Now you see it, now you don’t!

Now you see it, now you don’t! Part I

Take a deep breath. In just a few short days Christmas will have come and gone, now you see it, now you don’t. Janie and I like to leave our decorations up until the new year, but that is just around the corner too.

One of the “now you see it, now you don’t” events is the Advent Missions Gifts. As of right now, here is an estimate of how that is going. 1) You have given $7,650 to the Lottie Moon International Christmas Offering. 2) The Lowcountry Pregnancy Center has an estimated 1,653 diapers or 51 packs of diapers and about 1,300 wipes! 3) You have given 193 jars of jelly and 74 bottles of syrup to James Island Outreach. 4) To the recovering hurricane victims in Western North Carolina, you have given $2,500 in gift cards so far!

In three short weeks, it will be now you see it, now you don’t. And the mission gifts will be distributed.

Now you see it, now you don’t! Part II

“Now you see it, now you don’t”. I would also like to invoke those words for the current additions taking place in the church worship center/sanctuary. As I type this article, Pastor David is overseeing the installation of acoustic tiles. These will be located around the windows in the auditorium. They will be very obvious when you see them this Sunday. That is the “now you see them” part of the phrase. I suspect that in 6 months, it will be “now you don’t”. They will become a part of the decorations in the worship center. Remember how the “drum cage” was at first? It was so obvious and looked so different. Now, for most of us, we no longer see it because it is part of stage life. The acoustic tiles are designed to do this one thing: make it easier to hear and make everything that is said and played clearer to hear. If they do their job, and we believe they will, the average person may not be able to specifically tell the difference. But that difference is very, very important. There is a certain amount of echo that is a part of a big auditorium. Reducing that as much as possible helps enhance the ease at which we are able to listen to the Word of God. Amen, make it so Lord Jesus.

Plan now to join us for the annual “Carols, Communion and Candlelight” Christmas Eve service. We have two services that are exactly alike. The first one is at 4:00 PM and the second one is at 6:00 PM. Remember to invite a friend. Those not interested in Church may be interested in a traditional Christmas Eve program. Finding child care has been very difficult. At this time, we will not be offering child care at either service. If that changes, we will publicize it as soon as possible.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

CHRISTMAS TIME

Oh What Fun! On Wednesday night, December 18, we are meeting at Bishop Gadsden for Christmas Caroling. Pastor David has put together a wonderfully unique caroling program. If you heard it last year you will agree. If you have not, you will be blessed! This year is a little different in that we are gathering at Bishop Gadsden. We are not processing together as in previous years. The Wednesday night meal will still be served from 5:00 until 6:15. Those going caroling will want to eat and be on your way by 6:00 or as soon as possible. DO NOT TAKE RIVERLAND DRIVE BECAUSE OF CHRISTMAS LIGHT TRAFFIC. Instead, take the normally crowded Folly Road to Camp Road to Bishop Gadsden, 1 Bishop Gadsden Way, James Island 29412. Oh What Fun!

CHRISTMAS EVE—December 24 : CAROLS, COMMUNION AND CANDLELIGHT.

We offer two Christmas Eve services, the first at 4:00 and the second at 6:00 P.M. It is not too early to start praying about not only attending one of the worship services but also about who to invite. If a non-church person is likely to attend any service at all, it is likely to be the Christmas Eve service. Two unique little blessings about this service. First, we have a gift for the first 500 people who attend and would like a gift. You will be glad to receive this gift and will likely pass it on when you are finished with it!

The second unique blessing for JIBC is the Christmas Eve Offering. We have traditionally given this offering away to mission causes: Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions; partner ministries in Romania and Ukraine, etc. What a time to make a year end gift or a year end catch-up offering!

I love this time of the year. Blessings on top of blessings, blessed to be a blessing. By the way, we do want to acknowledge that the holidays can be a significantly difficult time for some. This may be the first Christmas without that special someone or another Christmas without them. Our prayers and love to all who grieve. May His presence restore your complete and unbounding joy!

See you Sunday, good Lord willing!

Pastor Tom

THREE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT TOPICS

First, let me tell you about something you might notice, then not notice and then if all goes well, will not notice again. We are making some improvements to our worship center, the sanctuary. Pastor David and David Jr can tell you all the nitty gritty details. I can just give you the big picture. We are replacing some of our old equipment that includes things like our main speakers and amplifiers. That kind of equipment just wears out and/or becomes obsolete as new and better equipment comes along. Added to that, we have contracted with a company, Auburn AV, to install acoustic sound panels with the goal of making everything that is said and played clearer. In some ways, this is what I meant by you will notice them as they are new. Then, over time they will just look like they have always been a part of the building. And ultimately, you will not actually hear the difference. But you may notice you no longer have to “work or strain” to hear clearly. The goal is clarity. It has nothing to do with volume, only getting us a cleaned up easier to listen to sound.

Second, this time of the year you may occasionally hear someone who seemingly finds joy in popping other people’s perfectly happy Christmas balloons. They seem eager to make some connection about Christmas trees and pagan worship or lighting candles and evil Popes for the third century. Or that Jesus’ birthday could not be on December 25th because the sheep would not be in the fields that time of the year. By the way, the sheep are in the fields all year long. God gave them the cutest little wool sweaters to wear. Don’t take the bait. Even Scrooge needed prayers and love. Celebrate the coming, the Advent if you will, of God’s Son, our Savior, God in the flesh.

Third, let’s think about giving. If you can, would you consider donating one of the Advent Mission Gifts: jelly, pancake syrup (for James Island Outreach), diapers, wipes (Lowcountry Pregnancy Center) a Visa gift card for Western North Carolina and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missionaries. The Wise Men brought gifts to Jesus. In His honor, let’s take gifts to those in need!

Love you all, see you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom

IT IS OFFICIAL!

We have just entered into the “Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!” I usually wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas and start listening to Christmas music. By the time we gather again, it will be officially Christmas Season. I say it every year, so let me go ahead and get it out of the way. I love almost every part of Christmas: The Christmas Story, Christmas music, lights, festivals, gift giving, special meals and goodies, the cooler temperatures, caroling at the nursing homes and on and on I could go. I do not like the extra traffic. Although, who could tell if it was extra or just regular terrible traffic! And, I do not like stories of people going into debt over Christmas. Please do not make this wonderful time of the year a financial burden.

Our Advent Theme this year is “The Best Gifts Ever”. I will be teaching a series of messages about the best gifts God has ever given us. By the way, the word “advent” means coming. It refers to the coming of our Lord Jesus. It is the celebration of the birth of God’s Son, our Savior. I am of the opinion that you cannot celebrate that too much. Just because the secular world tries to take “Jesus” out of Christmas does not mean we throw the baby Jesus out with the bath water…so to speak. We use Advent to help us WORSHIIP the King and to celebrate His coming. We also use advent to do MISSIONS. We combine the giving of Christmas with giving to help others. Here is how we can do it this year. If you are able, please join us in donating the following. 1) Diapers or wipes for The Lowcountry Pregnancy Center. Let’s help those who courageously chose life over death.  2) We are the jelly church on James Island. Let’s bring jelly and/or pancake syrup to help the underserved. 3) We can never forget the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering that goes to support our International Missionaries. 4) We are asking for Visa Gift cards of any amount. These will all go to Western North Carolina to help hurricane Helene victims.

Someone once asked “How come people aren’t this giving all year long?” I replied, “You need to come hang around the James Island Baptist Family. It is the most wonderful time of the year all year long for these great folks!”

See you Sunday at our first week of Advent celebration.

Pastor Tom

THIS SUNDAY: A SUNDAY OF THANKSGIVING

This Sunday is the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I am praying it will be a special day in so many ways.

FIRST: We will combine the 9:00 Worship Gathering with the 11:00 Worship Gathering. There will NOT be a 9:00 service this Sunday. If you show up at 9:00 for worship, our Kitchen Krew will put you to work helping prep for the Thanksgiving Meal! Lol. As a part of this day of unity combining the two services, we will have name tags available at all the entrances. Our greeters will be glad to assist you. We should have a packed house!

SECOND: We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper together. The Greek word Eucharist means “thanksgiving”. It has become synonymous with “the Lord’s Supper”. We will put our focus on the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. We do this in remembrance of Him! There will be communion stations in 6 different locations around the worship center. Feel free to visit any of them when we reach that point in the service.

THIRD: We will have a church-wide Thanksgiving lunch together. I have already heard people talking about Chef Barry’s dressing! Bring it on. No charge, just wonderful fellowship and delicious food. It may be a little crowded but we can make it work. There will be seating in the Genesis Class room also. As an overflow, we will have tables ready to set up upstairs in the Youth Worship room. What a great day this will be!

FOURTH: If you still have energy and are looking for your cup to be filled even more, there is the Community Wide Thanksgiving Service at Emmanuel Baptist Church on Folly Road. It is always an inspiring service or praise and thanksgiving! It starts at 4:00.

