Right now we are in a season of blessing. We believe we have been blessed to be a blessing. It is my dream and goal for JIBC to celebrate our 75th Anniversary by finding 75 ways to bless the community in the next 75 days (September 1-November 14). I have already heard of some fantastic plans! To help you accomplish this mission, our Finance Team wants to give every adult member and friend of JIBC $75 to use toward blessing others. We have set aside up to $15,000 toward this mission. I know, crazy right? When some churches are trying to raise money, we are in the blessed position to find ways to give it away! Pray about how you might use $75 to bless the community. No strings attached. Help a single mom, bless a Veteran, pay a bill for a struggling family; buy some children’s books for underserved families; involve your team, club or class; on and on and on the ways to bless can go! If you would not mind, I would love to have just a small note on how you felt led to bless the community. It can be anonymous if you like; no problem. I think this would be a great way to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of a Church Family. May our Father lead and bless as we join Him in His work to reach, redeem and restore a lost and broken community!
By the way…starting this past Sunday and continuing the next two Sundays, we will have name tags for everyone to wear. This is an often requested idea. This will so help to put names and faces together. Our Welcome Team will be at the doors to assist. Of course it is voluntary…no one has to wear a name tag. But you will not be eligible for the drawing to an exotic island where they speak a foreign language without wearing one! Lol.
Last idea for the day: would you join me in the goal to have 75 Jars of Jelly and 75 packs of diapers for each month, September, October and November? Let’s bless James Island Outreach with 225 Jars of Jelly and The Low Country Pregnancy Center with 225 packs of diapers.
See you Sunday, good Lord willing!
Pastor Tom
On Sunday, September 25 we are celebrating our church anniversary. It has been 75 years that our Lord has allowed us to be on this little triangle piece of property to be salt and light to the world around us. A while back, I felt led to suggest a new way to celebrate our anniversary.
FIRST: Let’s have a big old church fellowship party! We love to eat and we love to be together, so why not combine the two. On Sunday, September 25 we will have our 10:00 Bible Study/Connection Groups as usual. We will have a combined worship service at 11:00. There will be NO 9:00 service that day. We will gather at the James Island County Park at 12:30 for a delicious meal provided by Home Team BBQ! There will be kid’s games, inflatables and a photo booth for memories! After we eat, we will enjoy music provided by Wildflower Station. A special guest singer is scheduled to appear. Please RSVP so we will know how much BBQ to have prepared.
SECOND: We are asking our church family to find 75 ways to bless the community in 75 days. Starting September 1 and going through November 14, let’s find 75 ways, in honor of our 75 years, to bless our community. You can do this as an individual, as a family, as a Connection Group, as a Ministry Team, etc. No limits to the way you can bless. Our Finance Team had a wonderful idea: let’s give everyone $75 to use toward blessing the community. This could be $75 for your family, or for each adult in your family. This could be $75 per person attending or you could combine it with your Connection Group. Pray about it, think creative thoughts and go forth and bless! The envelopes will be given out Sunday September 18 and Sunday, September 25. We plan to give our up to $15,000 which will be 200 Blessing Envelopes. Our Finance Team will be handing them out for us. There will be a little card in the envelope. If you would, we ask that you write a brief note of how you blessed the community.
We are BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING…right? So let the blessing begin. We will be collecting jelly and diapers for our ministry partners at James Island Outreach and Lowcountry Pregnancy. How about 75 jars of jelly in September and 75 more n October…and 75 more in November! The same with diapers…75 in September, October and November!
This Sunday I will begin a new teaching series I am calling “Blessed To Be A Blessing”. Can’t wait to get started!
Pastor Tom
I had the idea of how our church family and friends could celebrate James Island Baptist Church’s 75th Anniversary. There are really 3 parts to this celebration plan.
First, under the purpose of Fellowship: Let’s have a big ol’ party! On Sunday, September 25th, we are having a Church Wide Fellowship at the James Island County Park. We will gather at 12:30 in the air conditioned Edisto Hall. Some will choose to meet outside on the picnic tables under the oaks. The meal is being catered by Home Team BBQ; after dinner music and entertainment provided by our favorite local band, Wildflower Station; there will be inflatables for the kids and for 2 hours a photo booth for fun! On Sunday, September 25, we will have our regularly scheduled Sunday Connection Groups and the 11:00 Worship service. WE WILL NOT HAVE A 9:00 SERVICE ON THAT DAY! We will be providing 75th anniversary name tags for everyone on Sunday the 11th, 18th,and 25th. Names and faces! Amen.
