This past Sunday I started a new teaching series entitled “WORSHIP: YOU WERE CREATED TO PRAISE”. My goal is visit some of the premier passages in God’s Word about Worship. Worship is one of the five purposes of JIBC. Using the familiar baseball diamond you might remember: Membership/Fellowship is FIRST BASE; Discipleship/Maturity is SECOND BASE; Service/Ministry is THIRD BASE; Outreach/Mission is HOME PLATE; Worship/Magnify is at the pitcher’s mound right in the center of it all.
So, for the next several weeks we will be looking at what God’s Word has to say to us about Worship. Sunday we read the magnificent Psalm 100. There are so many things to learn and practice. High on the list was the place of joy and gladness in our worship. Worship is celebration. We have been forgiven, set free, filled with the Holy Spirit, given the Bible as God’s printed Word, our guilt has been removed, and we have been placed in the family of God. There is great cause for joy and gladness. No one can do your worship for you. Worship is designed to be a participation event, not a spectator event.
Join us when you can, as often as you can to worship Him together. Feeling great…then worship Him with praise and thanksgiving. Feeling bad…then worship Him with praise and thanksgiving. He is worthy of our worship and we are in need of worshipping Him.
CODEPENDENCY CLASS COMING SOON. Starting Sunday night, July 10, I plan to begin a short 4 week course on Codependency. If you are interested, you can join us on Sunday nights. The full schedule will be: 5:30 Fellowship Meal; 6:30 Celebrate Recovery Worship Celebration; 7:00 Codependency Class. The Class Room will be announced later.
THANK YOU VBS VOLUNTEERS. What a great VBS! Thank you to all the volunteers that made this a great week. May your tribe increase.
See you Sunday, good Lord willing,
Pastor Tom
Thursday, June 30, 2022
Thursday, June 23, 2022
READY OR NOT, HERE COMES VBS!
By the time you read this article, Vacation Bible School (VBS) will almost be a memory. I love VBS and I want to say thank you to all the parents for bringing their children to VBS. They could not be here without the effort of the parents. Thank you. Secondly, I want to thank all the volunteers. Many of you put in a full day at work or a double full time at home and THEN you come to pour into the hearts and lives of these beautiful children. And thank you for to the staff for the leadership and direction you give to make this happen. Well done, everyone, well done!
Some might be tempted to ask “Is it worth it? Is VBS worth all the effort, time and resources? YES, YES AND ANOTHER HARD YES! Think about the following for a moment: there were over 2.5 Million Children in VBS last year; there were 70,135 professions of faith (I say let’s reach them before we have to rescue them); churches discovered 155,344 prospects (people who do not attend church anywhere); kids get 15 hours of intense discipleship and Bible Study; and they get great snacks…don’t forget the snacks!
And watch this…there was over $6,500,000 given to mission causes through VBS! Is it worth it? Again, that would be a hard yes! For many churches, Vacation Bible School is the single largest evangelistic effort of the year. Let’s pray that as the Gospel is shared that lives would be transformed. Vacation Bible School is just one of the ways we carry out the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19-20 “Go into all the world and make disciples baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Let’s love some kids, teach God’s Word, make some disciples and have fun doing it all!
COMING SOON TO A CELEBRATE RECOVERY NEAR YOU Starting July 10, I will be teaching a four week course on codependency. It is open to anyone, no book required, just a heart willing to learn. You can just attend the class from 7 to 8. Or, you can come for the fellowship meal between 5:30-6:15, join us for Celebrate Recovery Worship from 6:30 to 7 and then come to the class at 7. Hope you will join us.
By the way, I would encourage everyone to come to Celebrate Recovery a time or two. Not just because you might have hurts, hang-ups and habits to work on, but because you know so many people who do. Nothing “sells” a product better than word of mouth. If you tell someone you attended and can explain to them what goes on, it greatly increases the odds that they would agree to attend. Just a thought!
Blessings,
Pastor Tom
Some might be tempted to ask “Is it worth it? Is VBS worth all the effort, time and resources? YES, YES AND ANOTHER HARD YES! Think about the following for a moment: there were over 2.5 Million Children in VBS last year; there were 70,135 professions of faith (I say let’s reach them before we have to rescue them); churches discovered 155,344 prospects (people who do not attend church anywhere); kids get 15 hours of intense discipleship and Bible Study; and they get great snacks…don’t forget the snacks!