Now, it is not too early to shift gears and talk about Advent. Advent means coming and it refers to the coming of Jesus to Bethlehem. It is the Christmas Story. At JIBC we have tried hard to let Advent overshadow the commercial side of Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas songs, decorations, lights and gift giving. The only thing I really do not like about Christmas is IF someone goes in debt! Please do not do that.

This year’s advent theme is “ADVENT: THE BEST GIFTS EVER!”. We have combined mission, worship and celebration to the Advent season. We are asking our church family and friends to consider donations to our four mission projects. 1) Diapers and wipes for Lowcountry Pregnancy Center; 2) Jelly and syrup for James Island Outreach; 3) An offering for International Missions/Lottie Moon Christmas Offering; 4) Visa gift cards to be taken to Western North Carolina Helene victims. Worship and mission…I love the combination!

See you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom

Three Blessings Coming Soon

First, the blessing of Thanksgiving. Starting this Sunday I will be preaching a two-part teaching series on “Giving Thanks”. The goal is to lead us right up to the Thanksgiving Season with hearts and minds prepared to celebrate the goodness of God. Of all the spiritual disciplines that I could recommend, giving thanks and being thankful would be at the top of the list.

Second, on Sunday, November 24 we will be observing the Lord’s Supper together. Now, here is the catch. We will have only one service on November 24. The 9:00 Worship service will join the 11:00 service. The Lord’s Supper is sometimes referred to as Communion. What a great word. Communion with God, the Lord Jesus and His Holy Spirit. Communion with our forever family! It is a great word. Communion is based on the Greek word for fellowship. It will be one of the few times we all join together (koinonia-fellowship) in one service!

The third blessing is something we have not tried in a while. Out Kitchen Krew will be preparing and serving a special Thanksgiving Meal for our entire church family. There is no charge for this meal …just come and enjoy. The Kitchen Krew did ask that anyone who would feel so inclined might make and bring your favorite dessert! This Sunday will necessitate a little disruption for the two Bible Study Connection Groups that meet weekly in the Fellowship Hall and in the Genesis Class room. I think Jan Cooper’s class will meet upstairs in the Youth Room and the Genesis Class will meet in their room, but around the tables that are set up for the Sunday meal.

So, there you go, three blessings yours for the taking! I hope you will participate and be blessed by all three. Believe it or not, when we are finishing the Thanksgiving Meal on November 24, our “Christmas Elves Team” will be in fully engaged in decorating the worship center for the Advent Season! Don’t say it, don’t say it…sorry, I have to say it “IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!” I love this time of the year from the Fall Festival to the last Sunday of Advent.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

ONE BITE AT A TIME

I know it is an old joke: “how do you eat an elephant?” The answer: “One bite at a time!” That is how I think about our church-wide ministry “PRAY CHARLESTON 24/7”. This is a BIG elephant to eat. Here are the basics. There seems to be a Kingdom movement happening in the greater Charleston area. At last count there were over 100 churches representing over 16 different denominations working together to pray for Charleston 24 hours a day every day. Different churches will approach this different ways. Bottom line is that there will be Followers of Jesus that will be praying for Charleston, every day, all day! I cannot remember the last day event that called together over 100 churches from over 16 denominations. Maybe a Billy Graham Crusade but I cannot think of much else. That signals to me that this is something special, something different. It feels like and even “smells” like a Kingdom of God movement.

HOW DO YOU FIT IN? We are asking our JIBC friends and family to pick one 15 minute time slot for every month on the 10th. So, November 10 will be our “soft launching”. Then we will pray again on Tuesday, December 10. Then we will cover the next 10th, which would be Friday, January 10.

• You are asked to pray for one 15 minute time period. You do not have to pray for that entire day, the 10th. Only for the 15 minute time period you signed up for.

• You can pray for your city, the Mayor, your representatives, the homeless, First Responders, etc. We are seeking to cover our city with prayer asking God’s forgiveness and asking for His blessings.

• Of course you can pray for more that 15 minutes. And we may very well have several people praying during the same time slot, say 1:30 p.m. on every day that is the 10th. No problem is someone picks the same time as you. That is great! If my math is right, we will need to cover a total of 96 fifteen minute time periods. Those really tough hours, we are asking some of our overseas mission partners to join in for coverage. *Remember, you can pray at home. This does not need to be at the church campus. You can pray at home, on lunch break, traveling in your car. He can hear us wherever we are.

Imagine if every day of 2025 there were believers praying and seeking God’s face. Hundreds of churches, maybe thousands of believers, and over 16 denominations uniting our Holy City in prayer. Now that is a worthy goal. We are starting now in order to get our system ironed out. This Sunday will be our “soft launch”. We will be warming up in November and December. Come January, we will be in full “Go Mode”.

Two or three ways you can get on board with the mission. One, you can go to the church app; go to missions tab; tap the Pray Charleston tab, choose your time slot. There are other resources there about how to pray, what to pray, prayer topics, etc. This is a great entry point for those just starting to add prayer to their spiritual habits. It is also a challenge to those who are already on their prayer journey.

Two, there will soon be a sign up point on the main church bulletin boards by the water fountain going into the Fellowship Hall. Third way, see me or Kyle and hand us a piece of paper with your name and time preference, we will get ‘er done for you!

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you fill a 24 hour prayer vigil? One 15 minute slot at a time. See you Sunday,

Pastor Tom

THANK YOU DOES NOT SEEM BIG ENOUGH!

I wish there was an easier way to thank everyone who prayed for, help bring, hunted deer, cleaned coats, bought new coats, donated items, etc. Thank you does not see strong enough or big enough.

This next Monday, October 28 we are planning, good Lord willing, to leave for Greeneville, Tennessee. We will be taking venison and coats. We have received over 160 new coats and probably 50 used coats. It was a requirement to only bring used coats that had been dry-cleaned.

Ron Corry and I are going to deliver these to our former church members, Charles and Judy Dillon. Using online estimates, I believe Charles will be able to make over 2000 meals on 500 lbs of venison. For those new to our church family, Charles and Judy Dillon were members here at JIBC. On one of our relief trips to Katrina victims in New Orleans, Charles and Judy felt God call them to do relief work full time. Since 2005, almost 20 years, they have been serving as volunteer disaster relief missionaries. Ron and I also have another person going with us. A friend of Mr. Hines, felt God calling him to go and help. So we are taking Chip with us. If Charles thinks he will work out, we will leave him and help support him for a month as he volunteers to work with Charles and Judy. Again, thank you does not seem to be big enough, but THANK YOU ALL!

FALL FESTIVAL: ONE WEEK AND COUNTING!

The annual Fall Festival is just a few weeks away, almost just a few days away. Remember, this is the largest numerical event we will have on our church campus all year. The event draws hundreds and hundreds of people. The Riverland Terrace Community has jumped on board to have their “Under the Oaks” event. Smart thinking on their part. That increased our event from BIG to BIGGER! So what can you do? First, pray for safety and for the love of God to be shown in every volunteer, in every game and in every way. Second, please consider volunteering for 1 ½ hours or for the entire 3 hours. The event cannot happen without volunteers. Make it a family event: husbands and wives; parents and child; neighbors and friends; churched and unchurched. We can make this work. Third, if you can, bring candy this Sunday. Let’s make it rain with goodies, every child having a safe, family friendly, fun time sponsored b y people who love Jesus!

Good Lord willing, I will see you Sunday.

Pastor Tom

Opportunities to Serve

JIBC Family, there are three things I want to share with you in today’s article.

First, our annual Fall Festival is just around the corner, Thursday, October 31. We are already asking our church family and friends to do three things: pray, donate candy (lots of candy) and volunteer. We will have the most people of the year on our church campus that night. We throw a great party and the crowds will come. We have about 50 volunteers already and we need about 40 more. You can volunteer for 1½ hours or for the entire evening of 3 hours. There are a variety of games and booths were you can serve. No talent or training needed, just willing, happy hearts. This is a family friendly positive alternative to some of the more harsh traditional Halloween events. Volunteers make it a success. We cannot do it without large number of willing volunteers. Please consider signing up to help. Signup sheets are located by the office and in the worship bulletins.

Second, our next response to Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts will be two-fold. First, I have it in my heart to carry 500 pounds of venison to our friends Charles and Judy Dillon. Former members, they have given their lives over the past 20 years to feeding the masses during devastating disasters. They are currently set up in Greeneville, Tennessee feeding 150 people a day. This is a totally volunteer ministry. I already have 225 pounds of venison donated. I am asking our hunters to donate to this cause and to ask their hunting buddies to donate. I think we can reach a goal of carrying 500lbs of venison if our hunters will feel the call. That 500 lbs, by my calculations, can feed over 2000 meals of stew, chili or spaghetti! My plans are to go to Greeneville, Tennessee to drop off supplies on Monday, October 28 and to return on Tuesday, October 29. Please let me know if you are interested and willing to donate and help collect some donated venison. Come on, let’s go hunting for Jesus!

