and myself.  One of our members, Tim Head, use to pastor Lighthouse Church in Mt. Pleasant.  He now works for the SBC at Guidestone.  We will meet Tim in Houston for the convention and then drive to his home in Dallas to spend a few days with him.  Even though he is in Dallas, we still copy him in on what takes place in our group.

I am looking forward to seeing you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom

BLESSED 2 B A BLESSING…WHAT A DAY!

Once again, there is no way to thank everyone who made the Bless 2 B A Blessing Celebration an amazing day.  There were very few things that did not come off close to perfect…including the weather.

Let me start by thanking the staff for all the work they did.  Each one of them carried an extra load to make this happen.  You efforts were clearly seen.  I am thankful to have such a diverse and gifted team.  Your work allows me to do what I do best!

The large number of volunteers who made the set up under the oaks look so festive.  Only those on the carrying end of all those tables and chairs have an idea of how much work that takes.  Everything was in place and ready for business.  One man who could not be here for the festivities still came at 7:30 that morning to help in the process.  What great servants.  After the crowds had left, we still had a host of volunteers, young and old, who cleared the area and put things back in order. It cannot happen without such a team.

The Kitchen Krew does such a great job on a regular basis, it is easy to overlook their hard work.  They were here on Saturday cooking and prepping and then early Sunday morning with the grills fired up.  It may be the first time I ever remember our Kitchen Krew running out of food.  This was a grilled chicken frenzy!  And when the Chinese fellowship brought out their food…wow, what a blessing…in every since of the word.  It was fun having the Chinese Fellowship, Luz Y Verdad and JIBC all together.

The 20 different mission groups, ministries and service organizations blessed us with representatives, information and opportunities to roll up our sleeves and make a difference.  I am looking forward to hearing Susan Warren’s summary report.  Our dear friends DreamLand always add the joy and fun into our celebrations.  They sang the best of the oldies.  They stood in the sun sweatin’ and a singin’.  Sounds like the lyrics of a good country song.  To top it all off and to make sure everyone stayed hydrated, Coca-Cola donated all our drinks!

OK, I know I am missing some others…but what fun I had trying to remember all the blessings that helped make this a great Lord’s Day.  To God be the glory.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom