This Sunday: First Sunday of Advent

The word advent comes from the Latin word that means “coming”. It refers to the coming of our Lord Jesus…both His birth (His first coming) and His return (His Second Coming). The Advent season refers specifically to the four Sundays before Christmas. This year we begin with this Sunday, November 28th as the first Sunday of Advent. And then December 5, 12, and 19 are the other Sundays of Advent.

We have chosen CELEBRATE JESUS, CHRISTMAS 2021 as our Advent Theme. The focus will be, of course, Jesus. This year the four sermons of Advent will be: The Joy in Creation; The Hope in the Cradle; The Love on the Cross; and The Peace Wearing a Crown. It will be more of a “theological” look at the Christmas celebration. We will celebrate Jesus as Creator, Immanuel, Our Redeemer and King.

One of the traditions I love here at James Island Baptist is how we combine our Advent Season with community and world missions. During the four Sundays of Advent, we are asking our church family and friends to give gifts that will help our community and help to share the Gospel. You can bring these gifts on any Sunday. They do not have to be brought in any particular order. First, there are gifts for the Low Country Pregnancy Center: diapers of any size, wipes or clothing for up to 2T. Second, the gift of Jelly to help support the James Island Outreach. Any flavor will do. For our new families, we have been designated as the “Jelly Church”. But truly, you could bring anything. Keep your eyes open for the BOGO’s! Third, Backpack Buddies is a ministry to provide food over the weekend to underserved families with elementary age children. Any of the following items would be great: Cups of Mac/Chz, can pasta, peanut butter, nuts, jelly, jerky, chips, granola bars and/or fruit cups. Last, but not least, is the Lottie Moon International Missions Offering. This offering goes to support worldwide missions. One of the practical realties of this offering is that 100% of the offering goes to the missionaries. Not one penny is used for advertising or administration. This is about as BIG a BANG that you can get for your mission gift.

The Advent Season is designed to help us keep in focus the reason for the season. It is designed to help us Worship Him in Spirit and in Truth; to help us remember the meaning of Christmas; to help us remember the underserved in our community; and to share the Gospel of God’s great love for the world. If you would like to help deliver any of these items, you are more than welcome to join in the festivities. Just let us know.

See you this Sunday, good Lord willing, as we begin the 2021 Advent Season.

Pastor Tom

Too Early? Never!

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere I go”. I know, it seems too early to say or sing that. But ready or not, here it comes. I was visiting at MUSC Ashley River Tower last week and they already have two, count them, two Christmas trees up in their lobby. Costco has had their Christmas items up since July 4th! And local radio station 102.5 is playing Christmas music as we speak. I’ve got to tell you, I am not all that upset about it. I say it each year, I love all things Christmas except anyone who goes into debt to buy Christmas. Never forget the meaning and purpose. Then celebrate the King!

For me, Christmas officially starts this Saturday when Janie and I put up our decorations. Friday night I pull the storage boxes out of the shed and all day Saturday, fire blazing and football games playing, the magic of Christmas decorations happen. This Sunday will be our Thanksgiving Sunday at JIBC. A few of the decorations will be up at JIBC Sunday and all of them will be up we you arrive on Sunday, November 28th, the first Sunday of Advent.

Another thing I love about this time of the year is our tradition of giving to certain Missions and Ministries. Our first gift of the year is to the Lottie Moon/International Missions Offering. I love this because 100% of every gift goes to the missionaries and their support. Not one penny is taken out for administration or advertisement. Our second gift goes to James Island Outreach. We give this at the community Thanksgiving Service. This year it will be an outside worship event held at St. James Presbyterian Church on the corner of Fort Johnson and Secessionville Road. By the way, it will be at 4:00 PM and it is outside, so bring your own chair! Really…that will be different. There are other missions and ministries that Janie and I give to, but these are always the first two!

Advent begins on November 28th with the theme of Celebrate Jesus. Each Sunday of Advent we will celebrate a wonderfully unique attribute of our Lord Jesus Christ. Of course we will be collecting jelly for James Island Outreach and offerings for Lottie Moon and more. I love it. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas…Worship, giving, fellowship, family, decorations, festivities, etc. I love all things Christmas…except going into debt to pay for it. Don’t do that!

Love you all,

Pastor Tom

Some favorite Christmas songs: Tran-Siberian Orchestra Christmas Canon; Anything by the Rat Pack/Sinatra, Martin and Sammy; Baby It’s Cold Outside; Rod Stewart Merry Christmas; Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer…only if Janie and the Grandkids are in the car!

Thanksgiving Next!

It seems as though time is flying by quicker than ever. It may have to do with that age thing, lol. Whatever it is, Thanksgiving is just around the corner and the Sunday after Thanksgiving is the first Sunday of Advent. Oh my. Our local radio channel 102.5 has already started playing Christmas music. They started on July 4th. So here are a couple of Thanksgiving opportunities for our church family and friends.

First, just a little hint…you might want to put the November 17, Wednesday Night Supper on your calendar. I have been sworn to secrecy, but not sworn to strategic leaks! Trust me..put your reservation in this week. Come as a family or invite a friend. You will not regret it.

Second, On Sunday, November 21 we will celebrate Thanksgiving week together. We will observe the Lord’s Supper together. We will build the service around the Eucharist…giving thanks. We have so much to be thankful for and now we will have a service dedicated to helping us give thanks. Now, after this service, believe it or not…our team of volunteers will be decorating the Worship Center for Christmas! The first to see it will be those who attend Celebrate Recovery on Sunday, November 21. Our lovely Worship Center becomes alive with Christmas colors.

Third, here is a new twist. On Sunday, November 21 at 4:00 PM you are invited to join together for our Community Thanksgiving Service. Here is the twist: the time will be 4:00 so no one will have to fight the night time. Second twist, the service will be held OUTSIDE. Yep, outside. St. James Presbyterian will be hosting this year’s celebration. They are located on the corner of Ft. Johnson Road and Secessionville at 1314 Secessionville Road. Those attending are asked to BYOC…bring your own chair! You could bring a blanket if that works better. In the event of inclement weather, the worship will take place inside and the event will be live streamed. Want to help out…we need two or three volunteers from JIBC to help with parking and guest arrival. Volunteers need to show up at 3 PM. If you can, bring a food item donation or a cash donation for the worship service. Oh, you do need to wear a mask to this event. Your Pastor will be singing a solo this year. Not really. I volunteered Janie to sing a solo…our attorney contacted me and suggested I withdraw her name. That being said, there will be some incredible music as always.

After that..Advent! We have a really good theme for this year’s Advent Season. I think you will really be challenged.

Let us give thanks to our Lord, for He is good. As they say…God is good all the time and...

Love you all,

Pastor Tom

Reason 2789 why I love our church family!

I love the sound of this old familiar song…“This Year’s Fall Festival May Have Been The Best Ever!”

You know, there is absolutely no way we could ever get a count of how many people attended. We know the number is somewhere between a lot and all we can handle. LOL. This year’s Festival had guest arriving at 5:30 and not leaving until 9:15…that is over an hour longer that we have had in the past. So the number of guests who attended were spread out over an additional hour.

You could almost feel the joy of those attending to experience a fun, free, family friendly event. Especially after such a long time struggle with Covid-19, Isolation, mask mandates, etc, etc. Man, this party for a thousand people was just what the Good Doctor ordered.

There is absolutely no way we can do an event this big without all the volunteers that came out to make it happen. Every volunteer was needed and help carry the load of serving our community. Thank you to those who prayed, those who gave, those who brought candy, those who volunteered at the booths, those who set up, cleaned up, showed up, came early, stayed late, worked on rocks, played great music, made phone calls, used their friend-fluence, stuffed bags, tended to emergency scrapes, purchased food, cooked food, served food, cleaned up food, picked up trash, brought friends, spoke to new people, loved on old people, and on and on we could go. Job well done good and faithful servants. Well done.

I just talked with a woman who said she and her family do not do “Halloween” because they do not go out on the streets. When I told her about our Fall Festival, she immediately thought of how wonderful it must be to have a safe event for families. We are thankful for Bill, our onsite police officer, the Firemen who stayed for an hour or so and our own safety team that stayed ever watchful. To God be the glory for a safe and fun time.

Our prayer is that every family that stepped on the campus of JIBC felt the love of God and the friendliness of His people. Perhaps, if they decide they would like to try a church out, they will consider JIBC. Maybe, just maybe, if they have a need, they will reach out to the people who seemed so real and genuine. Hopefully, they will remember…and decide to check us out some Sunday, Christmas Eve or some other special day in their lives.

Again, this is reason 2789 of why I love our church family! I love you all,

We are here for the harvest,

Pastor Tom