Third, cold weather is already setting in up in the mountains. I want us to send 100 coats of any and all sizes to Charles and Judy to be distributed. Charles told me last week “If you bring the meat, I’ll cook it and if you bring the coats, we will distribute them”. My response: “Then get your freezers ready and your space cleared out, JIBC is coming”. So, do you have a gently worn coat you no longer wear or that does not fit? Bring it to the church and drop it off by the office. Please make sure to include something with your name and the size of the coat. Right now, we are only accepting coats from our members and friends. If we do not reach the goal of 100, then I will release the Krackens (our best and most serious Goodwill shoppers) to go to every Goodwill store in our region to buy coats. Let’s give our JIBC family a chance to meet the need. If you wanted to buy a new coat to donate, that would be great. Just make sure you leave the tags on it. There is a reason for doing that.

I love you all. That is the kind of church I pastor!

Pastor Tom

More Than Just A Date On A Calendar

September is usually a very good month for Janie and I. College football has arrived again and Saturdays are filled with the highs of winning and the lows of losing. But that is not what makes September so special for us.

This year my birthday was on Friday, September 13. I am not really superstitious so the Friday 13th does not bother me. I was born on Tuesday, Friday 13, 1955. I like the year 1955 for a few reasons. It was the year Disneyland opened. Back in the day, I was an avid Disney fan. Not so much anymore, but it is still an interesting date. McDonalds also opened in 1955. Chevrolet made one of the most iconic cars ever, the 55 Chevy. Coke introduced canned drinks. Until then, cokes were only sold in bottles. I could keep on going about the interesting events of 1955. To top it all off, Claude and Helen Brown created a little trouble maker in that same year and named him Thomas Arthur Brown.

Now, fast forward a few years. On Friday, September 13, 1985, Janie and I moved to James Island, with our three children, to begin a new work at James Island Baptist Church. We moved into a rental home on Friday, my birthday and began our ministry at JIBC on Sunday, September 15, 1985. We just celebrated my 69th birthday and our 39th anniversary at JIBC. The good Lord willing, this November 29th we will celebrate our 49th wedding anniversary. Do you ever get excited to watch the mileage of your car turn over from 99,999 to 100,000? Then 199,999 to 200,000? That is kind of how I feel about 2025 when the event odometer turns over to 40 years of ministry at JIBC, 50 years of marriage to Janie Marlene and 70 tears of trips around the sun.

Janie and I are so thankful to have spent so many of our years with you trying to carry out the purposes of God. It is more than a date on a calendar, it is a lifetime of joy! As Frank Sinatra would sing, “It was a very good year”. Janie and I will be celebrating our anniversaries for the next couple of weeks. We will look forward to seeing you all when we return.

Pastor Tom

YOU DON’T SEE THAT EVERY DAY

The 2024 State Mission Prayer Guide had a wonderful story about a very creative ministry. On day one, the Prayer Guide asked us to pray for Riley Kinard and Bobby Strothers. They were burdened to find a way to reach college students at the University of South Carolina Lancaster. Riley and Bobby began a ministry called “Hugs from Grandmas”. They offered free hugs to anyone who wanted or needed one. If there was any interest, they would invite them to a Bible Study. I love it! Out of the box, very little effort or cost and a big payback!

What is so big about a hug? A consensual hug and a desired hug can be a warm and welcoming greeting. It can also be healing and even therapeutic. It can send a signal that says I am a friend and I care. I read that hugging activates the same reward center in your brain as eating does. If you are not getting enough hugs you may feel you are “starving” for touch. Lack of hugs can be associated with loneliness, depression and poor sleep quality. Hugging has value…lots of value.
So, why not take that to a college campus where many kids are separated from their families. Be kind of a surrogate grandma for them and offer a beautiful healing hug. I am not recommending JIBC start a free hug ministry at the local college. I am commending two senior adults who wondered how in the world could we ever minister to young adults on today’s college campuses. Free Hugs was the answer.

If you have not picked up a SC Baptist 2024 Prayer guide, please do so. It will certainly give you an insight into missions around SC and may stimulate a few creative ideas like a hugging booth! I love it.

By the way, if the Lord has blessed you and you are able, consider giving to the Janie Chapman State Missions Offering. This offering helps support missions like “Free Hugs”. If you can give above your tithe then this is a worthwhile offering to consider.

See you Sunday…with free hugs available!

Pastor Tom

PIECES IN A PUZZLE BOX

Do you like doing puzzles? It is not really my favorite thing to do. I could handle the puzzles with the 20 or 30 big pieces. You know, the kind you do with your kids when they are very young. My brother, on the other hand, loves puzzles. If I call him right now and ask “Hey Bubba, whatcha doin’?” His answer will be “Kathy and I are just sitting at the table putting a puzzle together.” He has a room where he stores all his completed puzzles. Some of his favorites will become artwork they hang in their house. He sees art…I see a thousand little pieces that all look the same and they all look different. Bubba has the patience and the eye to see how the pieces fit. No pressure, no anxiety, just work the next piece.

I think church life can sometimes be like putting a puzzle together. You see pieces and part, hundreds of members, each different and yet kind of the same. Then God starts putting the pieces together and a beautiful picture starts to appear. You see a children’s ministry reaching 60, 70 or 80 children each week; a youth ministry that had 29 teenagers last Sunday night; a new Bible Study reaching women; a couple of pieces that look like foreign countries. You see little tiny pieces that no one really recognizes or even notices. Yet that little piece provides color and depth. To leave it out would be to rob the picture of its completeness.

I love that about the James Island Baptist Church family. There are so many wonderful puzzle pieces, each piece adding to the whole beautiful picture. When you look into the box (maybe our Sunday morning worship gathering) you see a bunch of puzzle pieces, but maybe not the beautiful picture they will create. The puzzle is a picture of how God uses brokenness to bring healing; how He uses imperfection to show His own glory. Don’t be fooled by the look of a bunch of puzzle pieces in the box. He is not finished putting all the pieces together. I have been doing this long enough to tell you I love the picture He is making. Thank you for being a part of His wonderful, glorious picture.

See you Sunday…with all the other pieces!

Pastor Tom

OPPORTUNITY AT YOUR FRONT DOOR…SO TO SPEAK

On Sunday, September 8, JIBC will host a Voter Registration table. The table will be open from 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or until the large crowds are finished! The Voter Registration Table will be located just outside the office door close to where you might drop off jelly and/or syrup. Heather Hickman will be there to help you get registered. This is not about being partisan. It is about encouraging everyone to get out and vote. If you would like to register but cannot physically make it, please call the church office at 843-762-0244 and let us know. We might be able to provide transportation for those nearby. It would be a worthy goal to see 100% of James Island Baptist registered to vote and voting! Whichever party you are voting for, there is a lot at stake in this election. Let’s get out and vote and let’s get the vote out!

IT TAKES SOMEONE SPECIAL

One of the areas where we have experienced a turnover of volunteers is in the childcare provided for Celebrate Recovery. We lost three outstanding workers: Dea, Kay and Joanne. We still have Shelley and now we have a couple of short term volunteers, Mary and Ava. This can be a very challenging task to love on the kids coming from such special backgrounds. One evening we might have 8 kids and the next week none at all. We must always have two volunteers each night and most of the time we have three. We do pay for this position. What we try to do in all of our volunteer positions is to create what I call easy on and easy off. We want to make it easy to try a ministry out without committing too deeply…that is easy on. We also want to create an easy out if this is not the area of ministry for that person. No problem, we are thankful you tried…it should be easy off. If you think you might have a heart burn for some special kids…why not try the easy on path. I will tell you it takes a special person to minister to a special person! Maybe that is you? Call us at 843-762-0244.

We are blessed beyond measure, filled with His Spirit, washed in the blood, made right by His good work, children of the King! That is all for now, but that is enough!

Love you all,

Pastor Tom

KIDS AND JELLY!

Sounds like a great combination doesn’t it…kids and jelly! Even now, if I am in a rush and don’t have time for a meal, I can get by easily with a PB&J…peanut butter and jelly sandwich! The Dallas Cowboys eat PB&J before their games. If it is good enough for the Cowboys, it is good enough for me!

Let’s talk about kids. We have recently loss three terrific children’s workers at Celebrate Recovery. Dea Cann moved to North Carolina; Kay Hammer will be leaving to take care of her daughter and grandson; and Joanne Brown cut back on all her part-time jobs with us here at JIBC. She is now working full time at James Island Christian School. So, we are looking to replenish the workers for Sunday night. This is a paid position for two hours a week. Sometimes there are 5 or 6 kids and sometimes there are none. It takes a special person to work with kids. If you think you are interested, please call and speak to me, Neale or Kyle.