And watch this…there was over $6,500,000 given to mission causes through VBS! Is it worth it? Again, that would be a hard yes! For many churches, Vacation Bible School is the single largest evangelistic effort of the year. Let’s pray that as the Gospel is shared that lives would be transformed. Vacation Bible School is just one of the ways we carry out the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19-20 “Go into all the world and make disciples baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Let’s love some kids, teach God’s Word, make some disciples and have fun doing it all!
COMING SOON TO A CELEBRATE RECOVERY NEAR YOU Starting July 10, I will be teaching a four week course on codependency. It is open to anyone, no book required, just a heart willing to learn. You can just attend the class from 7 to 8. Or, you can come for the fellowship meal between 5:30-6:15, join us for Celebrate Recovery Worship from 6:30 to 7 and then come to the class at 7. Hope you will join us.
By the way, I would encourage everyone to come to Celebrate Recovery a time or two. Not just because you might have hurts, hang-ups and habits to work on, but because you know so many people who do. Nothing “sells” a product better than word of mouth. If you tell someone you attended and can explain to them what goes on, it greatly increases the odds that they would agree to attend. Just a thought!
Blessings,
Pastor Tom
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Thankful for God’s Provisions
We have been blessed in so many ways. Today, I give thanks for just one of those ways. Janie and I were scheduled to be a part of two weddings, two weekends in a row. The first one was a family member in the upstate. It did require that we be gone on a Sunday. No problem, the Lord provided JIBC with very competent staff. So, we planned to go. The second wedding is this coming weekend. It is out of state in Illinois. Many of you will remember the Koch family. At one time or another, all of them served on the JIBC staff. It is hard to believe, but little Caroline grew up and is getting married this weekend. We are honored that they would ask Janie and me to perform their wedding ceremony. That, however, means we will be gone a second Sunday. The Koch family is living in Petersburg, Illinois. It will be good to see some of the old JIBC family again.
So, let’s talk about God’s provision. I am able to leave and know that JIBC is in good hands. Scott is more than competent to lead and keep things rolling. Our Youth Director, Logan Duvall, is a very good speaker. I always receive great feedback on his speaking. He will be speaking again this Sunday. Neale, like me, has been around forever and will be able to handle any situation that comes up.
Now, back to the weddings we had on the calendar. The first wedding we were scheduled to attend was cancelled. I know, right? Heartbreak for all involved. Since we already had the time set aside, Janie and I went to visit my brother-in-law in Surfside and my brother in Newport, NC. They both looked great and both were experiencing the blessings of God. My brother looks as good as I have seen him since his kidney transplant.
On the way home, Janie and I listened to the Livestream of this past Sunday’s worship service. Wow! If you had seen the old Livestream we started with, you will be amazed at the improvement that has been made. To Pastor David, Allan Knapp, David Jr and your whole team, job well done. If you find yourself away on a Sunday, I really encourage you to find the livestream of the JIBC Worship. Of course, it is not as good as being present…but it is a wonderfully clear, has pleasing sound and a crystal clear picture.
“Now, something entirely different”. Starting July 10, I will be teaching a four week course on codependency. It is open to anyone, no book required, just a heart willing to learn. You can just attend the class from 7 to 8 pm. Or, you can come for the fellowship meal between 5:30-6:15 pm, join us for Celebrate Recovery Worship from 6:30 to 7 pmand then come to the class at 7 pm. Hope you will join us.
Blessings,
Pastor Tom
Thursday, June 9, 2022
A Little Codependency in Most of Us
Codependency is a word that gets thrown around a lot. To complicate matters, defining codependency can be difficult because it is such a big and broad concept. Let’s take a shot at a few workable definitions. Codependency is often called “relationship addiction”. It is an emotional and behavioral way of thinking and acting that makes it hard to have a healthy mutually satisfying relationship. People who are codependent usually are in relationships that are one-sided, emotionally destructive and dysfunctional.
(What is Codependency, by Heather Jones)
Codependency may have started in connection with families of alcoholics. It quickly became clear that we can have codependent relationships in marriages, with our children, with our parents, with our co-workers, etc. In codependent relationships, one person is usually taking advantage of the other person in some way, maybe emotionally or financially. The one being taken advantage of may be described as enabling. Enabling behavior is seldom seen in healthy relationships.
I liked the way; one person described codependency: “…a circular relationship in which one person needs the other person, who in turn, needs to be needed.”
I can at times be a little codependent…sometimes more than a little. It often does not feel like I am being codependent…it feels similar to just helping someone who is in need and is stuck. My actions can seem like love and all I am trying to do is to get them unstuck…whether they want to get unstuck or not! Oops…there it is.
