Hallelujah 2022!

I am thankful for a lot of blessings that came to JIBC in 2021. We were blessed and chose to be a blessing. I love that about our church family. There are also a lot of struggles and pains that I am all too happy to turn the page on. Let’s count them as learning opportunities and move on in Kingdom work.

Being outwardly focused has brought many blessings to our church family. During the Advent season, we focused on the birth of Christ and many of the theological implications: Christ in Creation, Christ in the Cradle, Christ on the Cross and Christ wearing a Crown at His return. We also focused on blessing the underserved.

To support world-wide missions, you gave $14,325 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. You also gave an additional $3,316 at the Christmas Eve Worship Services, all of which will go to missions. During the Advent Season, you gave $17,641 to Missions. Back during August, you gave an additional $22,000 to missions during what we called Kingdom Giving Sunday. That is $39,641.00 given above the $30,000 we budget to missions. Thank you for loving those you have never met but one day, in heaven, we will!

Another part of Advent involved giving to support the James Island Outreach. Years ago we made the commitment that no one on James Island goes to bed hungry unless we don’t know about it. We were designated as the “jelly church”, so jelly it is. You understood the assignment and responded with enthusiasm. You gave 270 jars of jelly! You gave so much jelly that the Director of JIO asked that we not bring any more for a while. By the way, keep bringing jelly. We will house it here at JIBC and give it to them when they run out!

In addition to the jelly, you gave 57 bags of groceries for the BackPack Buddies Ministry. This is a ministry to help underserved children. They may get a hot meal at school but possibly not a hot meal on the weekend. You gave enough healthy snacks to pack, in my estimation, backpacks for almost 200 children. All together you gave 968 pounds of groceries…just short of ½ a ton of love!

And, we have not even mentioned the diapers, diaper wipes and new clothing for the clients at Low Country Pregnancy! I lost count when I hit 4000 diapers and 5,000 baby wipes!

Now that is the way to celebrate Christmas! Great music, solid theology, helping the underserved, and on and on we go to the GLORY OF GOD OUR FATHER AND LORD JESUS CHRIST!

Hey, did you save your Christmas cards? Mark Livengood is collecting them in case the door opens for him to go to Ukraine. He uses them in his mission work there!

See you Sunday remembering…Better Together!

Pastor Tom

BETTER TOGETHER

That really is the truth, when it comes to being followers of Christ, we really are better together. We have said so many times that there are over 40 “One Another’s” in the Bible. Love one another, pray for one another, admonish one another, etc, etc. You know what you cannot do alone? You can’t do the “one another’s”. We need each other and we are definitely better together.

Better Together will be our theme for the 2022. Let’s think about some of the ways we can be “Better Together”.

When it comes to Membership and Fellowship in the Family of God, we are surely better together. I like the old definition of fellowship…two fellows in a ship rowing in the same direction! I can row by myself, but it is easier to row with someone. Like it or not, you are my Forever Family. I chose to like it…even love it. You are a part of the Family of God with every other believer. Better Together.

Take a look at how Better Together is true in Maturity and Discipleship. For sure, we need each other. I can learn a lot of facts by myself. I can read and put more info into my brain. What I cannot do on my own is grow. It takes others to grow. We need some who will share their journey and we must have some that will allow us to share ours. Jesus had a small group of 12 that he met with on a regular basis. They did life together and the 12 were better for it. If you are not in a Connection Group, my guess is you are not growing. You can certainly be learning…but not growing.

Ministry and Serving are 100% better when we do it together. We all have people groups or causes that we are passionate about. Maybe you love working with children. You will, by necessity have to have someone helping you. Why, because we are better together. If you are serving..literally serving a meal, you will be better if someone is helping. It is more fun and more productive. By the way, whatever we are doing in the area of ministry and service, let’s make sure we are “training our replacement”.

Mission and outreach are dependent on the one another’s. We need to be praying for one another as well as helping one another. International Missionaries sometimes say “if you will hold the ropes, I will go”. They understood the assignment of doing this together.