Now, let’s talk jelly! We are the jelly church of James Island. We have been asked by JI Outreach to include pancake syrup. This past Monday, the James Island Outreach came by to collect all the jelly we had at JIBC. The number of clients they see has increased significantly. They go through almost 40 jars of jelly twice a week. Just a reminder to consider picking up some jelly and/or syrup as you shop. We will have really big responses during Christmas and other special occasions when we do BIG JELLY DRIVES. In between, we have a steady donation of jelly. It just cannot keep up with the demand. Let’s keep the jelly and syrup coming. I am going today to buy as much as I can using our JIBC emergency jelly funds! Inflation and the cost of food has risen significantly. So, understandably, donations have slowed down. Remember, how you vote does matter…for kids and jelly!

Love you all,

Pastor Tom

Did He Really Mean It?

There are two places where God spoke to His Church about missions. My question, in a positive, thankful, rejoicing way is “Did He mean it?” Our Lord said, “Go into all the world and make disciples…” We call that passage the Great Commission. The second verse is found in Acts 1:8. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Now, with a joy filled heart, I ask again: Did He mean it? Did God really think that a little church on James Island could touch the world? Is there really any way that from our community we could touch a people group half way around the earth? Yes, of course He meant it. And by God’s grace and the power of His Holy Spirit we see it happening.

This past Wednesday we were scheduled to baptize around 18 people: 6 adults, 6 youth and 6 children. You are touching the world right around you. Rett Iler is going to St. George to work in disaster relief. He is really touching the world. We just had two members return from Romania and have two more leaving for Slovakia and the possibility of three going to Africa! You helped provide back to school supplies for over 150 students. As one of the office people at Camp Road Middle School said “You are changing lives!” It is amazing how our Father can use little James Island Baptist to touch the world.

Thank you for being an outward focused church family. If you were able to see the beach baptism Sunday, you were seeing the fruit of your labor: the children you disciple, the classes you taught, the ministries you served in; the love you shared. You touched the world starting in your Jerusalem, moving to our Judea and Samaria and then to the ends of the world. I love you all!

Pastor Tom

By the way, I have another prayer request. As you may have read or heard, we have a vacancy on our church staff for a Children’s worker. Joanne Brown will be working full time at James Island Christian School. I am sure she will do a great job and introduce those children to Jesus, the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Cubs!

We are using this interim time as an opportunity to reboot the children’s ministry. Pray for guidance as we seek the right person for this important ministry and mission staff position. We have every confidence our Good, Good Father will provide.

Sweatin’ With The Oldies!

Not since Richard Simmons released his 2 Volume “Sweatin’ with the Oldies” 8 Track Cassette has there been any good songs about “Sweating”. This past Saturday I volunteered at James Island Outreach to help in the Backpack School Supply Distribution and free lunch event. It dawned on me, as I was sweating, there are just not that many good songs about sweating and NONE that I know of about sweating for Jesus. I am thinking that is a market waiting to be tapped!

James Island Baptist Church and Emmanuel Baptist Church partnered together to distribute around 150 school book bags filled with school supplies. We started just a minute or two late because of an emergency in the EBC family. Their Associate Pastor was on the way! They kept referring to Pastor A.P. is on the way, Pastor A.P. is almost here, oh here is Pastor A.P. I asked one of their members “Who is Pastor A.P.?” Oh, that is what we call him, he is the Associate Pastor so we call him Pastor A.P… Associate Pastor! I thought, uh oh, my church family will start calling me Pastor O.P….Old Pastor!

Truthfully, when it comes to doing this Back To School Bookbag/School Supplies event, it would be easier in some ways for us to do this event on our own. We could provide all the backpacks, all the hotdogs and chips, all the volunteers. What we could not provide is the opportunity for the community to see two racially different churches work together for the good of the community. We would miss the opportunity to have fun with AP and OP! I asked some of the members of EBC had they ever heard of a song about “Sweatin’ For Jesus”? They agreed with me, there seems to be a lack of good old Gospel songs about “Sweatin’ With the Saints”! OK, songwriters…get busy! Channel your inner Richard Simmons and Gold City Quartet and get creative. Thank you again for your prayers, your financial gifts and your school supply gifts. We still had enough to give to 46 bags to Mount Zion Elementary and several boxes to a Middle School. To God be the glory!

Pastor Tom

P.S. Job 1:21 says “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away, blessed be the Name of the Lord.” This past Monday I received the resignation letter of Joanne Brown our Part-time Director of Children’s Outreach. Joanne has worked with us for years in many capacities. It has been a pleasure having her on the team. We certainly pray God’s very best for her in her new roles at James Island Christian School. She is now working full time at JICS. She still plans to be a part of JIBC but in a volunteer capacity.

On the other hand, the LORD has brought to us a Worship Intern, Cheryl Miller. We have a few details to check out before Cheryl starts. She will be a VOLUNTEER (non-paid) intern serving under Pastor David’s leadership. She will be with us for 3 months as she is preparing for a future ministry as the LORD leads. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

SHE SAID, “THEY LOVE A CHALLENGE!”

One of the most fun outreach/mission events of the year has been the “Back To School Book Bag/Supplies Give Away”. We partner with our James Island sister church, Emmanuel Baptist Church located on Folly Road. James Island Outreach helps by hosting the event and by getting the word out that the school supplies will be available. Sounds like a winning combination…as it was last year. We gave out over 200 book bags filled with requested school supplies and had enough left over to take some to an under-served school on Johns Island! Yay God.

Now, here comes the momentary wrinkle in a wonderful plan. ChickFilA, that we all love, asked if they could join us on the school supply giveaway this year. Our understanding was that they would provide all 200 book bags and all the supplies! Wow! Let’s order some waffle fries and a sugar free frosted lemonade! The pastors from Emmanuel checked with them regularly and were told everything was good. With less than 9 days to go, they checked one more time, this past Friday, only to be told something had slipped through the cracks and they did not have any supplies. Oh my. With 2 or 3 weeks to go, I had no doubt our JIBC family and friends would be able to pick up this fumble and score big! With our sister church, Emmanuel, in two weeks, we could make this happen. If they took 100 and we took 100, this would be a done deal. And, Emmanuel is providing 200 hotdogs, condiments, and cooking and JIBC is providing drinks, water and chips for 200!

OK, now let’s do all that in 6 days with tropical storm Debby threatening to bring 30 inches of rain to the Holy City between Monday and Thursday with Charleston’s Mayor asking us to not be out on the roads!

I said to my sweet wife, “I just can’t ask them to do that under these conditions”. Her faith response was “Tom, you know our people love a challenge! Go for it.” So, go for it we did. We announced Sunday morning the challenge ahead and before the second service had started, people from the first service had already gone out and started buying! They came in with bags. Our friends Eric, Christen and Isaiah Luh sent a loaded box from Michigan. We will be collecting until Friday afternoon around 3. Then anyone who would like to help pack the bags is invited to the Bag Packing Party at the Church! Supervised kids and supervised adults are welcomed! Whoohoo.

“They love a challenge” she said. I usually don’t like it when she is right and I am wrong. This time I love it. Thank you, babe, for being such a wonderful follower of Christ and ministry partner.

Pastor Tom

Across the street, across the river, across the ocean

Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 that says “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.”

One of the reasons I love JIBC is because you are so willing to be outward focused. As a church family, we get wonderful opportunities to meet for Bible Study, fellowship and worship. Those are, in some ways, the easy parts of the Great Commission. The harder part is being outward focused…to ask the question “What about them?”

This past Sunday we commissioned two of our church family to “go and make disciples of all nations.” This time the nation happens to be Romania. Cheryl and Anne will be working in what we might refer to as a strong established church. That church iss outward focused and has started a new church reaching out to the Roma, a group we might know better as “gypsies”. Last year, we sent gifts to help purchase building materials to finish putting flooring in the building to be used as a place of worship for this Roma Church. We also sent funds to buy “house shoes” for 326 children; enough wood to burn for the winter and 20 chairs for the worship center. Now we send one of our greatest gifts, two of our church members, Cheryl and Anne.

On Sunday, August 18, we will commission two more JIBC leaders to go to Slovakia. Mark and Robin will be working in Slovakia with Ukrainians who left Ukraine and moved to new homes and new ministries. They will be teaching children…the next generation. That is two examples of “across the ocean” missions.

We also will be baptizing, as of today’s count, over 13 followers of Christ. That includes 5 adults, 6 children and perhaps 2 teenagers. This will be a beach baptism on Wednesday, August 7 at the Folly Beach County Park. There is usually a fee to enter. Mention that you are there for the baptism. Last year they let several in free. Baptism will be around 6:30 ish… This year, we saw several professions of faith during Children’s Camp, Youth Camp, Vacation Bible School and Sports Camp. I am so thankful to our Lord for the times He lets us see the fruit of our labor and prayers.