Well, in July, as a part of Celebrate Recovery, I will be leading a seminar on Codependency. Anyone can sign up and join in. It will be more like an introduction. You can join us for the 5:30 Fellowship Meal. We will meet at 6:30 in the Worship Center for our Worship Celebration. Then we will break up into groups and those coming for the Codependency Group will join me. It should be informative, maybe interesting, and a bit entertaining as we look at ourselves and those we love.
Pastor Tom
(What is Codependency, by Heather Jones)
Codependency may have started in connection with families of alcoholics. It quickly became clear that we can have codependent relationships in marriages, with our children, with our parents, with our co-workers, etc. In codependent relationships, one person is usually taking advantage of the other person in some way, maybe emotionally or financially. The one being taken advantage of may be described as enabling. Enabling behavior is seldom seen in healthy relationships.
I liked the way; one person described codependency: “…a circular relationship in which one person needs the other person, who in turn, needs to be needed.”
I can at times be a little codependent…sometimes more than a little. It often does not feel like I am being codependent…it feels similar to just helping someone who is in need and is stuck. My actions can seem like love and all I am trying to do is to get them unstuck…whether they want to get unstuck or not! Oops…there it is.
Well, in July, as a part of Celebrate Recovery, I will be leading a seminar on Codependency. Anyone can sign up and join in. It will be more like an introduction. You can join us for the 5:30 Fellowship Meal. We will meet at 6:30 in the Worship Center for our Worship Celebration. Then we will break up into groups and those coming for the Codependency Group will join me. It should be informative, maybe interesting, and a bit entertaining as we look at ourselves and those we love.
Pastor Tom
Friday, June 3, 2022
WHAT IF HELP WAS AVAILABLE?
It is bad enough to struggle and hurt when there seems to be absolutely no help available. But what if there was a way to get help? Today I am writing about a source of pain that many of us deal with…codependency. One of the downsides to codependency is that we don’t want anyone to know we are codependent or we ourselves don’t know we are codependent. Sometimes everyone around us knows we are codependent except us!
Let’s start with the basics: what is codependency? You can find a dozen definitions that try to define or describe codependency. Here is my attempt to define and describe it. Codependency refers to the mental, emotional, physical and/or spiritual reliance on a partner, friend or family member. True, we all rely on others and that can be a good thing. That is not what we are talking about here.
Codependency is usually a learned behavior that is passed down from generation to generation. Some people call it “relationship addiction”. The term codependency is often used to describe a relationship where a person is needy or dependent on another person. The codependent can fall into a pattern of planning their entire life around pleasing the other person or being an enabler. Codependency makes it difficult to have a healthy, satisfying relationship where both people are equally and mutually committed to one another. Often your mood, happiness and even your identity are defined by the other person and your codependent relationship.
So why write about this? First, I want to plant the seed that help is available. That alone can be difficult because it is hard to help someone who does not know or realize they need help. Second, I want to help us see the additional value of Celebrate Recovery. Too often we hear the response that Celebrate Recovery is for people with alcohol or drug issues. It is, of course, for them but it is also for a whole host of other hurts, hang-ups and habits. Living with an addict or an abusive person has its own set of challenges. To face them alone make the journey even more difficult. There is help available. Many of us that attend Celebrate Recovery do so not because of alcohol or drugs, but because we struggle with other issues like codependency. My walk with Jesus has so helped me but I can still fall into the old habits of the flesh and trying to do it on my own. I have to remember there is help: spiritual help through daily prayer, Bible study, meditation; emotional help through sharing with those on a similar journey; physical help through exercise; and mental help through professional counselors.
What if help was available? It is, by God’s good grace, it is. My plans are to teach a 4 week course on Codependency on Sunday nights in July. I will write a few more articles about codependency. Whether you are codependent or want to know more about codependency, these four weeks might be helpful to you. Help is available!
Pastor Tom
Let’s start with the basics: what is codependency? You can find a dozen definitions that try to define or describe codependency. Here is my attempt to define and describe it. Codependency refers to the mental, emotional, physical and/or spiritual reliance on a partner, friend or family member. True, we all rely on others and that can be a good thing. That is not what we are talking about here.
Codependency is usually a learned behavior that is passed down from generation to generation. Some people call it “relationship addiction”. The term codependency is often used to describe a relationship where a person is needy or dependent on another person. The codependent can fall into a pattern of planning their entire life around pleasing the other person or being an enabler. Codependency makes it difficult to have a healthy, satisfying relationship where both people are equally and mutually committed to one another. Often your mood, happiness and even your identity are defined by the other person and your codependent relationship.