Last, we Magnify His Name and Worship together. I know, I can and I do worship alone every day I have my Time Alone With God. I enjoy the solitude and lack of distraction. But I also love the thrill that I feel when I get together with God’s wonderful people. I love to praise him when I am by myself, but I love it more when I join you and we join them and together, we praise the LORD.

I am looking forward to a year of emphasizing “Better Together”. See you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom

END OF THE YEAR, REALLY?

It is hard to believe the end of the year is just around the corner. Time flies when you’re dealing with Covid! Lol. The staff wishes you all a very Merry Christmas and a Spirit filled New Year. There are so many ways I am happy to turn the page on this year. But there are also so many ways I want to rejoice and thank our Father in Heaven. Even as I write this article, I am aware that we have a worship center stage full of kindness. I am guessing we have a thousand diapers, over 200 jars of jelly and backpack snacks enough to fill 50 back packs for under-served kids. Thank you for your generous giving. You might remember that the 2020 Christmas Eve Offering helped provide a farm for a family in an impoverished area around the world. We were able, through the Southern Baptist SEND RELIEF mission provide fish for a pond, goats and cows, literacy classes and more. How fun it is to support missions around the world and here at home.

You may also remember that in August, we designated one week’s offering as Kingdom Sunday Offering. Every tithe and offering given that day and week, went to help others. We sent $5,000 to help with the Afgan refugees; $5,000 for Haiti earthquake victims and $5,000 for the Hurricane relief efforts in Louisiana through our friend at Carpenter’s House International, Charles Dillon. That does not include the mission work we are carrying on every week here in the Charleston area. Again, thank you for your generous giving.

As we speak, we have a team of volunteers working to completely renovate the Children’s Worship Area. It will look amazing. We will have an open House once they are up and running. Our Student Ministry Director, Logan Duvall had his highest attendance in student ministry last Sunday Night. In a time where we can be so distracted by bad news, we want to make sure we praise God for his blessings. I think he said he had 30 Students for their Big Event! Way to go Logan and Student Ministry Team. Well done.

My thanks to Scott for filling in for me this past Sunday. I woke up with a case of vertigo and was not able to make it. He only had an hour notice. Scott, thanks brother, you are amazing. It is Monday afternoon when I am writing this article. So far, so good…no spinning! Looking forward to seeing you Sunday, good Lord willing!

Pastor Tom

PS Mark Livengood is collecting Christmas Cards this year for His ministry in Ukraine. Save your cards and bring them to the church office. They will be double blessed!

Celebrate Jesus

A Unique Feature in the Christmas Eve Services

I know we all hate to be teased. I am going to do it anyway. You know our Christmas Eve Worship Services have always been wonderful. We focus on Carols, Candles and Communion. We generally pack the Worship Center as we sing beautiful songs, enjoy a festive mood and worship our Lord. Ok, same this year with a wonderful, surprising little bonus feature. Remember, we have two services: one at 4 pm and the second one at 6 pm. By the way, don’t forget that a Christmas Eve service is the easiest service of the year to invite family and friends to join you. Use the invite cards. You will be glad you invited them. Oh yeah…come a little early to get a seat and to hear the “pre-worship” songs!

I Love The Way We Celebrate Advent

I have heard people ask with a note of cynicism “Why can’t we be this generous all year long?”  My typical response…you need to come and hang around James Island Baptist. From January through October, you gave an additional $3,325 to James Island Outreach; you gave 5,627 pounds of groceries; and we have a group of members who volunteer at JIO. This is how we live! It is not just at Christmas. At Christmas we turn on the afterburners and reach super-sonic giving levels. I love that I do not even know all the ways our church family and connection groups are serving our community. You can still bring jelly, diapers, baby wipes, healthy snacks, and make an offering to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. We will continue to do that through the end of the year…and then we will start all over! I love the way we Celebrate Jesus!

Will They Ever Come Back?