So, we commit to continue to take the Gospel across the street, across the river and across the ocean. Thank you for striving to fulfill the Great Commandment, for being an outward focused church family, for always asking…”What about them?”.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom

BEACH BAPTISM 2024

On Wednesday night, August 7, we will have a church-wide/community-wide believers baptism. The plan is to gather at the Folly Beach County Park. There is a charge to get into the park. If you are a gold pass member it is FREE. I think this is when Janie and I renew our gold pass every year! Lol

At this time, we have signed up: 3 adults, 6 children, two youth from a sister church and perhaps a few teenagers from JIBC. I will guarantee you this: We will not run out of water! Why do we baptize would be a good question and the answer would be good information for future use.

First, we are baptized to follow the example Jesus left for us. “At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” (Mark 1:9) Second, we are baptized because Jesus commanded it. Matthew 28:19-20 is the Great Commission given to all believers and to all churches. We are to go into the world, make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Third, it is a demonstration that I am really a believer and follower of Christ. 1 John 2:3 says “We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands.”

Believers baptism beautifully illustrates the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus; “…having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12)

We try to be crystal clear that being baptized does not save you or make you a believer. It shows you are already a believer. That Christ Himself has saved you. And your baptism is an outward sign of an inward commitment you made when you accepted His invitation to follow Him.

So, here we go to Folly Beach. If you would like to be a part of this group, please call the church office and let us know. (843-762-0244) By the way, if you will text me your T-Shirt size, we have a cool baptismal shirt for you! You don’t have to wear it…it is a gift to you. Wear it if you like.

See you this Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom

Glad to be back home!

Janie and I were away for a little over a week. We rented a little mountain cabin about 5 or 6 miles outside of Bryson City, North Carolina. It is still a part of the Great Smokey Mountains. We had a little 1 bedroom cabin isolated up on the side of a mountain. Directly at the foot of the mountain was the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Our goal was to relax and unwind and take a hike or two. We went on 5 different hikes ranging from very easy to “why in the world did we do this one!” Sometimes it seems like those mountains are uphill both ways! We went tubing in Cherokee on the Oconaluftee River. Ocanaluftee is an old Native American word for “Don’t do it”. I got stuck and hung up at least once on every rock in the river. If it was not for the nice kids helping me, I might still be there today. Besides that we did accomplish our goals to rest and unwind. We are so thankful for the time off.

This next week we are sponsoring a Sports Camp for Riverland Terrace. At last count, Joanne had over 50 children signed up. Two sister churches are travelling to help us in this outreach event. Please pray for a little more moderate weather, safety for all volunteers and participants and for those who might respond to the Gospel Presentation. “Dear Lord, bless this attempt to join You in reaching the lost souls right around JIBC. Amen.” The Sports Camp Is Monday, July 22 through Thursday, July 25 with a Celebration Worship service and a Banquet on Thursday evening.

*For your mission calendars, we will have a Backpack Back To School Giveaway on Saturday, August 10. It will be held at James Island Outreach. Sponsored by Emmanuel Baptist , James Island Baptist and James Island Outreach. Be watching for more details.

BEACH BAPTISM is scheduled for Wednesday, August 7 at 6:30ish! We will meet at the Folly Beach County Park. Look for our “feather flag” and smiling faces! Want to be baptized? Contact the church office by calling Neale at 843-762-0244 or email her at Neale@jameislandbaptist.com

Pastor Tom

 

Celebration Time!

As Janie and I were returning from our vacation, we listened to the JIBC Livestream. By the way, the quality of our livestream is great. A big ol’ thank you to the teams that make that happen each week, twice a week and on special occasions! Janie and I loved singing along with our church family. What I really loved was Pastor Logan’s report of 20 Youth going to camp and 4 of that 20 made professions of faith in first steps of becoming disciples of Jesus! Hallelujah and Amen. We had 2 children that made professions of faith during Vacation Bible School. You know my old saying: “Let’s reach them before we have to rescue them!” Our profession of faith is a first step, not the only and certainly not the final step. Now they continue the journey of becoming fully devoted followers of Christ.

Then at Monday morning Staff meeting we celebrated that we have two JIBC teams going on International Mission trips. One led by Cheryl Parrsh going to work with one of our partner churches in Campulung, Romania. The second team, led by Mark Livengood, is going to Slovakia. It is possible that we will have 5 members of JIBC serving Jesus half way around the world! God is good all the time.

The Children’s Ministry is going wide open with love and enthusiasm. We had a great Vacation Bible School with over 90 children each night. Today as I type this we are waiting to send our children to a week of Children’s Camp hosted at Charleston Southern University. Joanne and her team will, no doubt, by God’s grace, see spiritual fruit and the kind of fruit that remains. Then one week after they return, JIBC and two out of town sister churches will sponsor a Riverland Terrace Sports Camp. Last year at this event, we had 50 children attending who were not connected in any way to JIBC. They got to hear the Gospel and have a blast while playing sports. Way to go team.

Want to see all this come together beautifully? Join us on Wednesday, August 7 at the Folly Beach County Park for our Baptism Celebration! We have about 5 confirmed for baptism and about as many still considering. Make sure you put that on your calendar. Let’s have a BIG OL’ JIBC gathering that evening. Baptism happens somewhere around 6:30ish.

See you this Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

P.S., I know you will join me in saying “thank you” to Kat Cumberledge for her heart and leadership in our children’s ministry. Kat has been a part time staff member of our team. She feels the Lord leading her to focus more on her faith and her family as well as her career as a gifted painter. While she will not be on staff, she will continue to serve in our children’s ministry and in the Mom’s Bible Study Group. I am so happy Kat will be around to serve. She has been a wonderful addition to our staff team. Kat, thank you is not enough. But thank you for your beautifully gifted servants’ heart.

Slow down in July…Heavens no!

I know there is some logic in slowing down the church calendar for the summer. It can be very hot, people are on vacations (Janie and I are just returning from a little time in Bryson City, North Carolina). I know it can be a trying time as far as church calendars go.

Our children and youth teams have put an all out effort into their missions and ministries. We just finished a week of Vacation Bible School. Then Logan and his team are taking a great group of students to Youth Camp at North Greenville University. When he returns, Joanne and her team will be taking a children’s group to Kids Camp! Then toward the end of July we will be sponsoring a Sports Camp for our community. The one last event will be the back to school book bag mission to help some of the underserved children here on James Island!

I love this so much: evangelism in VBS; discipleship and maturity at camps; missions here in our community; and missions again to round out a wonderfully busy summer. Well done JIBC, well done! Now the topping on the cake will be the church-wide baptism celebration scheduled for Wednesday night, August 7 at the Folly Beach County Park. This baptism is open to adults, youth and children. Families are welcome to come for family baptisms; husbands and wives, fathers/mothers and their children. Last year’s baptism was a beautiful celebration.

Keep these events and the follow-up in your prayers. The Gospel will be shared and the invitation to follow Jesus will be extended. We will rest in August…maybe! That is when school starts and we kick back into our full schedule.

By the way, I wanted to say thank you for all the families that came out for the Parent Child Dedication service back on June 23. We had two families that could not make it due to sickness.But didn’t the stage look great filled with young families, children and babies? It was a beautiful blessing from God and all the kids did great!

To God be the glory!

Pastor Tom

PRAYER FOR OUR COUNTRY

July 4th is just around the corner. As a part of our 40 Days of Prayer, could we “extend” our united prayer efforts to pray for our country? It is our plan to distribute a “Prayer for Freedom” brochure on Sunday, June 30. This is a guide we put together to help equip our church family and friends to pray for our beloved country. There can be little to no doubt about how much we need prayer. So, let’s pray.

We are asking that our church family and friends would just reserve some time on July 4th to pray. The brochure we prepared will help guide you in your prayer time if you need any help or if you just want to add this to your own prayer time.

This brochure includes a copy of President George Washington’s prayer and a prayer for our country prayed by President Woodrow Wilson. At the center of the brochure you will find 6 Bible verses that will help you in your prayer time. We can all join together in praying these verses for our own hearts, those of our loved ones and our country.

The late Dr. Billy Graham once said: “We have so many battles going on in America today that we should be a people of prayer. Our government needs prayer; our leaders need prayer; our youth need prayer; and our families need prayer.” We could add more and more to Dr. Graham’s list of who all needs prayer.

So, will you join us in praying for our country on July 4th? You can pray any where, any time, with any one and any way you choose. We tried to equip our church family to pray during the 40 Days of Prayer. This is just one of this year’s prayer emphases. Everyone attending worship on Sunday, June 30 will receive, in the worship bulletin, one of the JIBC prayer guides. If you will not be here on June 30, you may stop by the church office any time to pick one up.

We will lead in another prayer time closer to the National Election for the President of the United States.

Thanks for joining your church family and friends in praying for America. There is a lot to pray for.

Blessings in His Name,

Pastor Tom

Beautiful Families Dedicated to Our Heavenly Father!