So why write about this? First, I want to plant the seed that help is available. That alone can be difficult because it is hard to help someone who does not know or realize they need help. Second, I want to help us see the additional value of Celebrate Recovery. Too often we hear the response that Celebrate Recovery is for people with alcohol or drug issues. It is, of course, for them but it is also for a whole host of other hurts, hang-ups and habits. Living with an addict or an abusive person has its own set of challenges. To face them alone make the journey even more difficult. There is help available. Many of us that attend Celebrate Recovery do so not because of alcohol or drugs, but because we struggle with other issues like codependency. My walk with Jesus has so helped me but I can still fall into the old habits of the flesh and trying to do it on my own. I have to remember there is help: spiritual help through daily prayer, Bible study, meditation; emotional help through sharing with those on a similar journey; physical help through exercise; and mental help through professional counselors.
What if help was available? It is, by God’s good grace, it is. My plans are to teach a 4 week course on Codependency on Sunday nights in July. I will write a few more articles about codependency. Whether you are codependent or want to know more about codependency, these four weeks might be helpful to you. Help is available!
Pastor Tom
Friday, May 27, 2022
The Son of Man Came to Serve
I have been asking for our church family to memorize one verse and one passage of Scripture. The first one is Mark 10:45. If Jesus had a “life verse” I think this would be it. Find a 3x5 card, copy the verse and carry it with you for a week. The second is a passage, Philippians 2:5-11. It is perhaps my favorite passage about Jesus. One of the most neglected spiritual disciplines is memorizing Bible verses. There are lots of great reasons to give it a try. I hope you will. Remember the three keys to memorizing Bible verses is to review, review and review!
Thank you for serving the underserved. We partner with James Island Outreach, led by Scott Graule and a wonderful host of volunteers. We have been designated as the Jelly Church. You do a great job of keeping the Outreach supplied. As I type this article, we have exactly 150 jars of jelly waiting to fly from our stage to the shelves of JIO and into the homes of our fellow James Island Residents. We will now resume our collecting jelly each week and putting the jars in the collection bins outside the church office. Thank you for serving in your generosity.
One more celebration: Joanne Brown has been leading a group of JIBC volunteers to help with Back Pack Buddies. Again, we partner with JI Outreach and local schools to help provide meals for underserved kids in our community. About every other week, our volunteers go to pack the snacks and food. If I am remembering correctly, Joanne said our volunteers pack 174 bags each week. When you add up all the backpacks, I think she said the number was 6,000 total backpacks packed! How many backpacks could backpackers pack if backpackers would pack backpacks? Apparently the number is somewhere around 6,000. Unto the least of them says Matthew s25. Well done, well done.
The Charleston County Department of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services (The Charleston Center) has started allowing their patients to come to Celebrate Recovery. We had 9 from the Center this past Sunday Night. Our CR family, including our Kitchen Krew, was so excited to see them. These patients are struggling between life and death, bondage or freedom, hope or despair. Thank you JIBC for being willing to take on the giants. By the way, Celebrate Recovery is not just for substance abuse. We deal with food issues, codependency, gambling, sexual addictions, anger, mental health issues, etc. In a few weeks, I will advertise a course I will be teaching on codependency. Everyone and anyone is welcome to sit in. it will most likely be a 4 week study offered on Sunday Nights. The schedule: Free meal at 5:30; Celebration Worship at 6:30; Small Groups/Codependency from 7 to 8.
I love our church! See you Sunday, good Lord willing!
Pastor Tom
BTW, we will observe the Lord’s Supper on this Memorial Day Weekend. Hope you can be there to join us in remembering the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus and the men and women who paid the ultimate price.
Thank you for serving the underserved. We partner with James Island Outreach, led by Scott Graule and a wonderful host of volunteers. We have been designated as the Jelly Church. You do a great job of keeping the Outreach supplied. As I type this article, we have exactly 150 jars of jelly waiting to fly from our stage to the shelves of JIO and into the homes of our fellow James Island Residents. We will now resume our collecting jelly each week and putting the jars in the collection bins outside the church office. Thank you for serving in your generosity.