Second, Mission and Ministry: The Theme for September is “Blessed To Be A Blessing”. We are asking for everyone to join us in finding 75 ways to bless our community in 75 days, from September 1 to November 14. The Finance Team had a generous and faith based idea: Let’s give $75 to every family (or individual) to be used to bless the community. No strings attached, you just find a way to bless someone in Jesus name. There will be those who bless veterans, homeless, widows, orphans, under served, single moms, etc. You could do this as an individual, as a family, as a Connection Group or with your business partners. Just bless in Jesus’ name. On Sunday, September 18 and 25 we will distribute up to 200 Blessing Envelopes with $75 in each one. We ask that you would consider sharing a brief description of how you felt led or inclined to use the $75. For rejoicing purposes only!
The third part of the 75th Anniversary will take place on Thanksgiving Sunday, November 20. We will celebrate with praise and thanksgiving. What a day of rejoicing that will be.
We are indeed blessed to be a blessing. The Blessing Train is just about ready to leave the station.
See you Sunday, as we finish the teaching series on Jonah: A Story of Grace.
Pastor Tom
That is a line from one of the songs we sing on Sunday. I like it a lot! It reminds me of what I sometimes take for granted. Look around, see the blessings and draw a straight line back to our Father, from whom all our blessings flow. He is the giver of every good and perfect gift. I see the evidence of His goodness, all over my life…and all over the life of the James Island Baptist Church family!
Last week we had our Ministry Management Team/Quarterly Ministry Conference. I love two of the comments that were shared. The first comment: “I believe from the top to bottom, this is the best group of leaders we have ever had”. If you had have heard the reports from the Team Leaders, I think you might agree. The second comment: “This may have been the most positive meeting I have been in at JIBC”. That was not to say that other meetings were not positive. Rather, this one just cascaded with one blessing after another. The continual outward focus of our Ministry Teams is so refreshing. Thank you all for sharing what you see God doing in your area of ministry.
This week we have two more blessings. First, at the 11:00 Worship service, we will have two baptisms. What a joy to baptize a brother and a sister! Later Sunday afternoon, we will have Class 101: Discovering Membership at JIBC. This is always a great class. I see the evidence of His goodness, all over the life of our church.
The Charleston Center has started allowing their patients to join us at Celebrate Recovery. They were in isolation so long because of Covid. They started back a few weeks ago and we are thrilled to have them back. The Charleston Center is Charleston County’s Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program. We have been partners with them for over 10 years through Celebrate Recovery and the Transition House. This past Sunday night was a beautiful Celebrate Recovery Worship Experience. Thank you for being willing to tackle the spiritual giants in our community and state. This week we will have one of our members picking up their 3 year medallion! Three years sober! I see the evidence of His goodness, all over our church.
Blessings to all those back in school, to all our teachers and administrators. May you too, see the evidence of His goodness, all over your school!
See you Sunday, good Lord willing,
Pastor Tom
It is a part of our life cycle that we all go through seasons. Just as surely as God give us winter, spring, summer and fall, we go through seasons of life. It seems to me that we experience times of growing and abundance and times of sowing in expectations: we have seasons of sunshine when everything is just right…and rainy seasons that seem dark and gloomy. Thank you Father that these are seasons…that we are not permanently stuck in any one season.
This past Monday I read Genesis 26 as a part of my quiet time. The chapter starts off with a famine. It is followed quickly with assurance that God is with him and is still in the process of blessing. The whole chapter is a series of “seasons”. A season of challenge followed by a season of blessing; a season of opposition and a season of cooperation; a season of mistakes and a season of obedience.
It just reminded me that whatever you are experiencing, whether good or bad, it is a season you are going through. Remember the Father’s promise to always be with you and to never leave or forsake you…even in the slow, difficult seasons. Especially in the slow and difficult seasons.
JIBC is in a great season in many ways. We have visitors in the worship service almost every Sunday; generous giving has allowed and enabled generous giving to mission and outreach; more people are involved in outreach than ever. Pastor David wrote an article giving praise for the growing season of technology. I met a man Sunday who grew up at JIBC but has been away for almost 40 years. He said he watches us online every week!
I hope you are in a good and pleasant season right now. If you are not, I pray Jesus will bless you and keep you. May the unpleasant season be short and followed by a season of abundance.