This coming Sunday, June 23, we will celebrate one of our Parent/Child Celebration services. We get to thank God for these wonderful families and the new life given to them. What a blessing they are to our church family and to the Kingdom. Many of us are familiar with the story of Jesus laying hands on the children and blessing them. It is our sincere prayer that the same Spirit will be present as we dedicate these parents, these beautiful children and our church family to the awesome task of helping these children become fully devoted followers of Christ.

Several years ago, we started a practice of giving each family a jar full of legacy marbles. Each marble represents 1 week until that child reaches 18 years of age. There are 6 milestone marbles in addition to represent the major events of a child’s life. It is so wonderful when we, as a church family, can watch those very same children achieve these milestones!

AND THAT IS JUST THE BEGINNING!

Really, the Sunday Parent/Child Dedication Celebration is the “Kick-off” for this year Vacation Bible School “Breaker Rock Beach”. Please pray for children to come…led by His spirit, brought by parents, grandparents, neighbors and friends. The Gospel will be taught on many levels. Pray that hearts are receptive. Pray also for the strength and energy of our volunteers. After a full day, they have signed up for a full night! You have heard it takes a village to raise a child…it takes that same village to pull off a successful Vacation Bible School.

Thank you for being a church that gives so generously to make these two events happen. Your giving enables us to go all out and to do our very best. Many times, the baptisms that you see are directly related to the sacrificial gifts you make to Kingdom work. Thank you.

See you this Sunday, good Lord willing!

Pastor Tom

NO ONE GOES HUNGRY ON JAMES ISLAND

Some will remember Hurricane Hugo that hit our area in September of 1989. It was the largest Hurricane I ever tried to run from! After we all returned home and cleaned up our own homes, we started reaching out to the community. The newly activated James Island Ministerial group met to form James Island Outreach. The initial goal was to help those who experienced damage from Hugo but were not receiving funds and/or insurance. So, teams from James Island, Charleston and really all around the country were formed to help the underserved. It was soon very evident that much of the damage we were surveying was here long before Hugo hit. So the temporary nature of James Island Outreach grew into an ongoing mission and ministry. After years of rebuild, the corner was turned and we were able to shift our attention from rebuilding homes to helping feed the underserved. So, James Island Outreach became the clearing house for churches, organizations and individuals to help their neighbors. We adopted a slogan that said “Nobody on James Island goes hungry unless we don’t know about them”.

This ministry started small but also started to grow. It outgrew the generous service of Bethany United Methodist Church on Maybank Highway. They housed James Island Outreach for years. Then the ministry grew significantly with the donation of two “mobile home/classroom” buildings by James Island Christian Church. That allowed JIO to really multiply their ministry and the number of families they served.

Now, each month, JIO serves more than 170 households. In 2023 neighbors and friends donated over 219,125 pounds of food; gave out $34,589 to assist 145 households. These funds were used for medicine, housing and utilities.

I want to thank you for being a part of this mission outreach to those in need. You generously give jelly (for those who do not know, we are the official jelly church of James Island). You did such a great job, they asked if we could add pancake syrup to our list! It is amazing to see the amount of love you give. We have volunteers from JIBC who go on a regular basis. They usually let us know if they are low on jelly or syrup! I love the way you reach out to offer support to those in need. Let keep the tradition going: No one on James Island goes to bed hungry unless we don’t know about it.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing!

Pastor Tom

COMING UP JUST AROUND THE CORNER

PARENT/CHILD DEDICATION

Sunday, June 23 will be our Parent Child Dedication service. If you would like to participate in this one, please call Neale at the church office (843-762-0244) or email neale@jamesislandbaptist.com. You will need to send in 5 pictures by June12th. Make sure you invite family and friends to celebrate with us. What an honor to thank God and praise Him for new life!

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL JUNE 24-28

The Parent Child Dedication will help us launch this year’s Vacation Bible School. VBS is a wonderful Bible tradition for JIBC. Only eternity will tell the number of children that were led to the Lord during VBS. All across the Southern Baptist Convention there will be: 2.5 million children involved in VBS. In one year there were 75,000 professions of faith; and over 155,000 prospects discovered. And why not, we put almost 7 months of Bible Study into one week; 15 hours of intensive discipleship with the Gospel presented every day! Did we mention free suppers? Yes indeed, our VBS leaders want to go all out to make it as easy as possible to get the children here. All we ask is that you sign up online ahead of time for the free meals. Another little nugget…no pun intended: nationwide VBS gave $5.5 million to mission causes! No wonder we love VBS. By the way, this year’s VBS offering will go to help buy “under-roos”(underwear) for orphans and to help buy school supplies.

BEACH BAPTISM 2024

We will plan to have another Beach Baptism on Wednesday, August 7 at the Folly Beach County Park. You will find us under the pop ups, sitting in our beach chairs. Last year’s beach baptism was a phenomenal highlight of the year. Please let us know if you are interested in joining us for this year’s beach baptism. Everyone is welcome to attend! Family, friends, baptisms, beach…can’t wait!

See you Sunday, good Lord willing

Pastor Tom

Memorial Day Weekend

This past Monday was a holiday, a holy holiday. What makes it holy? Not that it is Christmas or Easter. It is holy because it is set apart as a day to remember. We rightfully recognize Veterans Day and say thank you for those who have worn the uniform and have served our great country. Even more so we would do well to remember the men and women who once wore the uniform and died while still wearing it. Memorial Day. I love that we will have a day off, probably will cook out and maybe splash around in a pool. Whatever you did on Memorial Day you did with the ever so expensive gift of freedom paid for by men and women who gave their all. Enjoy the “holy-day”. Thankful, grateful, humbled, free. Enjoy the day in honor of those who made it possible .

I am honored to have been asked to offer prayers this past Monday for the American Legion Post 147 here on James Island. For years they have invited me to participate in the annual Service of the Four Chaplains. This year they also asked me to offer prayers at the Memorial Day service. They thank me for coming. No thanks required. I am honored. I am the one who is thankful. “Father, comfort those who grieve the loss of loved ones and let your healing be the hope in their hearts. Amen”

“Great love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

For the follower of Jesus, every Sunday is a Memorial Day of sorts. We gather in honor of the one who gave His life for us. No greater love. No greater love.

Pastor Tom

LET’S CELEBRATE AND THEN CELEBRATE SOME MORE!

This Sunday will be the unofficial ending of our 40 Days of Prayer Campaign. Why unofficial? Like the old theologian Yoggi Berra used to say “It ain’t over til it’s over!” We have a few more things to celebrate.

First, this Sunday, May 19 will be Celebration Sunday #1. We will have a closing video, observe the Lord’s Supper, and recognize and say thanks to all of our 40 DOP hosts. Each host will receive a special gift from Pastor Kyle. We are working on a way to give everyone an opportunity to give thanks and glory to the Lord for the blessings of the 40 DOP.

The second celebration happens on Sunday, May 26. Kyle will be giving a praise and thanksgiving report during the 9:00 and at 11:00 Worship Services. In between, we will have a church wide adult fellowship at 10:00 in the Fellowship Hall. All adult Connection Groups are invited. It does not matter if you meet on Sundays or during the week. Come on by get something to drink, see some new faces and prepare to celebrate!

Here is the third reason the 40 DOP is not quite over. Pastor Kyle gave out 15 more books this past Sunday. Hopefully, that means we will have 15 more JIBC family and friends going through the Prayer Journal for the next 40 Days! It ain’t over until it is over.

I have so enjoyed our church family and friends going through this church wide study on the Power of God and the Power of Prayer. It has, indeed, drawn us closer to God individually and closer to our Connection Groups and friends. We have given out 400 Prayer journals and some of them are still being used! Amen and amen!

See you this Sunday for Celebration #1. Be thinking about how God has blessed you or how this 40 DOP has blessed you. Let’s give Him some glory.

Pastor Tom

WHEN DO YOU WANT SOMETHING TO NOT WORK?

Most of the time, we really want things to work. We want our car to start every time we get in it. We want our air conditioners to work when it gets hot! Whenever I have to get on the floor or the ground, I really want my knees to work. LOL So when do you want something not to work? Pastor David and David Jr. have been tracing my microphone’s issue for quite a while. They would have the problem defeated and handled until next time. I really thought it was something in my body chemistry that was affecting the microphone. David and David were working every week. Then their creativity won the day. Let’s take Pastor Tom’s “mic-pack”, the brand new, top of the line, just about as good as they come mic-pack and isolate it. BOOM…you just heard a mic drop! Success has arrived and we are betting the farm, so to speak, that the very complicated mic issue is resolved. Thank you David and David Jr and all your team. You are the best. Thank you all for staying with it so diligently.