A recent article in the Baptist Courier said that 98% of all churches are back to having in person meetings. The article also suggested that most churches are not near their pre-pandemic attendance levels. Worship attendance is improving but not back to full attendance. The average church has about 73% of their members back in attendance. About 35% say their attendance levels are between 50% to 70% of pre-pandemic numbers. Only 13% had 90% to 100 % of their previous attendance levels. Here is a Word that might be helpful: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…” Hebrews 10:25. Our prayers and love to all who are still “hunkered down” trying to avoid getting Covid-19. I hope you can stay connected through the JIBC livestream. We are in the process of purchasing some equipment that will make our livestream efforts even better. We are better together. I pray for those who are away that they will not be away from the Lord, from the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible Study, or away from continuing to be outward focused.

See you Sunday, Good Lord willing and the Elves don’t rise!

Pastor Tom

What do you want for Christmas?

It is a fun question and can result in some very heartfelt answers. What do you want for Christmas? Let’s start with one thing that is always on the list…world peace. Right? How in the world the human race has survived for so long is a testimony to the grace of God. Sin, greed and self-centeredness seem to always be behind the callous call for attack and war, whether it is personal, political, racial, national or international. “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” By God’s grace we can have peace with God, know the peace of God in our lives and be agents of peace in our community and world.

Another thing I always want for Christmas is for family to be together. When my grown kids ask me what I want for Christmas the answer is always the same: I want all my kids sitting at my table talking with no cell phones. It is my favorite gift. If they get me socks of handkerchiefs, that is ok, too.

Wouldn’t it be a great Christmas if we could find a way to give gifts to those who really are under served? That is one of the reasons I love the way JIBC celebrates the Advent season. We keep the emphasis on Jesus, worship and giving. During the entire month of December we will be collecting jelly for James Island Outreach (jioutreach.org) diapers and wipes for The Low Country Pregnancy Center (LPCfriends.com); snacks for the Backpack Buddies ministry helping underserved students; and a love offering for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering that helps support almost 4,000 missionaries around the world (IMB.org).

Yep, that is a big part of what I want for Christmas: a church family that continually focuses outward. I love you all and hope you get what you want for Christmas. BTW, don’t forget to invite someone to one of the Christmas Eve Services. This year’s service will have something very new!

Pastor Tom

Celebrate Jesus

I love the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. It was on a Thanksgiving weekend that Janie and I were married 46 years ago, November 29, 1975. I was still in college and I had to ask off of my job as a grader for Dr. Carpenter. He thought a weekend honeymoon was long enough and suggested I not be gone for the week. And so ended my career as a Garrett Fellow grading for Dr. Carpenter! LOL. I think the trade off was so worth it. Can you guess where we went for our honeymoon? Yep, Disney World. We might not have been back every year for our anniversary, but we have been back for most of them. We feel kind of obligated to make sure Mickey has enough money to stay open for the next generations.

The day we came back from our honeymoon was the very day I was supposed to start my first staff position as Student Pastor at Edgewood Baptist Church in Walterboro. That was a great group of people who took Janie and me under their wings and helped us to succeed in mission and ministry. I finished my last two years at Baptist College, now Charleston Southern University, and then moved on to seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

So, when I think of this time of the year, I have wonderful fond memories of how our little family got started. I have a lot to be thankful for and even more that causes me to praise God. I know not everyone is in a festive mood during the holidays. My prayer is that you will be comforted and strengthened; that you will find moments of rest and peace that allow you to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus. The birth of Christ was far less than a picture perfect fairy tale. He was born in a barn, sought by King Herod to be assassinated, had to flee as a refugee to a nearby country, etc. Yet, he carried on in obedience to His Father and for the love of broken people.

Our advent theme this year is “Celebrate Jesus”. Pure, simple, to the point…celebrate Jesus in worship, in daily living, in gifts to the poor and under-served…Celebrate Jesus. He has been tempted in all things as we have yet he was without sin and, by God’s grace, pushed on through the horrible start to find meaning and purpose. I pray we can all do the same. Knowing this is a hard time for some, I still say to you from the bottom of my heart…Merry Christmas. May His presence be so real to you it overshadows and overpowers the hurt and heartaches of life.

Celebrate Jesus,

Pastor Tom

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