One more celebration: Joanne Brown has been leading a group of JIBC volunteers to help with Back Pack Buddies. Again, we partner with JI Outreach and local schools to help provide meals for underserved kids in our community. About every other week, our volunteers go to pack the snacks and food. If I am remembering correctly, Joanne said our volunteers pack 174 bags each week. When you add up all the backpacks, I think she said the number was 6,000 total backpacks packed! How many backpacks could backpackers pack if backpackers would pack backpacks? Apparently the number is somewhere around 6,000. Unto the least of them says Matthew s25. Well done, well done.
The Charleston County Department of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services (The Charleston Center) has started allowing their patients to come to Celebrate Recovery. We had 9 from the Center this past Sunday Night. Our CR family, including our Kitchen Krew, was so excited to see them. These patients are struggling between life and death, bondage or freedom, hope or despair. Thank you JIBC for being willing to take on the giants. By the way, Celebrate Recovery is not just for substance abuse. We deal with food issues, codependency, gambling, sexual addictions, anger, mental health issues, etc. In a few weeks, I will advertise a course I will be teaching on codependency. Everyone and anyone is welcome to sit in. it will most likely be a 4 week study offered on Sunday Nights. The schedule: Free meal at 5:30; Celebration Worship at 6:30; Small Groups/Codependency from 7 to 8.
I love our church! See you Sunday, good Lord willing!
Pastor Tom
BTW, we will observe the Lord’s Supper on this Memorial Day Weekend. Hope you can be there to join us in remembering the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus and the men and women who paid the ultimate price.
Thursday, May 19, 2022
WHERE DO YOU GO FROM HERE?
Perhaps you have had the experience of being in a new place and not knowing exactly where you were going. Now days with a variety of GPS devices, it is a little harder, but not impossible, to get lost. On those rare occasions when I am “momentarily not sure of where I am (lost), I will stop and ask for clarification. The worst answer we can ever receive is such circumstance is “You can’t get there from here!” Really, there is no way? Of course there is a way. It might just be a little complicated.
Where do you go from here when it comes to life at James Island Baptist? We don’t want anyone to feel lost on the way to becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ. So we start you out with a welcome to JIBC. We love guest and are thankful that someone would come by to check us out. We love it even more when they like us enough to stay. But eventually, we want to offer you the opportunity to find a church home. We offer Class 101: Discovering Membership at JIBC. It is the way to join the church. Basically, it is a seminar I teach about who we are, our mission and purpose. It is the best way I know to find out about the church family and to hear your Pastor’s heart beat. We offer Class 101 four or five times a year.
The next directions we give relate to Maturity and Discipleship. We invite you to take the next Class, Class 201: Discovering Maturity at JIBC. Here we will teach you the four spiritual disciplines every believer needs to know in order to grow and become more like Jesus. Many of our new members are already well on their way to maturity and so this will seem like a review for them.
The next turn in the driving directions is called Class 301: Discovering Ministry at JIBC. Our goal here is to help you look at things you are passionate about, help you discover how God gifted you and how your personality style fits into ministry opportunities.
Now that is a pretty good start in giving spiritual directional help. The Good News is I believe you can get there from here…or wherever you are. I believe with all my heart it is God’s will for all of us to belong to a church family, to grow daily in becoming more like Jesus and to find our place to serve in the Body of Christ known as James Island Baptist. Let’s go on this trip together.
Pastor Tom
Where do you go from here when it comes to life at James Island Baptist? We don’t want anyone to feel lost on the way to becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ. So we start you out with a welcome to JIBC. We love guest and are thankful that someone would come by to check us out. We love it even more when they like us enough to stay. But eventually, we want to offer you the opportunity to find a church home. We offer Class 101: Discovering Membership at JIBC. It is the way to join the church. Basically, it is a seminar I teach about who we are, our mission and purpose. It is the best way I know to find out about the church family and to hear your Pastor’s heart beat. We offer Class 101 four or five times a year.
The next directions we give relate to Maturity and Discipleship. We invite you to take the next Class, Class 201: Discovering Maturity at JIBC. Here we will teach you the four spiritual disciplines every believer needs to know in order to grow and become more like Jesus. Many of our new members are already well on their way to maturity and so this will seem like a review for them.
The next turn in the driving directions is called Class 301: Discovering Ministry at JIBC. Our goal here is to help you look at things you are passionate about, help you discover how God gifted you and how your personality style fits into ministry opportunities.
Now that is a pretty good start in giving spiritual directional help. The Good News is I believe you can get there from here…or wherever you are. I believe with all my heart it is God’s will for all of us to belong to a church family, to grow daily in becoming more like Jesus and to find our place to serve in the Body of Christ known as James Island Baptist. Let’s go on this trip together.
Pastor Tom
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