TWO MORE WEEKS OF 40 DAYS OF PRAYER

This has been so good for our church family and friends. Our prayer is that we will all grow closer to God individually and grow deeper in our connection with our church family and wider in our outreach to family and friends. The testimonies have been inspiring; the daily devotionals have been day after day of some of the best verses in the Bible; Rick Warren’s video Bible Studies have been spot on. How have you been doing on the Bible Verse Memorization? These 6 verses are great ones to hide in your heart.

This week the message will be “What do you do when God says ‘No’? This coming Sunday is also Mother’s Day. Kat Cumberledge, our Children’s Ministry Leader has worked with Pastor David to produce a great kids video for Mom’s. We will show it at both services. All moms attending will receive a carnation this Sunday. Kat also has a special gift for moms that will be joining or interested in joining the Sunday Morning Mom’s Bible Study. If you are interested in this group please see Ashley Judy or Kat Cumberledge.

This coming Sunday I will be teaching on “What to do when God says ‘No”. On Sunday, May 19, we will have our 40 Days of Prayer Celebration Sunday. We will celebrate Lord’s Supper at both services, 9 and 11. I should be a great week. Hope to see you there.

Pastor Tom

Down the Homestretch of 40 Days of Prayer

We have three more weeks to go. We started four weeks ago on a church-wide study on the Power of God and the Power of Prayer. 40 Days of Prayer is designed to draw us closer to God individually, deeper in our connections with other believers and wider in our outreach to family, friends and community. What a God honoring, Christ exalting, Spirit led campaign. I cannot see a downside to leading the church to pray! The worship services are inspiring; the video lessons from Rick Warren are spot on to many of our experiences; and the daily devotionals are leading us to experience many of our favorite Bible verses.

Here are some of the comments that have come in so far: I never thought of God as my Father before this; We felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in our conversations; We are having great discussions!; We have no more seating in our home!; We ran out of books and had to get more. You can tell people are enjoying this 40 Days of Prayer campaign.

Here are some interesting numbers for you. We have 1 new ministry partner named Still Worthy, a recovery community on Johns Island. They have 30 who will be going through the 40 DOP; 10 books given out to HOMEBOUND individuals; We have 23 groups in total including the 12 we had before we started. That means we have started 11 new groups; averaging 12.7 people in each group; we have 301 people associated with a 40 DOP group; we have given out 380 Daily Devotional Books. That includes the 285 we have distributed through our groups and 95 that have gone to people outside our groups. Add that all up and it equals a great big HALLELUJAH!

We have one more objective we would like to accomplish. If you are not in a 40DOP group and have not already received a Daily Devotions Book/Guide, we would love for you to have one…or as many as you need. We only ask that you give us 5 to 10 minutes to walk you through the book so you know how to get the most out of it. That simple! And we really would love to take a moment to meet with you. Let us help you on your spiritual journey.

See you this Sunday, good Lord willing!

Pastor Tom

 

Between the Proverbial Rock and a Hard Place!

I am absolutely loving all that is happening in the 40 Days of Prayer campaign. We have heard wonderful stories, and are seeing some amazing friendships form. We ordered 450 of the 40 Day Prayer Devotional Guides. We just ordered 50 more! Who knows, we may even try to start a group or two after the 40 Days of Prayer are over.

Here is the rock and the hard place story. Your Pastor has not figured out a way to end the 9:00 Worship service on time or early to give the Sunday Connection Groups long enough to watch the video and then to enjoy discussion. Pastor David has done a great job or keep the worship side of the program as tight as he can possible do. It is your long-winded preacher who is gumming up the works! Lol Our church staff is working with him (me) to see if adjustments can be made to just ever so slightly adjust the length of the sermons.

Of all the problems we could have, that is one that I really don’t mind. We absolutely want to have you be in two places at one time! Since that is not possible, we want you to be at both the worship service and the Sunday Connection Groups. So, we will gently remind our good intentioned pastor of the 5 B’s of good preaching: Be Brief Brother Be Brief!

Did you hear about the pastor who was wearing a band aid on his cheek one Sunday morning? The old deacon asked his pastor what happened to your cheek? The pastor replied “While I was shaving this morning I was thinking about my sermon and cut my face!” To which the deacon replied “How about next week think about your face and cut the sermon!”

OK, I cannot promise cutting either, but I can promise we are trying to allow time for the Holy Spirit to bless each person that attends. I love this material and I am so thankful for our leaders best efforts to make it all happen in such a short amount of time.

As one of the theme songs says “Don’t stop praying, don’t stop believing”. See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

40 DAYS OF PRAYER IS UNDERWAY!

“Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, 

and Thou has not withheld the request of his lips. For Thou dost meet him with the blessings of good things.”

Psalm 21:2-3

I am praying and hoping for the day when Jesus so fills my heart, my soul, my mind and my life, that my heart’s desire is what Jesus’ heart’s desire would be if He were me! Imagine being so close to our Father in Heaven that He would not withhold any request that came from your lips. And then His wonderful promise that our Father would meet you with the blessings of good things. Wow. It is possible and I believe it is part of His plan for all of His children. May our heart’s desire be the same as His heart’s desire and may you experience His blessing of good things.

We are underway with 40 Days of Prayer. We have already heard and seen some very exciting results even though we have only entered the second week. We have groups that started from zero people to now having 8! We have some classes that are full and some that have room for one or two more. Our Connection Groups that meet on Sunday and during the week have started out with a bang. Way to go.

I am so excited about those who want to participate and be a part of the 40 Days of Prayer Study even though they are not in a small group. We do realize some cannot be in a small group at this time; others may simply prefer not to be in a small group just yet. Not a problem. We are wanting you to reach out to us so we can get you the materials you need to join in. IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO START. Please feel free to reach out to any of our staff and let us know you want to participate. You can still greatly benefit from the group worship time (either in person, live stream or recording). You can still do the daily devotionals. You will miss the small group experience. My mom taught me that half a loaf is better than none. So two-thirds of a loaf is even better!

I love it when we see the Father working, lives changing, people praying, and disciples growing. To God be the glory! What if the Father was using this 40 Days of Prayer to get us ready? Amen.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing

Pastor Tom

AND JUST LIKE THAT

And just like that the 40 Days of Prayer has begun. We talked about it two years ago; we started working on it one year ago, we announced it to our leaders almost 6 months ago; we officially launched it this past Sunday, April 7. I am hoping many people will look back at April 7 as one of the spiritual highlights of their journey as a believer and a follower of Christ. We have had some terrific stories already.

Here are some of the high points for us so far. We ordered 450 of the Prayer devotionals and are almost out! Wow. We absolutely love that and will gladly order more. We have 30 participants in the “Still Worthy” recovery ministry. They have 25 residents and 5 leaders that have said they want to join us! We have a men’s softball team; we have members in Michigan joining us; we have Sunday Connection Groups that are completely full; I am offering a class during the weekday if there are those who want to be a part of a group but cannot meet at night or on Sunday; some are trying to start a class for homebound...I will be announcing more about that this Sunday.

I started back in February going through the daily devotional and watching the videos. I am staring all over again so I can be on track with all of our church family. I love the idea of everyone being on the same page…literally and figuratively. If you have not signed up or joined a class, it is certainly not too late. You can join in open classes for the next two weeks. Since the sermons and the video lessons by Rick Warren are all online, you can access them any time! You gotta love that.

So, here we go, deep into the first week of 40 Days of Prayer. Come on and join us. If you absolutely cannot be a part of a group, but would still like to fully participate, you just have to let us know. Call

the church office at 843-762-0244. Or call Pastor Kyle. We will get you squared away.

See you this Sunday. Good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom

WHAT A DAY, WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY!

We have been blessed and highly favored by our Father in Heaven. Amen? Amen! Here is a verse from God’s Word that seems so appropriate. Psalm 16:1 says , “ The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; indeed my heritage is beautiful to me. Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; in Thy presence is fullness of joy. In Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.” It truly seems like our Father has blessed James Island Baptist in such pleasant ways. There is indeed fullness of joy. Even when we have difficulties and even extreme challenges, we find the blessings of God present and providing hope. May you continue to experience the pleasure of God!

There have been so many wonderful events in the life of our church: a community wide Easter egg hunt, a Resurrection Party, Palm Sunday with over 40 children waving palm branches, the beautiful Good Friday service led by Pastor David and his talented team and over 400 people attending worship on Resurrection Sunday! To God be the glory. As the verse says “…indeed my heritage is beautiful to me”.

40 Days of Prayer has been Officially Launched! Pastor David and the Worship and Tech Team put together a moving Concert of Prayer for Good Friday. It was a musically moving service leading us to the 40 Days of Prayer. Well done! Then Resurrection Sunday was our first Church-Wide introduction to the 40 Days of Prayer study. We have already had some great stories of how the Lord is moving to make this happen. This coming Sunday, April 7 will be the “first” Sunday with the coordinated sermon, Bible Study Video and daily devotional time. Here is a little secret: any Sunday you actually start the 40 Days of Prayer can be the “first” Sunday. Everything will be online and available: my sermon series on prayer; the Bible Study by Rick Warren; and all the testimonies. In other words, April 14th could be the second week for some and at the same time be the first week for those who start on the 14th. The same can be said for those who start on the 21st! The goal is to get you to go through the 40 Days of Prayer… not necessarily to go through it all together day by day. Does that make sense? We know some will not be able to start on April 7th or or April 14th for that matter. That is ok, we can make it work. Just hope in. We would rather you be a couple of weeks late in starting that to miss the boat altogether.

What a day, what a glorious day!

See you Sunday good Lord willing!

Pastor Tom

HOLY WEEK/PASSION WEEK

Starting this past Sunday, Holy week began with Palm Sunday, sometimes referred to as the Triumphal Entry. This past Sunday was a wonderful day of worship. Attendance was up, singing was joyful, the preschoolers and children did a fantastic job with the parade of the Palm Branches. Celebrate Recovery had a good night supporting one another.

Two of our events will be over by the time you read this. Wednesday night will be our Children and Family Resurrection Party. I know it will be a wonderful event. Our Day School Spring Sing will be Thursday morning. It is always an over load of cuteness! Great leaders put together great teams! Way to go.

Perhaps you will get this newsletter in time to be reminded of this year’s Good Friday service. We will have a Concert of Prayer from 7:00 to 8:00 pm. Pastor David and his talented team have planned a very beautiful service combining the Passion of Christ and the ACTS of prayer. I hope you will be able to join us. We are scheduled to have Communion at the Good Friday Concert of Prayer.

And then…HE IS RISEN…HE IS RISEN INDEED. We celebrate Resurrection Sunday. It looks like this year’s weather will favor our Flowering of the Cross. Each year we take a cross specifically built to be decorated with flowers and cover it with beautiful flowers…most of which come out of our yards. You are invited to bring your flowers to the worship center/sanctuary Sunday before the 9:00 service and before the 11:00 service. We will have volunteers there to help put the flowers on the cross. It is really beautiful once it is completed. The old rugged cross is transformed into a wondrous attraction to me!

Sunday will also be the pre-launch Sunday for our 40 Days of Prayer. The 40 DOP is an intentional, church-wide study on the power of God and the power of prayer designed to help us grow closer to God individually, deeper in our connections with each other and wider in our outreach to family and friends.

There are 3 basic parts to the 40 Days of Prayer. First, will be the Sunday gathering for worship. For the next 6 weeks, my teachings and our worship will all be centered around prayer. Second, you can join a small group/connection group to journey together. You will be led by Rick Warren on video. The third part of the 40 DOP will be your daily devotional using the 40 DOP Daily Devotional guide. I think you will really enjoy it!

Let’s start practicing: “He is risen! He is risen indeed!” See you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom

North American Missions: Annie Armstrong Easter Offering

There are approximately 371 Million people living t in the United States; there are over 350 languages spoken (I did not know there were that many languages anywhere!); there are 281 Million people in the U.S. that are without the Gospel. That is why we support the North American Mission Board. A few weeks ago we put the “Make Jesus Known” North American Missions Prayer Guide in the worship bulletin. This is a wonderfully helpful guide to help us pray specifically for a few of our missionaries. Here is a number that will thrill you…O.K., at least make you a little impressed. This year we help sponsor 6,300 full time missionaries. Out of that number 3,300 are chaplains and 3000 are of various type of church planters, Evangelists, etc. That is why I do not hesitate inviting you to consider a financial gift to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. You can give on line at our church website or bring an offering any Sunday. If you do not have one of the Week of Prayer guides, please pick one up. The missionaries would love to know and believe they are being lifted to God in prayer.

HOLY WEEK STARTS THIS SUNDAY
I know it seems so incredibly quick, but this Sunday is Palm Sunday. The Children will help start our service with a praise and palm branch processional at the 11:00 service. Friday, March 29 at 7 PM we will have a Concert of Prayer. This will be a lovely and meaningful service a little different from our usual Good Friday service. It will include some interactive time for all who attend. And then Sunday, March 31 is Resurrection Sunday. Easter Sunday is a day of hope, a day of assurance, a day of rejoicing!

This Easter message will be “Do You Really Want To Grow Up?” It will be the official launch of our 40 Days of Prayer Campaign. We are thrilled that we have 20 small groups: our 9 Connection Groups that meet every Sunday and 11 (so far, but more are coming) new groups that will be meeting.

Listen to this. One of our volunteer Hosts is targeting several neighbors inviting them to participate. Perfect! Another Host has enlisted 11 from his ball team to form a group! Wow. I cannot wait to hear the stories of all He is doing!

I love our church family. What a privilege to work with our staff, our leadership teams and our church family and friends. See you Sunday, good Lord willing!

Pastor Tom

40 DAYS OF PRAYER…JUST AROUND THE CORNER

For the next few weeks you should be hearing your staff praise, promote and ask for participation in 40 Days of Prayer. This will be 40 Days of INTENTIONAL, CHURCH WIDE-STUDY ON THE POWER OF PRAYER to grow us closer to God individually, deeper in our connections with one another, and wider in our outreach to our friends and community.

Why do we choose 40 days and not 60 Days? For some reason, the Holy Spirit of God led the saints and heroes of the Bible to choose 40 days. The idea of 40 Days appears 24 times in the Bible. Noah was on the ark for 40 Days; Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the 10 Commandments for 40 Days; Jesus was in the wilderness praying and fasting for 40 Days. Perhaps staying at something for 40 Days is a good way to start a new habit and to stop a bad one!

When Jesus’ disciples asked him to “teach us to pray” that was a golden ask! They had watched Him do mighty miracles and wonders…often first led by prayer. They saw many breakthroughs related to Jesus’ habit of prayer. “Teach us to pray” is a pretty good request. So, for the 40 Days following Easter, we will be echoing the request of the disciples: Jesus, teach us to pray. In 40 Days Nineveh had the chance to repent and was not destroyed. In 40 Days the spies of Israel were able to go into the Promised Land and see what God said would be their own land. What could God do with a people who spent 40 days asking Jesus to teach us to pray? Is there a breakthrough coming? Is there a trial or test like Jesus faced? Is this the next step of your spiritual journey of discipleship? I am so excited about the possibilities.

LET ME BREAK IT DOWN. There are 3 basic parts to this campaign. First, our worship service beginning the Sunday after Easter will all focus on prayer. I will have 6 sermons related to prayer in my teaching series. Second, there will be a teaching series, taught by Rick Warren, that you will work through with your small group. We will have over 10 brand new small groups meeting! We will provide, free of charge, one of the nicest, most helpful books on prayer that you have ever seen or used. You will get your prayer devotional book from your group HOST. Third, that prayer book will also have a daily devotional for you. It will consist of one verse a day for 40 days. It will ask you questions that will help you meditate and think about what these verses mean to you. We will provide you, free of charge, with a key ring with 6 verses and a few other free resources for you.

Imagine, the entire church family, all on the same page for 40 days. I think it will be fabulous. I hope you will consider joining a group if you are not in one already. Or perhaps you would be willing to open your home serving as a HOST.

See you this Sunday, good Lord willing!

Pastor Tom

HOW EXCITED AM I?

With the full and total support of our leadership team, we are in full on preparation mode for the upcoming Church-Wide 40 Days of Prayer. Starting March 31, Easter/Resurrection Sunday, we will be launching a 40 Day Prayer Campaign. Here is the mission statement for the 40 Days of Prayer Campaign: “40 Days of intentional church-wide study on the power of prayer to grow closer to God individually, deeper in our connections and wider in our outreach.

How will we do this? First we are praying for church wide alignment—as many people as possible participating. I will be preaching a series 7 sermons on some of the most often asked questions about prayer. Pastor David Martin will be building our worship services around each of the sermon topics.

Second, we will all be invited to be in a Connection Group for these 40 Days. We will be led in our lessons by Rick Warren. Each person in a small group will receive free of charge, a daily devotional book that you will use daily on your own and weekly as you meet with your group. Pastor Kyle will be coordinating that for us. We are praying for and working toward starting as many new Connection Groups as we currently have. That is a BHAG...a Big Hairy Audacious Goal!

Third, we will be asking each ministry team to put aside their regularly scheduled activities to make sure everyone can participate for 6 weeks in a Connection Group. So, individually, you will have a daily devotional guide focused on prayer. In your group, you will have a video presentation. The outlines for these presentations are found in your 40 Days of Prayer daily devotional book. As a congregation, we will be hearing 7 sermons all related to prayer.

There is more, but this will serve as a good introduction.

I am very excited about seeing our church family and friends align our effort and purpose that will help us be equipped and better prepared for prayer! We are going all in to make this a spiritual breakthrough event. Please join us in prayer for a moving of the Holy Spirit across our church family.


See you soon, good Lord willing


Pastor Tom