Tuesday, December 22, 2015

ALL IN!

Starting January 3, we will begin a new teaching series we are calling “All IN!” As we thought through and prayed about combining the 8:30 worship service with the 11:00 service, that was our emotion…we want our church family to be All IN! All in one place, one worship service, one in unity and purpose…all in.

You may have heard this phrase before… it has been the Clemson Tiger football rally cry this season…#ALL IN. That seemed to work out great for them Tiger fans. Now, let’s see if we can get Team JIBC to be all in for the Kingdom.

Our desire was for all of us to be all in with a feeling of unity as we combine the two services together. Not having the 8:30 service after so many years was a tough emotional decision for me. It was not, however, hard from a practical point of view. The 8:30 service was poorly attended even with our best efforts. Those who did attend were extremely faithful. So, let’s see if we can be blessed by an attendance boost in the 11:00 service and see if those who have faithfully attended the 8:30 service can be blessed by seeing new faces, meeting new friends and experiencing a different level of worship energy. Being “All In” the same service, I believe, can add a wonderful new dimension of fellowship to our church family. Acts 2:44 says “All who believed were together and had all things in common.” Pray with me that this will be the Spirit filled result of bringing the two services together. I am praying for us to be: all in worship together; all in fellowship together; all in unity together; and all in service and outreach together.

A GREAT SHOW OF LOVE

Thank you for faithfully supporting the effort to bless our community. You gave almost 100 Clothes hampers to the home for unwed mothers; over 125 pairs of pajamas for the Orphan Relief; over 150 jars of jelly; and over 1,400 diapers for the Pregnancy Center. Thank you for being such a giving and generous people. I so love that about our church family.

See you Sunday for the last Sunday of worship in 2016. Let’s end the year strong in Bible Study, fellowship and worship.

Pastor Tom


Thursday, December 17, 2015

CHRISTMAS RE-GIFTED

I so love our church family. Thank you for the wonderful way you responded to the mission project of re-gifting hope, peace, joy and love. The gifts for the Florence Crittenton Home, the Lowcountry Orphan Relief, James Island Outreach and Lowcountry Pregnancy Center look absolutely beautiful under the Worship Center Christmas trees. Thank you for the extra effort and, in many cases, the sacrifice of giving to help others. It is the added beauty of the Christmas season that reminds us to reach outside of ourselves. You do this all year long for many other ministries and then really pour on the love at Christmas time! To quote Tiny Tim in the Christmas Carol: “God bless us, everyone”.

CHECK YOUR CHRISTMAS CARDS
There is a Christmas card letterbox in the main hallway. You can use it to give Christmas cards those in the church family. Don’t forget to check for cards to you also. If you see someone’s cards “building up”, why not help them out by delivering them to them. Take them to your connection group or just hand them to them before the worship service. Connection Group leaders can help out here. After December 27, all left over cards, like the Christmas Card box, will magically disappear.

The original idea of the Christmas Card box was to help raise money for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. The money saved on postage was given to missions. What a sweet idea. That was back when stamps were $.03 each. Now that postage stamps cost almost $127 each the game changed a little. Now it is just a nice way to remember friends at JIBC. You can, still of course, give a gift to International Missions. I can tell you it is the best way to get the most production out of your dollar. Every penny given to Lottie Moon is used to support International Missions. It would be hard to find a better way to support missions. Janie and I will absolutely be making our gift this year, as we have every year.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SEASON
Remember that you may have family and friends that would not attend worship with you during the year. Somehow, by the Holy Spirit’s calling, they do seem to be open to coming at times like Christmas. Invite them, encourage them. They will be moved and touched by the great music, the beauty of the Worship Center, the friendliness of our church family and they will hear the Word of God. Come early and hear the String Quartet in the atrium. Pastor Sean and I will be performing select songs from Handel’s Messiah. Ok, maybe not performing, but we will certainly be listening to it. Well, not so much listening to it as playing a CD of the Trans Siberian Orchestra…Never mind. But the String Quartet will be playing in the atrium starting at 5:30 until 5:55.

See you Sunday as we continue the Advent series on Christmas Re-Gifted. What does God’s gift of Love look like?