My family has had a wonderful season of life with my grandson Noah. I was in the birthing room as Brook’s birthing coach when Noah was born. I literally cut the cord as we welcomed him to our family. It has been a beautiful season…17 years worth. This past Sunday Brook, Janie and I went with Noah to get him all squared away in his dorm. As we drove away, I felt like I was cutting the cord again! This is a season of abundance!
To God be the glory and may we trust Him during every season of life.
Pastor Tom
This past Friday, while our church teams were cooking hamburgers and hotdogs, giving out backpacks filled with school supplies to the students at the EME Apartments on Central Park Road, I was conducting a funeral. You may have read or heard about this on the news. A young man, 23 years old, died in a tragic accidental shooting. According to the report it was his friend who fired the fatal shot. It was accidental but still tragic and beyond sad. I asked myself what can I do in such circumstances? This may not be much but here is my effort to honor and remember those who have lost their lives. Given the prevalence of guns in our society, I thought this would be timely and hopefully, helpful. Kind of like a pastoral public service announcement.
There are Four Basic Gun Safety Rules. Four basic, easy to memorize, easy to implement, easy to learn and teach rules. All four are important and all four could potentially save lives. You cannot get a concealed weapons permit without knowing these four gun safety rules. In my way of thinking, no one should have access to owning or even holding a gun without knowing these four safety rules. My wife, Janie, does not own a gun nor does she want to own or shoot a gun. I still make sure she knows these rules because we have a gun in our house. It is a very common saying that there are no “accidental” gun discharges, only negligent. My goal here is not to point a finger at anyone. My hope is to raise our level of awareness, the need for training and accountability that would lower or even remove the risk of accidental shootings.
Here are the four basic safety rules. #1. Always treat a gun as if it is loaded. Always. You assume it is loaded and never takes someone’s word that it is or is not loaded. I have a friend who talks our loud saying “I am handing you an empty gun, I have checked it but you should check it too. #2. Never point the muzzle of a gun at something you are not willing to kill or destroy. Never in play or in jest. Never. The safe direction for the muzzle may be up, down or downrange. But never at something you are not willing to destroy. #3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. That means keeping your finger away from the trigger while loading, unloading or even handling. #4. Always be sure of your target and what is behind or beyond your target. Some bullets can travel for 3 miles; shotgun pellets can travel the length of 2 football fields.
It would not be asking too much to commit to repeating these 4 gun safety rules every time we touch our guns. If you own a gun, make sure you know these 4 safety rules and teach them to anyone else in your home.
The young man will be remembered and he will be missed. I thought I could honor him and his memory by knowing, practicing and sharing these 4 gun safety rules.
Blessings,
Pastor Tom
On Wednesday, August 17 we will have a combined Ministry Management Team Meeting and our Quarterly Ministry Conference. Two birds with one stone, so to speak. We will also be providing a meal at 6:30 and care for preschool and children. Because Chef Barry is making a delicious meal, we will need to have a head count. You can sign up the next two Sundays on the Communication Sheet in the worship bulletin or call Neale at 843-762-0244. For those who are new to our church family, the Ministry management Team consists of our staff, elders and the team leaders of the various teams in the church. For this meeting, we are also inviting Connection Group Leaders and all our deacons.
We will have an opportunity for any of our Ministry Teams to share a praise and prayer report of their ministry area. Each one could take up to 5 minutes. Our primary item of ministry is our 75th Church Anniversary. We are really planning for this to be a big celebration. SAVE THE DATE: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 and ask your team to save the date too. We will have one combined worship service at 11:00 and then gather at James Island county Park at the Edisto Hall for a meal catered by Home Team BBQ. There will be inflatables and other games for the kids, music provided by Wildflower Station, great food and fellowship.
I think my favorite part of this 75th JIBC Anniversary is the goal to find 75 ways to bless our community in 75 days. JIBC has long used the motto “We are blessed to be a blessing.” I think finding 75 ways to share the blessing would honor our Father, keep faith with those who founded JIBC and served so faithfully for years and be in keeping with our values. I am asking all of our Team Leaders and Staff to ask our Father to reveal multiple ways your teams could bless the community.
Anyone is, of course, welcome to attend this combined Quarterly Ministry conference/Ministry Management Team gathering. Just make sure you sign up for the meal. There should be some celebration going on in His house!
See you Sunday, good Lord willing!
Pastor Tom
