Friday, October 30, 2015

2015 Fall Festival

SO WHAT IS THE PLAN FOR THIS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31-6:00-8:30?

This Saturday we are planning our annual Fall Festival. It is the largest event of the year for us.

We have great crowds, sometimes standing room only, at Christmas Eve and Easter worship service. The Fall Festival is larger than both of them. Remember our goal is not just large numbers of people. The origin of the Fall Festival was to go head to head with Halloween, providing for families a safe and fun environment for a community event. We do have a Gospel presentation booth and the Gideons will be here to give away New Testaments. Nothing beats seeing the Gospel lived out by our members. Be kind, be happy, share love, and look for conversations you can get into

Let’s create an impression that is so positive and loving that those who do not go to church would consider JIBC if they were ever looking for a church family. How can you beat that…having fun and influencing the community. Thanks JIBC, you are the best. That being said…

IT IS NOT TOO LATE
We live in such a fast paced world it is necessary to calendar and plan ahead. Some move so quickly, they cannot plan or calendar…they take the adventures as they come. That being said, it is not too late to sign up to help at the Fall Festival. We have several booths and positions that still need teams of two to help. If you would be willing to help, please call Susan or Neale at 762-0244. It is not too late. You can sign up for an hour or for the entire 2 hours. How much fun do you want?

See you there, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom




Thursday, October 22, 2015

Thank You

Thank you for responding so well to the Buckets of Hope. Susan Warren, our Connection Minister, is working hard to gather and distribute the relief buckets to the places they are needed. Last week she was able to deliver 7 to Johns Island. Last Sunday night Janie and I went with Pastor Sean and some of the youth for a buying spree at Lowes. JIBC was given enough money to purchase 9 more buckets and materials. It was fun to watch them do their power shopping. I felt like we were on an episode of Extreme Couponing! Good job everyone. It is not too late to donate toward buying the Disaster Relief recommended item or to donate. They youth were able to buy all the items requested for just under $70.00 per bucket! Billy and Felecia Hebert had the buckets to donate…woohoo. Bucket List for Jesus…love it.

WOODLAWN…THE MOVIE. We have been blessed by two outrageously good movies lately. War Room is an absolute must see. Now, Woodlawn takes off like a rocket. What an outstandingly good movie. It is inspirational and so clearly Christ centered. This movie should be a block buster and send a message to Hollywood that these great movies can make them money as well as be a positive influence on America. Go see the movie. Take someone with you if you can. Grandparents, I want to recommend a sneak attack. Offer to babysit for your kids and give them $9 to go see the movie at James Island Cinema. You get the grands and they get a great movie. Everyone wins.

FALL FESTIVAL, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31. This may be our biggest community outreach event of the year. PRAY His Kingdom come and His will be done. Pray for safety of those attending and strength for those serving. PARTICIPATE by volunteering. There are plenty of opportunities to be a part of the event. You can sign up for the first half of the evening or the second half…brave souls can sign up for the whole evening. PARTY by having fun. Smiling faces and helpful members go a long way to make guests feel welcome. This much laughter counts as two therapy visits…and it is free! We put on a positive family oriented event for the community. Let’s show them a great time.

See you this Sunday, good Lord willing

Pastor Tom


Tuesday, October 13, 2015

DON’T KICK THE BUCKET UNTIL YOU FILL ONE…

There is an old quote: “Many drops make a bucket, many buckets make a pond, many ponds make a lake, and many lakes make an ocean.” The North American Mission Board and the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief have developed a FLOOD BUCKET LIST. Now that is a productive list. This list includes items that will help in the South Carolina tornado and flood disasters.

SO HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Many drops make a bucket, many buckets make a pond… Let’s make a pretty good size pond from James Island Baptist. Susan went out to Home Depot and found that you could place every needed and requested item in the bucket for $80.00…including the bucket. Some will be able to put together one bucket, some more. Some will not be able to afford an entire bucket but you can still help. Donate what you can and we will be able to make buckets from all donations received. If you would like to give, but do not want to go to Home Depot or Lowes, still donate, we will have volunteers go for you. Make this a Connection Group project. Together, many drops make a bucket. This is a great project that is so very practical and helpful.

We are hoping Susan will be able to work with the relief agencies and find out how we can be hands on in distributing the buckets of love. Our goal is to put together 50 FLOOD BUCKETS. Why 50? Because many drops make a bucket, many buckets make a pond, many ponds make a lake, many lakes make an ocean. Let’s make an ocean of love…or at least a good size pond!

If you decide to fill a bucket, here is the list of requested and needed item. They are due before October 21. That is this coming Wednesday. We can do it!

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom


Wednesday, October 7, 2015

AND THE RAINS CAME

It is hard to let the storm of the century go by without comment. The problem is we have had two storms of the century this year! As far as we know, everyone in the JIBC family has survived this flood. Almost everyone got by with no damage at all…a miracle in itself. Several have reported some flooding and some roof damage from trees. Please know that your JIBC family is available to help. Please do not face these tough times alone. If you have a need that has not been addressed, let us know as soon as possible. We will see how we can help. Thanks for checking on your neighbors, friends and the elderly. Again, let us know if we can help. We are not looking for work, but we are prepared to help where we can.

RARELY DO WE MISS WORSHIP SERVICES
As of Saturday night around 8 pm we were planning to have worship services this past Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11:00. Janie and I were at our daughter Erin’s house until 11:30 Saturday night. When we went home, we met several cars submerged past their front lights. We back tracked and found a long, but drier way home. We got home just before midnight and continued listening to the worsening weather projections. I sent a text out to the staff…they were all still awake monitoring the storm as well. We decided to wait until Sunday morning at 6:00 am to make the final call. Actually, the roads from my house to the church house were clear. Many of our folks could not get out at all. Some had water up to their doors, some had it in their homes, several were without power. All were safer at home than risking coming out. The Governor had requested everyone stay off the road if at all possible. We made the call by 6:10 to cancel the services. We got the word out on face book, texted as many as we could and called the news outlets to get on their announcement boards.

NOT AN EASY CALL
As you can imagine, even making the right call is not an easy call. For the safety of our members and in respect the first responders who must be out on the roads, we decided…no services at JIBC. It makes it even harder when it is a first Sunday of the month, the Sunday of our largest offering. The impact of missing one week’s offering is a small price to pay for the safety of our church family and community. Thank you for your faithfulness to our Lord and His church at James Island Baptist. We look forward to seeing you this Sunday, good Lord willing and the …oh, let’s forget the rest of that saying!

Pastor Tom