Pastor Tom




Wednesday, December 9, 2015

“ALL IN”


Today’s article is about going “All In” on the 11:00 Worship Service. Let me begin by saying a heartfelt thank you to the small group that has faithfully supported and attended the 8:30 worship service over the years. Remember we started the 8:30 service as a hymn based alternative to the more contemporary service. That was a great idea but apparently not one that met many needs according to attendance over the years. Recently, it has been exactly like the 11:00 service but it did not start out that way. Then, we promoted the 8:30 service as a wonderful opportunity for those who wanted to attend worship but still have most of Sunday ahead of them. Again, that made sense on paper, but in reality not many used it that way. Our last major push was to see it as an available service for those who served during the 11:00 service. They could attend an early service and still serve…the best of both worlds. That seemed to help one or two, but not very many. So we might have 20 or 30 in attendance spread out in a sanctuary designed for 300-400. It is very hard to create worship energy or fellowship intimacy in that setting.

So, starting January we are going “All IN” joining our two worship services at 11:00. We believe it can introduce, or re-introduce, some of our 8:30 attendees to the rest of the church family. It will

give us an opportunity to build both unity and numbers. We have had members and guests ask why we had a service for such a small number. We never intended for it to stay so small. So, let’s go

“All In” in an effort to do it better.

We will monitor attendance at the 11:00 worship service and when it is consistently full, we may plan to launch a second service more in keeping with our purpose, mission and values. The reason for a second service will be more about strength and need, not convenience. It will be more about “them” and less about “us”. It will be more about church health and Kingdom progress. I long for the day when we can re-start a worship service like that.

Until then, my thoughts and prayers for the few who really did like the 8:30 service. I really hope and pray you will be able to make an adjustment without too much difficulty. I will deeply regret, but fully understand, if we lose someone who says the 8:30 service is the only reason I attend James Island Baptist.

It may be a small consolation but let me offer an alternative service. Starting in January, Celebrate Recovery will have a worship service starting at 6:30 in the Worship Center/Sanctuary. It will be led by Pastor Marty and a Praise Team. You could attend Celebrate Recovery from 6:30 until approximately 7:10 and enjoy great worship, see what CR is all about and receive helpful life information. Just an idea…but a pretty good one.

See you this Sunday for the third Sunday in Advent…JOY!

Pastor Tom


Wednesday, December 2, 2015

HOW DO YOU KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS?

I would be very interested to hear how our church family and friends keep Christ in Christmas. This is a very familiar phrase that is really needed in our time. I get it that non-believers and secular minded groups have no true interest in keeping Christ in Christmas. The world is really focused on how to keep the money in Christmas. To paraphrase a recent song: “I’m all about that buck , that buck, not Jesus, You know I’m all about the buck, bout the buck not Jesus”. I get it…they don’t!

But let’s talk about what you do to keep Christ in Christmas. I would love to hear the stories about your traditions. What specific things do you and your family do to keep Christ at the center of the Christmas season? It may seem so natural to you but may be inspirational to a new family or new believers. Message me on Facebook or write a note on Sunday’s green information sheet. If I get enough response, I will find a way to share them. Anyone can curse the darkness (Christmas is too commercial, etc). Let’s be believers who light a candle (pardon the pun) and make a positive difference.

REMEMBER THE MISSION
God is in business to reach, redeem and to restore a lost and broken world. That is our mission as well. So what will you do this Christmas season to join God’s effort to reach, redeem and restore a lost and broken world? First, let’s pray. Pray for missionaries and missions that go to places of darkness and work with the lost and broken. Southern Baptist support over 4,000 missionaries and saw over 190,000 baptisms last year. Second, go and participate in something JIBC is doing to reach, redeem and restore. It could be as fun as caroling to the Senior Adult homes or as interesting as trying to feed those who live in tent city. Third, consider a Christmas gift to missions this year. A gift to International Missions/Lottie Moon that reaches around the world is really a great gift. You certainly cannot beat getting the most bang for your buck! What a great time of the year to teach our families about Christmas giving. There are certainly a lot of mission and ministries worthy of our support. Pick several and bless them this year.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom